Board Changes in British Dressage

Wed, 06/14/2006 - 00:00
British Dressage News

Two new directors were installed in the Board of Directors of British Dressage, the dressage branch of the British Equestrian Federation. Sara Green has taken over from Linda Whetstone as Rules & Fixtures Director while Stephen Clarke is the new Judges Director

, taking over from Andrew Gardner.

Two other directors stood down. David Robinson’s post as Commercial Director is now redundant. Some of his responsibilities, including negotiating the personal accident and liability insurance contracts on behalf of members, have been taken over by BD Chief Executive David Holmes. David Hunt, who was co-opted on to the board for his specialist knowledge as Head of International Trainers, had come to the end of his term, which leaves BD with nine board members.

David Holmes explained the decision-making procedure within BD. It is a two-way process, with regional committee members feeding ideas to the relevant specialist committees, such as judges, marketing etc, and then to the board directors and vice versa.

David highlighted the usefulness of the four organisers’ and members’ meetings held around the country last year. The problem of there being too many shows was one of the topics of discussion. The outcome was that competitors are quite happy with the situation, but that organisers are finding it hard to make ends meet. This issue is still being worked on.

British Dressage (BD) Finance Director Clare Williamson-Cary announced that BD had reached its target for reserves of £250,000 for the first time in 2005 at BD’s eighth AGM, held at Weston-under-Wetherley Village Hall, Warwickshire.

The implications are that there will be more money available for reinvestment, which will affect all areas of the sport. It will include this website and an email newsletter, which is due to be launched in the next couple of months.

Photo David Hunt - copyrighted: Dirk Caremans

Related Links 
Brits Spend £4 Billion Per Year on Horses 
Sandy Phillips Steps Down as British Dressage Selector
Jennie Loriston-Clarke wins First Queen’s Award for Equestrianism