 |
6/7/10
TWHBEA Holds Meetings
May Executive Committee Meeting
Lewisburg, TN – The May meeting of the TWHBEA Executive Committee was held the morning of May 29, 2010, prior to the Semi-Annual International Board of Directors Meeting. Following the roll call, approval of the agenda, and approval of the minutes from the last executive committee meeting, Administrative/Fiscal/Audit Vice President Rob Cornelius presented for approval the financials for the period ending April 30, 2010. The financials revealed an actual net gain of $12,116 revenue over expenses but under projections for the period $2,097. Year to date, the association is $9,772 ahead of budget projections. The financials were approved unanimously.
President David Pruett and Senior Vice President Dee Dee Sale kept their remarks to a minimum, mainly focusing on thanking the association staff for their hard work preparing for the weekend’s activities. Executive Director Stan Butt also thanked the staff, as well as Pruett and Sale for their efforts in preparing for the weekend. He then reported that revenue from iPeds, TWHBEA’s online pedigree database, is up $2,772 for April and that the TWHBEA website hosted 9,700 unique visitors in April making it the 177,000th top website in the United States.
In the only standing committee business of the day, Enforcement Vice President Kasey Kesselring moved that the following be appointed to the Enforcement Committee – Kris Herman, Dee Dee Sale, Kathy Zeis, Christy Lantis, Dr. Jim Baum, Bruce Vaughn, and Bill Wright. His motion was approved.
Under Old Business, Sale motioned that the following be appointed to the board of the Tennessee Walking Horse Foundation – Stephen Brown, Terri Mosley, Harold Dean Givens, and Buster Black. The motion was approved.
Discussion then turned to TWHBEA’s sponsorship of the Celebration. Several options were discussed and it was agreed that talks with the Celebration should continue.
Under New Business Owners/Exhibitors Vice President Stephen Brown had a motion approved to ad Kim Sizer to both the Owners/Exhibitors Committee and the Pleasure Horse Committee. He also discussed the need to make better use of the online portal developed to communicate with executive committee members.
Breeders Vice President Jack Heffington then moved to allow the University of Minnesota access to Tennessee Walking Horse DNA samples so that the information can be used in a research project aimed at identifying common genomic markers of all equine breeds. The motion was approved.
In the final action of the day, Horse Shows Vice President Bruce Vaughn moved to approve the following changes to the National Futurity class schedule: a fall weanling class will be added for fillies and colts foaled between October 1 and March 31; Two and Three-Year-Old Trail Pleasure will be optional tack; a Two-Year-Old Optional Tack Country Pleasure class will be added; the Park Pleasure class will be Two and Three-Year-Old Classic Park Pleasure; the Park Performance class will be eliminated. The motion passed with one nay vote.
Semi-Annual International Board Of Directors Meeting
Lewisburg, TN – The Semi-Annual International Board of Directors Meeting was held Saturday, May 29, 2010 at association headquarters in Lewisburg, Tennessee. Following the call to order and a roll call revealing 44 directors present, enough for a quorum, TWHBEA Receptionist Gloria Rambo was recognized for 45 years of service to TWHBEA. Next came the approval of the agenda and the approval of the minutes from the December 5, 2009 meeting of the international board of directors.
In his remarks, President David Pruett, began by recognizing the association’s 75th birthday. He read excerpts from the minutes from the association’s first meeting, which was held on May 25, 1935. He then commended the board for perpetuating the dream of the association’s founders. After thanking the staff and executive committee for work thus far in 2010, he recognized those that will represent the Tennessee Walking Horse at the 2010 Alltech-FEI World Equestrian Games.
Continuing his remarks, Pruett touched on the need to encourage all breeders and owners to register and transfer their stock as well as the need to actively seek out new members. He noted that TWHBEA was once again a sponsor of the Sound Horse Conference. He also noted the International interest and promotion of our breed. Closing out his remarks, he introduced the new book The Tennessee Walking Horse: An American Tradition and thanked the eight sponsors that made it possible.
Senior Vice President Dee Dee Sale began by urging everyone to keep the industry’s problems in perspective. She then turned to the increasing success of iPeds and TWHBEA’s new free online classifieds for members. She also mentioned the upcoming youth camp, which will host more kids aged 11 and under than ever before, and the four and under sweepstakes classes that will be offered at the TWHBEA World Versatility show.
To begin his remarks, Executive Director Stan Butt, asserted that the association was focused on developing new technologies and exploring new ways to use existing technologies. He reported that hits to the TWHBEA website were up 51% and that in late summer of 2010 the association would recognize the 500,000th registration of a Tennessee Walking Horse. He remarked that TWHBEA’s membership was static and several programs had been implemented to encourage new members and retain current members. He also stressed the need to develop more programs to attract youth, citing the recent membership and directors surveys, which revealed that 80% of TWHBEA’s membership is aged 45 and older.
In the first standing committee report of the day, Administrative/Fiscal/Audit Vice President Rob Cornelius reported that, year-to- date, the association was operating with an actual loss of $13,534 compared to a budgeted loss of $23,306 for a positive variance of $9,772. Breaking down the association’s assets, he reported that they included $21,126 in cash, $14,250 in the commemorative garden account, $98,022 in the National Futurity account, $10,625 in the credit card account, a $308,505 money market fund, and a $100,000 CD.
