The Bottom Line On Prize Money

Should there be more cash awards in dressage competitions? We look at the pros, cons, and challenges.

By Natalie Defee Mendik

Reprinted from the September/October 2024 issue of USDF Connection magazine.

Most dressage competitors hope to bring home a ribbon or two when showing. If they’re lucky, a nice high-point award may be in the cards. And for high-profile competitions, a neck sash, a cooler, and a little limelight are the trifecta.

But what about prize money? Cash awards are a thing at some major dressage competitions, to be sure, but not in the amounts found in some other equestrian sports.

We wondered whether increased prize money would attract more dressage riders to the competition arena— and also how doing so could impact show-management finances. In this article, industry insiders explain.

In it for the Money? We’re in the Wrong Sport

Thoroughbred flat racing is not only the Sport of Kings; it’s also the king of prize money. The purses for the 2024 Triple Crown races (Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes) totaled $9 million—although that’s chump change compared to the Saudi Cup in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, billed as the world’s richest horse race, which paid out a staggering $20 million this year, according to Horse Racing Nation.

Other horse sports give the racing world a run for its money, though. Leading the list is the Ariat World Series of Team Roping Finale in Las Vegas, which has $16 million in prize money on the table in 2024. (Pro rodeo as a whole is flush with cash: Total prize money for contestants at this year’s National Finals Rodeo exceeds $12.5 million, according to Sports Illustrated.) Even breed-specific competitions have large financial prize pools, with the 2024 American Paint Horse Association World Championship Show offering $1.5 million in prize money and the All American Quarter Horse Congress awarding $4.25 million in cash and prizes.

FEI Competition Prize Pools

The Olympic equestrian disciplines of dressage, eventing, and jumping offer considerably less prize money—the amounts of which, at competitions recognized by the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), are dictated by FEI rules.

Of the three, the biggest money is in jumping. The four international jumping competitions that constitute the Rolex Grand Slam offer a combined €5 million in prize money, plus a bonus should one lucky horse/rider combination sweep all four. The 2024 FEI World Cup Jumping Final in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, paid out a record €2.6 million. And six-figure purses are common in high-profile grand-prix jumping events.

Prize money in eventing and dressage is considerably more modest. This year’s Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event offered a total of $450,000 in the five- and four-star divisions, according to the US Eventing Association. In its 75th-anniversary edition, the 2024 Mars Badminton Horse Trials in England increased its prize money by 12% to €425,000, thanks to the title sponsor.

As for dressage, 2024 FEI rules stipulate that CDI3* competitions (a CDI is an FEI-recognized dressage competition) have no minimum prize money and a maximum of $32,000; a CDI4* must offer a minimum of $31,999 and a maximum of $119,100; and a CDI5* has a minimum of $119,099 with no limit.

To put these figures in perspective, in 2023 Dressage at Devon (Pennsylvania) offered $10,000 in prize money for the CDI-W Grand Prix Freestyle, $4,500 for the Grand Prix CDI-W, Grand Prix CDI3, and Grand Prix Special CDI3, respectively; and smaller amounts for the Medium and Small Tour classes. This fall, Dressage at Devon’s national-level performance classes are set to pay out a total of $6,000, while DAD’s breed show is offering $9,500 in prize money.

At the top of the dressage prize-money spectrum, the 2024 World Equestrian Festival in Aachen, Germany, offered €130,000 for the CDIO5* Grand Prix Freestyle, €59,000 for the CDIO5* Grand Prix, and €40,000 for the CDIO5* Grand Prix. And thanks to additional funds contributed by the hosting Saudi organizing committee, the 2024 FEI World Cup Dressage Final in Riyadh had an unprecedented prize-money pool of €400,000—still dwarfed by the Jumping Final’s purse, of course.

It’s Not All About the Benjamins

But is a financial payout something the majority of dressage competitors desire? Apparently not, at least for riders at smaller shows, says USDF Region 5 director and Two White Feet competition-management company CEO Heather Petersen, of Elbert, Colorado.

“Here in Colorado, we have had several shows offer prize money over the years,” Petersen says. “Since Dressage in the Rockies and Dressage at High Prairie had offered prize money in the past, when we began shows at Paragon Dressage, we decided to offer prize money for popular classes, which paid out to first, second, and third places, ranging from $10 to $50.” Remarkably, “the percentage of people who cashed those checks was less than 50%. Everyone always said prize money was an incentive, so we offered it, and it wasn’t.”

