BERMUDA'S dressage riders will take on those from Antigua, Barbados, Cayman, Jamaica and Trinidad this weekend when the Caribbean Equestrian Association dressage competition is staged on Saturday at the National Equestrian Centre starting at 9:00 a.m.

The competition is run along similar lines at the FEI Dressage Challenge where the riders compete in the same tests in front of the same judge but do not leave their own country.

The international judge on Saturday will be Cecilia Hanssen from Sweden who will also travel to the other countries in the competition over the next few weeks.

At the end of the competition the scores of all of the countries are compared and winners declared at adult and children's level. This method give riders the opportunity to compete against other countries without the need to travel.

Bermuda will have 18 riders competing in seven classes.

Next month will see the final round of the 2007 Caribbean Equestrian Association's Junior Jumping Competition and it will be held in Kingston Jamaica on November 3 and 4.

The Bermuda team riders will be Patrice Swan in the 16 & Under age group with JayLynn Hines in the 12 & Under age group. The riders' score after four rounds are totalled to give the team score.

Other countries taking part in Jamaica will be Barbados and Trinidad and riders compete on horses and ponies provided by the host country. Jamaica is in the overall lead, so Bermuda will be competing for honour.

q Young Bermuda rider Tyler Lopes from Mount St. Agnes has just returned from a week of dressage clinics and a children's competition held at the Bear Spot Foundation Stables located in Concord Massachusetts just outside of Boston.

Twelve-year-old Lopes was involved in two days of intensive clinics on borrowed horses, during which time he and the other participants were instructed by international level riders in all aspects of horse care and the art of dressage riding.

It was an international gathering with 16 riders aged 12 to 14 from North, South and Central America as well as the Caribbean area.

The clinics were followed by a two day competition including the FEI Children's Test.

The final day was a Freestyle demonstration by the International level riders, but as Lopes had so impressed the organisers and owners, he was invited to take part in the demonstration riding one of the better horses. Kelly Glazebrook who accompanied Lopes on the trip said that it was an amazing experience and Lopes is looking forward to next year when he hopes he will be selected again.