British dressage board

Each of the nine British Dressage (BD) board directors is passionate about dressage and they give their time and expertise without receiving any payment other than expenses. The directors do the job because they have the chance to shape the future of dressage and give something back to the sport which they have enjoyed so much and want others to enjoy, too.

After BD was founded in 1998, it was decided that the directors should each have specific responsibilities to cover all the different areas of the sport. The reason for this is to have people with specialist skills in charge.

A rotation system with a maximum term of service was also introduced in 1998, so that the sport does not become cliquey. Each term is three years and directors have to retire at the end of the second term, allowing them to serve a maximum of six years. However, as all the board members started at the same time, this has been staggered, so that there is continuity and we don’t end up with the whole board made up of new directors.

As a BD member, you can stand for election. The directors are always on the lookout for potential future directors. An advert will appear in British Dressage magazine before the annual general meeting (AGM), giving details of the position becoming vacant, asking for nominations and someone to second it. This is ratified at the AGM if the nominee is unchallenged. If there is more than one candidate, an election will be held in the form of a postal vote.

The board directors are:

To find out more about the directors and what they do, click here.

Each director is served by a committee of volunteers who are selected for their expertise within a particular field to support the relevant area of BD. To view these committees please click here.

President and vice-president

In 2007, two new voluntary positions were created - that of president and vice-president - to bring BD in line with the British Show Jumping Association and British Eventing. This gives BD valuable figureheads and allows their experience and knowledge to be used.

The Duchess of Richmond, who helped the sport to prominence in Britain in the 1980s by hosting dressage at Goodwood, is the first president, while former chairman, Desi Dillingham, is vice-president.

The president and honorary vice-presidents are not board members. The president is elected by the directors to hold office for three years and is only eligible fore re-election for one further period of two years. The board can choose to have up to eight vice-presidents.