The FEI Levels and Divisions

The Fédération Équestre Internationale (FEI) governs international dressage through three level brackets, the Small Tour, Medium Tour and Big Tour, plus dedicated divisions for young horses and for riders by age category. These levels sit above every national ladder and represent the apex of the sport: the tests ridden at the Olympic Games, the World Championships and international CDI competitions. The governing rulebook is the FEI Dressage Rules, currently in its 26th edition with updates effective 1 January 2026.

Small Tour

The Small Tour comprises Prix St Georges and Intermediate I. It is the entry point to FEI competition and the first stage where international standards apply uniformly across nations.

Prix St Georges (PSG)

Prix St Georges marks the start of FEI-level dressage. Horses must be at least seven years old, with age counted from 1 January of the year of birth. The test introduces the first full international demands of collection and FEI judging standards.

Key movements include:

• half canter pirouettes (180-degree turns on the haunches)
• three-time tempi changes (flying changes every third canter stride)
• single flying changes out of the canter half-passes
• extended and collected work in all three paces
• shoulder-in and travers in trot
• half walk pirouettes
• 8-metre voltes in collected trot

A freestyle to music also exists at small tour level (ridden at Intermediate I standard), with the same movement vocabulary arranged to the rider’s own choreography.

Intermediate I (Inter I)

Intermediate I builds on Prix St Georges, increasing the precision and difficulty of the collected work. It is governed by the same FEI rules, carries the same seven-year minimum horse age, and is judged in the same format.

Key movements include all the PSG elements, plus:

• two-time tempi changes (flying changes every second stride)
• full canter pirouettes (360 degrees)
• zig-zag half-pass in canter
• increased collection in all gaits

Inter I is typically offered alongside Prix St Georges at CDI competitions, and many combinations ride both tests at the same show.

Medium Tour

The Medium Tour comprises Intermediate A, Intermediate B and Intermediate II. These levels bridge the gap between the Small Tour and the Big Tour, and from Intermediate II upward horses must be at least eight years old.

Intermediate A and B

Intermediate A and B provide stepping stones toward Grand Prix that previously did not exist, letting horses develop Grand Prix skills incrementally without the full technical and physical demands of the complete Grand Prix test. The current Intermediate A test dates from the 2015 edition and Intermediate B from the 2020 edition, both updated for 2026.

Both tests already contain the signature Grand Prix elements (two-time and one-time tempi changes, canter pirouettes, and piaffe and passage) but in shorter, less demanding sequences than Intermediate II or the Grand Prix. Intermediate B sits a step above Intermediate A, asking for more of these movements and greater collection and impulsion, so the two together let judges and trainers gauge readiness for Grand Prix in stages without requiring the whole of it at once.

Intermediate II (Inter II)

Intermediate II is the final preparation before Grand Prix. It includes most Grand Prix movements, including one-time tempi changes, longer sequences of piaffe and passage with transitions between them, full canter pirouettes and the canter zig-zag, in a shorter, slightly less demanding sequence.

Inter II does not include the full complexity of the Grand Prix but demands Grand Prix-level quality of execution. Many horses and riders compete at Inter II for extended periods, sometimes years, before moving up, and some never do.

Big Tour

The Big Tour consists of the Grand Prix, the Grand Prix Special and the Grand Prix Freestyle. This is the highest level of the sport, with a minimum horse age of eight.

Grand Prix

The Grand Prix is the complete test, incorporating every classical competition movement and the full range of collection and extension: piaffe, passage and the transitions between them, canter pirouettes on both reins, one-time tempi changes, the canter zig-zag with flying changes, and extended and collected work at the highest standard. The Grand Prix test article breaks it down movement by movement.

A condensed variant, the Short Grand Prix (2021 edition), is used only at CDI-W World Cup qualifiers, where it precedes the Freestyle in a shorter format.

Grand Prix Special

The Special is a fixed test at the same level with a more technically concentrated pattern, placing extra emphasis on the transitions. At championships it typically decides the team medals.

Grand Prix Freestyle (Kür)

The Freestyle is a choreographed interpretation of the Grand Prix requirements. Riders design their own floor plan within FEI parameters, set to music, and receive artistic marks alongside the technical ones; the mechanics are covered in the freestyle article. The Freestyle features at the Olympic Games, the World Championships and the major CDIs, and typically decides the individual medals.

Young horse divisions

The FEI recognises a separate stream of classes for horses not yet ready for the senior tests.

• 4-year-olds: introductory tests focused on the quality of the basic gaits, rhythm and relaxation in a simple frame, without collection, flying changes or pirouettes.
• 5-year-olds: lateral work and medium paces are introduced; advanced collection is still avoided.
• 6-year-olds: collected work, walk pirouettes and single flying changes appear, comparable to about Third Level (US) / Medium (UK) in national terms.
• 7-year-olds: roughly Fourth Level / Advanced Medium standard, one step below Prix St Georges, giving young horses FEI experience at an appropriate stage.

