The FEI Dressage Committee has promoted two dressage judges, Hans Christian Matthiesen from Denmark and Mariette Sanders-van Gansewinkel from the Netherlands, to 5* status, the highest ranking in the FEI system.
There is a three-year probation period for all new 5* Dressage Judges, after which the judges are evaluated.
These latest promotions brings the number of 5* Dressage judges to 33.
Five-star judges currently active are Susie Hoevenaars, Mary Seefried, Thomas Lang, Elizabeth McMullen, Cara Whitham, Susanne Baarup, Leif Tornblad, Isabelle Judet, Bernard Maurel, Jean Michel Roudier, Evi Eisenhardt, Peter Holler, Dietrich Plewa, Gotthilf Riexinger, Katrina Wust, Stephen Clarke, Andrew Gardner, Isobel Wessels, Vincenzo Truppa, Maribel Alonso, Eddy De Wolff van Westerrode, Wim Ernes, Ghislain Fouarge, Francis Verbeek, Wojtek Markowski, Annette Fransen Iacobaeus, Gustav Svalling, Liselotte Fore, Anne Gribbons, Gary Rockwell, and Linda Zang.