FEI Youth Divisions: Ponies to Under 25
Contents
The FEI youth divisions give riders an international pathway from age twelve to twenty-five, through five categories: Children, Pony riders, Juniors, Young Riders and Under 25. Each category rides tests at a defined technical level, from roughly Elementary standard for Children up to Grand Prix level in the U25 division, so a rider can progress through international sport in step with their age and their horse’s education. All age brackets run by calendar year, from 1 January of the year the rider reaches the lower age to 31 December of the year of the upper age.
The five categories
| Category | Rider ages | Mount | Test standard (national equivalent) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Children | 12–14 | Horses (min. age 6) | Elementary / US Second Level: collected and medium work, shoulder-in, simple changes |
| Pony | 12–16 | Ponies ≤ 148 cm (min. age 6 at FEI events) | Medium / US Third Level: walk pirouettes, half-passes, simple changes |
| Junior | 14–18 | Horses (min. age 6) | Advanced Medium: single flying changes |
| Young Rider | 16–21 | Horses (min. age 7) | Prix St Georges: canter half-pirouettes, four- and three-tempi changes |
| Under 25 | 16–25 | Horses (min. age 8) | Intermediate II and the U25 Grand Prix |
The category ages overlap deliberately: a sixteen-year-old may ride ponies, Junior tests or Young Rider tests depending on the mount and the level of education, and the choice belongs to the rider and trainer. Ponies must hold an FEI measuring certificate confirming a height of 148 cm or under.
How the tests are structured
Each youth category competes on a fixed set of FEI tests: a Team test, an Individual test and, at championships and most CDIs, a Freestyle, ridden in ascending order of difficulty across a competition. The standards climb the same ladder as the national levels: the Children tests confirm collected work and simple changes, the Pony tests add half-passes and walk pirouettes, the Junior tests introduce the single flying change, and the Young Rider tests are ridden at full Prix St Georges standard, with canter half-pirouettes and tempi changes.
The Children division uses a mixed judging format: one judge marks the technical execution of the individual movements while another judges the overall quality of the riding, a system the German federation subsequently adopted for its national rider tests. The design reflects the division’s purpose, which is to develop correct seat and influence before rewarding technical ambition.
One detail separates national and international youth sport: the horse minimums differ. British Dressage’s published rules illustrate the pattern — Junior riders may compete nationally on horses of five and over, but FEI competition requires six; ponies may be five nationally but six at FEI events. A youth combination legal at home is therefore not automatically eligible for a CDI, and campaign plans for championship seasons are built around the stricter FEI minimums.
The Under 25 bridge
The U25 division exists to solve a specific problem: the gap between Young Rider sport at small tour level and open senior sport at Grand Prix. U25 combinations ride Intermediate II and the Grand Prix 16–25, a Grand Prix-level test written for the division, on horses at least eight years old. National circuits mirror the division: the Dutch Zware Tour, for example, includes the Grand Prix 16–25 among its classes. For riders, U25 offers championship experience at the top technical level before facing the open senior fields; for the horse market, it creates steady demand for experienced Grand Prix schoolmasters capable of teaching the level.
National pathways into the FEI divisions
The FEI categories sit on top of national youth structures that feed them, and the interlocking is explicit in the federations’ rulebooks. The Dutch regulations run Children, Junior, Young Rider and U25 classes inside the national circuit and let the results carry across the ladders: winstpunten earned in the Children tests count toward promotion from Z1 to Z2, Junior-test points toward promotion from Z2 to ZZ-Licht, and promotion from the Young Riders class to the Lichte Tour opens at 10 winstpunten or two scores of 65%. Germany organises its national sport by age classes (Altersklassen) alongside the performance classes, with championships for the under-14 Children category ridden on horses only, mirroring the FEI rule. Britain runs its youth pathway through BD’s youth programme toward the FEI teams, with the published test-standard equivalences above serving as the map. The effect in every system is the same: a young rider’s national record and FEI category record accumulate in one career rather than two.
Championships and CDIs
Youth categories compete internationally at CDIs carrying the category letters in their titles — P for Ponies, Ch for Children, J for Juniors, Y for Young Riders and U25 — with many shows running several categories alongside the senior tours; how the designations work is covered in the CDI system. The FEI European Championships for the youth categories run annually, in contrast to the two-year cycle of the senior continental championship, giving each rider generation multiple championship opportunities within its category years.
One boundary rule shapes campaign planning: a rider may not compete in both their youth category and the senior category at FEI championships in the same calendar year, so the year of moving up is a genuine decision rather than a gradual transition. The young horse championships are the exception, open to riders of any age with eligible horses.
Horses in the youth pathway
The divisions’ horse rules run parallel to the rider rules: minimum age six for Children, Pony and Junior mounts, seven for Young Riders and eight for U25, matching the FEI minimums for the corresponding technical levels. In practice the youth divisions run on experienced, educated horses: a Junior or Young Rider test asks for confirmed changes and collected work that very few young horses can offer a teenage rider, so the typical youth-team horse is an older schoolmaster with an established record at the level. Matching a young rider to a horse whose education exceeds their own is the standard route through the pathway, and the considerations behind it are the subject of matching age and training level to the rider.
Sources
- British Dressage — International competitions (FEI youth categories, ages and test standards), 2026. https://www.britishdressage.co.uk/get-involved/bd-youth/competing-with-bd-youth/international-competitions/
- 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
- Fédération Équestre Internationale — FEI Dressage Rules, 26th edition, 2026. https://inside.fei.org/fei/disc/dressage/rules
- Deutsche Reiterliche Vereinigung (FN) — LPO 2024 (mixed judging adopted from the FEI Children tests), 2024. https://www.pferd-aktuell.de/turniersport/regelwerke-und-merkblaetter/leistungs-pruefungs-ordnung/neue-lpo-2024
- Koninklijke Nederlandse Hippische Sportfederatie (KNHS) — Disciplinereglement Dressuur, versie 2026 (Grand Prix 16–25 in the Zware Tour), 2026. https://www.knhs.nl/media/jmid00ij/disciplinereglement-dressuur-2026.pdf
Frequently asked questions
What are the FEI youth categories in dressage? Children (12–14), Pony riders (12–16), Juniors (14–18), Young Riders (16–21) and Under 25 (16–25). Each rides FEI tests at a defined standard, from roughly Elementary level for Children up to Grand Prix level in the U25 division.
What level do FEI Juniors ride? The Junior tests are ridden at roughly Advanced Medium / US Third-to-Fourth Level standard and include single flying changes. Horses must be at least six years old.
What level is FEI Young Riders? Prix St Georges standard: the Young Rider tests include canter half-pirouettes and flying changes every fourth and third stride, on horses at least seven years old.
Can a rider compete in youth and senior FEI classes in the same year? Not at championships: a rider must choose their category for the calendar year. The young horse championships are the exception, open to all ages with eligible horses.
What is the FEI Under 25 division? A bridge between Young Rider sport and open senior Grand Prix: riders aged 16–25 compete at Intermediate II and the Grand Prix 16–25, a Grand Prix-level test written for the division, on horses at least eight years old.
At what age can a rider start FEI youth competition? From the calendar year of the rider’s twelfth birthday, in the Children or Pony categories. The pathway then runs continuously to the end of the year of the twenty-fifth birthday through the Junior, Young Rider and U25 divisions.
How tall can an FEI pony be? 148 cm or under without shoes, confirmed by an FEI measuring certificate. At FEI events ponies must be at least six years old.