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Wednesday, January 20, 2016

Chasing Bronze: Memberships

not as sexy as leather
This is a new series I'm starting to document Courage and I working towards our Bronze medal in dressage. That means we need two scores of 60% or better from two different judges at first, second, and third level.

We're currently training-level-schooling-first, and we're looking to move up to first level this show season.

But before all that, what do we have to do to be eligible for the USDF Bronze Medal program?

This year, I want to show at the nearby USDF recognized show and then at 1-2 more GMO recognized shows, plus as many schooling shows as I can squeeze in. If I don't get bronze scores at the big recognized show, I am considering traveling to another show, but that's very $$$ and time dependent.

Thus:

Step 1: Become a USDF member. 

USDF= United States Dressage Federation. There are lots of levels of memberships. A participating membership of USDF is the most expensive at $75 a year or $300 for 5 years. Here's the rub: the participating membership does not include local GMO membership. GMO membership allows me to support the local dressage community and schooling shows, qualify for local awards in a pool of riders I can get to know, and still gives me eligibility for those bronze medal scores that I really, really want. GMO membership is NOT enough to participate in the regional championships. Fun fact: championships are wicked expensive, it's our first year showing, and even if we qualified, I just don't think we'd be competitive. While I might want to have regionals as a goal at a later date, it's just not in the cards for me this year.

While I will not be participating in the regional championships this year, I'd like to think I might qualify for something at the local level. (don't rain on my parade, ok?)

The GMO membership gives me all the benefits I need.

Cost: $45
we're members of a national organization!
Step 2: Get Courage a USDF number

This makes sense to me. In order to track horses at national-level competitions, the USDF assigns them a number. It's either $25 for a horse identification number that lasts one year or $95 for a lifetime registration number. The lifetime registration makes the horse eligible to compete for year end awards on a national level against people on fancy imported warmbloods who show a hell of a lot more than I do, so that's not a factor for me.

More importantly, if I pay the lifetime fee once, I don't have to dink around with it and if I show for 4 or more years on this horse, I will actually be money ahead.

That said, I might HATE dressage shows or something, so let's not get ahead of ourselves. Also there's my weird jinx thing.

Cost: $25

So far, so good, right? Neither of those are too cost-prohibitive.
i feel blurry, oh so blurry
Step 3: Join USEF. 

USEF= United States Equestrian Federation. This step is stupid to me. USEF is the national body regulating all horse sport. If I complete the above steps, I am technically eligible to show at USDF shows, BUT if I want my coveted ammy status, I have to shell out for a USEF membership. It's $55 a year. Ammies are eligible for different awards than pros and our qualifying scores are slightly lower (and then I don't have to compete against people who ride fancy horses for a living).

I could forego this step and pay the non-member fee, but that's $30 a day and of course a weekend USDF show is actually two shows at the same facility with different judges, so $60 a weekend. At this point, I'm only planning on one* "real" USDF show to avoid travel, but that $60 would be per weekend. If I were to add another show, it would only get worse.

So.

*Or two. Or three.

Cost: $55

Step 4: Get Courage a USEF number.

Once I have paid my USEF membership fee, I need a USEF number for Courage. I have options here: I can shell out $200 for a lifetime number which national year-end-award eligibility because my 11 year old OTTB warhorse is TOTALLY going to beat out some Grand Prix star's fancy young thing (snort). No. Or I can pay $75 a year for the same privilege. OR I can just get a recording number that is free.

If you have a fancy young thing, by all means, pay up. If you're me, save your dollars. Lulz.

Cost: $0
Yup.
All told, this isn't as bad as I thought it would be. For $125, Courage and I are registered and eligible to begin the competition year.

Sources for further reading:

Dressage Memberships - blogger Karen is an absolutely invaluable resource here. She has done ALL her research and is fantastic at answering questions.

USDF Rider Awards - official USDF info is pretty accessible.

