Ottawa, ON—Dressage Canada is pleased to announce the launch of the Dressage Canada Levy Program for the 2008 competition season.

The Levy Program is designed to foster and assist in the education and activities of Canadian dressage riders, coaches, officials, owners and the industry at large.

Effective for 2008, all Equine Canada sanctioned Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum Dressage competitions will collect and remit $7.00 per horse entered in the competition to Dressage Canada.

The $7.00 levy will be collected from each competitor at the time of entry. The revenues generated from this levy program will be used to support a number of domestic, provincial and national programs all of which will be designed to foster the development of dressage riders, coaches, officials, owners and the industry at large.

The first application deadline for the Domestic Program and Bursary Program is March 1, 2009. The first application deadline for the National Team Program is December 1, 2008. The first allocation of funds for all programs will be made beginning in 2009.

The Levy Fees collected will be divided into domestic program support, national team program support and bursary support for riders.

Levy Fees will be divided into percentages to support the following categories:

– 70 per cent Domestic Program Support (vast majority of domestic portion is returned to the province in which it is generated),

– 20 per cent National Team Program Support (includes FEI Youth, FEI Young Horse and FEI Senior),

– 5 per cent Dressage Canada Bursary, and

– 5 per cent Administration including publicity and public relations.

 

Domestic Program Support

A domestic program is an event or function that is designed to develop and educate the dressage community in Canada. Members of this community include athletes, officials/coaches, athlete support personnel (family). A program must provide the opportunity for personal improvement for those community members that the program is designed for.

National Team Program Support—Travel Assistance Support

Below is a list of approved travel assistance support programs from the DC Levy:

– Dressage Canada National Youth Championship (FEI Pony, FEI Children, FEI Junior, FEI Young Rider);

– North American Junior, Young Rider Championships or FEI Youth Invitational Event or FEI Young Rider World Cup (FEI Childrens, FEI Pony, FEI Junior, FEl Young Rider);

– FEI World Breeders’ Championships (FEI Young Horse); and

– International Travel Assistance (FEl Advanced, FEI Grand Prix Riders) Senior team events and senior invitational events specifically Pan American Games, Olympic – Games, World Cup, World Equestrian Games and FEI invitational events.

 

Dressage Canada Bursary

In recognition of the difficulty riders face as they strive to continue their dressage education while competing at high levels of equestrian sport, Dressage Canada has developed a Bursary program for competitors in the FEI dressage divisions (FEI Children, FEI Pony, FEI Junior, FEI Young Rider, FEl Advance and FEI Grand Prix). A limited number of bursary applications will be considered and awarded on a yearly basis by the DCC/DD Committee. Applications are invited from coaches, show organizers, provincial federations, athletes or administrators who have a Gold or Platinum Sport License from Equine Canada.

Levy fees must be submitted to the Equine Canada, Manager Dressage (2685 Queensview Dr, Suite 100, Ottawa, ON K2B 8K2. Note. All cheques must be made payable to Equine Canada) no later than 10 working days after the conclusion of the competition. A Competition Levy Remittance invoice will be included in the competition package sent to organizers from their provincial sport office (PSO).

For more information on the Levy program in 2008 and how to apply for Levy money, please visit the Dressage Canada Levy Program section of Equine Canada website.