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The Amateur Ambassador The Danish-born Janne Rumbough has become one of Florida’s most active dressage supporters BY ABIGAIL BOATWRIGHT HAPPY HORSE, HAPPY RIDER: Janne Rumbough and her self-trained Grand Prix horse, Junior, during the 2015 Adequan Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, FL JONNA J. KOELLHOFFER/SUSANJSTICKLE.COM 40 April 2015 t USDF CONNECTION t 71, dressage enthusiast Janne Rumbough en- the Danish Equestrian Federation to train in Germany. At joys some of the perks of the privileged eques- the Westfälische Reit- und Fahrschule Münster (Westpha- trian life in her hometown of tony Palm Beach, lian Riding and Driving School in Münster), she rode beside FL. Dinner parties. Gala social events. VIP sta- such masters as the late Dr. Reiner Klimke, who was train- Atus at dressage competitions, where she gets to watch her ing his horse Dux, who would go on to become his 1964 and international FEI horse, My Lady, contest the Grands Prix 1968 Olympic mount. under Danish rider Mikala Munter Gundersen. “You really had to learn to do basic riding in the Europe- Te list of diferences between Rumbough and some of an system,” rumbough says of the experience. “if you were her peers, however, is as long as the lanes of gated enclaves going to jump any fences, you needed to be able to do a and horse farms in “Welly World.” For starters, Rumbough fying change, and we had to do basic dressage to get there.” shops for and prepares those dinners herself. When she’s not watching My Lady compete, she’s riding and training The Danger Zone her own three horses—and excelling nationally at the Grand After the training stint in Germany, Rumbough moved to the Prix level, too. She has amassed a long record of sponsorship US to attend school in New York, where she met her frst and volunteer support for dressage shows, clubs, and causes husband, Carl Janson. Soon after their marriage, the couple in Florida; and she’s a tireless cheerleader for adult-amateur relocated to Panama so that riders. Oh, and she may be Janson could work with his the only dressage rider in family’s many businesses lo- the world to have eluded I decided, cated there. Tey also spent the clutches of one of the Why don’t I try to be a time in New York and in world’s most notorious dic- Houston, where Rumbough tators—although she didn’t really good amateur? purchased a few horses. escape unscathed. –Janne Rumbough In Panama, Rum- Rumbough “has suf- bough teamed up with a fered and fourished both few friends to start the in her lifetime, and she sees Fort Clayton Riding Club in the Canal Zone, to help oth- the lessons and the beneft of both,” says longtime friend ers improve their horsemanship free of charge. Tey also Kristi Wysocki, a Colorado-based dressage trainer and organized competitions. Unfortunately, Rumbough’s riding judge. “Janne won’t just make lemonade out of lemons—she skills attracted the attention of the head of the Panamanian fgures out how to make lemon meringue pie.” CIA and military, Gen. Manuel Noriega, who would go on to become that nation’s infamous dictator. A European Foundation “in Panama, the military had horses, too,” rumbough A native of Denmark, Rumbough was a horse-loving kid at says. “And we would beat them in competitions. Noriega a time where there were few opportunities for children to wanted me to come down and teach the cartel, but I said no.” ride. However, her aunt ran a riding program for children When Rumbough refused to teach Noriega’s men, with polio. Young Janne was happy to help out after school Noriega employed bullying tactics. every day, but she had to work for the privilege. “noriega went into the Canal Club and killed my horse,” “if i wanted to ride, my mom always made me work,” Rumbough says. Rumbough says. “i had to muck out, braid horses. I had to As Noriega became more powerful, his harassment of earn it; otherwise I was not allowed to ride.” Rumbough continued. Luckily for Rumbough, she lived near the riding club “One time Noriega asked me out and I said no,” Rum- Sportsrideklubben, outside Copenhagen, where the Danish bough says. “So he followed me.” noriega then kidnapped Olympic equestrian team trained. Tere she became ac- Rumbough’s 19-year-old son, who was working at a sum- quainted with trainer Gunnar Andersen, a relationship that mer job with a lawyer in Panama. would last for decades. She also met riders such as 1952 and “noriega found that [my son] was there and had his 1956 Olympic dressage silver medalist Lis Hartel—herself people pick him up,” Rumbough says. “And he tortured him. a polio survivor—and Andersen helped Rumbough learn Because of me.” how to train her aunt’s