SWDC – A History

The 2018 Southwest Dressage Championship will be the  thirtieth anniversary. Little known facts include that SWDC was created in Meg Fleming’s kitchen. A group  just decided to do it. Sue Nichcols and Laura Lynn Bushager were instrumental in getting the show off the ground.

The first chairman of SWDC was Becky Snell who was then our regional director. At one of our first meetings competitors did not think that the USDF should have anything to do with the running of SWDC. Becky asked that she remain Chairman until her USDF term ended.

When Becky finished her term the second chairman was Tommy Thompson. We now have the Tommy Thompson high score award at the Championships which was named for him. Sarah Jane Martin was the USDF Regional Director after Becky.

Tommy was followed by Ed Lavallee as Chairman. And then Sarah Jane Martin was elected chairman when Ed chose to retire. Sarah Jane worked as SWDC Qualifying Secretary under Ed. In 30 years we have only had four chairmen.

The SWDC actually preceded the USDF championships.

Originally there were Southwest and Northwest championships. This was because of the close relationship we had with Region 5 as at one time Texas was a part of Region 5. The Northwest Championships were held for a time but died.

SWDC in earlier years was moved about the region. It was located in Shawnee, Dallas, San Antonio and Katy during the early years. The first Championship was held in San Antonio.

Over the years there has been occasional friction between USDF Region 9 and SWDC but

today we support each other. Since the creation of USDF Championships most of the time SWDC has been held with the USDF Championship but not always.

-Sarah Jane Martin

Qualifying Rules for SWDC – Clarifications – 21 August 22, 2018

1. Always check out the rules for qualifying on our website, www.swdressage.org
2. You do not have to be a member of anything to qualify for SWDC, This means you can qualify in an Opportunity Class as long as it is the highest test of the level.
3. You can qualify in more than one division. An example is like Training Level AA and Training Level Open. You cannot use one ride to qualify for two divisions. Therefore, in the above example you would have to have four qualifying scores.
4. You do not have to ride in a class in a particular division to qualify in that division. An example would be you ride in a Training Level AA class, but you declare (before you ride) you want the ride to count as a qualifier for the Open division.
5. You do not have to ride in a pony class to qualify for the pony division at the championship. You just make sure that the show secretary knows that you want the class submitted as a pony qualifier. Make sure also that you state that you want it to qualify for open. (We do not have pony AA or JR/YR)
6. You do not have to have your pony measured to qualify for the pony division. The pony can be measured at the championship. If it does not measure pony you will not be able to ride in the pony class.
7. Make sure that you designate in writing if you are trying to qualify in a division that is different than the one you are riding in. We have had some trouble with show secretaries not submitting the Level and Division correctly. You need to have some verification of your intent in writing. Perhaps if not a note on your entry blank an email to the show secretary stating what you are trying to qualify in. This must be done before you ride in the class.
8. We do not have an INTRO B division for open. Make sure that if you are riding in an Intro Open Class that you make the show secretary aware that you are trying to qualify for either the AA or JR/YR.