Penny Pollard has been elected new chair of British Dressage during the annual General Meeting at the Royal Pavilion at Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire on Thursday 19 September 2013. Approximately 80 members gathered for the 2013 AGM.
With 375 votes Penny Pollard was duly elected chair and will be succeeding outgoing Jennie Loriston-Clarke.
"I am passionate about the sport of dressage, and am continually fascinated by the elegance of dressage when a horse and rider are truly in harmony, and greatly admire the high level of skill required to do it well," said Pollard. "I’m also passionate about helping individuals, teams and organisations maximise their potential, so it has been a privilege to combine both these interests whilst serving British Dressage as a non-executive director, over the past 4 years."
Loriston-Clarke was presented with a photo-montage of the British team successes during her time in office by Penny Pollard and Chief Executive Amanda Bond who said; “Jennie has done an incredible job. Her vision, direction and wonderful sense of humour have made her an honour and privilege to work with.” Bond added that BD wouldn’t be losing Jennie altogether as she has agreed to be our President.
Penny Pollard is head of marketing at British Dressage. At the AGM she thanked all who had voted for her and said she was passionate about BD and committed to welcoming any feedback and that there would be consultation where possible. She will remain as marketing director until an election can be held next year but would be appointing a deputy to assist her on the committee.
Pollard added that British Dressage has welcomed three new faces on to the committee this year to bring increased expertise. Richard Burdett from Horse & Country TV, Christie Lord, who has extensive experience in the travel industry and Melissa Russell, who brings a range of sporting knowledge.
At the Annual Meeting Pollard also gave an update on the progress BD has made over the past year. The BD Magazine continues to go from strength to strength under the wing of Think Publishing and the eagerly anticipated new BD website is busily under construction and will be launched this autumn. She also detailed focus groups BD has been having around the country with riders on the fringe of joining to find out what stops them. These have given some excellent feedback on competition structure, costs and communication.
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