Catering for competitors in British Dressage elections

Two candidates are campaigning to be the sport operations director, a position for which members can vote

- LUCY ELDER

HOW British Dressage (BD) can best cater for competitors is the crux of the sport operations director elections.

Two candidates are in the mix for the role, which forms part of the BD board whose job it is to look at strategy, planning, vision and direction.

Current BD sport operations director Simon Bates, elected in September 2019, is standing against Derek Pullem.

Both are proposing a simplified rulebook, and small changes to try to better balance the competition structure.

Among Mr Pullem’s pledges is to simplify eligibility rules, and “rebalance the competition structure”. This includes “protecting” Area Festivals from riders who could be competitive at regionals, making the transition from Area Festivals to regionals smoother, and rethinking rules that work against talented grassroots combinations who reach higher levels on one horse, then find themselves in gold sections on other rides.

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