Caboolture Dressage Group
Caboolture Dressage is dedicated to increasing the awareness and participation in dressage and is working towards better facilities for the benefit of all our competitors and members. The group caters for all ages and all abilities of horsemanship.
Apart from the associate and official competitions which are run under EFA rules we hold Picnic Dressage Mornings and we run RDA tests at our associate competitions. The Picnic Dressage Mornings are low key days where riders can come along and have a practice, try a higher level to gauge how they are going, bring out a new or young horse. The RDA tests we hold are not just for riders with a disability. Any rider can enter these classes just for fun. Try them and see – they are really quite difficult!
General Meetings
General meetings are held the third Tuesday of the month at the Alexander
Barr Sporting Complex in the dressage scoring shed. All members &
friends are welcome to come along. Meetings start at 7.30pm.
How we began
The CDG was started by Bev Semple back in the mid 1970’s. Bev gathered together a group of enthusiastic horse riders in her backyard and put into place what has grown into one of the largest dressage clubs in Queensland. Originally competitions were held at the Caboolture Showgrounds on Sundays but as the popularity of both dressage and the Caboolture markets grew one of us had to move.
Alexander Barr Sporting Complex
When the Alexander Barr Sporting Complex became available the CDG took the opportunity to accept an invitation from the Caboolture Shire Council to move there. Our ties with the Caboolture Showground are still strong as we use the indoor arena for freestyle competitions and make use of the stabling available at the showground. The Showground Committee and the Caboolture Shire Council have provided a safe access for our competitors, which enable them to move from the showgrounds to the Alexander Barr Oval without going out on the roads. With the help of the CSC the CDG has developed the dressage grounds at the Alexander Barr Sporting Complex into a premier dressage facility.
We have four permanent sand arenas, a large sandy loam grass covered warm-up area and a permanent shaded workers’ area. Our facility is fully fenced which makes it very safe for competitors and horses alike. We have separate areas for car and float parking and spectator parking which helps keep horses and public separate from each other.
The CDG runs competitions from February to November, sometimes two a month. We hold official, associate and members only competitions and support the young riders in our sport by letting our grounds out to the Young Riders Sub-committee and to Interschool Committees for competitions. Each year we plan to hold information evenings where interested people can come along and meet fellow horse enthusiasts and get the latest information on a variety of subjects. Some of the subjects include saddlery fitting and care, dentistry and hoof care, presentation of your horse, how to get the most out of riding your test. In conjunction with these sessions we also run riding clinics with well-known dressage riders.
Charity
Each year the CDG donates the proceeds from a competition to a charity. We have done this for the last four years and it is now an annual event. The money we have raised so far has been donated to the Cartmill Centre Riding for the Disabled at Burpengary, the RDA Mobile Unit and recently to Marita Hird to help send her to the Paralympic Games in Athens. We have high profile members such as Marita Hird who is the winner of an equestrian Bronze Medal at the Paralympics in Sydney 2000. Marita has competed at the World Equestrian Games in 2003 and represented Australia in Athens at the Paralympic Games in 2004.
Volunteers
The future of our sport rests in the hands of our volunteers so those members that offer their support are rewarded throughout the year. Input from volunteers is important as it brings new ideas and suggestions into the club which can increase participation & membership.