Following the sudden passing of Linda Whetstone, chair of British Dressage, an ad-interim chair has been appointed. With the ongoing uncertainty caused by the current pandemic, the British Dressage Board of Directors agreed that a short-term appointment should be made from within the Board to cover the role during the first half of 2022. BD Finance Director Caroline Godfrey was voted into the role of Interim Chairman unanimously by her fellow Board members with immediate effect, on the basis that this would be a temporary arrangement only to allow sufficient time for a permanent successor to be elected by members.
The German Olympic dressage team for Tokyo, which consisted of Jessica von Bredow, Isabell Werth and Dorothee Schneider and which won team gold at the 2021 Olympics, have been decorated in Germany with a second place in the "Athlete of the Year" show. The team dressed appropriately in the German flag colours: black, red and gold. The Athlete of the Year show has been taking place since 1947 and was held in Baden Baden. It celebrates Germany's sport athletes at the end of the year with special trophies.
Colombian 4* dressage judge Cesar Torrente has received a green card to become a full-time resident of the United States. Torrente, who is a lawyer by profession, splits his time between Bogota and Wellington. He has also been elected for a second four-year term as a member of the FEI Tribunal, the governing body’s judicial arm. “I think it’s very important to keep judging–the more you judge the better you get,” he told Dressage-News. “If you stop for a month or two you can feel you are out of practice.”
Canadian national Grand Prix rider and international small tour rider David Ziegler got engaged to his long-time partner in business and life, 5* eventing rider Savannah Woodge Fulton. The couple runs a training yard out of Karen and Stephen Fulton’s, Full Moon Farm, in in Finksburg, Maryland. Ziegler last competed internationally in 2018 when he presented Chester County (by Costner x Mokhieba) and Fie Guldbjerg (by Don Schufro x Kanudos xx) in Wellington, Saugerties and Devon.
The American dressage breeding yard Sonnenberg Farm and Stable Laarakkers have acquired the 4-year old KWPN elite mare Netina (by Glamourdale x Dream Boy x Johnson). She is bred by J. Hurkmans and was owned by Derk Jan Mekkes in partnership with Gert-Jan van Olst. The mare scored high on her IBOP test and participated in the 2021 KWPN Mare championship, where she finished sixth in group 4. She did not make it to the champion ring. The talented young mare will stay in The Netherlands and be prepared for the Pavo Cup by Vai Bruntink.
