Sixty years in the Delaware Valley
The Delaware Valley Combined Training Association has served the eventing and dressage community of the Delaware Valley since 1965. A volunteer-run 501(c)(3) nonprofit, a USDF charter group member in Region 1, and a USEA Area 2 affiliate, DVCTA runs schooling shows, rider education, and year-end award programs for horsemen and women at every level.
Our beginnings
The idea for DVCTA was born in 1965, and by 1966 the club already had a membership roster and was holding activities. Sixty years on, that same volunteer spirit still drives the association’s shows, clinics, and awards programs.
Dressage at Devon
DVCTA’s roots run through one of the region’s most celebrated competitions. The first Dressage at Devon was held in 1975 — back then the top level was Training, and there was no Breed Division. In 1976, Devon added its first Breed Classes and was selected by the USET to host the Grand Prix Trophy, won by Hilda Gurney aboard Keen.
The show moved to September in 1989, after too many July classes were suspended by summer thunderstorms, and became a CDI‑W in 1990. In 2007, Dressage at Devon grew into its own organisation, no longer a committee of DVCTA — and in 2025 it celebrated its 50th anniversary.
A tradition of judges’ education
DVCTA has a long history of developing dressage judges. The club has taken part in six USDF “L” Education Programs — the first in 1976, in a format created by Col. Bengt Ljungquist and years before the USDF took the program over in 1986. That first session, taught by Sally O’Connor in December 1976, combined classroom work, practical demonstrations, and the judging of Training through Third Level rides. The tradition continues today through the club’s ongoing L Program.