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About Judges

Dressage Anywhere will use only British Dressage (BD) listed judges, of or above the required standard for British Dressage classes from Introductory to Advanced. Including trainees, British Dressage has over 1,000 judges.

  • Judges starting on list 6 are qualified to judge BD Introductory and Preliminary tests as well as British Eventing Pre-Novice and Introductory classes.
  • Those on list 5 are qualified to judge BD tests up to and including Novice also Novice and Open eventing tests.
  • List 4 judges may judge BD tests up to and including Elementary as well as Open Intermediate, Intermediate and Intermediate Novice eventing tests.
  • List 3, all BD tests up to and including Medium. Open Intermediate, Intermediate and Intermediate Novice eventing tests.
  • List 3a, all BD tests up to and including Advanced Medium and all eventing tests.
  • List 2, all BD tests up to and including Prix St. George
  • List 2a, all tests up to and including Intermediaire 1
  • List 1 is the highest national level and these highly experienced judges are qualified to judge any level including the highest level FEI test - the Grand Prix.

All BD judges fulfill set training and examination criteria in order to become listed. They are volunteers who can apply their knowledge and experience usually gained from riding and competing and/or training horses and riders. To achieve this they will attend judges courses, view training sessions, write for judges at a higher level than their own, practice judging and observe competitions before taking the appropriate examination.

To remain on the official British Dressage Judges Panel, judges are required to continue attending training sessions and seminars. To upgrade they need to demonstrate further experience and pass an examination paper and a practical testing day.

To upgrade from List 6 to List 1 takes many years but it is a rewarding career. If you are interested in becoming a trainee judge, visit the British Dressage "How to become a judge" page.