USA’s Anne Gribbons, Selected as US Chef d’Equipe Elected to FEI Dressage Committee

[ridgeback]

OPENHAGEN, Nov. 19–The election of the USA’s Anne Gribbons to the new FEI Dressage Committee on Thursday has thrown into disarray the appointment of the Swedish-born trainer as the United States Chef d’Equipe/Technical Advisor.

Anne, who is an “O” or 5* judge, was elected to the committee at the FEI General Assembly in Copenhagen.

Sources within the U.S. Equestrian Federation who did not want to be named as they were not authorized to speak on behalf of the USEF, said that Anne had delayed signing a contract as Chef/Technical Advisor, the leader of high performance dressage in the United States, until the vote in Copenhagen.

“As a top judge and now being elected on the FEI Dressage Committee it is impossible to see how she can resolve very obvious conflcits of interest and head up the American dressage effort,” the source said.

Full article http://www.dressage-news.com/?p=4047

[Carol O]

Whoa. What will she do?

[Peace]

It appears she will be taking the FEI committee position and the USEF will have to start over looking for someone?

[yaya]

He's already working for Canada.

[tempichange]

Why not doing both countries ?

Conflicting interests.

[Ginger]

What a mess... 10 months out from WEG and they have to start over??

[slc2]

Not good.

[Mardi]

Geez. That wasn't very well played, was it ?
At least she finally played her hand and it's over with.

Now, let's find someone who genuinely wants the job.

[Mardi]

What a mess... 10 months out from WEG and they have to start over??

It will work out to our benefit.
Always does.

[slc2]

Explain to me how not having a coach 10 months (six months, or less, by the time they pick someone else) before the WEG works out to our benefit.

[canyonoak]

Robert Dover's blog is reporting that Anne Gribbons has been announced as Head Judge for WEG 2010.

So there is no way she can accept the job ,whatever it might be, with USEF.

Yet again, I remain underwhelmed at the preparation by a federation that represents so many equestrians, and is HOSTING the 2010 WEG.

[Tiki]

And SHE knew all along this was going to happen and kept the USEF on a string with the result being it's now kind of late, and we've lost potential candidates, while SHE got exactly what SHE wanted.:mad::confused::mad:

[fiona]

Isn't that the American Dream??

[Arizona DQ]

And SHE knew all along this was going to happen and kept the USEF on a string with the result being it's now kind of late, and we've lost potential candidates, while SHE got exactly what SHE wanted.:mad::confused::mad:

Too bad we did not grab Robert Dover when we had the chance! :mad:

[DownYonder]

Too bad we did not grab Robert Dover when we had the chance! :mad:

We hashed that out a few months ago on this forum. Dover brings a lot of baggage and many of our HP riders are not enthralled with him.

I don't know whether to admire Gribbons for being able to string along the committee as long as she did, or be disgusted with her for not making a choice and sticking to it.

It will be interesting to see who next claws their way to the top.

[Fixerupper]

But Canada has Dover (and his luggage...whatever that might be!)

Where's the 'jump up and down wave your arms smiley'?

I guess sometimes you have to leave home to be appreciated...

The guy is talented, educated, enthusiastic and committed...
Canada is happy to have him...

[Hazelnut]

Thats why one offers a position and gives a set amount of time to sign a contract before moving on. Gribbons has lost my respect...she was playing both ends and has placed USA Dressage in a quandrey. How sad.

[ridgeback]

Thats why one offers a position and gives a set amount of time to sign a contract before moving on. Gribbons has lost my respect...she was playing both ends and has placed USA Dressage in a quandrey. How sad.


So dover has announced this but since it is no where in the press is he stirring up crap or is it true?:confused:

[Tiki]

It has been in the press and it is not crap. He didn't always pan out as an Olympic rider, but he seems to be a very, very good coach. Boooooo to AG!

[ridgeback]

It has been in the press and it is not crap. He didn't always pan out as an Olympic rider, but he seems to be a very, very good coach. Boooooo to AG!

Can you please post where in the press this has been announced? Thanks I've looked every where and have not seen where she is a judge at WEG. much appreciated.

[Velvet]

It no longer really matters who is the chef d'equippe. It once did, back in the 60s, 70s and early 80s. Now every top rider has their own trainer that helped them get there, and that's who's going to keep them there. They don't need the USEF to provide them with someone.

