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Oh no, here we go again with another wet. Frustrating, to say the least. I hope all of you stay safe and as dry as is possible in the conditions.
Congratulations to all QLD riders who attended Dressage with the Stars and Sydney CDI. What an outstanding performance from each and every one of you, not the least of which is the commitment to attend these events. Having ‘been there, done that’ prior to kids I know the time, financial and familial sacrifice it takes, and I hope you all had a wonderful time, regardless of where your name ended up in the results sheet. It really is a lot of fun to be away surrounded by like-minded friends, glamping or camping (depending on your accommodation – mine was definitely always camping, unless there’s something below camping? Slum-ping?).
Huge good luck and best wishes to two of our QLD riders heading off overseas to do some training and have a go at WEG Qualifications – Jayden Brown taking a team of horses from Willinga Park (owned by Terry Snow) and Elliott Patterson and the incredible Santiago owned by DQ Owners of the Year Paul and Emma Weel. So very exciting for both of you and we can’t wait to follow your progress.
Congratulations and huge thanks to every event organiser who has so far managed to get an event off the ground. It has been another trying year for event organisers so far, but this time we can blame Mother Nature and not COVID. Maybe one day we’ll finally get a good run at some comps.
On another note, Dressage Queensland are aware that the AAOR recommendations for events are still not working. It’s a source of great frustration for us, as we really want the system to be as fair as possible, and when most of the top six in a class are taking home two prizes for essentially the same thing it really defeats the purpose. Queensland is blessed to have a large population of very competent and capable non-professional riders who meet the National criteria for AOR but are also very capable of winning open classes and championships, even at major National shows. This means the National AOR criteria as it stands doesn’t really work as intended up here – that is, to support and encourage less experienced riders to dip their toes into bigger official competitions and not be competing against the more experienced riders for rosettes. We tried to overcome this by introducing
Foundation for the bigger events, which was more like the old Division 2 that worked beautifully in Queensland, and based more on experience than just primary income source (and still acknowledged our very skilled and experienced AORs with an AOR end of year award), but unfortunately some amateur riders that didn’t fit Foundation were disgruntled and gave our event organisers such a hard time they no longer wanted to run either division. In response we have trailed only awarding one rosette per person, and you have to pick whether you wish to contend for the open or AOR rosette (I mean, do you really need two rosettes for exactly the same class?), however we are aware from the first few events this also isn’t playing out as fairly as we hoped. Believe me when I say we are trying really hard to find a solution that works fairly, and any feedback on how YOU think this should work is
appreciated. And one that doesn’t involve the top six riders taking home two rosettes for exactly the same thing 😉
Just a reminder that DQ use Facebook as our primary information sharing platform, as well as D-News and we now have an Instagram page. We do not share current news on the website, as its a cumbersome platform that is difficult to navigate and news information quickly drops off the main page. If there is something on the website we need to direct you to we’ll share a link to the relevant page on social media or D News. If you don’t have Facebook maybe consider asking a friend who does to keep an eye on announcements and send them to you, and will also endeavour to cross-post to Instagram so those of you who prefer Instagram can source your information there. I’m sorry if that doesn’t work for some, but DQ are a volunteer committee of very busy people who have businesses, jobs, families, their own horses and run a lot of other events, and we don’t have the time to make sure information is
shared across a multitude of different platforms to make sure every single preference is catered for. We are doing the best we can to deliver this sport in as fair and equitable way as possible and without personal agenda. While it may not suit everyone our role is to develop, support, grow and deliver as best we can to all our members.
Happy riding. Well, maybe not this week unless you are lucky enough to have an indoor.
Kindest regards,
Anita Barton
Dressage Queensland Chair
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