Desi Dillingham is widely credited for playing an instrumental role in the rise of British Dressage from a near non-entity to double gold at the London Olympics. Canadian by birth, Dillingham has lived most of her adult life in England, but in accepting the role of special advisor for Dressage Canada’s High Performance program, she is returning to her roots. It is now one year since Dillingham agreed to do for Canada what she did for the British. In this exclusive interview, she speaks with candour and passion about the future of Canadian dressage at the elite level.
How would you define your role with Dressage Canada? Are you a volunteer, and is that the case for the experts you have brought in over the past few months?
My responsibility is to pull together a team of experts to help the riders. As of this past October, it’s a paid position and I have a contract up to the end of WEG 2014. With respect to the other advisors, Victoria Winter is not paid, but Cara Whitham and Volker Moritz are both paid for their time.
Whose decision was it to bring Volker Moritz, a retired FEI judge from Germany, on board for the Canadians [to provide technical support and advice]?
That was my decision. Stephen Clarke is a great friend and he helped me build British Dressage. I told Stephen that I needed someone who can help in the shortest amount of time, and with limited funds. A lot of the people who are no longer judging, and who therefore could help, already have a personal involvement with either teams or riders. What I needed more than anything is a trainer who has trained, ridden, and who has judged.