USEF USDF USEA FEI CDCTA VADANOVA BHSA VHSA TIPS GMO USHJA
What are my local organizations and how do I get involved? Why should I get involved? This post will cover the local groups in our area that support the equestrian sports we teach at Misty Run.
Getting involved in your local organizations affords you several benefits. The first being a network of other like minded horse people to connect with. Our local organizations host or promote many local competitions and clinics around Virginia and frankly without them some of these competitions would not happen. They also each have their own competition points and support very nice year end awards and recognitions to our local riders. So lets dig in.
CDCTA: Commonwealth Dressage & Combined Training Association
CDCTA is our local dressage and eventing organization. They host licensed horse trials and dressage shows and also local dressage shows. They also include a GMO membership to USDF in their membership. (more on that a little later). Riders can keep track of their scored earned at both local and licensed shows for lovely year end recognition awards and be posted on their leaderboard each month in the monthly newsletter.
If you plan to do both dressage and eventing or combined tests this would be the organization for you. You can however join for just dressage or just eventing.
VADANOVA: Virginia Dressage Association of Northern Virginia
VADANOVA is our local dressage organization. The host both licensed and local dressage shows and clinics. They have a lovely year end championship show for local riders and year end awards. Membership also includes a GMO membership to USDF included with their membership.
If you plan to show only in dressage you could join here.
GMO: Group Member Organization
A USDF GMO makes you eligible for USDF Rider Awards. In addition, Group Members receive the award winning USDF Connection magazine, eligibility to earn university credits, and eligibility to receive member discount rates for USDF events. Group Members also have the inside track on local dressage happenings and GMO-sponsored USDF educational clinics and programs.
With your GMO you can participate in some licensed classes without a full participating membership. It is important to remember this is for Dressage Only.
VHSA www.vhsa.com
The VHSA is an association of show members and individual members cooperating to promote the sport of show hunters and jumpers and to improve the breeding of horses in the Commonwealth. All breed groups, shows and horse interests are represented and membership is open to all individuals and to shows in Virginia and the bordering states of Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and North Carolina.
The VHSA is a member of the American Horse Council and the Virginia Horse Council. The VHSA offers numerous year-end awards to our members who show in rated horse show divisions (Regular Program) as well as our members who show in the local schooling shows that are sanctioned by our Associate Program. Both of these programs have their own year-end awards.
BHSA: Battle Field Horse Show Association
The Battlefield Horse Show Association (BHSA) was established in 1997 and has become a major local Hunter and Jumper Association in Central Virginia. BHSA horse shows must be geographically located 80 miles or less from the center of Fredericksburg and be within the boundaries of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
The purpose of BHSA is to promote and improve the area's Hunter and Jumper shows and provide a vehicle for members to participate in a year-end awards program. The BHSA has established basic rules and standards by which all member shows must conduct themselves, thereby providing uniformity from show to show for those classes and divisions for which it offers year-end awards. Our goal is to foster harmonious relations between shows and exhibitors and encourage consistency in unrecognized (non USEF) Hunter and Jumper competitions.
The BHSA also provides educational events to its members covering show ring standards and etiquette, judging standards and rules, responsibilities of exhibitors and their agents, trainers, coaches including integrity, sportsmanship, and adherence to the rules through knowledge of them as well as conduct, importance of ethics and such other subjects as deemed appropriate.
www.tjctip.com Commonly referred to as TIPS
Created to encourage the retraining of Thoroughbreds into other disciplines upon completion of careers in racing or breeding, T.I.P. offers incentives for competition horses, recreational horses, young riders and Thoroughbreds in a non-competitive second career as well as a Championship horse show. If you own or ride an off the track thoroughbred this is a cool program to participate in to show off your horses' amazing abilities.