The Dressage Committee

At the 2008 AGM ten members were elected to the committee and the duties were defined as follows:

·   Sue Horne                                     Chairman and Technical matters, SANEF, Website

§  Sally McGrath                              Vice Chair, Para Dressage, Judges, Shows

§  Pam Crompton                            Shows, Team Selection

§  Gill Pater                                        Judges and New Venues

§  Heather Cochraine                      Catering and Grounds at shows

§  Natasha Brown                            Grounds

§  Janice Selleck                               Shows. (Resigned due to show Jumping commitments)

§  Nadine Parker                               Newsletter, Shows, Development, Juniors and Children

§  Jennifer Smith (co-opted)           Marketing & Sponsorships

§  Belinda Smithard                         Resigned at the first meeting

This committee quickly set about their various tasks and kept proactive through the course of the year. Various new initiatives were started which are detailed below and some of the programmes already implemented were modified slightly and brought up to date. It was an absolute pleasure to work with such energetic and enthusiastic people who rose to the challenge of committee requirements with alacrity. The committee adopted the vision and plans set out at the beginning of the year.

However due to the nature of Dressage in KZN one of the most time consuming tasks was to run the majority of shows in the province.

Shows

Eight affiliated shows were run during the course of the year. These included the SANEF competition and the KZN Dressage Championships as well as a number of smaller affiliated shows. Each committee member gave full support and help with the running of these shows within their various areas.

Seminars

Several very successful seminars were organised over the year. The first was run by the committee and presenters were Bev Pendock (Provincal A Panel Judge) 

and Sharon Rhode Nee Walsh (now residing in Germany and FEI Candidate Judge). The seminar was extremely well supported and many people gleaned a lot of information and insight on the various methods of training.

Bev Pendock organised a follow up seminar at the Jockey Academy and the Dressage committee arranged another at the Academy which was conducted by Liz Day our own FEI Candidate judge.

Later in the year the committee took advantage of visiting judge Claire Bailes ( Provincial A Panel Duge form Gauteng) arranged for  one of the smaller shows and held a further seminar directed more at the very novice riders and the judging thereof.

In addition a very informative seminar, initiated by Helen Matthews and assisted by Nadine Parker was arranged based on the popular book. Riding from the inside out. Juli-Ann Riley conducted the seminar and an insight into the fitness and exercises which help with correct posture and balance when riding.

Team Selections

Team Selections were conducted and team trials held where necessary. The pony rider team won in George and the adult team came a close second to Gauteng in Kimberley. The Junior team has yet to compete

Para Dressage

During the year the Dressage committee incorporated the Para Dressage tests into many of the shows. This included the ever popular SANEF competition. This gave more exposure and competition experience to our Para Dressage riders in KZN. In addition some riders travelled from other provinces to compete in KZN

Media Coverage

Several articles were published in local newspapers about the KZN Dressage shows and some of the seminars which were held

KZN Dressage Committee Shows

The KZN Dressage Committee held eight shows during the year. These prove to be a major drain on committee resources.

A very successful SANEF competition was organised during the month of May and we were pleased to have Caroline Potts (GHS) and Martine Lambert (KZN) as our visiting judges. There were some rather large discrepancies in the placings especially in the novice classes. One example was one judge placed a horse one of our horses 3^rd overall in the country and the other judge placed the same horse 21^st. The committee feels that more seminars need to be organized country wide, to bring the judging more on a par throughout the country

KZN Championships was held in July. And Ute Schutz was invited from Gauteng as visiting judge. The show went off without any hitches. Some sponsorship was arranged in the form of prizes. There was again some unhappiness in the discrepancy of marks and placings by the judges.

SA Dressage Championships 2009

Our children’s team won their provincial team championships. Congratulations to our team members

The Adult team came second to GHS  by 0.8%. The new 2009 Adult team test was used which proved to ride very well. Catherine Berning on her horse Livius won the Young rider championship and Calet de Vos won the first Young horse championship to be held at the SA Champs on Mossandi Nikkei owned by Vicky Mostert.

The Junior rider team will be competing in Cape Town during December.

Children and Junior Development

The Reach for the Stars and reach for the Universe awards have been introduced this year to encourage our young riders. This awards program is based on the very successful program introduced in Gauteng several years ago. It has proved very encouraging for the riders and is already deemed a successful move. The horse heads and stars were purchased from GHS and funded by the dressage committee.

Victor Ludorum Awards.

The victor Ludorum calculation of points has been revamped and brought more in line with the FEI rider rankings method. This has been published on the website. The method encourages more participation at shows but also rewarding the best horse and rider combinations.

Communication

The KZN  dressage website www.kzndressage.co.za has been revamped and  a results database incorporated giving up to date information on all dressage competitions.

In addition a KZN Dressage Facebook page has been started. This has proved invaluable in keeping up to date with our riders who are now living and competing overseas.

Newsflashes via bulk emails were consistently sent out through the year as well as bulk sms’s about important notices.

Newsletters are informative including items such as feed back on seminars, important events as well as welcoming new competitors and combinations. Answers to Frequently asked questions have been addressed by judges and instructors. The newsletter is currently full of information and news.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I would like to thank the entire dressage committee who worked tirelessly through the year and were very supportive through thick and thin. In addition a heartfelt thanks from the committee to all those very hard workers at the shows. The judges, the scribes, the auditors, the announcer, the show secretaries, the bit checkers, Durban Shongweni club where all our shows are held. Thank you to all who make the dressage sport in KZN Happen. I would particularly like to thank the companies and individuals who have sponsored classes and events during the year. We really appreciate your interest and support.