BERMUDA'S dressage riders will compete this weekend in the Caribbean Equestrian Association's Mini Dressage Challenge.

The competition is similar to the FEI World Dressage Challenge, said Show Secretary Dawn Fox this week.

"It is based on the format of the FEI Challenge but we organise it within our own (world) group. The rules do vary a bit because we offer tests that are a bit different from the FEI Challenge but the concept is the same. Our riders compete against other riders from the Caribbean without having to leave the country."

Top international judge Sally O'Connor will be flying in to judge the competitors who will be riding at the National Equestrian Centre's Vesey Street ring starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

"She has been to the other countries in the competition and we are the final one," said Fox adding that Bermuda will have 17 riders competing in various tests on Saturday.

O'Connor is the mother of top eventer David O'Connor who has won many international competitions as well as the gold medal for the US in the 2000 Olympic Games. He also is only the second American to have won the Badminton Horse Trials and he now sits as the President of the US Equestrian Federation.

Judge O'Connor has also written books on riding namely Common Sense Dressage: An Illustrated Guide, Essential Exercises for Training Horses and also Practical Eventing which she wrote with her son.

Following the competition on Saturday O'Connor will give clinics to Bermuda's dressage riders on Sunday at Vesey Street.

Riders from Barbados, Cayman Islands, Jamaica and Trinidad have all staged their events with Jamaica leading the Children's Division while Trinidad leads the Adult Division.

Besides the individual scores, each country will have a team which will consist on the three best scores in both the Adult and Children's competitions.

The Children's Division will be for riders 16 years old and under and there will be five tests to choose from namely the FEI Children's Preliminary Test, the USEF 2007 First Level Test 1, the USEF First Level Test 3, the FEI WDC Elementary Test and the FEI WDC Medium Test.

The Adult division will also have five tests namely the USEF 2007 First Level Test 3, the FEI WDC Elementary Test, the FEI WDC Medium Test, the FEI WDC Advanced Test and the FEI WDC Prix St. Georges.

The Show Director is Roz Collins.