It’s May and show season is upon us. Shows are filling up and everyone is getting out to put on display the progress they made over the winter and see their friends and fellow equestrians. For many of us, this means doing a careful balancing act. Balancing our passion for horses and sport, family, work, friends, and being a part of organizations like ESDCTA. It’s a lot to balance.
We will not always get the balance right. I have struggled to find a time to write this article and to focus my mind to stay on topic. As for the vast majority of us, family is our first priority. Spending time with our partners, finding time to go to events that pertain to their interests. Strangely, some people don’t live for riding or barn time, weird, I know. Spending time with our children, ferrying them to all their activities. Add to that, our employers expect us to do things to earn our paychecks. All of this interferes with barn and saddle time. I’m going on about all of this because I want you to know, it’s ok to fail at being everywhere all the time.
Now, most of you know, I’m crazy enough to work a fulltime job AND run a few horse shows. To my surprise, with all the tariff talk, entries to the shows are strong so far this season. But I’m using my little soap box to stand up and say, it’s ok to miss a show. As a show secretary, I get a lot of “please give me an early ride time, I need to go to… with my family”. I just helped a friend schedule a show that had so many requests for early ride times we had to start the day at 7:30 in order to meet everyone’s requests.
My advice is, if you can’t risk being late to your event, don’t enter the show. There will be others! We are lucky to live in an area that offers at least one show in close proximity to you every weekend starting mid-April, as well as many week day shows, all at great facilities. Our area has a large concentration of top-level judges who frequently judge our local shows. So why put yourself, and your family (and show management) under all the extra pressure? At some point and time all the pressure to be everywhere make’s riding and competing more of a job than a joy and we don’t want that.
As President of ESDCTA, I’m delighted to add while we’re on the subject of shows, that we have some great ones coming up.
Looking forward to seeing everyone at the ESDCTA Memorial Day Weekend show at the Horse Park of New Jersey. This will be an excellent chance to qualify for CBLM Championships!
ESDCTA Garden State Classic and CBLM Championships will be Labor Day weekend at the Horse Park of New Jersey again.
Both shows will feature our new junior awards divisions and the more fairly divided Dressage Seat Equitation opportunity. You asked, we listened, and we are eager to see everyone’s smiles as they reach their goals.
grants@esdcta.org horselover8968@gmail com newsletter@esdcta.org nominations@esdcta.org nominations@esdcta.org
Ashley Mucha results@esdcta.org
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News from Outside the Ring
Horse Protection Act Delay
First, the latest federal Horse Protection Act update was supposed to take effect February 1, 2025, but then it was postponed until April 1, 2025, and now it’s February 1, 2026. The federal Horse Protection Act was originally enacted in the early 1970s to protect Tennessee Walking horses by preventing any “sored” horse from participating in shows, exhibitions, sales, or auctions. However, the latest update states that EVERY equine show/event manager must provide to the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) notice of the event ≥30 days of the event, any updates ≥15 days of the event, and report any violations of the Horse Production Act ≤5 days after the end of the event. The USDA is solicitating comments at the following address beginning on March 21 and closing May 20, 2025: https://www.regulations.gov/docket/APHIS-2022-0004.
Olympic Venue Change
It had originally been announced that Galway Downs, Temecula, California, would be the site of the equestrian events for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. With 242 acres, 13 riding arena, 500+ permanent stalls, and 4 cross-country miles, Galway Downs seemed like a good spot. The Los Angeles City Council even voted in March for the venue to host the event. However, the International Olympic Committee Executive Board didn’t like the venue’s master plan, and promptly informed them that they were out of contention, much to their surprise. The new venue chosen is Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California, which hosted the equestrian sports at the 1984 Olympics, and is home to some of Thoroughbred racing’s biggest events, including the Breeders Cup. The decision was made in part because of the proximity to numerous hotels and to downtown Los Angeles. Santa Anita Park comprises 320 acres, with a large grandstand and 61 barns that can house more than 2,000 horses. The venue for Para Equestrian has not been announced yet.
From Our Friends at Lehigh Valley Dressage Association
Introduction to the LVDA Academy
Introduction to the LVDA Academy
2023 On the Levels” - Adding to Your Dressage Knowledge Bank
By Ellen Broadhurst
By Ellen Broadhurst
By Ellen Broadhurst
As members of a GMO, whether you belong to ESDCTA, LVDA, DVCTA, or any of the other GMOs around the country, we have access to a wealth of dressage education through USDF University.
