What motivates you to take on this job?

The underlying motivation of everything I do, and have done, within FEIF can be described by the twin aims of creating a sense of community, and of fostering well-being, for horses and people alike. It was I, who invented the FEIF virtual ride (community), who first introduced the Board to the concept of Social Licence to operate (horse welfare) and who insisted that one of the core values of Youthwork must be respect for one another (well-being).

 What do you want to achieve during the time of your office?

My aspirations for FEIF are directed both inwards and out to the bigger equestrian world: On the one hand, FEIF has recently celebrated its 50th Anniversary, and over long years, we have achieved a unified world-wide system in breeding, sports, and education, we have built our traditions and values, we have become strong and fairly settled. A history to be proud of. On the other hand, FEIF has grown a lot during the last few years: four new countries joined since 2016, and NZ has just been the fifth. That represents almost a ‘second wave’ of member countries who are still at the beginning of their Icelandic horse story. Most adopt structures and values of the bigger and older, associations, but at the same time, there are signs of new ideas, and new ways of doing things. For the benefit of everyone, I would like to see closer connections across national boundaries, which would be used to (a) support the newer and smaller organisations, and (b) to tap into that ‘pioneering spirit’ again, full of idealism and freshness.

 You also mentioned an outward look?

As indicated above, at the age of 50+, FEIF is a mature and experienced organisation with quite a number of features, which have attracted the attention of other comparable global equestrian organisations. These include in no particular order (a) our statutes, which allow equal and easy access of all members to our decision-making body, the DA and also to the Board of FEIF, (b) our single FEIF Rule Book, which applies the same all over the world, and (c) WorldFengur, to name a few. I feel it is time to reach out more actively and to establish a seat for FEIF at the international table. Of course, that integration is already happening, with our membership of EHN and ISES, and our association with FEI and World Horse Welfare, as well as various research institutions. But we can do a lot more. Let’s put FEIF on the map!

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

Together with my husband, I run an organic farm in the North East of Scotland, cultivating cereals and vegetables, which are sold directly to the consumer. From 1998-2024, I worked as a lecturer and Head of the German Department at the University of Aberdeen. For many years, I was also involved with the British Horse Society, which is an important voice in the national horse industry of the UK. Our favourite way of spending time with the horse is off in the hills, with a pack-horse or two, tent, and cooking good food on the fire. Over the years, we – and our horses – have become quite expert at this.