A bid to streamline the governance of the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) has been narrowly defeated.
Meeting on Tuesday, the FEI Extraordinary General Assembly in Copenhagen voted against the adoption of new rules for the restructuring of the FEI Bureau, the current governing body.
There were 102 national federations represented - 85 in person and 17 by proxy. Out of 98 valid votes cast, there were 49 against, 48 in favour and one abstention.
Consequently, the FEI will continue to be governed by a 19-member bureau rather than the proposed seven-member board.
The FEI modernisation process, championed by former FEI president, Spain's royal highness, The Infanta Doña Pilar de Borbón, began 12 years ago and was accepted in principle by the FEI General Assembly in 2005 in London.
The main objective of the proposed reform was to achieve a smaller and dynamic board, which is both competency based and regionally balanced.
This week's vote was preceded by extensive talks throughout the northern summer, ensuring national federations were listened to and that their feedback was integrated as much as possible.
In order to ensure regional representation, the original proposal was to have no more than two members per continent, the FEI said in a statement.
"On the basis of additional feedback from national federations in South and Central America, it was modified not to allow more than one member per regional group.
"To guarantee the respect of democratic principles also called upon by European national federations, the proposed election process provided for all candidates to be put to the vote of the General Assembly.
"The modernisation process will not be on the agenda of the 2010 General Assembly, given the FEI's need to focus on a number of priorities in the areas of development, horse welfare and commercial initiatives, among others. An additional factor is that 2010 is an election year in the FEI."
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