The United States Dressage Federation™ (USDF) is excited to announce the development of a new judge education initiative, in partnership with Black Horse One (BHO) and with funding support provided by The Dressage Foundation’s Mary Anne and Walter McPhail Judge Education Fund, to be launched in 2024. This new initiative will provide enhanced education opportunities for USEF judges and USDF L Education Program candidates, through the well established virtual and interactive technology capabilities of BHO. While these programs will consist of three types of educational sessions (online, virtual interactive, and live interactive), the intent is not to replace, but to complement and supplement the live L Program and USEF judge training sessions already conducted by USDF.

In addition to supplementing the existing education and training offerings, these programs will allow USDF to offer more in-depth education sessions and modules for designated and non-designated specialties, such as Freestyle, Young Horse, Para, and Dressage Seat Equitation, to utilize these sessions for compulsory education while also broadening the offerings of non-compulsory education, and to provide even more online and virtual education from a judging perspective to the entire USDF membership and dressage community.

When speaking on the exciting new initiative, USDF President George Williams had this to say, “Black Horse One, whose platform is currently being utilized as an enhancement to the FEI’s judge education and development, is already well established as the premier source for online, virtual, and interactive education for judges, specifically through their BHO Masters Symposiums. So, partnering with them to further enhance and develop our existing USEF and USDF training opportunities was a no-brainer. The combination of their tech savvy and proven success in this virtual arena makes them the perfect partner to move our judge education into the future. And none of this would be made possible without the generous funding support of The Dressage Foundation’s Mary Anne and Walter McPhail Judge Education Fund.”

To access current judge education available through USDF, or to learn more about Black Horse One and their full lineup of offerings, visit www.usdf.org and Blackhorse-one.com, respectively. Also, for more information about grants and other opportunities available through The Dressage Foundation, visit their website at www.dressagefoundation.org.

Founded in 1973, the United States Dressage Federation is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to education, recognition of achievement, and promotion of dressage. For more information about USDF membership or programs, visit www.usdf.org, email usdressage@usdf.org, or call (859) 971-2277.