National Championships

Since 2002, the RDA National Championships have been held at Hartpury College in Gloucester. Riders who compete at the Championships will have first qualified at a Qualifying Competition in one of our 18 Regions. The disciplines that the National Championships offer are as follows:

Riders from all over the Country compete at the Championships and come away with a sense of achievement, great confidence, new friends - not to mention the odd rosette!

Arts & Crafts

This is another competition which has been designed for people to enter the National Championships but who find it difficult to travel for whatever reason. The standard of this competition increases each year and the theme is RDA. Riders can choose to work on an individual project or some groups decide to submit a group project. The artwork can take the form of a painting, collage, montage or even a sculpture.

Best Turned Out Horse, Pony & Rider

This class is judged purely on turnout and not as showing class and is open to all riders. There is a Junior and Senior section each day with the groom of the winning pony also receiving a prize for their efforts.

Combined Training

These classes are aimed at riders who are entering the Championship class of the Countryside Challenge and have opted to enter the Introduction to Dressage Classes. This class is designed to encourage Riders to participate in both classes. There is no extra riding involved and the marks from the RDA Horse, Pony & Rider will be converted to a percentage and then combined with the Dressage score.

Countryside Challenge

The RDA Countryside Challenge evolved from the event put on for us by the British Show Pony Society in the 1980’s. With this idea in mind, RDA’s East Region decided to plan a course for their Regional Event as a progression of riding skills with a meaning and a purpose, requiring balance, co-ordination and concentration by the rider rather than the previous rather arbitrary series of obstacles. In the new course each obstacle could be used individually at Group level to practice a specific skill. The course involved good leading and side helping so that the rider could perform the movements with as much independence as possible. The guidelines were enlarged to help with the training of riders and helpers – and inform the judges. The “and rider” title was added to the original BSPS Working Pony event as it seemed important to acknowledge our riders’ great efforts to ride and compete.

It was always the dream that this Competition could be for the riders who are not able to or do not wish to compete in the Dressage Championships, and we hoped from the start that the Working Pony & Rider Competition could be held at the same time as the Dressage Championships to show an overall view of the breath of disabilities we in RDA are working with.

Find out more about the Countryside Challenge

Dressage

Riders qualify through their Regional Dressage Qualifier to compete at the Championships. They ride a specific test with a predetermined pattern in a 20m x 40m arena and can also choose to ride a freestyle test to music. Dependent on their impairment and/or experience, they ride tests with walk only, walk and trot or walk, trot and canter. Dressage is a multi disability activity but at the Championships, learning disability and visually impaired riders can choose to ride in their own classes.

Find out more about Dressage

Horse Care & Knowledge

This is a fun, theory based competition open to all competitors. The class takes the form of a visual and tactile test of knowledge, using illustrations and items of equipment about which the steward will ask questions of the competitor.

Musical Ride/Drive Video & DVD Competition

The RDA Musical Ride Competition reflecting the coaching of flatwork skills and school movements which are included in most RDA sessions.

Our ‘Back to Basics’ theme of the Musical Ride Competition, with no editing allowed, has now been running for two years. This has proved very successful and more and more Groups have decided to enter the competition, with commendable results.

The RDA Musical Ride Competition originally evolved from these basic precepts at Regional level and we have decided to keep the ‘Back to Basics’ theme to encourage and enable even more Groups to have a go. As we all know, music has been shown to be a powerful element to improve and energise the performance of both horse and rider/carriage driver and we are looking forward to seeing a wider use of music to do just that.

Do have a go and send in your entry to the Region (There is no entry fee for this first round of the competition). Once again, we are most definitely not looking for ‘professional’ productions. We would just like to see what you are all doing in your Groups.

There will be just two classes and the age Groups may be mixed.

1. A drill ride or carriage drive with riders/drivers and helpers smartly dressed – for example in their matching Group sweatshirts - on well chosen ponies/horses.

2. A drill ride or carriage drive with a theme. For example dressed as soldiers to reflect marching music.

Groups are encouraged to discuss a variety of school movements with their County or Regional Instructors. There are so many attractive patterns to be achieved.

Regional Teams

There is a Regional Team each day for both Dressage and RDA Horse, Pony & Rider and there are 3 Riders in each team. The members of the team are chosen by taking the three highest percentage scores from the Regions who have entered a team.

Vaulting

The Vaulting Competition at the Championships has grown from the Berwickshire Group from Scotland performing a demonstration in 2003 to a full competition with 4 teams competing in 2005. Vaulting can be defined as gymnastics on the back of a moving horse. The team of 6 (with a reserve) work with 1 horse under the control of the lunger. Vaulting is a sound basis to learn riding from and should not be seen as merely "jumping on and off" but session that allows participants to work within a group, sharing not only the horse but the experience.

Downloads:

Title	Description
RDA National Championships - List of Prohibited Substances	Substances that are banned under RDA rules
Musical Ride & Drive Entry Form	2012 Entry form for the Musical Ride & Drive competition
RDA National Championships Handbook	Handbook for the 2012 National Championships