Lisa Gorretta often quips that she’s always had a difficult time with the word ‘no.’ Instead, when she’s been asked to step into new roles in equestrian sport through the years, she tends to utter a different two-letter word: ‘Ok.’
“I was raised with the concept that if you were unhappy with something that’s important to you, then you should work to improve it from the inside instead of complain about it from the outside,” she said.
That philosophy has led her from her first riding lessons in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, to becoming a licensed official and later, a USEF and USDF volunteer. Gorretta grew up learning not just riding but horsemanship at a hunt seat and combined training (Eventing) barn and progressed to Dressage after college. Along the way, she would volunteer at horse shows and stood out to a steward who noticed her knowledge and interest in tack and equipment. That led to a suggestion that she become a steward, then a Dressage technical delegate. As she progressed there, she was asked to help conduct continuing education events for other TDs.
Gorretta has now been a licensed official for over four decades, and eventually became a R Dressage Technical Delegate and a Level 4 FEI Steward for Dressage. She was part of the officiating team at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio – an experience that marked how much life had changed from her early goals as a rider.
“I remember walking down to make sure the area I was doing equipment check in was all put together and it was really a surreal moment,” she recalled. “Here I was, this kid from Ohio, wanting to ride in the Olympic Games. I found a different path to get here, a different perspective.”
Besides continuing to competing as an amateur, Gorretta also owned a tack shop for 25 years and launched her own equine consulting business, and believes it was her experience as a business owner that prompted the local Dressage club to invite her into leadership. That then grew into having her represent the group at the affiliate meeting, then on to a regional director position, and eventually, a request to serve on USDF committees and the USDF board and then the USEF board and committees. Currently, Gorretta serves on the USEF Board of Directors, Governance Committee, and is chairman of the International Disciplines Council. She is the chairman of the USEF Dressage Sport Committee.
All of these roles require considering the way rules are constructed and the way they’re applied, which results in a lot of long hours spent dissecting language and considering all types of impact. Gorreta remembers a time, many years ago, when one of the committees she was on was asked to participate in a copy editing session in the middle of the night to proof rule change proposals in time for a board of directors meeting the next morning. Times have changed since then, but governance and officiating are not always glamorous tasks and can often be thankless ones – committee and board positions are volunteer roles – but it’s work she finds rewarding.
“Most Dressage people tend to be a little Type A and we tend to be rather detail-oriented people if we are going to be successful in the sport,” she said. “That probably helps.”
Gorretta describes herself as the kind of person who prefers to work backstage at a show to keep things going efficiently and properly, moreseo than she relishes time in a judge’s booth. Her attention to detail and lengthy experience means she also frequently hears from fellow officials in the field if they need some perspective when a challenging situation comes up. From Thursday through Sunday, her phone is regularly humming with texts and WhatsApp group messages with questions from around the world.
The experience has also led Gorretta to be a big believer in mentorship. She often tells fellow licensed officials (only somewhat jokingly) that they aren’t allowed to retire until they’ve mentored at least one person and passed on the skills that would allow them to fill vacant shoes.
“I think we need a lot more good mentors in the world,” she said. “And there are a lot of people who would be very good ones who either don’t realize it or don’t think they have what it takes. But you just have to figure out where your niche is.
“That’s one of the things I enjoy about the [USEF] board - it brings an eclectic group, all tied together with passion for the horse. As long as we all remember that, we make good decisions and move the sport along. We don’t all always agree, but we make a decision, we do all move forward together.”