CDS Championship Show

2/22/2018

With more than 2,300 on its roster, CDS's membership makes up a hunk of USDF's membership. When the California Dressage Society makes big changes, they get noticed. A few weeks ago, I wrote about some changes that the CDS Board had made to the annual championship show. Those changes riled up enough of the membership that the CDS Executive Board held a meeting on February 7 and amended several of the changes.

From the 2014 Championship Show.

Talk about democracy in action. The people spoke, their elected leaders listened. Here's a link to the survey results. While I wasn't upset by any of the changes, a lot of other people were. In the end, a few things remained the same:

1) CDS will not apply to host the USDF Breeders Championships West Coast Final. Not enough people seemed to care about that.

2) The CDS 4, 5, and 6 year old futurity classes will still be combined with Open and Adult Amateurs competing together with a concurrent Adult Amateur Futurity Challenge division. Again, this one didn't cause much of a fuss.

From one of our rides.

3) Horse of the Year (HOY) Classes will once again consist of a warm up ride and two HOY classes with two judges for Adult Amateurs and Juniors. Open riders will also get a warm up ride but they will only get one HOY class with two judges. Apparently the Open riders were split on whether to have two HOY classes or not. The Adult Amateurs were firm on the three ride format.

4) The increase in prize money was deleted. Prize money wasn't as important as the board thought.

5) Qualifying scores for freestyles will still be bumped up from 62% to 64%. I guess the people were okay with that.

6) The added $25 nominating fee for CDS and JR/YR Championships will now only apply to horse and rider teams participating in the CDS Championship show, and those fees will be used to fund the show. I always thought that sounded fair. I guess everyone else saw the logic as well.

So there you have it. Modifications will be made to the Championship Show, but it sounds as though they are being applied in a way that will keep a lot more riders happy, particularly the adult amateurs. And really, I think that's a good thing as we write more checks than anyone else.

Tracy link

2/22/2018 08:57:37 am

It's really cool that the board listened to members and made changes so quickly to accommodate their opinions!

Bakersfield Dressage link

2/26/2018 09:46:45 am

I thought so. I was actually quite surprised that they jumped on it as quickly as they did!

shelby

2/26/2018 07:53:39 am

Do you know what people are doing with those CDS medalions they pass out to the competitiors? Are there plaques that we are suppose to buy for them? They are large! Also USEF does small gold ones and I cant find any plaques that reveal where someone puts them? Thanks for any help. I might get to meet you in teachapi this year!

2/26/2018 09:49:04 am

Hi, Shelby! Since I only have one of these, it just sits tucked in a basket crammed with ribbons. I heard that some riders threaded a string through the hole and used it as a Christmas ornament. CDS doesn't sell a plaque on which to mount it. And in truth, it feels too fragile to do anything with it, really.

If you're in Tehachapi, please come up and say hi! I am always so lost in my own little world at shows though that you'll have to remind me of how we know one another. :0)

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Not-So-Speedy Dressage