[slc2]

The chef d'equipe isn't a trainer and doesn't function as a trainer. People regularly go to competitions with their own trainers and a chef D because the chef d's function is not the same as the trainer's.

It appears that Gribbons had let the US know all of this was in the works. It doesn't appear anyone was not aware of what she was 'up to'.

But BOY now Gribbons, who we all adored when this was first announced, is now persona no grata. And everyone is assuming this was some big manouver, top secret and totally unknown to the US organization, and that she very secretly applied for the judge and committee position without disclosure as some sort of evil act.

How do you all really know that's true?

More likely is that she told the usef from the very start what was up, even more likely is that the usef people are quite aware of what's going on at the fei without her even telling them. MORE likely is that all the subtleties of this process weren't even reported in the press, or were reported incorrectly.

[Geneva]

Is anyone here spouting disgust at Anne Gribbons even aware of how all this works? Obviously the media would rather run with the first sensational sounding angle without telling you the whole story (heaven forbid they ever consult the FEI rules!). Election to statutory FEI committees doesn't just fall out of the sky, you have to be NOMINATED by your NF. You can see in Dutch reports that Frank Kemperman was nominated by the KNHS, indicating that despite the whole irregular nature of the general dressage situation, the regular procedures were still followed when it came time to seat the statutory committee.

So USEF had to propose her for consideration, that is the reality of the situation. And the same body that proposed her was free to withdraw her, THAT is the reality of the situation. All the nominations by all the NFs then go to the FEI nominations committee, chaired by, guess who? Our own John Long. Isn't that nice. The nominations committee then narrows the field, to put forth a few (at most) preferred candidates for election. eg for chair the NFs had a choice between Kemperman and Markowski. Perhaps they had a choice between two for each member position, or the members might have just been a lump sum blessing (as it used to be, I can't remember if they modified this or not, but at most there would have been just a couple of options).

So John Long would have been knee deep in the process by which Anne ever even got to the point of having a chance to stand for election by the General Assembly. That's how it works, and all of this would likely have been overlapping to some degree with the time frame for the search for chef (the deadlines for nominations used to be public info, but under Haya it has reverted to all being top secret). Which strongly suggests this was nothing but a mutual "wait and see" deal, since the benefits to this country of having someone on the DC are...immense, and AG would no doubt appreciate that.

For the WEG judging, there is no formal nomination aspect, but you can bet that any intel Anne had on it was also known to USEF at the same time.

[Plantagenet]

of course Anne told the USEF HP committee that these things were possibiities-no one I know ever stays up at night wondering what Anne is thinking!! She's a pretty straightforward person.

and just in case she hadn't told them, anyone with half a brain would know that she was a strong candidate for the WEG jury. come on-there just aren't that many O judges and she's been judging at the 'big' competitions for the last few years.

so none of this should be a surprise to anyone. :yes:

I hate that we don't have a 'leader' going into the winter season. so many strong personalities on so many committees without a crystal clear chain of command. doesn't look like it's going to be pretty....I miss Gil.

[Mardi]

Explain to me how not having a coach 10 months (six months, or less, by the time they pick someone else) before the WEG works out to our benefit.

Because in life, whenever something like this happens, as ill-timed as it may seem, something better always comes of it.

The first benefit that's already occurred is that Ms. Gribbons has made a decision, and USEF can now get on with their business.

Our USET riders are completely self-sufficient, and will be able to prepare just fine for the WEG on their own, if necessary.

[ec412]

Because in life, whenever something like this happens, as ill-timed as it may seem, something better always comes of it.

The first benefit that's already occurred is that Ms. Gribbons has made a decision, and USEF can now get on with their business.

Our USET riders are completely self-sufficient, and will be able to prepare just fine for the WEG on their own, if necessary.

Amen

[Roberta]

Um. Mariette was an "O" judge and was on the Committee. So was Eric Lette and Wolfgang Niggli. And, of course, they all judged at the Olympics, etc. So, actually how in the world is this any different?

[Plantagenet]

I don't think being on the FEI DC committee makes a difference. But being president of the jury at the WEG would make it difficult for her to be chef.