2005 CN North American Young Riders’ Championships Presented by Adequan Were A Huge Success

Lexington, VA—August 2, 2005—While several individuals and team members took home medals from the 2005 CN North American Young Riders’ Championships (NAYRC) presented by Adequan, the consensus was that really everyone went home a winner.

The NAYRC is the premier equestrian competition in North America for young riders, age 16-21. Young equestrians come from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the Caribbean Islands to vie for team and individual medals in the three Olympic equestrian disciplines of show jumping, dressage, and eventing. This year also featured select riders from outside North America.

This year’s Championships were held for the first time at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington, VA. Everyone, from riders to coaches to officials, gave the event rave reviews.

Howard Simpson, who set the standard for how the Championships should be run during the 14 years that he ran it at Tempel Farms in Illinois, concurred and had nothing but praise for event directors Brian and Penny Ross. “I thought that Brian and Penny did a great job,” Simpson said. “When someone hosts an event like this for the first time, you figure that there’ll probably be some problems, but that wasn’t the case this time. The event ran great.

“I’d also like to mention the fine work by all the volunteers under Penny and Brian and how well they all did as ‘first timers’ that made it seem to many as if they had been doing it for years. They, as well as Brian and Penny, are to be commended.”

“I thought they did a fantastic job,” said Jack Fritz who, along with General Jack Burton and the late Colonel Donald Thackeray, was one of the forces behind the creation of the Young Riders’ Championships in the 1980s.

“The competitions were all well run and the overall event had a feeling to it that was upbeat and meaningful.”

For many competitors, the NAYRC is their first experience riding on a team, as well as their first time competing under the rules of the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), the international governing body for equestrian sport. Going through veterinary inspections, following FEI rules and working in a team structure are all valuable experiences for these young riders.

Highlighting the week, of course, was the competition. There were three divisions in eventing, two in jumping and one in dressage. Area V won the team Gold in eventing’s CCI** for Young Riders and Area II won the Gold in the CCI* for junior riders. Team Canada won the non-championship CCI J/Y* division.

Back to HorsesDaily 'On the Scene' at the 2005 NAYRC