Recent News

April 3, 2008

Lendon Gray Appointed President and CEO of The Dressage Foundation

The Dressage Foundation proudly announced following a special meeting of its Board of Directors, that Lendon Gray will become the President and Chief Executive Officer of The Dressage Foundation, effective September 1, 2008. 

"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 John Boomer, President and CEO, and his wife, Lynn, Administrative Director, who, as sole staff members, have led, administered and managed The Dressage Foundation for the past ten years," said Major General Jonathan Burton, Chairman of The Foundation Board. "And, the Boomers have done an outstanding job, in the opinion of the Board and the dressage community," Burton added.

John Boomer stated, "We are so excited about Lendon taking the leadership reins of The Dressage Foundation, as she has just piled one high accomplishment on top of another for so many years now, and has deservedly reached an exalted pinnacle in our beloved sport." Boomer and the Foundation Board have assigned Lendon 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.

"I am a bit intimidated to try to step into the shoes of Lowell and John Boomer,” Gray said. “For the past 19 years through their efforts and contacts with many of dressage's greatest supporters, The Dressage Foundation has made it possible for so many people of all ages and levels of riding to be inspired, to improve their riding, to elevate their teaching, and to gain appreciation for the challenges and value of dressage. I am however exhilarated by the opportunity to expand on the base that The Dressage Foundation has provided for the advancement of amateurs, youth, and instructors as well as elite riders. 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."  

Lendon Gray's equestrian credentials are outstanding and extensive. 

• As a rider, she has won awards consistently since she was a young rider, rode on the 1980 and 1988 Olympic Teams, and won eight medals at U.S. Olympic Festivals in 1981, 1982, 1991, 1992, 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, New York, with more than 50 horses and 100 regular students. 
• She has been involved in governance of the sport and continues to be active, through USDF, USEF, USET, US Pony Club, Equestrian Educational Systems, Sweet Briar College, The Dressage Foundation, and Dressage4Kids, Inc., for which she is Founder and President.
• Gray 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.  It is the US House of Representatives' highest civilian award. 

Boomer said Lendon 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, New York base, supervising and working with the Foundation's two-person administrative staff, located in Lincoln, Nebraska and with its off-payroll cadre of financial, legal, accounting, graphic design, printing, web master and public relations advisors. Over the balance of the year, John and Lynn Boomer 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.

"The highlight in this news of Lendon's appointment is the blending of historic roles of two prominent American dressage pioneer families -- the Grays and the Boomers," said John Boomer.  "Lendon's mother was a nationally distinguished horsewoman in her own right and taught horseback riding lessons over national radio from her home in Maine," said Boomer. "And listening in Nebraska was an aspiring young horseman named Lowell Boomer, my father," John added. Lowell Boomer, today 96 years of age, became the founding organizer of the United States Dressage Federation in 1973, then served for twelve years as its Executive Director, followed by four more years as President, and in 1989 established The Dressage Foundation. Like Gray, Lowell Boomer has been honored with many awards, including the United States Equestrian Federation's Lifetime Achievement Award. The Chronicle of the Horse named Lowell Boomer "One of the Fifty Most Influential Horsemen of the Twentieth Century." 

"My wife Lynn and I are moved by the high accomplishments of these two premier Dressage families, and now this long heritage, strengthened in union, can hopefully make an impact on the sport of Dressage that will be large and lasting," said John Boomer.