2023 Shannon Foundation Fund for Judges' Licensing Recipient: Mary Richmond Brown (ID)

I am so thankful to The Dressage Foundation and all of its supporters for the grant that enabled me to attend the first training session of the USEF “r” Judges License program in August. Attaining my USEF “r” Dressage Judge license is a goal I have had for quite some time, and I am very excited to be taking the first steps toward achieving that goal. 

The August training session I attended was held in Saugerties, New York, at the HITS Saugerties Dressage Show. Natalie Lamping provided excellent instruction to myself and my fellow candidates. The session consisted of one day of classroom instruction, followed by two days at a live dressage show, which included oral judging and judging tests at Training, First and Second Levels. 

The next steps in completing the USEF “r” program include completing several apprenticeships with mentor judges at live dressage shows and attending a USEF Dressage Judges clinic before taking the final exam next year. The instruction and feedback that I received at the training session in August helped me to know how I will need to use the apprenticeships and judge’s clinic to prepare myself to be successful at the final exam. 

The grant that I received from TDF to attend this program is greatly appreciated. I have many expenses to cover from the great deal of travel involved in attending the training session, apprenticeships, judges’ clinic, and my final exam. The support from TDF went a long way in helping to ease those financial pressures and I am very thankful for that!