Nathalie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein Not to Run for Re-Election on Board Danish Equestrian Federation

Dressage

Denmark

Danish Olympian, Grand Prix rider and dressage trainer Nathalie zu Sayn-Wittgenstein will not be running for re-election on the board of the Danish Equestrian Federation (DRF).

Elections will be held at the DRF board of representatives meeting on April 18.

The Run for Board

Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein was the Danish team trainer from 2017 till 2021. She was suddenly shown the door by the Danish federation and rumour has it that the group surrounding Helgstrand and his students lobbied for the discontinuation of her job. Nathalie continued as personal coach of Cathrine Dufour and Daniel Bachmann Andersen, two key riders on the Danish team.

With the DRF going through a tumultuous period of re-structuring, Zy Sayn-Wittgenstein returned to the fray by stepping forward as candidate for the board in the early spring of 2024. She was elected with the most votes and Dan Boyter made chair. He didn't last for a year on the new board and by December 2024 Kimi Nielsen was elected chair.

Under Nielsen's chairmanship, the Danish Equestrian Federation made many changes to the animal welfare rules, as well as dressage judging.

Stepping Down

Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein has now decided to leave the board due to time conflicts. In October 2025 she accepted the job as co-team trainer for the Swedish equestrian federation.

In an interview with Billedbladet she explained that, "I am not running again because I feel that I cannot have a foot in both the Danish and Swedish federations. It has been an exciting time on the board, and it has been very educational to experience how a federation works from the board's point of view. With Kimi as chairman and Jens-Erik Majlund as secretary general, the equestrian federation has got back on the right track. On the board, we have had really good and constructive cooperation, and there is still work ahead that the board must take care of. And I will of course follow closely. I also believe that Scandinavia must stand together when it comes to horse welfare."