Equestrian South Australia
Dressage HOTY Awards for 2024

The awards are announced and presented at the ESA Annual Awards Night held at the end of January or early February each year. The winning combinations are awarded an embroidered rug.

The awards are an aggregate of the nominated competitions held at SA dressage competitions over the course of the calendar year, as well as the Australian Dressage Championships, Australian National Youth Championships, AOR National Championships and National PARA Championships held interstate.

Please refer to the DSA Competition Calendar on the ESA Website, which lists the nominated events. https://www.sa.equestrian.org.au/dressage-sa

The annual awards are open to all ESA competitive members and registered horses that hold a current dressage licence. The winner of each EA division (EA, AOR, Foundation, Youth, Pony and Para) will have the highest aggregate points from their best ten placed tests from the nominated competitions held during the year.

Riders competing in the OPEN & AOR FEI Dressage Horse and Rider of the Year or Youth and Pony, if they nominate to compete in the FEI HOTY, will have the aggregate score from their best eight placed tests from the nominated competitions held during the year tallied. Results are taken from the competitive results on the EA database.

If there is equality in points accrued at the completion of the calendar year, the next best-placed tests will be used to determine a winner. If there is still equality, then all will be announced as winners. Riders are required to nominate for the 2024 annual awards via Nominate.

Enrolments will open in January 2024 and will be advertised on the DSA Facebook page.

There will be a rolling intake; however, points will not be back-dated if a rider enters after competing at a nominated event.

One rider may enter the same award on multiple horses or may enter different horses for different awards but cannot nominate the same horse for multiple awards.

Award Categories

FEI Dressage Horse & Rider of the Year
Aggregate of FEI results from the nominated competitions where scores are 60% or over includes AOR & OPEN FEI riders. Includes Youth & Pony if they nominate to compete FEI HOTY.

EA Dressage Horse & Rider of the Year
(for OPEN riders) aggregate of results Preliminary -Advanced from the nominated competitions where scores are 60% or over.

Adult Amateur Owner Rider & Horse of the Year
Aggregate of AOR results from Elementary - Advanced from the nominated competitions where scores are 60% or over.

Foundation Horse & Rider of the Year
Aggregate of AOR results Preliminary - Novice from the nominated competitions where scores are 60% or over.

Youth Dressage Rider of the Year
Aggregate results from all levels at the nominated competitions where scores are 60% or over, including EA & FEI Youth.

Dressage Pony of the Year
Aggregate of results from all levels at the nominated competitions where scores are 60% or over, includes EA & FEI Pony.

Para Equestrian Horse & Rider of the Year
Aggregate of results from all grades at the nominated competitions where scores are 60% or over, including EA Preliminary to FEI Grand Prix.

Criteria for Awards - 2024 

1. Riders must be current ESA members.
2. Horses/ponies must be EA (SA registered) and have a current Dressage Competition Licence.
3. Para equestrian riders must be classified (EA or FEI)
4. Points are awarded individually to each horse/pony and rider combination placing in official tests at the nominated events
5. Riders with more than one horse/pony will accrue separate points for each horse/rider combination in their nominated award category
6. Points are only awarded if 60% or over is obtained
7. Points are awarded for placing as per the tables below for the tests at each nominated competition. Dressage clubs in SA have the option of nominating one event each year as a ‘Jackpot’ event that has weighted points for HOTY set out in the table below.
8. There is no restriction to the amount of EA tests that can receive points on non-championship events that are run over two days - a maximum of 2 tests per day. A maximum of 2 FEI tests can count toward FEI HOTY for championship and non-championship events run over two days. Participant, Closed Restricted, Closed Unrestricted, H/C and Freestyle tests do not count.
9. Pony dressage classes count for points.
10. Youth rider age is from the beginning of the calendar year in which the rider turns ten years for horses and eight years for ponies to the end of the calendar year in which the rider turns 21. This is a combined group based on current EA Rules for Juniors and Young-Riders
11. To qualify as an Amateur Owner Rider (AOR), riders must declare that they meet the criteria as set out in the National Dressage Rules.4.6.1. It is the AOR's responsibility to ensure they have made it clear on their entries that they are entering as an AOR and to ensure that the draw clearly states they are competing as an AOR - this cannot be backdated. If the rider is not listed on the draw an AOR combination, they cannot accrue points for that specific competition. The onus is on the rider to make it clear prior to the competition.
12. DSA reserves the right to review if and when needed, and the DSA decision is final

Points are allocated as set out in the table below