Recommendations from the EADC for clubs and groups holding Virtual Dressage training during the current COVID-19 pandemic

The EADC fully appreciates the current COVID-19 restrictions are impacting on the training and competition routines of all sports right now. With equestrian of course, it’s our horses we need to keep in training mode as well as ourselves!

Virtual Dressage training provides an informal format that is an enjoyable, social outlet giving an incentive to maintain routine and keep challenging ourselves. Virtual Dressage training will help enhance communication and connectivity in our Dressage world.

Although this is informal training with no Official status, we would like to promote the following recommendations with the aim of keeping Horse Welfare paramount and maintaining a level playing field in the current circumstances:

• Riders should, at all times, be familiar with and act in accordance with the FEI Code of Conduct for the Welfare of the Horse and the EA Code of Conduct
• To enhance your training and preparation for future competitions, spurs and whips and equipment eg saddles, bridles, and bits (for example, no double-bridles in elementary tests) should be within the EA Dressage Sport Rule requirements, including equipment.
• Your aim should be to produce the best quality filming that you can manage with what you have to hand. Judges want to give a fair assessment, which they can't do if there’s poor quality or where movements are blurred or the whole horse is not in the frame.
• As the only judging position available will be from C we suggest including a minimum of 2 judges and for this training, it would be good to have at least 2 different Judging levels - it’s an opportunity for judges to also benefit and gain experience in an unofficial environment.
• Riders might like to indicate on entry if their entries are to be retained or if they wish them to be deleted once the judging has been completed. We recommend they should only be visible to the judges as wider social media could bring issues - it is the judges’ feedback and review that is relevant.

These are difficult times for all our members - we are an equestrian family, that is uppermost in our minds.

The Federal Government’s directive is very clear at this time – stay at home. With restrictions being implemented almost weekly to combat this pandemic EA advises all members and our equestrian community to follow public health and state regulatory procedures. Links to the various State and Federal government websites and the Coronavirus Health information Line can be found on the EA website at https://www.equestrian.org.au/content/covid-19-information-equestrian-sport

No matter at what level we compete, if we’re Major Event contenders or our territory is our local Club, we are all making the same commitment in order to maintain some normality and stay in our sport.

Best Wishes

Prue Spurrett

Chair

Equestrian Australia Dressage Committee

Article courtesy of Equestrian Australia