Your GMO needs youth members. Here’s how to draw them in.
By Penny Hawes
This article is reprinted from the September/October 2025 issue of USDF Connection.
In order to educate the next generation of dressage enthusiasts and secure the future of their clubs, many GMOs (USDF group member organizations) are looking for ways to recruit and engage youth members.
After all, doing so is a win-win. The kids bring “new blood,” creativity, energy, fresh ideas, and (often) tech knowledge, while the GMOs offer structure, established programs, and a pipeline to USDF’s own youth-focused educational and competitive opportunities.
But attracting youth can be an uphill climb for a GMO. Myriad things clamor for young people’s attention and time these days, from school activities and social media to other types of equestrian involvement. Let’s take a look at what some GMOs are doing to recruit and engage youth members. We’ll also share some advice direct from the horse’s mouth—some savvy young dressage enthusiasts, that is.
The GMO Perspective
Representatives of four GMOs we talked to report varying results from their efforts to grow youth membership.
A mixed bag. The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,-area Three Rivers Equestrian Association (TREA) has about 120 members, 10 percent of whom are kids, according to GMO president Kristen Hermann. She reports mixed success with TREA’s attempts to attract more youth, saying that the GMO’s more successful endeavors have been:
- Free junior clinics, including an upcoming one-on-one judging event
- A junior camp (although the juniors based at the barn where the camp was held have unfortunately not rejoined)
- Discounts for junior members
- Having a junior member write for TREA’s monthly newsletter.
In another youth-focused endeavor, a local barn hosted a Region 1 clinic and a TREA-sponsored breakfast, Hermann says.
Some efforts didn’t generate the interest the club had hoped for: “I offered a free book club to juniors, and no one was interested or
contacted me,” Hermann says.
Outreach to other area equestrian organizations, such as the US Pony Clubs (USPC) and 4-H, has also not been as fruitful as TREA hoped.
“When we first started our GMO in 2017, we reached out to everyone and did free clinics with 4-H,” Hermann says. “I have tried to network with Pony Club, but they sort of keep to themselves. I think I will try again.”
But you know the old saying about if at first you don’t succeed. “We will just keep plugging along,” Hermann says. “We offer awards for different ages for juniors, and we offer awards for jumping riders where they need to show one dressage score and two jumping scores. This year we did reach out to the local hunter/jumper association to show we offer awards, and we paid to sponsor their club. Our mission statement is that dressage should be the common denominator for all kinds of riding.”
Clinics are a draw. The Eastern New York Dressage and Combined Training Association (ENYDCTA) is doing a good job of drawing youth, reports president Joy Black, who attributes the growth to great clinics plus some attractive policies.
“We have a junior-membership price that is $20 less than the adult price,” Black says. “We have a $500-per-year junior scholarship, and we have year-end awards with awards specific to juniors. Our junior-membership numbers have doubled, but I think it is [primarily] because of our quality clinics. But year-end awards and scholarships are always a big draw.”
Productive partnership with Pony Club. The Ocala, Florida,-based GMO Striving Toward Rider and Driver Improvement with Dressage Education (STRIDE) also offers a reduced membership rate to youth, and a collaboration this year with a local USPC chapter has proven mutually beneficial, says STRIDE representative Loretta Lucas.
The USPC chapter held its dressage rally at a STRIDE schooling show. The Pony Club members got exposure to a USDF GMO and one of its events, and STRIDE was able to share information about the GMO and its member benefits with a new group of prospective youth members.
Broad spectrum of youth opportunities. The Lehigh Valley Dressage Association (LVDA), based in northeastern Pennsylvania, has a “robust youth membership,” according to GMO president Christine Dickenson, who also chairs the LVDA’s Youth Program Committee. Kids make up about one-third of the GMO’s 100 members.
The LVDA also offers a reduced youth membership fee, but the club’s secret sauce is its competition and educational opportunities.
For starters, the GMO leverages its proximity to Dressage4Kids’ Youth Dressage Festival (this year’s event was held at the Horse Park of New Jersey; for many years the D4K flagship event was held at HITS Saugerties in New York).
“We have had youth riders who want to participate,” Dickenson says, “and our GMO typically sends between two and four teams,” including paying for teams’ tack stalls at the show.
To make all that happen, LVDA hit on an idea that’s generated even more youth involvement: a youth-run schooling show called Decades of Dressage.
