The first meeting of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) Dressage Force took place on January 12-13, 2009, in Frankfurt, Germany. The meeting was chaired by Frank Kemperman with Richard Davison (GBR), riders’ representative; Robert Dover (USA), trainers’ representative; Alain Franqueville (FRA), representing chefs d’equipe; Elisabeth Max-Theurer (AUT), owners’ representative; and Katrina Wuest (GER), judges’ representative, in attendance. The FEI was represented by its Sports and Dressage Directors.

The Task Force clarified the way it would function and the channels it would use to efficiently communicate with the various stakeholders.

Other main topics of discussion were:

· The structure and role of the future FEI Dressage Committee; the selection of its chair; and the groups it would use to communicate with all those involved in the sport.

· The issues surrounding the very significant area of the selection, assessment, and training of judges for major championships and the Olympic Games; a randomized/computerized judge selection process was also discussed.

· An education system for judges;

· Evaluation techniques for judges;

· The number of riders on teams (three or four) at major events;

· New competition formats;

· Systems for the selection of judges and achieving qualifications for major championships and the Olympic Games in other sports would be closely examined.

The next meeting of the FEI Dressage Task Force will take place at the end of March or beginning of April. The Task Force’s final report will be presented to the FEI General Assembly in November this year.

For additional information on the FEI Dressage Task Force, please click here.