BD youth

[Newuser82]

Does anyone have any experience of the youth section of British dressage? My son is interested in dressage (currently having lessons and will ask his instructor but thought would ask here also). I'm just wondering if it is worth it and would be need to be at a certain level before joining?

Thanks

I assume he has his own pony, does he compete at all at the moment, how experienced is the pony? I would have thought it varies region to region in terms of what is available in terms of training/non competitive events and how accessible these are to those competing at the lower levels (as opposed to those already doing PC teams or in the running for national teams etc) so worth finding out what's happening in your area as you don't want to pay out specifically for that only to find there's nothing for you.

But if he does want to give some BD a go anyway then the league type competitions (Quest and so on) then of course ensure he's registered to compete in the youth/young adult divisions, I don't think it costs anything extra to register as a young person? But if this will be his first ever time competing I'd go for some unaffiliated competitions first and if he likes it/does well then affiliate, usually the smaller local unaffiliated comps are cheaper to enter and more easy going/friendly than BD competitions, and usually the judging is a little kinder/more encouraging too. A lot of local places run local leagues with qualifiers building to a little championship so if there's something like that locally (particularly if it has a young adult class) then that would be an ideal goal to aim towards?

Sorry don't know why I've assumed he has his own pony, but if not then I don't think I'd recommend BD as it is predominantly geared up for those with own horses (and transport for said horse). For those that don't own a pony, depending on age I'd look at a Pony Club centre specifically catering for non-owners (usually based at a large riding school and they do similar activities to PC branches but using the riding school's ponies), or if he is a bit older/teenager than he might prefer more of a riding club atmosphere, again mainly these cater to those with own horses but some larger riding schools have RC activities for those without too so worth inquiring...

If he has his own pony and transport then the normal route would be Pony Club first (although most pony clubs seem to be heavily show jumping oriented)

If he doesn't have his own pony then you need to look for riding schools or centres that do their own shows/competitions where you can "borrow" one of their ponies. But this only really works if it's where you have your regular lessons, and you're familiar with the ponies.

Sorry I should have said. Yes he has his own pony. He is a member of the pony club and so does do bits of dressage but I didn't know if bd would be beneficial. He is only 9 and so really just starting out. It's just a big interest of his so want to support him as I can.

And he does have regular dressage lessons outside the pony club.

Thanks for the info. He has done some unaffiliated tests and is continuing to do so.