The Fédération Equestre Internationale announced March 24 the appointment of six new five-star dressage judges, including U.S. judge Janet Foy.

“I found out yesterday, and then today the press release came out,” said Foy. “I was at a horse show jumping up and down when I read the email from the FEI that said I’d been promoted, and then I read at the bottom, ‘This is confidential until the press release comes out,’ and then I promptly stopped jumping up and down.

“Someone asked me what happened that I was jumping up and down, and I said, ‘Oh nothing, I just got some exciting news,’ ” she added. “Now my phone is blowing up with calls from friends congratulating me.”

The other judges will be Maria Schwennesen of Australia, Maria Colliander of Finland, Raphaël Saleh of France, Irina Maknami of Russia and Francisco Guerra Diaz of Spain.

Foy joins three other U.S. judges who currently hold a five-star rating: Linda Zang, Gary Rockwell and Anne Gribbons.

The promotion will allow Foy to officiate at major championships, including the FEI World Equestrian Games and the Olympic Games. The promotions go into effect July 1, and the newly appointed judges will be on probation for three years before officially holding the title.

Foy hopes the chance to judge a major championship will be in her near future.

“I did the Under 25-European Championships last year as a four-star judge, and it was an amazing experience to judge a big championship and see all of the different horses and riders,” said Foy, 64. “I’ll be keeping my fingers crossed.”