Lexington, Ky – US Equestrian has announced a presidential rule modification to allow an alternative option of qualifying for the 2021 USEF Dressage Seat Medal (DSM) Finals in case of the cancellation of a 2020 Dressage Seat Medal Semi-Final.

Under Section 2 of Article DR133: Dressage Seat Equitation, the top two riders in a semi-final class at a Great American/USDF Regional Championship qualify for the finals.

Under the presidential modification, if a 2020 DSM Semi-Final is cancelled, athletes who reside in that region have two options to qualify for the 2021 DSM Finals. They may compete in a semi-final in another region and qualify by placing in the top two of their class. Alternatively, they may qualify using the method detailed below.

1. Athletes may qualify using scores earned in any qualifying Dressage Seat Equitation (DSE) class held at a USEF Licensed/USDF Recognized Dressage Competition between August 1, 2019 and November 30, 2020:
   1. In order to qualify under this method, two scores must be earned during the qualifying period;
   2. If both scores are earned in the same weekend (whether the same or different competitions), the scores must be from two different judges;
   3. Those two scores will be averaged and ranked, and the top two athletes in that region will receive the USEF invitation to the 2021 DSM Finals;
   4. If an athlete earns more than two scores, only the two highest scores will be averaged and counted toward the athlete’s ranking;
   5. Only athletes with a minimum average score of 75% will receive an invitation;
   6. If one of the top two athletes does not accept the invitation to the 2021 DSM Finals, the third ranked athlete will be invited, provided that athlete has a minimum average score of 75%;
   7. Any ties in the ranking list will be broken in favor of the athlete who achieved the highest score in their second DSE class being used to compile their average;
   8. Only athletes who reside or were entered to compete in a region where a 2020 DSM Semi-Final is cancelled may use this method of qualifying for the 2021 DSM Finals.

2. Alternatively, an athlete may choose to attend a semi-final in an unaffected region. If an athlete chooses this option, the score earned in the semi-final competition will be used as their qualifying opportunity for the 2021 DSM Finals and they will not be able to qualify through #1 above.