Para dressage is dressage adapted for riders with a physical disability, judged on the same technical standard as dressage for riders without one. Athletes are placed into one of five grades based on functional ability, and within each grade they ride the same level of test as everyone else in it. What sets Para dressage apart is not the difficulty of the movements. It is how much the outcome depends on the horse, since many of the adjustments a rider makes happen through the horse itself.
How Is Para Dressage Different From Regular Dressage?
The FEI groups Para dressage riders into Grades I through V, with Grade I typically reflecting the most significant functional needs and Grade V the least. Depending on grade, riders may use approved adaptive equipment, such as a modified whip or a caller who calls out the test from the side of the arena. The arena, the judged movements, and the scoring system are otherwise the same ones used in able bodied dressage at that level. The horse is expected to meet the same standard of training and correctness regardless of what aids its rider is using to ask for it.
Why Does the Horse and Rider Partnership Matter So Much?
When some of the usual aids are not available to a rider, the horse has to fill in the gap with consistency and feel. That kind of reliability does not happen overnight. It is built over months and years of the same horse and rider working together, learning each other’s timing until the smallest shift in seat or voice means something specific to the horse. It also means the horse’s own soundness carries extra weight. A rider with fewer physical tools to compensate for a horse that is not moving well that day is depending on that horse being sound and comfortable far more than most competitors ever have to think about.
Meet Team RenoVō® Athlete Fiona Howard and Diamond Dunes
Fiona Howard is a Para equestrian based in Boston, Massachusetts, and one of our sponsored Team RenoVō® athletes. She already won gold at the Paris Paralympics, and this August she added another major title, winning gold in the Grade II freestyle at the 2026 FEI Para Dressage World Championships in Aachen, Germany, riding her horse, Diamond Dunes, to a score of 81.86 percent. Team USA arrived in Aachen as the defending champions. Speaking to Dressage Today after her freestyle, Fiona kept it simple: “He went in there today and really gave me everything. He’s just such a special horse.”
Why Soundness Support Matters for Para Dressage Horses
Fiona has spoken about wanting an option that did not rely on steroids for helping care for her horses’ joints. She raised it with her veterinarian, Kate Shoemaker, DVM, who recommended RenoVō® as, in her words, “medically the best option on the market.” Shoemaker is not only Fiona’s vet. She is a Grade IV Para dressage rider herself, and she won her own gold medal in Aachen that same week aboard her horse, Vianne, her third gold of the championships. It is a rare combination, a veterinarian who treats sport horses for a living and competes at the same World Championships as her own clients. Every horse responds differently, and RenoVō® is administered exclusively through a licensed veterinarian, so whether it has a place in a horse’s care is a decision for that horse’s own vet. As with any allograft, results are not guaranteed and there is a possibility of an adverse reaction. Partnerships like Fiona and Diamond Dunes, guided by a vet who understands the sport from both sides of it, are exactly why so many riders bring RenoVō® up with their own vet in the first place.
Ask Your Vet About RenoVō® for Your Horse
Whether you compete in Para dressage, open dressage, or another discipline entirely, the partnership between a horse and rider is only as strong as the horse underneath it. If you want to know whether RenoVō® has a place in your horse’s care, ask your vet, or read more about Fiona Howard’s experience and the rest of our Team RenoVō® roster. You can also use our Find a Vet page to locate a practice near you that carries it.