Just six months into her new contract as U.S. dressage Technical Advisor, Debbie McDonald has announced her resignation. She will not stay on as America's national trainer until the 2024 Paris Olympics.
She will step down from her role effective August 1, 2023.
From 2019 till 2021
The 68-year old Olympian and coach of several U.S. key team members (Adrienne Lyle, Laura Graves, Kasey Perry-Glass) started with USEF as U.S. Dressage Development Coach in 2009 and moved into the Technical Advisor position in 2019, succeeding Robert Dover.
In 2022 her contract was not renewed as McDonald was named, along with her husband Bob McDonald and the 32nd District Agricultural Association (California), as defendants in a civil lawsuit. It alleged Bob McDonald sexually assaulting underage students in the mid-1970s. The suit accuses Debbie of negligence and negligent supervision. According to Nancy Jaffer, the civil suit was dismissed in March 2022 and the Safesport case was closed a month before that.
Short Return
As soon as these legal affairs were settled, McDonald was rehired as the start of 2023 and through the 2024 Olympics.
She will not be completing that contract.
“After many discussions, it’s a difficult decision for me, but the right one, as I begin to slow down my teaching schedule to spend more time with my family, to step away from the Technical Advisor role in order to allow the program to find a successor that can ultimately help lead the program through Paris 2024 and Los Angeles 2028,” said McDonald.
“It’s been an honor to work with the U.S. Dressage Program over the past 15-plus years, both as a coach and Technical Advisor. I wish nothing but success for the program and will still be involved with coaching on a limited basis. I look forward to seeing our athletes continue to succeed on the world stage.”
Search for a New Team Trainer
US Equestrian will begin its search for a new U.S. Dressage Technical Advisor, who will work closely with the dressage staff on preparations and planning for the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic Games next summer, as well as play an integral role in program oversight and leadership through the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
“We respect Debbie’s decision to step down as Technical Advisor and are reviewing the potential of her working as a featured clinician for some of our programs and pathway events in the future. We are setting our sights forward to the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games and will begin our search for a Technical Advisor with a goal to fill the role by December 1, 2023, with commitment through the LA 2028 Games,” said Hallye Griffin, Director of FEI Sport for US Equestrian.
US Equestrian will appoint an interim Chef d’Equipe to lead the team for the Pan American Games and provide support to athletes.
Debbie McDonald
As an athlete, McDonald heavily contributed to U.S. Dressage’s early accomplishments due to her impressive achievements with the chestnut Hanoverian mare Brentina. Their string of accolades included a 1999 Pan American Games team and individual gold medal, an Athens 2004 Olympic team bronze medal, a WEG 2002 team silver and 2006 team bronze medal, and was the first American to win a FEI World Cup Dressage Final in 2003. She has spent the past 11 years advancing athlete-and-horse combinations through the U.S. dressage pipeline.
Her success has proved contagious as a personal coach having guided three of her athletes and their horses to the Olympics, including 2012 London participants Adrienne Lyle and Wizard and Rio 2016 team bronze medalists Laura Graves and Verdades and Kasey Perry-Glass and Gorklintgaards Dublet.
U.S. Dressage thanks McDonald for her continued support of the program over the past four years in the role of Technical Advisor and the achievements the program secured under her leadership, including an Olympic team silver in Tokyo, Japan, in 2021, and a Pan American Games team silver in 2019 in Lima, Peru, as well as her dedication to the Development Program, where she served as U.S. Dressage Development Coach from 2009-2019.
Photo © Astrid Appels
Related Links
Debbie McDonald Returns as U.S. Dressage Technical Advisor after One-Year Hiatus
USEF Puts U.S. Dressage Technical Advisor Contract Decision on Hold
Debbie McDonald to Succeed Dover as U.S. Dressage Technical Advisor
Debbie McDonald to Lead USEF Developing Dressage Program