USDF University offers a resource library, and online courses, with recognition for USDF members who strive to continue their education. Each USDF University course you attend, listen to, or watch adds credits to your USDF Transcript, with certificates and diplomas awarded annually to members dedicated to education.
https://www.usdf.org/education/university/
USDF University is an amazing educational resource, but one that many members don’t utilize.
With that in mind, LVDA is launching LVDA Academy!
LVDA Academy is meant to increase awareness and usage of the USDF University program through collaborative group study. The program provides a discussion space via a Facebook group in which dressage riders from all GMOs are encouraged to engage in USDF education materials and discuss with fellow riders. We’ll also provide a Year-End Award program where we reward members for participation, mirroring the USDF Certificate program.
Do you need to be an LVDA member? Absolutely not - but you must either be a GMO member or a USDF Participating Member, either of which give you access to USDF University materials.
If you register with LVDA Academy, we'll keep track of your 2025 Credits, and we'll have our own Year-End Awards in addition to the USDF Certificates.
And what exactly does "participation" mean?
It's whatever you'd like to put into the process. Every group member is encouraged to use resources from the USDF University and post on the LVDA Academy Facebook group about their experience.
For example, was the video or talk value-added? Was it something you recommend other people watch/listen to? Did you find a specific "golden nugget" that you would like to pass along to other riders?
Education off-horse is just as important as the learning we do in the saddle. We're hoping to build a community of Dressage Learners through LVDA Academy, people
It's whatever you'd like to put into the process. Every group member is encouraged to use resources from the USDF University and post on the LVDA Academy Facebook group about their experience.
For example, was the video or talk value-added? Was it something you recommend other people watch/listen to? Did you find a specific "golden nugget" that you would like to pass along to other riders?
Education off-horse is just as important as the learning we do in the saddle. We're hoping to build a community of Dressage Learners through LVDA Academy, people who are keen to improve their riding through every available resource.
Can you be a part of the Facebook group and not register for Year-End Awards? YES! Registration is for people who are interested in having their credits tracked for Year-End Awards recognition. If you’d like to just check out the Facebook group, please do!
If you are interested in registering and have your credits tracked (please note, all credits from 2025 will count to 2025 Year-End Awards, regardless of when you register): https://forms.gle/vD2ircGbo1orZWhH6
Welcome, we'd love to have you participate!
I always know that that trot is in there. I don’t worry about that. My struggle is in being able to recycle and half-halt that energy into collection without making him tense, nervous, or short in the neck. In this lesson with Silke, and more and more in my lessons with Olivia, it’s becoming easier to find the timing and feel for that “big trot” while staying with it and maintaining our composure. I’ve never really felt that before, so it is a very exciting step forward.
We ended the clinic on some walk pirouettes, which are always a fabulous exercise to work on to fine tune the aids. I also love that they aren’t physically hard on the horse: it’s good mental and physical work that doesn’t exhaust the horse or rider. It was a perfect way to wrap up, especially on such a hot March day. All of our winter education with Olivia, Felicitas, and Silke culminated in the Fix-A-Test, the first real test of how our PSG goals were coming along. I rode conservatively and made some mistakes, but we still earned a score of ~60%, which I was incredibly proud of! The judge, Lisa Schmidt, had great feedback and offered tips to help improve our ride next time. We did even better at the schooling show, scoring slightly above 61% with lots of room to grow.
These low-pressure outings really helped us rip off the band-aid and just give it a try, even though the PSG is still green for both me and Ducati. Neither of us have done this before. They gave me the confidence that maybe we’re more ready than I thought: two scores over 60% on our first tries is pretty darn promising. I’m incredibly proud of how this past winter has gone. It’s not perfect, but if Silke, Lisa, Olivia, and Felicitas (among many other friends) all believe the PSG is in there and that we should keep chipping away at it to get even better, then I trust that it is. I’m thankful to have had such a great winter of education and I am excited to continue the show season with Olivia Steidle Dressage. Here’s to new beginnings and the exciting new chapter ahead in our journey!
Bit O Woods Farm Dressage Schooling Show
3/16/2025
Class:
Second
Horse Park of NJ Winter Dressage Show
3.
ALEXANDRIA EQUESTRIAN ASSOCIATION SCHOOLING SHOW IV 3/29/25
