US Equestrian to Recognize Ellen Di Bella with 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award
by US Equestrian Communications Department; photo by John Nation 
US Equestrian is pleased to announce the recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Junior Equestrian of the Year Award to be acknowledged at the 2020 US Equestrian Annual Meeting at the Hilton West Palm Beach in West Palm Beach, Fla. Ellen Di Bella of Parker, Colorado, is the winner of the 2019 Lifetime Achievement Award, and will be recognized at the Pegasus Awards presented by Adequan® on Friday, January 10, 2020, along with other prestigious award winners.
Di Bella, the Western Dressage Association of America’s founding President and now its Director Emeritus, has been key to the rise of Western dressage in the U.S. She has devoted her life to inspiring others, creating opportunities for equestrians and their horses, and working for every horse to be valued and cherished. She also served on the US Equestrian board for a decade and currently is on five US Equestrian committees.
In addition to her work for the Western Dressage Association of America, Di Bella has been a stalwart supporter of Morgan horses, serving on the boards of both the American Morgan Horse Association and the American Morgan Horse Institute. She’s a lifelong competitor, too, and showed her Morgan horses in Western pleasure for 38 years before discovering Western dressage.
She has worked on show committees at all levels, including every year for the Western Dressage Association of America World Championship Show and seven years for the Morgan Grand National and World Championship Show, and she served on the board of the Colorado Horse Park. Apart from her work for horses and equestrians, she helped found the Rocky Mountain Cancer Center Foundation, which provides financial assistance to cancer patients and their families in meeting living expenses while fighting cancer.
To learn more about US Equestrian’s 2020 Annual Meeting and registration, how to purchase tickets to the 2019 Pegasus Awards presented by Adequan®, as well access to a full schedule, visit usef.org/annual-meeting.