NEDA Youth

Josie has been NEDA's Youth Liaison since 2020, connecting with Region 8 youth, interviewing our younger members, assisting with social media, leading the Youth Committee, and helping to keep us moving towards the 21st century.

A competitor herself, she loves to highlight the hard work going on with our younger members, and showcasing how many different backgrounds and goals our younger fellow members represent. Please reach out to her here if you are:

• wondering how to support your young enthusiast,

• curious what benefits and support you might be unaware of for dressage youth,

• are a NEDA youth interested in being interviewed for our publications (with parental permissions, of course!),

• or are interested in joining the NEDA Youth Committee (more info below).

We are very proud of our hardworking group of young members who work together to share perspectives at events with the public, attend Regional meetings to voice their concerns, offer support and community to families and other young members, and help make NEDA such a wonderful part of our industry.

To support leadership development at the benefit of the organization, in 2025 NEDA is looking to embed a member of our Youth Committee onto each of our other functional working committee areas, like Competitions, Membership, Sport Horse, Education, Sponsorship, or Awards.

There is a lot of work to be done to plan for the future, and there is no better way to do that than give our future leaders an early view at that very work.

Want to join? You are welcome! Email Josie to get connected.

Catch the Youth Committee giving a tour of the HITS Saugerties show grounds for our members here:

Volunteering at NEDA can look like many different things, so no matter your experience, age, location, or amount of free time, we have something here for you!

Volunteering doesn't just look good on scholarship and college applications! Volunteering has proven to have an impact on youth leadership capabilities, mental health, social skills, peer support, civic engagement, career trajectory, and of course gets you a behind the scenes look at an industry you love.

NEDA Volunteering Opportunities

NEDA members can track their volunteer hours in their account here on the NEDA website, which allows them better data to apply for scholarships, as well participation in the following two volunteer awards programs:

Dressage4Kids ACT Program

USDF Group Member Organization Volunteer Incentive Program

NEDA youth are automatically eligible for our Year End Awards program, just like all our members! They need to be sure all owners of the horses they're competing have also joined by the August 15th deadline, and other requirements do apply.

Click here for the NEDA Year End Awards page

A great way to learn more about how to be a successful competitor is to learn about the workings of competitions by volunteering! Shadow a show official or seasoned volunteer to start out, and get a behind-the-scenes look at what judges and show managers watch for.

Click here for the NEDA volunteering calendar

As an Olympic sport, NEDA's youth members are protected through the U.S. Center for Safe Sport, created to address the issue of abuse in sport. The Center works with National Governing Bodies, including US Equestrian, to enforce the SafeSport Code and the Federal Safe Sport Act. The policies in both the Code and Federal Law are aimed at protecting athletes from harm and abuse and apply to all Olympic and amateur sporting disciplines.

Click here for the USEF's Safe Sport resource page

NEDA youth members are applicable for many scholarships that NEDA offers, and it doesn't matter if their priorities are in competition, education, or industry leadership and volunteerism!

There are options for youth to apply for assistance in attending the USDF annual Convention up to $1000, and special recognition scholarships and add-ons for particularly dedicated volunteerism. The general education scholarship up to $1000 (if over the age of 14) can assist our youth in pursing seminars, workshops, clinics, and more! Deadlines for applications are in the beginning of June, October, and November of each year.

Click here for the NEDA Scholarships page

Lesson Link is for all members, but could be especially useful for our younger members in a few ways we'll talk about here. But first, what is Lesson Link?

Lesson Link allows our members to purchase a discounted lesson from various trainers in NEDA's community, many with particular specialties. Some trainers offer up lesson horses and some offer to travel to you (with some limitations or added fees). Some trainers offer virtual options, if you are in a remote area and getting connected to the community feels hard, or you are not yet confident leaving the property with your horse.

The program can help a young rider get exposure to a new style of trainer, build confidence in a controlled setting, or get specialized help with a particular challenge.

There are lots of options available to browse through, so take a peek at the program through any of the links below:

Lesson Link program page

Lesson Link map & directory of participating trainers

Lesson Link detailed offerings (in alphabetical order)

NEDA Know How is an award-winning webinar series filmed live for one hour on Thursday nights in January, February, and March. Started during the pandemic in 2020, NEDA has built up a robust library of recordings, and makes sure to host sessions focused on youth every year. 

We recommend browsing the full library of content for sessions matching your interest, but will also call out a few of these youth-focused sessions as well:

Visit the NEDA Know How program page

NEDA Know How with Juan Matute Sr. & Juan Matute Jr. to discuss dressage across generations

NEDA Know How with George and Noel Williams to discuss Young Rider development

NEDA Know How with Sophia Chavonelle & Sabine Schut-Kery on Young Rider Development

NEDA Know How with Anna Buffini to discuss Her Horses' Lessons