26 comments:

  1. I am definitely annoyed with the whole "PM doesn't make you a GMO member" thing. I mean, I guess it's analogous to having to both be a member of USEA and Indiana Eventing Association, but it feels different, because being a member of IEA doesn't make me a member of USEA like a GMO does for USDF.

    All that said, I think I'm going to shell out for a PM this year for the very specific reason to make Connor eligible for breed awards. I am Cob Jockey, after all, gotta promote the Welsh Cob.

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    1. Well, and as a cob owner, you have a legitimate shot at winning something! There aren't a lot of cobs out there and you can definitely make a mark with Connor.

      Which makes me wonder if it's worth looking in to Thoroughbred stuff.

      Haha. No. No it is not.

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    2. I looked into Thoroughbred awards because there were only 3-4 full TBs at the USDF/USEF shows I was going to... they don't have TB awards :-( They should.

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    3. Our big show does run TIP awards for training and first level, so I got a TIP number as well. I don't believe those scores accrue into anything though.

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    4. Yay!! I got a TIP award at an event I went to a couple years ago. Big ribbon and a saddle pad- I couldn't find any dressage shows around here that did them. It may not accrue to anything, but big satin is still cool!

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  2. You don't have to buy the $25 USDF yearly :) It's just a limited membership that can be upgraded to the lifetime. They're both lifetime, but the $25 one should really just be called restricted I think.

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    1. Hey cool! I didn't know that. Now I feel less bad about it. I'll just pay the $25 and then if/when we want to upgrade later, we can.

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    2. That's what I did for Mikey. Championships was never a goal I had for him, I just didn't think we'd be competitive so it didn't make sense to do.

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    3. This! Also, you don't technically NEED a USEF # for Courage. The USDF HID # is enough for the bronze.

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  3. and i will be following these same exact membership steps - thanks for marking it out so clearly!

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  4. Thats too much to keep straight. I think I will stay on my jumper show kick.

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  5. I hope I'm. Wrong and not bursting your bubble but from what I understand (and what I do personally) if you want to earn your bronze medal scores you need to have both your GMO participating membership AND USDF Participing membership. I could be wrong but don't want you earning your first level scores just to not have hem count because of a stupid membership deal!

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    1. You are wrong. The rider achievement awards (Rider Performance Awards, Freestyle bars, and Medals) are achievable with a GMO alone.

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    2. Not to beat a dead horse here, but for reference: I directly emailed USDF to check and they verified that a GMO membership is sufficient. They also say the USEF membership is not required, but that since USDF competitions are USEF licensed, you would have to pay non-member fees.

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    3. Wow I think this just made my day! And saved me $75 bucks. Cool!

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  6. The USEF membership also gets you liability insurance. I've been a member for like 5 years now and have never shown a rated show. I just wanted the cheap insurance. And it gets you 5% off at SmartPak if that matters to you. This year I'll be showing so the ESEF membership will actually mean something.

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    1. I think they dropped the insurance this year...

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    2. dammit. I haven't renewed yet bc I'm lazy, but now I probably won't.

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  7. All these memberships make my head spin. I did register Ellie with USEF so her points will count but didn't sign up for it myself until I start doing rated divisions.

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  8. Hey, I just did a post in response to this on my blog if you want to check out what the equivalents are across your Northern border =-)
    Really interesting to see how it all works for you.

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  9. This is so helpful! I'm also going to start working towards my bronze and even though I'm no where near as close as you are, it's still so helpful to know some of my next steps!

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  10. This is a really great write up! USDF show ante kind of sort of on my radar for some point, so I've been curious how all these memberships work out. Right now we're sticking to schooling shows and low level events, but just incase I ever want to change gears...

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  11. I can't believe I bought the expensive memberships last year

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  12. This post is super helpful! Wading thru fees, what you need to join, what you don't...Thank you!

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  13. This whole thing is super irritating to me for some reason. I cant Register horse until I get a USDF # from my GMO right?

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    1. I'm still waiting on my GMO #, but I've done all the other registrations. I don't know when you're planning on showing, but the turnaround can take a while, so I'd take care of it ASAP if I were you. :-)

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