Lexington, Ky. – US Equestrian is pleased to announce an update to the 2026 USEF Grand Prix Dressage National Championship and will open the location bidding process to determine a host location.  

 

Following conversations with a variety of stakeholders regarding the USEF Grand Prix National Championship, the decision has been made to host the 2026 USEF Grand Prix Dressage National Championship outside of the 2026 U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions. Instead, the championship will be held as a standalone event hosted early in the season.  

 

"We see shifting the Grand Prix Championship to earlier in the year as an opportunity to foster competition amongst our U.S. athletes in the lead up to our European tour ahead of next year’s FEI Dressage World Championships,” said Laura Roberts, Managing Director of Dressage at US Equestrian. “This championship also has the potential to play a key role in our development towards the podium for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games." 

 

The current bid allocation will only be for the 2026 competition year and must take place between the months of April and May. The full bid requirements and application document can be found here.  

  

The preliminary qualifying memo outlining the requirements for the championship can be found here. Additional qualifying information for the Championship, application process, ranking list and championship format are anticipated to be published in the coming weeks. 

 

It is anticipated that the 2026 USEF Grand Prix Dressage National Championship may serve as an official Observation Event for the 2026 U.S. FEI Dressage World Championship Team for the FEI Dressage World Championships to be hosted in Aachen, Germany, from August 11-15, 2026. Information regarding selection for the 2026 U.S. FEI Dressage World Championship Team will be published in the fall of 2025.   

 

Questions regarding this Championship or bid applications should be directed to USEF Director of Dressage Special Events, Kristen Brett at KBrett@usef.org or (859) 225-6919. 

 

Information regarding the development of the 2026 U.S. FEI Dressage World Championship Team selection procedures should be directed to USEF Managing Director of Dressage, Laura Roberts at LRoberts@usef.org or (859) 225-6986.