On Aug. 31, the U.S. Equestrian Federation announced the new president of the USEF: Chrystine Tauber.
When the Board of Directors assembled in Lexington, Ky., on Aug. 27 for the mid-year meeting, the election of a new president was at the top of the agenda. David O’Connor has served as the USEF president since 2004.
In recent months the USEF Nominating Committee received nominations and conducted interviews with candidates for the office. Georgie Green, Chairman of the USEF Nominating Committee, presented the committee’s report recommending Tauber for the office. The nomination was not contested, and Tauber was elected unanimously to serve a four-year term commencing in January 2013.
“Looking back over my career in the horse industry, spanning some 50 years, I realize how fortunate I am to have had so many great opportunities to work with talented horses, trainers and fellow leaders in the equestrian world who provided me with invaluable knowledge and experiences,” said Tauber, Wellington, Fla. “Through working together and our shared love of horse sports, I have come to know and appreciate all the wonderful breeds and different disciplines that make up the special tapestry of the U. S. Equestrian Federation. This varied group dynamic is what is so unique to the USEF.”
Tauber looked to past president Adrian van Sinderen for inspiration. In in his book Our Highest Purpose, he wrote “Our great organization has been built upon the public’s confidence in us. Its sole effort is to improve the sport; its purpose is to maintain the highest ideals in the show ring. May those ideals never be compromised, may unquestioned fairness and justice forever mark its progress.”
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“These words were written in 1960 and still resonate in today’s show world,” said Tauber. “Over the years, the guiding principles for all our breeds and disciplines remain that of putting the love of the sport and the welfare of the horse at the fore. We must never lose sight of that.”
John Long, USEF Chief Executive Officer commented on the election saying, “Chrystine Tauber’s leadership promises a clear and bright beacon for the future of the Federation. The USEF staff looks forward to the benefits of her vast experience and her vision for the Federation’s role in equestrian sport. David, senior staff, and I have already begun the transition process. Chrystine was in London, and we with met HRH Princess Haya, President of the FEI. Our organization can look forward to a coordinated pass of the baton which is an indication of how far we’ve come in the last nine years.”
Tauber has a long and impressive equestrian history. She’s currently the USEF secretary and vice president of the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association as well as sitting on the Board of Directors for the U.S. Show Jumping Hall of Fame. She won the Medal and Maclay finals in 1965. A year later Tauber started riding on the U.S. Equestrian Team jumping teams that competed in Europe and the United States. In 1966, she won the Grand Prix of Cologne (Germany) and was second in the Grand Prix of Lucerne (Switzerland). That fall at the Washington International Horse Show (D.C.), she won the President’s Cup, the International Open Jumper championship and the green hunter championship. The following year she won the leading lady rider award at Cologne. In 1971, Tauber became a professional and began a career of judging horse shows, conducting riding clinics and designing show jumping courses.
In 1981, she took over running the USET show jumping activities at Hamilton Farm in Gladstone, N.J., when Bertalan de Nemethy retired. She is a current FEI judge and trains hunters, jumpers and equitation riders.
