The International Dressage Riders Club (IDRC), which is currently fighting an existential legal battle with the FEI, held a riders' meeting at the 2012 CDI Vidauban on 1 March 2012.
Approximately 60 people attended the meeting! "This is one of the biggest turn-outs for the IDRC to date," said the IDRC.
The meeting opened with a “Pep Talk” from Kyra: The IDRC is your club; the riders make it what it will be. We need strong attendance at our next General Assembly meeting at the Global Dressage Forum in October 2012.
Kyra provided an update on the current status of the Riders’ Representative for the FEI Dressage Committee.
- The riders unanimously agreed that the IDRC should appoint their own representative to the Dressage Committee.
- The IDRC’s new membership policy is available at our website. Riders can join without paying a membership fee, but must pay the fee if they wish to vote.
- A document with IDRC members website and email addresses was distributed to everyone attending the meeting. This information was also left at the show office for distribution.
The IDRC would like to encourage expansionof membership in the following ways:
- We should encourage Pony, Junior and Young Riders to join.
- National representatives in each country could start membership drives. Jeanna Högberg volunteered for Sweden. Who can volunteer for other countries? We need reps! This question could be tackled on the homepage and Facebook page.
- We need a document for national representatives with info about the club to distribute at their national shows. This should be in press release form. Catherine Haddad will write it.
- How can we use Facebook and the Internet to increase membership? Would a press release/advertisement on Eurodressage help our membership drive?
- Notes from this meeting should be published on our homepage.
Kyra provided information on the “not-so-shortened” Olympic Grand Prix Special test.
- A proposal to reinstate the old Grand Prix Special after the Olympic Games was met with a nearly unanimous vote for (only one vote against) this proposal. Perhaps the OGPS could be used in the future for Young Horses/U25 Grand Prix Riders.
A vote was proposed on the showing of the running score on a scoreboard that is visible to the judges during competitions.
- All members voted against making the score visible to the judges and a rule change was proposed. Currently, all WEL World Cup qualifiers are required to show the running score. This must be changed.
A vote was proposed for the IDRC having the right to choose the Riders Representative in the FEI Dressage Committee.
- All members voted in favor of this right. We will propose a rule change/clarification to the FEI Dressage Committee.
Meeting participants discussed different ideas for improving and changing our system of judging.
- A paid, professional panel (eg, Supervisory Panel) should oversee judging.
- Judges scores could be made anonymous at competitions, with only numbers identifying the judges.
- A list of movements considered appropriate to increase the Degree of Difficulty in the Grand Prix Freestyle would be helpful to both riders and judges. Kyra has requested this already at the 5* judges seminar in Holland (in January 2012).
Photo © Astrid Appels
Related Links
FEI Threatens to Expel IDRC as FEI Associate Member Representing Riders
IDRC and World Dressage Masters to Collaborate