FEI Youth Tests and International Starts Explained

For many talented young riders, the step from national youth competitions to international starts is the first real taste of elite-sport level. Under the FEI (the international equestrian federation), its own age categories, tests, and conditions apply — different from what you're used to with the KNHS (the Dutch equestrian federation). This guide explains how those youth categories and tests fit together, and what your first start abroad involves in practice.

The FEI Youth Categories

The FEI sorts young riders into fixed age categories. Your category determines whether you compete on a pony or a horse, which tests you ride, and which international competitions you may enter. The classification is counted by calendar year, not by your birthday, so you stay in the same group for the whole year.

There's overlap around the transition ages, so you don't have to switch categories mid-season. The precise age limits and the reference date are set out in the FEI regulations and can change from year to year; always check the current table on fei.org for your birth year. Which category the KNHS uses nationally, and the entry requirements for a youth team, are covered in KNHS Youth Team Entry Criteria.

How the Youth Tests Progress in Difficulty

In dressage, each category has its own series of tests that increase in difficulty as you get older. A dressage test always follows the same logic — a fixed sequence of movements at the letters of the arena, scored as a percentage — but the required movements get harder with each category:

• Pony Riders ride tests with the basic gaits, simple lateral movements, and transitions, matched to what a pony can do.
• Children ride on horses, with tests that are lighter than junior level.
• Juniors add movements such as shoulder-in, half-pass, and the first flying changes.
• Young Riders ride tests that approach the Lichte Tour (a national dressage level roughly equivalent to Prix St Georges): sequences of changes, pirouettes, and more collection.

The FEI publishes the exact tests and the movements they contain per category, and updates them from time to time. For the test you're going to ride, always go by the current version on fei.org, not an older one circulating online — the tests are revised every few years.

What an International Start Requires

A start abroad under the FEI requires more than a KNHS startbewijs (national competition start permit). The basics come down to three things, which you arrange well in advance through the KNHS as the national federation:

• Rider registration. You need an FEI ID and a valid annual licence. For young riders, this often requires a parent's or guardian's consent; the federation specifies which forms are needed.
• Horse registration and passport. The horse or pony gets its own FEI registration, linked to an FEI passport or a national passport with a recognized recognition card.
• Vaccination status. The influenza vaccination must follow the FEI schedule and be correctly recorded in the passport. A vaccination entry that falls just outside the allowed window can mean you're turned away at the pre-competition inspection.

Expect this to take weeks, especially at the start of the season when everyone registers at once. Have your vet check the vaccination schedule and the paperwork in good time. The exact deadlines are set out in the FEI Veterinary Regulations and sometimes change; check them on fei.org rather than relying on what a stablemate remembers.

Your First CDI: Start Low and Close to Home

An international dressage competition is called a CDI (Concours Dressage International); for youth riders you'll often see the designation CDI-J (Juniors), CDI-Y (Young Riders), or CDI-P (Ponies). For a first international start, the same advice applies as for any new step: deliberately choose an accessible level in a reachable country.

A competition just across the border in Germany, Belgium, or within the Netherlands itself is logistically much simpler than a trip across half of Europe. Smaller international competitions also have more manageable fields and a gentler entry threshold than the big championship-qualifying events. You learn the international routine there — the veterinary inspection, the schedule, the different atmosphere in the ring — without the stakes being at their highest right away.

Entering doesn't go through the regular KNHS competition system, but through FEI channels with the federation as an intermediary. The usual pattern: you choose a competition from the international calendar, submit your intended entry to the KNHS, and the organizer confirms whether you're accepted. For competitions that count as a selection event, there may be a waiting list or a pre-selection round.

At the Competition Itself

An international competition runs on a tighter set of rules than an average national competition. A few things that trip up first-timers:

• Veterinary inspection. Many international competitions hold an arrival check or "vet check," where the passport, chip, and vaccinations are checked before you're allowed to start. Make sure your paperwork is right at hand.
• Bring the physical passport. The passport is your access pass to the stables and the ring, not just a formality. Always bring it with you.
• Book stabling in advance. Stalls are usually arranged through the organizer and, at popular competitions, fill up before the start places do. Book early.
• Dress and tack. The FEI sets requirements for clothing and permitted tack, and these can differ by category from the KNHS rules — think of what's allowed in terms of bit, spurs, and whip. Check this in advance, since it's checked at the inspection.

For the broader logistics around a first start abroad — transport, crossing the border, and paperwork — there's a separate guide: Arranging Your First International FEI Competition.

In Short

• The FEI has its own youth categories — Pony, Children, Juniors, Young Riders — each with its own, progressively harder series of dressage tests.
• Arrange rider and horse registration, an FEI passport, and an up-to-date influenza vaccination well before your first start, through the KNHS.
• For your first CDI, deliberately choose a low youth level in a nearby country, and enter through the federation, not the national system.
• At the competition, plan for the veterinary inspection, the physical passport, stabling booked in advance, and the FEI requirements on dress and tack.

The age limits, tests, and veterinary deadlines change every season. Use fei.org and knhs.nl as your leading source, and discuss with your instructor which level and which competition suit your combination (you and your horse together).

See also: KNHS Youth Team Entry Criteria · Arranging Your First International FEI Competition · Level: Talent Pathway