April 4, 2008 — The Dressage Foundation announced yesterday that Lendon Gray will become the president and CEO of The Dressage Foundation, effective September 1.
“Her appointment grows out of a management transition plan that has been conducted over the past year by the foundation’s board and staff, to replace President and CEO John Boomer and his wife, Lynn, administrative director, who, as sole staff members, have led, administered and managed The Dressage Foundation for the past 10 years,” said Major General Jonathan Burton, Chairman of the foundation’s board.
Boomer and the board have assigned Gray the principal function of leading The Dressage Foundation to a higher plateau, financially and programmatically, thereby enabling it to make an ever-larger footprint on the sport of dressage.
“Some of my first goals are to create opportunities to educate our instructors in teaching skills and to bring dressage opportunities to riders from other disciplines and ‘alternate’ breeds,” Gray said.
Gray’s equestrian credentials are outstanding and extensive. She rode on the 1980 and 1988 U.S. Olympic teams and won eight medals at U.S. Olympic Festivals on four different horses, each trained by her. As a trainer/instructor/coach she has taught clinics all over the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Iceland and Uruguay. Her list of students includes many of today’s best-known dressage riders. She currently operates Gleneden Dressage, a training stable in Bedford, N.Y., with more than 50 horses and 100 regular students.
She has been involved in governance of the sport and is a frequent speaker, active writer for equestrian media, and has authored the book Lessons with Lendon. She has won many awards and as an Olympic athlete was recently added to the list of Congressional Gold Medal Award winners.
Boomer said Gray has accepted the position for an open-ended term, without salary or benefits compensation, but with reimbursement for travel and business expenses. Gray will remain at her Bedford, N.Y., base, supervising and working with the Foundation’s two-person administrative staff, located in Lincoln, Neb., and with its off-payroll cadre of financial, legal, accounting, graphic design, printing, webmaster and public relations advisors. Over the balance of the year, the Boomers will be hiring and training their replacements and will remain with the Foundation until new staff members are seated firmly in their saddles. John Boomer will remain as a member of The Dressage Foundation’s board of directors.
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