The Australian Equestrian Federation has a new Board, a new Chair and soon a new CEO. Last weekend, the 'old' and the 'new' Board met in the last meeting of the 'old' Board
and then joined the seven Branch Chairs (or representatives) for the 2009 Annual General Meeting, when the actual change of the Board's composition took place.
Of the 'retiring' Directors, Chair Mary Seefried and Director Kerry Brydon, both of whom had been on the original non-representational skills-based Board established in 2004, were farewelled and recently-elected Directors Paul Cargill, William (Bill) Fell, Mary-Louise (Mary) Ganter, Robynne McTaggart and Graham Sharley were welcomed.
2009 EFA Annual General Meeting
The AGM discussed the Financial Statements for the year ended 30 June 2009, which showed a major deficit because of the Board's decision to increase assistance to event organisers after the Equine Influenza crisis. Franz Venhaus presented a report that put last year's figures into the context of the Federation's history in the last eight to nine years.The final version will come next week together with the Auditors' signatures.
After lunch, the new Board met briefly to elect a new Chair. This honour went to Paul Cargill, former Chairman of the NSW Branch. Natalie Nichols was elected Deputy Chair. Please download and read a message to members from Paul Cargill.
Following this short meeting, the new Board met with the Branch Chairs (or representatives) in a 'Joint Session', a twice-yearly event established with the Governance reforms in 2004. A wide range of subject was discussed, to be followed by a planning session in Werribee on Sunday, 06 December 2009, with the aim of better integrating Branch plans with the National strategy. In the evening, most of the Directors and Branch Chairs met privately for dinner, further developing their understanding of each other.
On Sunday, the new Board met. The main aim of the session was to familiarise the five new Directors with National operations and programs and a more detailed explanation of some of the policy issues. High Performance Manager Brett Mace and National Education Manager Nathan Holman gave presentations of their areas of responsibility and fielded the Directors' questions. All sessions generated a lot of interest and National Office staff were congratulated on their work.
High Performance - Ton de Ridder Clinics
Renowned German Dressage Coach Ton de Ridder visited Australia to give a number of closed High Performance clinics, one of these at SIEC. Ton had not been back to the site of the Olympic events since the Sydney 2000 Games, when his wife Alexandra was part of the gold-medal-winning German team. Ton was impressed with the state the Centre is in, with manicured lawns and fully-grown trees.
On this initial visit, Ton was also rather frank with participating riders, giving honest assessments of horse and rider strengths and weaknesses. This is the main reason why these clinics were not open to the public (or the press), a decision supported by the riders.
2012 Olympic Qualification System
The FEI has published drafts of the new qualification systems for the 2012 Olympic Games. We have concerns about the proposals for Dressage and Jumping, for differing reasons, and have written to the FEI making our case. Fellow Group VIII/Olympic Group G member countries have done the same. We hope that the improvements suggested by us will be reflected in these procodures by the time of the General Assembly.
Related Links
Australian Equestrian Federation Reforming Dressage High Performance Program
Australia Looking for a Dressage Scholarship Coach