ponies. Eventually, Rumbough and her then-husband moved to At age 17, Rumbough was awarded a scholarship from Florida in the 1970s, in part to escape the dictator. > USDF CONNECTION t April 2015 41 gest-standing CDI (FEI-recognized dressage competition) in Florida and one of the oldest CDIs in the US. Rumbough has served on the national advisory commit- tee for the United States Equestrian Team Foundation for more than 15 years. Each year she makes a donation to fur- ther some dressage-related cause; for her sixtieth birthday, she gave to the capital campaign for the construction of the USDF National Education Center at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington—and instructed that the dedication read “on behalf of the adult amateur riders.” She’s sponsored shows all over Florida for many years. Of Rumbough, Wysocki wrote in an award nomina- tion letter to the USDF: “She hasn’t just given money to the sport. She has given hundreds of hours of time over the years to make sure the sport develops with sportsmanship, honor, and love for the horse as priorities.” THE CIRCUIT THAT JANNE BUILT: Wellington is such an equestrian An Amateur for Life Mecca today that it’s hard to believe Florida was once a dressage waste- She may be an adult amateur, but Rumbough has more land. Rumbough (with Junior at the 2015 Global Dressage Festival) and other supporters were instrumental in bringing shows to the region. qualifcations under her shadbelly than many dressage pro- fessionals. “Panama is a great country now,” rumbough says. “it’s a For starters, she has trained several horses from Train- wonderful country. It was always wonderful, but the people ing Level to Grand Prix. She has ridden her own horses to that ruled…well, we don’t realize how lucky we are that we 20 USDF Regional Championship titles, and she has won in are free.” both open and amateur competition. In 2013, at the inaugu- ral US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan, Rumbough Developing Dressage: claimed the Grand Prix Freestyle Adult Amateur Champi- onship with her self-trained PRE gelding, Junior—who is by Florida and Beyond Rumbough’s well-known PRE stallion Gaucho III. In her new home of Palm Beach, Rumbough found fellow “More than 333,000 people have seen that video,” Rum- dressage enthusiasts and a riding club, now known as the Gold bough says proudly of that freestyle performance. “it has Coast Dressage Association, a USDF group-member organiza- been shared all over the world, and they all have nice com- tion. She and her newfound dressage friends realized that they ments. For the amateur sport, and for dressage, it’s really had a common wish: to bring shows into the area. nice to have positive comments.” “We wanted dressage here,” rumbough says. “i lived So why didn’t Rumbough turn pro? “i decided, why don’t here and I had my horses here. When you ride, you like to I try to be a really good amateur?” she explains. “When you fnd a community. And before you knew it, we found the ride other people’s horses and the horse begins to get good, network from each other to try to make a circuit. All of us they always get sold. So there is a plus side to owning your just got together and started doing it.” horse. And I thought it would be good to encourage other Rumbough and her fellow riders organized the frst amateurs.” dressage show in Wellington, FL, in 1979. Te show beneft- As Rumbough points out, amateurs are the backbone of ed the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, which encouraged Palm equestrian sport, especially at the lower levels. But even at Beach-area residents to attend the show and accompany- the highest levels, amateurs play an important role, she says. ing charity luncheon. Te resulting publicity helped put “if you think about it, who owns the horses being ridden dressage in Florida on the map and encouraged the GCDA on the US team?” rumbough says. “All the horses are owned to start a circuit of shows in Florida. One that Rumbough by amateur riders. We are the ones that pay for the horses. helped found was the renowned Palm Beach Dressage We are the ones that pay for the trainers.” Derby (formerly in Loxahatchee; now part of the Adequan Florida-based Danish competitor Mikala Munter Global Dressage Festival in Wellington), which is the lon- Gundersen, Rumbough’s friend and dressage coach, has the SUSANJSTICKLE.COM 42 April 2015 t USDF CONNECTION ride on Rumbough’s 15-year-old Danish Warmblood mare My Lady (Michellino – Marion, Ritterstern). Te pair rep- resented Denmark at the 2014 Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage Final in Lyon, France, and at the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Normandy.