Classes will take place at the 29th annual Dressage at Devon, September 23 - 29

Devon, PA-April 30, 2003-Dressage at Devon 2003 will be the venue for the first ever North American Breeders Futurity Championship Finals for Five and Six Year Old Horses. The new classes are the result of a collaboration between the Dressage at Devon committee, the ISR Oldenburg Registry and the Federation of North American Sport Horse Registries (FNASHR). A warm-up class will be held on Thursday, September 25, offering a fitting bridge between the Breed Division of the show, which ends on Thursday, and the Performance Division of the show, which begins on Friday. The championship finals will be held midday on Friday, September 26.

The classes were developed to put more emphasis on the training of young horses in North America, where many feel young horses are not supported. "The horses bred in North America are now up to the quality of those in Europe," says Ekkehard L. Brysch, President of the ISR Oldenburg Registry North America and one of the instigators of this program. "This raises the question of why these young horses are not as successful as they are in Europe. Why are we not making horses here instead of importing them from Europe?"

In the late 1990s a series of measures were developed to help encourage training and competing of young horses to help breeders sell their progeny. While there are more classes for young horses now than in the recent past, they are often not as well attended as they could be. The ISR Oldenburg N.A. and the FNASHR are making efforts to make these classes more attractive for trainers, riders and owners to compete in. One of the incentives being used is money.

The North American Breeders Futurity Championship Finals for Five and Six Year Old Horses will be open only to those horses bred in North America, and will include prize money in excess of $20,000, an unprecedented amount in dressage competition. The purse will be divided, with the top four horses in each class receiving a percentage of $5000 in prize money. In addition, there will be an additional $5000 purse for the top four horses in each class who fulfill the futurity criteria. This prize money will be divided between those who nominated the winning horses for the NABF and the breeders of these horses.

Horses will qualify for the championship finals based on two or more scores from qualification classes held between January 1 and August 31, 2003. The average of the two highest scores will be used to determine the eight horses competing in each class. Thursday's warm-up classes will also provide an opportunity for up to four horses that have not qualified to compete in the championship finals. These contenders, up to two in each class, will need to achieve a score equal to or higher than the average that was sufficient for regular qualification in Friday's championship finals.

The class is being funded this year by the ISR-Oldenburg N.A. and a supportive group of its members on the occasion of our 20th anniversary says Brysch. "We really wanted to get this started this year, and are willing to fund the classes this year as a gift to the North American breeding world." He expressed confidence that in the future the program would be carried by the Federation of North American Sport Horse Registries and its member organizations.

More information about the North American Breeders Futurity Championship Finals for Five and Six Year Old Horses and the nomination requirements can be found at www.isroldenburg.org/NABF.htm.

Dressage at Devon is the highest rated international dressage competition and most complete breed show outside of Europe. Olympic medallist Robert Dover calls Dressage at Devon "the standard by which all American horse shows should be judged." Dressage at Devon takes place at the Devon Horse Show Grounds, Route 30, in Devon, Pennsylvania. For information, call 610-358-5785 or go to www.dressageatdevon.org.