Equestrian Canada announced today it has added Peggy Hambly of Guelph, Ont. as its President, effective April 27, 2017.

Hambly has become the first female President in the history of Equestrian Canada following the resignation of previous President, Jorge Bernhard of Clarksburg, Ont.

Bernhard submitted his resignation as EC President on April 23, 2017, but will continue to support EC as a Director on the Board.

“The role of EC President demands and deserves a significant time commitment, and due to personal commitments and new business obligations, I am no longer able to devote the time and effort required to fulfill these responsibilities,” explained Bernhard, who first joined the EC Board as a Director in 2015 and was elected President in April 2016 during the EC Annual Convention in Montreal, QC.

Bernhard continued, “It has been a privilege to serve as President of Equestrian Canada. I would like to thank the Board for their support during these changing, challenging, yet productive times at EC. I also wish to thank Eva Havaris, the EC staff and those in the community who supported me during my time as EC President. I look forward to continuing to serve EC and the equestrian community in my capacity as a member of the Board.”

In his term as EC President, and moving forward in his return to a Director position, Bernhard applies vital knowledge and experience in the areas of business and sport. A long-time sponsor of Canadian eventing athletes, Bernhard has been an active supporter of the sport of eventing for over 15 years. Professionally, he has operated an international metal trading business for more than 20 years, bringing a diverse range of multinational business acumen to the EC Board.

Recognizing Bernhard’s contributions, EC CEO Eva Havaris stated, “On behalf of the EC Board and staff, I would like to thank Jorge for his leadership during a very challenging time for EC as an organization. For the past year, Jorge has been instrumental in helping EC through a time of transition and renewal.”

Havaris also spoke to the introduction of Hambly as EC President. “I am thrilled to welcome Peggy Hambly as EC President. The EC Board and the federation as a whole have been fortunate to benefit from Peggy’s depth of experience, involvement and dedication to the equestrian industry for many years, and to have her become EC’s first female President is a well-deserved honour. Peggy understands the many nuances of the federation and the community as a whole, and her history of involvement and commitment to the fundamentals embodied by EC’s new By-laws and governance model will be invaluable to EC moving forward.”

Peggy has been connected to EC for nearly 30 years, and is the current owner and operator of her family’s Glenarden Farms, which specializes in raising, training and competing eventing horses. She is also an FEI 1/2* Technical Delegate and Level 3 National Technical Delegate. A long-time volunteer within the equestrian community, Peggy is a former member of the Horse Trials Canada Board of Directors, and Past President of the Ontario Horse Trials Association. She first joined the EC Board of Directors in 2014.

“I'm extremely excited to be the very first female President of Equestrian Canada,” said Hambly. “I’d like to start out by giving my sincere gratitude and respect to Jorge Bernhard for his tireless work over the past year to help EC move along the path to a stronger and more efficient governance model. Now it is time to honour the progress of the federation by pulling together and completing the governance changes that we collectively created and started implementing more than two years ago. By working together through collaboration and communication we can finish with a solid, unified, and strong federation. We have a few challenges left for sure, but I truly believe our glass is 3/4 full now. We can do this and be proud.”

For more information on the EC Board of Directors, click here.

(Equestrian.ca)