FEI Now Allowing Riders to Vote for Their Representatives

After 93 years of the FEI appointing  representatives for each discipline, now riders can vote for who they want to represent their sport.

[Top image: Marcus Ehning, GER and Plot Blue / Photo: Roland Thunholm/FEI]

This will be the first year the FEI will allow athletes to vote on their representatives for the FEI Technical Committees of each discipline. There are 26 candidates, all riders from the top levels of jumping, dressage, para-equestrian, eventing, driving, endurance, reining and vaulting.

“Our athlete representatives play a vital role in the governance of equestrian sport, acting as a voice for all our athletes and actively shaping the FEI’s global development, so it is only right that the athletes themselves should decide who will represent them,” explained Ingmar De Vos, FEI Secretary General.

The list of candidates ranges from household names like Laura Kraut and Karen O’Connor to lesser-known stars like Bartlomiej Kwiatek in the Driving category.

Though the move is a great step forward for transparency and allowing riders to take a more active role in the governing of their sports, there is a hitch. The vote isn’t open to most riders, only FEI-registered athletes. Makes sense, since these are the riders who would be directly represented.

If you do happen to be an FEI-registered rider, you can vote for your representative until June 1!

Representatives for each discipline will be announced July 17.

Go Riding!