Qualifying criteria for riders hoping to compete in the 2008 CN North American Junior and Young Rider Championships (NAJYRC) at the Colorado Horse Park Presented by Gotham North, is now available.

The Championships, July 29-August 3, 2008, which is the premier equestrian event in North America for riders ages 14-21, operates under the rules of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI), the international governing body for equestrian sport. It is the only FEI championship held annually in this country.

"We are very proud of the championships and the caliber of riding it sets for junior and young riders in North America," said Larry Langer, NAJYRC Event Director. "These are the future riders of our sport, and to see them get a taste of international competition at our event is very exciting."

Run in similar format to the Olympic Games, the championships feature riders competing on teams or as individuals in the three Olympic disciplines of show jumping, dressage and eventing. This also marks the first year that the Western discipline of reining has been added to the schedule.

Juniors and young riders across North America devote countless hours training and competing with the hopes of riding in this prestigious event. North America is broken up geographically to determine the teams and which area, region or zone riders will represent.

Riders attempting to qualify for the championships will represent their zone in show jumping; region in dressage; area in eventing; and region for reining. The zone/region/area that a rider represents is based on their current residency. If riders are competing in the team division, they will be paired with riders from the same zone/region/area.

For show jumping riders, there are different qualifying criteria for each zone that riders must follow. There are 12 zones in North America, and each zone can be represented during the championships. Riders can find out which zone they represent and check their zone's individual qualifying criteria at www.youngriders.org. Among the list of requirements, riders must be U.S. citizens, must not have competed in a Senior Continental or World Championship or in regional or Olympic Games at the grand prix level, must be a current United States Dressage Federation (USDF) member in good standing, must pay International High Performance "IHP" dues and must have an FEI registration number for both horse and rider.

Eventing riders who want to qualify for the championships must have received qualifying scores from a CCI* event or two CIC* events for junior riders and from a CCI** event or two CIC* or CH* or CIC** events for young riders. These qualifications will be implemented along with the individual Area Selection Procedures for riders wishing to qualify for an area junior or young rider team.

Reining riders also have criteria that they must comply with in order to qualify for the championships. They must be in good standing with the USEF, pay high-performance dues, obtain an FEI rider registration, and horses must have a National Passport and FEI registration.

The NAJYRC is the continuation of an annual competition that began in 1974 as an eventing challenge between Canada and the United States. In the years since its inception, it has grown considerably with the addition of a dressage championship in 1981 and the show jumping championship in 1982. The first complete championships with all three Olympic disciplines was held in British Columbia, Canada, in 1982. In 2006, a championship division for juniors was added to the schedule, and now, with a fourth discipline joining the world-class line-up, the championships have reached a