The same thing happened when Petersen tried offering jackpot classes at dressage shows in California, Virginia, and Colorado. To participate, competitors would pay an extra $10 to enter into a prize pool, which was seeded with a base amount of $50 to $100. But the number of competitors who entered was so small that most shows Petersen manages have dropped the jackpot classes altogether.

The takeaway: “It seems that most competitors would rather enter a class with lower fees than those with a small added cost with the opportunity to win money back,” Petersen says. (To that end, she would like to see a survey conducted gauging competitors’ interest in prizes, similar to the recent survey of USDF members regarding competitions.)

Petersen points out that shows simply may not generate enough income to offer prize money. In some cases, any profits go toward reinvestment in the facility in order to keep it operating as a show venue (think footing maintenance and improvement); in others, venue-rental fees have risen so steeply—some have gone up by 20%, she says—that they swallow all the profits. Still other dressage competitions are run as charity shows, with all profits donated to designated causes instead of being offered as prize money.

As for CDI divisions that don’t require prize money under FEI rules, Two White Feet nevertheless offers payouts in the Amateur and Small Tour/Large Tour divisions.

“CDIs are very expensive to enter, as we’re often flying in five international judges, so prize money helps competitors cover entry fees,” Petersen explains. “We offer the Junior/Young Rider and Young Horse classes without prize money but at a lower class fee, since these divisions can have a three-judge panel rather than a five-judge panel. This allows competitors to enter at a lower cost.”

As with the jackpot classes, CDI competitors seem indifferent to the cash. At the CDIs Petersen organizes, about half the competitors choose to donate their prize money back to the show, she says.

Still, offering prize money—albeit in smaller amounts—remains standard practice at some national-level shows, including the Great American/USDF Regional Championships and the US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan®. Competitors endow these championships’ prize-money pools by paying an extra $15 “qualifying fee” when entering the designated qualifying classes at USEF/USDF dressage competitions. Half the qualifying fee ($7.50) accumulates in a fund throughout the competition year and is then distributed equally among the nine USDF regions as prize money in the open, adult-amateur, and junior/young rider Regional Championships classes. The champion in each division receives 60% of the allocated class prize money, and the reserve champion gets 40%. Annual prize money totals have been in the range of $225,000 in recent years.

Of those Regional Championships qualifying fees, 20% goes toward the overall support of the US Dressage Finals (for which competitors qualify at Regional Championships), says USDF competitions director Krystina Wright. Prize payouts at the 2024 Finals this November will be $1,800 for champions and $900 for reserve champions; third-, fourth-, and fifth-place finishers will receive smaller amounts.

Show Us the Sponsorship Money

Like the rest of the economy, dressage competitions have had to grapple with the effects of inflation. For instance, escalating prices have raised Dressage at Devon’s operating costs by about 10% each year, and keeping ledgers in the black is a challenge, says DAD president and CEO Anne Moss, of Coatesville, Pennsylvania.

Many shows’ business models rely on sponsorship money to help make ends meet—and to help keep competitors’ costs as low as possible. And as the saying goes, no donation is too small.

“At many shows, donations from class sponsors run a little over a thousand dollars, which help pay show costs,” says Petersen. “A $25 class sponsorship may cover the cost of ribbons for that class. Everything helps the bottom line.”

The ongoing challenge to show management is to identify and successfully pitch potential sponsors—be they businesses, foundations, or individuals—whose revenue or philanthropic goals involve the dressage market. Equestrian sports are a niche industry to begin with, and dressage is something of an uber-niche, which is why we don’t tend to see such mass mainstream brands as Coca-Cola and McDonald’s as dressage sponsors.

“As a sponsor, you want to put your money where you have the most impact,” Moss explains. “Dressage at Devon attracts dressage junkies; it’s not a ‘family picnic’ kind of event like the hunter/jumper show at Devon [the Devon Horse Show]. Dressage sponsors come almost entirely from the equestrian industry and are not broader sponsors, like at other competitions.”

