American dressage personality Elizabeth Searle has passed away on 8 January 2012 following a period of ilness. Searle has played a major role in the worlds of dressage, vaulting and KWPN breeding in the United States.
It was through her efforts that Vaulting was first introduced to the United States, and in 1968 she co-founded the American Vaulting Association (AVA). She was also a co-founder of the KWPN-NA society. She introduced freestyle, quadrille, and pas de deux into dressage competition in the U.S.
She has served as an officer for the AVA, the United States Pony Club, and was Vice President of the United States Dressage Federation for nine years. She was also Chairman of the USDF Judges Committee from 1983 to 2001 and technical adviser for the California Dressage Society and the California Quadrille Association.
“Liz” was originally trained by several great European cavalry instructors. Commandant G. Ganshoff van der Meersch (Belgium), Lt. Col Hans Moeller (Austria), and Count Hermann Wrangel (Sweden) were her principle instructors. Liz competed in Hunters, Jumpers, 3-day event, and Dressage. She competed in a variety of disciplines: hunters, jumpers, eventing, and breeding, as well as FEI-level dressage.
She was an FEI judge in two disciplines and has judged the US National Dressage Championships and conducted the AHSA National Dressage Judges Forum. She has also judged the Olympic, Pan American, World Championship and World Cup Selection Trials, as well as serving on the Olympic Canadian Selection Panel.
She was the first woman to judge the KWPN National Mare Show in the Netherlands and has served on the Keuring Jury of the American Holsteiner Horse Association as well as being a member of the NA/WPN Jury from 1985 to 1999.
Liz was a recipient of the 2003 USA Equestrian Pegasus Medal of Honor. The Pegasus Medal of Honor was created as an annual award to recognize individuals who have exhibited outstanding service to horses and the sport. Through their dedication, recipients of the Pegasus Medal of Honor have attracted people to the sport and contributed to horse sports by advancing its popularity. Elizabeth Searle’s superior service was acknowledged with the commemorative USA Equestrian Pegasus Medal of Honor formally presented during the USA Equestrian Annual Meeting, January 14-18, 2004, in Los Angeles, California.
She also received the prestigious US Dressage Federation Lifetime Achievement Award and was the author of “Vaulting – Gymnastics on Horseback”.
Liz worked from the equestrian training facility Osierlea, which she co-owned with J. Ashton Moore in San Juan Bautista, California.
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Photo: CDS Tribute to Liz Searle