Dressage Organizers Elect New Board Members, German to Replace USA’s Janine Malone for All-European Group
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Jan. 26, 2021
By KENNETH J. BRADDICK
North America has lost another voice in international dressage with the appointment of a European to succeed Janine Malone of the United States on the board of Dressage Organizers, part of the officially recognized body that represents organizers of equestrian events.
Janine, at the age of 74 and a lifetime deeply involved in horse sports, resigned from the Dressage Organizers body as she winds down some of her activities. The group is part of Equestrian Organizers that is recognized by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) as the voice of show management, a vital element of horse sports along with riders, trainers and owners.
After a virtual meeting this week, the Dressage Organizers reported that Tomas Torgensen of Sweden and Annemiek van der Vorm of the Netherlands have been nominated for the position of president that will be decided by another board meeting next week.
New board members were named as: Raphael Saleh of France and Anna Surholt of Germany. The dressage organizer of the CDIO of Aachen was listed as successor to Janine.
The official organizers Internet site listed Janine as “North American Representative,” but that position will apparently no longer exist.
Thomas Baur, organizer of several dressage events on both sides of the Atlantic, resigned last November from the executive boards of both the international and dressage member organizations to protest the newly enacted makeup of the FEI Dressage Committee.
Maribel Alonso de Quinzaños of Mexico with the declared support of the FEI was elected chair of the Dressage Committee and the Executive Board a week ago and Great Britain’s Peter Storr was appointed to succeed another Briton on the committee. The committee of six members had previously been all-European. The election of Maribel boosts the number of judges on the committee to three, 50% of the entire body.
Thomas was vice president of the multi-discipline Equestrian Organizers and chairman of the dressage organizers’ groups. He was the organizers’ representative on the dressage committee from 2009 to 2015.
The United States has more show members of Equestrian Organizers than any other nation.
Both the riders and trainers bodies recognized by the FEI have American representation–the International Dressage Riders Club, that has become considerably more active since Isabell Werth of Germany became president, includes American Catherine Haddad Staller and Yvonne Losos de Muniz of the Dominican Republic on the 10-member board.