Breeders Vice President Jack Heffington began his report by announcing that by the beginning of 2011 breeders would have the ability to register foals online. He then reported that, in comparison to 2009, the number of first time foal registration, transfers, and memberships is down. He stated that it was his hope that these numbers represent the bottom and that over the next year or so they will rebound. He also noted the downturn in numbers of horses being bred will actually help the breed to improve as substandard stock is not being bred during this time. Heffington then reported that his committee had agreed to begin accepting foreign registrations of Tennessee Walking Horses based on DNA parentage verification. He stated that the simplification of the registration process was on ongoing project and that to this end the registry was going to start accepting photos of horses instead of asking people to draw out coat color patterns. In closing, he related that the decision had been made to display pictures of TWHBEA Sires and Dams of the year at association headquarters.
Reporting next, Equine Welfare Vice President Dr. Linda Montgomery explained that her committee was committed to ensuring that the Tennessee Walking Horse industry would take care of its own. She said that a network of resources for taking care of unwanted Tennessee Walking Horses had been developed and implemented.
To start his report, Horse Shows Vice president Bruce Vaughn referred to the current show season as confusing for both show goers and show organizers. Turning to the National Futurity, he announced the following changes to the class schedule: a fall weanling class will be added for fillies and colts foaled between October 1 and March 31; Two and Three-Year-Old Trail Pleasure will be optional tack; a Two and Three Year-Old Optional Tack Country Pleasure class will be added; the Park Pleasure class will be Two and Three-Year-Old Classic Park Pleasure; the Park Performance class will be eliminated.
Marketing Vice President Marty Irby gave a rundown of the various marketing initiatives undertaken thus far in 2010. He touched on Equine Affaire in Ohio, the current membership drive, GO! Gelding program, which now boasts 139 entries, State of Tennessee Ag Day, Tennessee Walking Horse: An American Tradition, and the upcoming International Equestrian Festival, which has the potential to expose over 500,000 people to our breed.
Owners/Exhibitors Vice President Stephen Brown began by recognizing the International Subcommittee and discussing the increasing international interest in our breed. He reported that TWHBEA had been invited to participate in the National Fair of Mexico. Turning to other countries, he related that there was interest in importing Tennessee Walking Horses to China, racing Tennessee Walking Horses was becoming popular in Australia, and the German Tennessee Walking Horse community continues to thrive. Turning stateside, he reported that plans were under way for a trail clinic and Extreme Cowboy Regional Championship at the Celebration. In closing, he discussed the development of a program to offer clinics to other associations.
In the next report, Performance Horse Vice President Ty Irby related that his committee was working to support several TWHBEA programs including GO! Gelding, Youth Challenge, Academy, and All Youth Day. He stated that funds were still being sought for the Youth Challenge and thanked L&M Awards for donating the ribbons for this class. Discussing All Youth Day, he said that eight performance horses, four canter and four specialty, were needed for the judging contest that day.
Pleasure Horse Vice President Rick Wies discussed the new yearly achievement levels available in the versatility program, which include Honor Roll, Honor of Merit, and Register of Merit. He also talked about the new Extreme/Sport division. This division will include Extreme Cowboy Race, Team Penning, Cowboy Mounted Shooting, and Three Day Eventing. He stated that there were already 36 entries in the new versatility program, which was introduced on January 1, 2010. Turning to the 2010 World Versatility Show, he touched on the $2,500 Reining Jackpot, WVS futurity sweepstakes classes, expanded schedule of rail classes, silent auction, and the need for volunteers and sponsors. He then remarked that iPeds now includes the hours accumulated by a horse in the TWHBEA Distance Program and that soon iPeds will include versatility show records.
Trainers Vice President Wayne Dean focused much of his report on the Youth Challenge program asserting that it is very important that kids learn to canter. He said that 17 shows had signed up to hold the class and that contributions were needed to support the program. He also thanked L&M Awards for donating the ribbons for this class.
Loyd Hall ‘Buster’ Black, Jr., Vice President Member At Large By Laws, reported that no By-Law amendments had been proposed this year. He then asked the directors to consider establishing a reserve to handle the mailing costs for future By-Law changes.
In the final standing committee report of the day, Vice President Member At Large Youth Margo Urad first gave a rundown of her committee’s activities this year including the American Youth Horse Council conference to which the Starnes and Carriers brought horses, the Academy shows, which hosted 447 entries and garnered TWHBEA $4,189 to the program, and the Golf Tournament, which generated some revenue. Turning to upcoming projects, Urad discussed the creative contests, a trail clinic to be held at the World Versatility Show, World Versatility Show King and Queen contests, All Youth Day, and the Betty Freeman Memorial in Lebanon and Lewisburg Horse Shows.
As nothing was brought up under Old Business the meeting moved on to New Business. Speaking first, Fran Cole stated that she felt there needed to more of a call to action in the By Laws committee. Joey Manos verified that it was still possible to nominate a weanling to the National Futurity for all four years for $150 plus $50 to nominate the mare.
The next meeting of the TWHBEA International Board of Directors will be held December 4, 2010.
–Sarah Gee
For further details or information, please contact (931) 359-1574.
|
|