Dickenson explains: “One of our former youth members, Katie Staib, came up with the idea for the show and very successfully ran it for its inauguration. The youth do everything, from secretary to manager, and fill all of the volunteer roles on the day of the show. All profits from the show go to the youth members who have volunteered there, to defray their costs for the Youth Dressage Festival.”
LVDA also strives to offer free or low-cost educational opportunities for members, including youth-focused events.
“In 2024, we offered a highly successful ‘how-to’ clinic series for our youth members,” Dickenson says, “where professionals from our area either did demonstrations or taught youth clinics at reduced rates or for free.” And “whenever possible, we try to offer social events to our membership that will appeal to our youth members.”
The club’s attention to youth extends to competitions and awards. LVDA’s schooling shows all have a youth division, as do its year-end awards. New for 2024 was a School Horse award that attracted youth participation: “Individuals who rode a school horse could apply for an award based on their scores at LVDA competitions, so that those members who did not own or lease a horse had their own category of awards,” Dickenson says.
With a wide range of successful youth programs, the LVDA hasn’t felt the need to formally reach out to area Pony Clubs or 4-H groups to drum up interest, Dickenson says; “we have not used specific strategies to attract youth members other than to have programs that may appeal to them.”
The Youth Perspective
At last year’s Adequan®/USDF Annual Convention, increasing youth participation was the subject of the annual GMO Roundtable discussions. USDF National Youth Programs Committee chair Rosalind “Roz” Kinstler moderated some of the sessions, assisted by sisters and
young dressage enthusiasts Ruby and Zoe Lewis of Texas, who are also active in Pony Club.
In the roundtables, “we tried to encourage the GMOs to try to contact their youth members and also spoke about asking these members to volunteer to help with GMO activities,” Kinstler recalls. “I personally think it’s important that GMOs offer programs interesting to youth, and also that youth members offer to help with any GMO activity so it’s not just about raising money for either group.
“I think we need the GMO connection so potential youth members meet and feel that they’re welcome, regardless of their skill level, or even if they don’t have their own horse,” Kinstler continues. “With a local organization, it’s possible for other youth in the area to meet and hopefully get more involved.”
The Lewises themselves offered valuable perspectives and suggestions to help GMOs build youth membership and involvement, including:
Feeling welcomed matters to all newcomers, especially youth. Kids already face social pressures, growing pains, and the influence of social media, all of which make it essential for a GMO to create a welcoming and encouraging space.
Expanding youth-focused clinics led by respected local dressage trainers, perhaps including unmounted educational elements like lunchtime lectures, could improve kids’ horsemanship, riding, and knowledge of horse care in a relaxed setting while inspiring youth and fostering community. USDF FEI Youth Clinics are aimed at more-advanced riders, and USDF Youth Outreach Clinics are currently limited to once every two to three years for most USDF regions. GMOs have an opportunity to increase youth clinic opportunities at the “grass roots” levels.
Collaborating with organizations such as the US Pony Clubs, known for its high standards of care and coaching, would bring USDF dressage education to more young equestrians. For example, a GMO-sponsored schooling show could be held in conjunction with a Pony Club rally. Partnering with Pony Club for volunteers could be mutually beneficial, as well, since volunteering is a requirement for awards, ratings, and scholarships in both organizations.
Adding leadline classes to dressage shows would provide younger riders with a supportive and structured introduction to the sport, allowing them to build confidence in a competition setting while receiving guidance from an experienced handler. Similarly, adding walk-trot equitation classes would serve as an accessible goal for riders who may not yet meet the requirements of dressage-seat equitation. Whatever your GMO chooses to offer, make it relaxed, positive, and encouraging, whether it’s judged or just for fun. Everyone remembers their first ribbon!
During breaks at shows, offer engaging educational activities, such as reading and scoring test sheets, grooming and braiding, understanding the judging process, or enjoying interactive games. These sessions can be brief, informal, and even youth-led. Encouraging older children and adult amateurs to mentor younger riders builds leadership skills and the sense of community.
Make shows feel more welcoming and less overwhelming and intimidating. Consider setting up a youth stall, where riders can meet peers and build friendships.
Ask the Experts!
If you’re a GMO leader or board member, don’t be afraid to try different strategies to draw in youth. Make a plan and monitor the results. If initiative A doesn’t yield results after a few tries, move on to initiative B. And be sure to recruit some current youth members to help in the brainstorming and initiation phases. They have their finger on the pulse of what kids are looking for.
As Zoe and Ruby Lewis point out, the future of dressage is a kid on a pony, not a polished Grand Prixlevel rider. And “there’s plenty of
room in the ring for all of us.”
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