Her Royal Highness Princess Benedikte of Denmark has become the first President of the new Global Dressage Foundation, which aims at promoting dressage and supporting the Global Dressage Forum.
The annual Global Dressage Forum has taken place at Academy Bartels in the Netherlands for the past 11 years. The organizing rights are now transferred to the new foundation, which held its first board meeting in Aachen. Current board members are Princess Benedikte, Dr. Wilfried Bechtolsheimer from Great Britain and Drs. Joep Bartels from the Netherlands.
The Princess announced that the board will be extended in the near future. "The Foundation will control the quality and independence of the program through an international program committee formed by representatives of the trainers, riders, judges, scientists, and the FEI", the Princess said. The next Global Dressage Forum will again take place in the Netherlands on 29-30 October 2012, but is not unlikely that the Forum will travel to different countries in the future.
During the meeting in Aachen on Saturday 7th July, with representatives of the FEI, board members of the trainers club, riders club, judges and equestrian scientists, all stakeholders declared their commitment to the new initiative.
"We consider the Global Dressage Forum as the central meeting place for all of us, and we continue to combine our general annual meetings of the riders and trainers clubs at the Forum", said David Hunt and Kyra Kyrklund, President of respectively the dressage trainers and riders club, at the meeting.
Trond Asmyr, dressage director of the FEI, stipulated the important role of the Global Dressage Forum during important developments in the past and confirmed the support of the FEI for the new Foundation.
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