Over the years, Petersen has learned how to create sponsorship packages to meet each sponsor’s unique needs, whether it’s a smaller business catering to the dressage crowd, a larger (most likely equestrian) brand, or a foundation with involvement in horse sports or in the local community. Experienced industry pros like Petersen recognize when a brand or business is a perfect fit for an event. Case in point: the Mid-Atlantic Dressage Festival (aka MAD Fest), a CDI that debuted in 2022 at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington. Petersen, who manages MAD Fest, saw that Täkt Saddlery, headquartered in the Mid-Atlantic region and now with a national reach, was a natural choice for presenting sponsor.

“We had signs lining one entire side of the CDI arena with the Täkt logo in the brand’s color,” Petersen says. “The return for the business: The company’s logo appears in almost every competitor photo; these competition photos are then published, posted, and shared widely. In addition, the company’s name is built into the title [Mid-Atlantic Dressage Festival presented by Täkt Saddlery], so every post and press release from the competition provides marketing. And of course there are also ads, banners, and the like.”

Additional MAD Fest sponsors, including Platinum Performance, Back on Track, and Equestrian Stockholm, also provided products and monetary support.

Moss agrees that today’s sponsors get a much bigger bang for their buck than they did in the past. The program ads and ringside banners of yesteryear are bolstered by a social-media team that promotes the brand, organization, or event year-round, with a savvy media presence, clickable links, and enticing promotions. And when it’s go time, live streams (with the accompanying sponsor promos) can reach potential customers anywhere in the world.

If it sounds as if sponsorship and marketing are bigger jobs today than in the past, you’re right. Except for smaller shows, largely gone are the days of volunteer sponsorship coordinators and PR people. Most shows still depend on volunteers to handle certain tasks, but many of the bigger competitions now hire professional fund-raising specialists, who work year-round to recruit and care for sponsors, advise the organizing committee, and leverage their corporate and horse-industry connections.

The bigger the show or show series, the more complex the sponsorships. The USDF Regional Championships program has its own marquee-level corporate sponsors— currently title sponsor Great American Insurance Group, with additional support from Platinum Performance, LeMieux, and SmartPak—but each region’s championships are its own licensed show with its own competition management, says USDF marketing director Ross Creech. As such, each competition is free to secure additional sponsorships, such as class sponsors.

For the US Dressage Finals, Creech explains, sponsorships are tiered: At the top is presenting sponsor Adequan® (which has supported the event since its inception in 2013), followed by supporting sponsorships, contributing sponsorships, and so on. But unlike many competitions, the Finals do not offer individual class sponsorships.

“Because it’s a national final, it’s important that all prizes are consistent across the board,” Creech explains. “For example, Uvex helmets are prizes in all championship classes, so champions at each level in each division receive equal prestige and honor.” As at Dressage at Devon and other competitions, Finals sponsors receive online and in-person promotional and advertising mentions, opportunities for direct-to-consumer marketing and sales at a trade fair, VIP packages, participation in awards ceremonies, and more.

Sponsorship comes at a price, however. Besides any tangible perks, such as meals, there’s the cost of procuring the sponsors and fulfilling the marketing commitments.

“We love sponsors and rely on them, but it is an expensive way to bring money into a show,” Moss says. “In contrast, 100% goes directly to the show when people donate. Last year, Dressage at Devon received about $100,000 in donations; this year, we are also pursuing grants.”

Eyes on the Prize

Horses, dressage, and competing are costly endeavors, to be sure. Prize money helps to offset these costs, but it seems other motivators drive most dressage competitors, who regard prizes and cash awards as icing on the cake, not the primary reason they go down center line.

According to our experts, for the majority of dressage competitors, lower costs trump the opportunity to win money—meaning that, for most shows, putting their resources into securing donations and sponsorship money, not into raising prize-money funds, is the way to go. Which brings us back to the importance of sponsors.

At every dressage competition— from local schooling show to national championship—show your appreciation to the sponsors, Petersen urges.

“Tag sponsors, thanking them in social-media posts,” she suggests. “We also have competitors sign thank-you cards in the show office, which we then mail to the sponsors.” Whatever method you choose, make sure that you “acknowledge and thank them for their support.”

“Show me the money!” Tom Cruise’s sports-agent character shouts into the phone in the iconic Jerry Maguire scene. In the case of our sport, the money may be less about the prizes and more about the means to make dressage shows happen.

Natalie Mendik, MA, is an award-winning journalist specializing in equestrian media. Visit her online at MendikMedia.com.