Young horse divisions are strongest in Europe, especially Germany and the Netherlands, the heart of sport-horse production, and give producers a systematic pathway toward senior sport.

Age-category divisions

The FEI also defines rider categories below the open senior division. Ages run by calendar year, from 1 January of the year the rider reaches the lower age to 31 December of the year they reach the upper age.

• Children (12–14) ride tests around Elementary (UK) standard, on horses at FEI championships; horses must be at least six years old.
• Pony riders (12–16) ride ponies of 148 cm or under with FEI measurement certificates, in tests around Medium (UK) standard.
• Juniors (14–18) ride at roughly Advanced Medium / Third–Fourth Level standard, including single flying changes, on horses at least six years old.
• Young riders (16–21) ride at Prix St Georges standard (team, individual and freestyle tests) on horses at least seven years old.
• Under 25 (16–25) bridges youth and senior sport: Intermediate II, the U25 Grand Prix and the Grand Prix Freestyle, on horses at least eight years old.
• Seniors (25+) may enter all FEI levels; in practice the senior division is open to eligible riders from 16 up, and “senior” championships are simply the open ones.

Youth riders competing in FEI championships may not compete in both their youth category and the senior category in the same calendar year, with the exception of the young horse championships, which are open to all ages with eligible horses.

How the tours map to CDI star ratings

International competitions carry star ratings that determine which tours are offered and the prize money involved: broadly, CDI1* hosts the Small Tour, CDI2* adds the Medium Tour, and the Big Tour runs from CDI3* upward. The full system, including CDI-W World Cup qualifiers and CDIO Nations Cups, is covered in the CDI system article.

Progression from national to FEI level

The typical progression:

1. Fourth Level / Advanced (national): consistent self-carriage, collection and flying changes.
2. Prix St Georges: horse at least seven; most federations require a qualifying record at the top national level (qualification requirements).
3. Intermediate I: usually after establishing consistent PSG scores.
4. Intermediate A or B: an optional stepping stone.
5. Intermediate II: horse at least eight; some pass through quickly, others stay for years.
6. Grand Prix: very few horses and riders reach it.

Not all combinations progress through every step, and many spend their whole international careers in the small tour. Progress depends on horse talent, rider skill, training and opportunity, the same aptitude questions that shape the buying process for an FEI prospect.

Judging and scoring at FEI level

FEI dressage is scored movement by movement on a 0–10 scale, with coefficients doubling the weight of selected movements and a collective mark for overall harmony. The final score is the points earned divided by the maximum, expressed as a percentage. As orientation: 60% is satisfactory and the baseline for many qualifications, above 70% is competitive at the top of the sport, and above 80% belongs to a handful of combinations in each era. The full mechanics (panels, coefficients, collectives and why judges differ) are in judging and scoring.

At CDI3* and above, a ground jury of at least five judges sits around the arena at C, E, B, M and H; championships and the Olympic Games use seven, adding K and F.

The major FEI competitions

• Olympic Games — Grand Prix, Special and Freestyle; team and individual medals every four years.
• FEI World Championships — every four years, at Grand Prix level; the 2026 edition is in Aachen.
• Continental championships — the senior European Championships run every two years, in odd-numbered years; youth championships run annually.
• FEI Dressage World Cup — an indoor season (roughly October–April) of CDI-W qualifiers, ridden with the Short Grand Prix and decided in the Freestyle at a final each spring.
• The CDI circuit — year-round international competitions at every star level.

The formats and qualification paths for each are covered in championships and qualification.

Sources

• Fédération Équestre Internationale — FEI Dressage Rules, 26th edition (updates effective 1 January 2026), 2026. https://inside.fei.org/fei/disc/dressage/rules
• Fédération Équestre Internationale — Dressage Tests, 2026. https://inside.fei.org/fei/your-role/organisers/dressage/tests
• United States Equestrian Federation — Rule Book, Chapter DR: Dressage Division (FEI minimum horse ages), 2026. https://www.usef.org/forms-pubs/F3p8pgrWgAo/dr-dressage-division
• British Dressage — International competitions (FEI youth categories), 2026. https://www.britishdressage.co.uk/get-involved/bd-youth/competing-with-bd-youth/international-competitions/
• Koninklijke Nederlandse Hippische Sportfederatie (KNHS) — Disciplinereglement Dressuur, versie 2026 (national implementation of FEI levels), 2026. https://www.knhs.nl/media/jmid00ij/disciplinereglement-dressuur-2026.pdf