Gundula líklega næsti forseti FEIF

Í janúar verður ráðstefna FEIF haldin í Vín þar sem m.a. verður kjörinn nýr formaður FEIF þar sem Jean-Paul Balz hyggst ekki halda áfram sem forseti FEIF.

Gundula Sharman búsett í Skotlandi hefur ákveðið að bjóða sig fram í embættið og yrði hún þá önnur konan til að verða forseti FEIF.  Gundula kemur frá Þýskalandi og er formaður æskulýðsdeildar FEIF.

Á vefsíðu Eyju.net ritar Gundula:

“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. This will not change if I am to be elected the 8th president of FEIF. 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).

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 own 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 is about to be 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 news 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 younger and smaller organisations, and (b) to tap into that ‘pioneering spirit’ again, full of ideals and freshness.

Looking outward, 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 (a) our statutes, which allow equal and easy access of all members to the 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, and various research institutions, but we can do a lot more. Let’s put FEIF on the map!

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. We have also bred Icelandic horses on a small scale. The aim is to produce well-trained, family-friendly horses for the UK leisure market. 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.”