In November 2018 Heidi traveled to Stuttgart Germany for a grueling four-day test that ended with her now holding the rank of FEI 3* dressage judge.

The “FEI” is the international organization (Fédération Equestre Internationale) that regulates equestrian sports and oversees the examination and certification of its judges.  Over the past two years, Heidi had to complete a long list of stringent requirements: approval by her national federation, references from 25 other licensed judges, several sessions of apprenticing with top-level international judges at international shows.  All of this culminating with a four-day exam in Stuttgart, Germany.

The exam was led by Dr. Dieter Schule (Germany) and Ghislain Fourage (The Netherlands).  Both men are in their 70’s with many years of top-level dressage judging experience.  Heidi was among 14 other candidates from Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Portugal, India, and the United States.  Each person had to judge in English – the official language of the FEI.