At the extraordinary members meeting Dan Boyer, chair of the Danish Equestrian Federation (DRF), resigned from his position and Kimi Nielsen has been elected new chair.
The members meeting took place in the indoor tennis court of the Dalum Agricultural School in Odense on 7 December 2024 and was called up after four members of the board of directors announced their no-confidence in the chair.
A total of 198 riding clubs were registered for the meeting and their representatives decides who the DRF's future board of directors should include.
Dan Boyter Resigns
Chair Dan Boyer reporedt that board member Henrik Jørgensen announced prior to the meeting that he wished to resign from DRF's board for personal reasons.
The first vote of the day was one of confidence/no-confidence in chairman Dan Boyter. With 375 votes of no confidence and 160 votes of confidence, the majority was in favour of his resignation, after which Boyter resigned and left the meeting.
"It is a democratic decision, which I of course fully recognize – even though it was not the scenario I had wanted," Boyter stated. "I naturally leave the chairmanship with very mixed feelings. On the one hand, I have many visions for equestrian sport that I had looked forward to working on, but which were not fulfilled. On the other hand, it is also a relief for me – and an important decision for the association – to have reached this clarification. I am only human, and the recent months of conflicts and harsh accusations have been very hard for me personally."
As announced prior to the vote, Vice-Chair Ditte Bach Sørensen also chose to resign based on this result.
Board Re-instated
The second vote of the day was whether the Board of Representatives had confidence in the individual board members and alternates.
The result of the vote meant that there was overall confidence in the sitting board members and alternates. They are Charlotte Kjærgaard, Linnea Ericsson-Carey, Nathalie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein, Thomas Vogt Hansen, Bo Gejl, and Jakob Leth.
Since Henrik Jørgensen and Ditte Bach Sørensen resigned, the two alternates (Bo Gejl and Jakob Leth) joined the board in their place. Both candidacies will run until the ordinary meeting of the board of representatives in 2025.
The last vote of the day featured three candidates for the two vacant alternate positions. Agnete Berner Lemvig was elected as the first alternate with 488 votes, while Regitze Ericsson was elected as the second alternate with 280 votes.
Kimi Nielsen New Chair
There was only one candidate for chair: Kimi Nielsen, the former DRF elite sports manager and dressage team captain. Kimi was put forward as a candidate by the representatives of the Dressage Academy (DRAK).
Nielsen was elected without opposition and is now chairman of the DRF until the ordinary meeting of the board of representatives in 2025.
Charlotte Kjærgaard was elected vice-chairman.
A full report on Ridehesten
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