The CDIAm barely filled for most of the season. At the Derby there were 6 in the Am and 18 in the 1* after eliminations. Some of the Am classes had only one or two riders.
I dont think anyone was complaining that the competition in the Am was too stiff. Hard to say that when the national and 1* classes were several times larger.
Good luck today!
Here is the FEI definition of amateur:
FEI Rules for Amateur Classes: Athletes from 26 years. Athletes must have no ranking with the FEI Dressage World Ranking List at the date of definite entry. Athletes living abroad may compete in events of their host country with permission from the NF of their host country. FEI passport not required if competing in their home country. These horses must be registered with their NF, be identifiable by diagram, and have a valid vaccination certificate.
So, they could have been FEI rated at some point but are no longer as of the entry date for the Amateur classes and they can be professional trainers, judges, Barn Owners, what ever as there is no rule against it.
It was a poor choice of words to choose “Amateur” to define the classes since many/maybe most people entering them aren’t “Amateurs” as defined by other organizations like USEF, USDF etc., don’t know how European countries define Amateur, nor is it what most people would consider as an Amateur.
See my post above. #59
Cheers.
Over coffee this am found that the amateur part of CDI’s was just initiated in 2015. Rule is brief and stated above. But what I found that was interesting is a discussion point from the Houston Dressage Society, which was going to run a CDI, as follows:
“The USEF lists approximately 16,000 dressage members in the U.S (mostly amateurs), while the FEI Dressage World Rankings lists just 62 U.S. combinations. To give those greater numbers (adult amateurs) the CDI opportunity, good folks have lobbied for years for a CDI-Amateur Division. Now it is here!”
So talk about rarified air, prior to this less than 1/2 of 1% of US riders were good enough to consider riding in a “real” CDI. So it seems the intent was good. Open that world to the rest of us without having to go down centerline just before or after Laura Graves. The results in terms of entries seem to indicate that even in Wellington its not a big draw.
Attached is an article about one real ammy’s foray into a CDI. https://dressagetoday.com/lifestyle/testing-the-international-waters.
I really don’t have any issue with the classes or the FEI definition of who can compete, the choice of using the word amateur could have been better thought out. Maybe they could have called it an introductory class?
Apparently, the rest of the world doesn’t have a problem with the word Amateur, as defined by the FEI.
Fletch I hope you had a good ride and enjoyed yourslef
This thread is dipping into “hi I’m American and don’t like that people who aren’t American use words differently than I do, please be more American” territory.
https://gdf.equestrian-hub.com/185/1545
Heidi got a nice 61.411% for the 7th place.
Lisa Apa from Today’s Equestrian won the class with a whopping 67,588%.
OP, I still hope you enjoyed your ride abd had a good time with your horse.
It isn’t dipping, it plunged right in.
Yay! I follow Lisa on Instagram and she seems really nice. She’s had a great Wellington season. And her coach is Canadian 
Neither do I as was stated in my post. I don’t know how Europeans define Amateur, most are looking at it from an American perspective based on how other associations define it. It’s irrelevant in this case but I understand how people could misunderstand it’s intent as far as the FEI use.
There is a comprehensive article on the requirements for entering a CDI, and in particular the CDIAm, in the April issue of USDF Connection. As some in this thread have pointed out, the FEI definition of amateur has nothing to do with the US Equestrian definition. Hope you find the article useful.
Jennifer Bryant
Editor, USDF Connection
Perhaps I shouldn’t have called the OP a whiner, but she asked me what I thought and that was it. Whining and complaining about your legitimate competition isn’t attractive. One should be familiar with the rules and not cast aspersions about and point an accusing finger at a person – by name and in public – who is following the rules.
Looking through the riders in this class, many have travelled seasonally, showing at NEDA, Devon, Tryon, USDF Finals, which would make them look like a “Rich Amateur” in many people’s minds.
Have you looked up Heidi’s show record? Yes, she makes a living selling other people’s horses, and I commend her for finding that niche at the right time, being established even before Global became huge. But Heidi doesn’t run with the bigwigs, she isn’t in competition with Helgstrand’s sales horses, they are in a different stratosphere, but I do know at least one CDIAm rider has bought a Helgstrand horse. Heidi mainly shows at White Fences and Gold Coast shows. This is where people show who don’t want to compete against Olympians. It really is the second tier in Wellington.
I don’t take issue with her entering the CDIAm not only since it is within the rules, but also she is not the caliber of rider who just happened to lose their FEI world ranking and squeezed into the class on a technicality.
And yet many people did just that when Karen Pavicic showed in the CDIAm division too.
People get really twisted around by this kind of thing. Our GMO had a year-end award that, like several others, was specifically for amateurs. It was won last year by a former pro who followed the USEF rules and regained her amateur status. The award’s sponsor was so outraged that she let us know she would not come to the podium to present the award, as she had every single prior year, and then she retired the trophy. IMO, very small minded and mean spirited. If it’s all right with USEF (or FEI), that should be good enough for everyone.
What an American-ized attitude. We’re so conditioned to thinking that “amateur” = “not a professional making money with their skills”, but in other countries (and other sports, for that matter), that’s simply not the case. “Amateur” in this case is a designation of ranking and ability, not of whether the rider makes money in the industry.
In some respects, the FEI definition is more fair than the USEF definition. Riders that teach a handful of up-down Pony Club lessons aren’t forced to show with Olympians, and if your scores mean you’re ranked nationally, you have to show with the pros even if you’ve never made a dime teaching lessons or selling for clients. It truly is a more fair division in terms of ability.
ETA: Meagan Maloney is also a USEF pro showing in this class. Why aren’t you up in arms about her showing as an FEI amateur?
I have been thinking about this thread and it is really starting to bother me… (not the answers here, I agree more or less with all of them). But the picture this thread draws of the American Dressage system). I happen to know some people who participate in these AA CDI and I know what they did to enter on that level… that’s totally ok, That is not my point… but I am very shocked that these rich AA who buy horses of the highest quality, train with the best trainers available and show in as many shows as they like with optimal prep (trainer is at the show as well) complain about a person who really works hard to make a living… the pro has no choice which horse she can ride, she has to work with what she gets and make it work… also I am 200% positive that she cannot afford high end training all the time… and she has to compete against these super rich AAs who can do whatever they need… And I guess the result confirms this post… In this case money helped success a lot… as I said before, I have no problem at all with these classes. But having such an advantage and then complaining about people who really have to work hard shouldn’t be necessary…
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