U-25s / BYRDS

In 1989, businessman Egon von Greyerz went to support his daughter at the European Young Rider Dressage Championships. There, he met up with his daughter’s trainer Dane Rawlins. They noticed how much other countries were enjoying working and socialising as a team. The British riders, on the other hand, were meeting for the first time and the trainers and parents barely knew each other.

Egon and Dane decided this had to change, so they set up the British Young Rider Dressage Scheme, known as BYRDS. Today, if you are aged between 12 and 25, you can have quality, affordable training and meet other likeminded riders, parents and trainers at the same time. An important part of BYRDS is for everyone to get to know each other, so you can support and learn from each other as well as having fun with your new friends during the clinics and on the show circuit.

If you have ambition and talent, BYRDS can help you make it to the top. You can enter our Talent Spotting scheme and our regional development officers (RDOs) are always on the lookout for riders with potential during BYRDS regional training sessions to put forward for BYRDS national training viewing days. The next step up is getting on to a squad and our ultimate goal is to see you riding for your country.

BYRDS became an integral part of BD in 2004 and separate BYRDS membership is no longer required.

If you would like help to make it to the top, you might like to apply for the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme (TASS). Click here for more details.

To view the BEF Child Protection Policy document, click here. This can also be found on www.bef.co.uk under Legal & Ethical.