Princess Haya, past president of FEI, awarded Order of Merit

Princess Haya, who as president of the FEI implemented changes to keep horse sports in the Olympics, was awarded the Order of Merit, the highest distinction of the International Equestrian Federation at the London International Horse Show.

Haya, the daughter of the king of Jordan who competed in jumping at the Sydney 2000 Olympics, was president of the FEI from 2006 to 2014 and is currently the organization’s honorary president.

She implemented a solidarity program to advance equestrian sport worldwide, introduced athlete representatives to technical committees and in 2012 launched the sports forum that has become an annual event.

The princess donated the state-of-the-art FEI headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, named for her father, King Hussein.

Among her most impactful decisions was her appointment of a group led by Frank Kemperman who managed the World Equestrian Festival in Aachen, Germany and included Robert Dover, a six-time Olympian for USA, to overhaul the entire structure and management of dressage. It came after the 2008 Olympics where several actions taken by the then head of the dressage committee were widely questioned.

She also took steps to change the format of eventing.

Haya said she took the actions because of the unpopularity of dressage at the time and the stress of competition format on event horses was leading to efforts to remove those equestrian sports from the Olympics, that was unlikely to be resisted by jumping alone.

Photo: Princess Haya, FEI President Ingmar de Vos, Princess Halili, Haya's daughter. © Jon Stroud