All the current members (except the 6 year old and the 11 year old) were emailed or called about the board vacancy. There were several responses fairly fast. So we just need to vote and pick one.
Sammy Ryan, Dillon, age 22, responded first that she was interested in filling a board position. Sammy is a new member.
Robert Taylor, Belgrade, age 54, responded next that he was very interested. Robert has been a member for quite a few years and shows extensively.
Theresa Danley, Chinook, age 28, said that she would be willing to serve if no one else could be found. She would not be able to travel to meetings since she is going to have a baby. She didn’t think it would be a problem if the meetings were in the chat room. Theresa also volunteered to be the editor. So she and I are working on that angle.
Aimee Kudrna, St Ignatius, adult, said she would serve if we didn’t find anyone else and I promised her she could handle the computer stuff (which I did promise). Aimee has been a member for many years, past president twice.
So we need everyone’s vote, please do a reply all. I’ll keep track of the votes.
Robert Taylor received six votes. Robert and persons volunteering to serve were notified by email of the vote. 4/6/08
Board Minutes chat room meeting 2/13/08 7:30 PMMeeting began at 7:30 PM. Present Barb Rolf, Bruce Backman, Cheryl Bryant, Erin Ward, Britney Harris, Diana Alkire. Cheri Clark joined at 8:23 PM.
Absent Rene’ Dupuis for medical reasons and Tricia Welnel for an unknown reason.
Old business
Treasurer’s Report
Motion was made to approve the treasurer’s report. Passed unanimously.
Banquet
Red Lion is reserved for 11/8/08 for the same room as we had this year. Diana mentioned that she would not be able to attend since her work has a banquet the same weekend. There were questions about the cost of having a larger room. Cheryl said it was her understanding that the vendors would pay $35 per table and we could have the larger room for the same price as last year, $125. If we did not charge the vendors $35 per table, then the room would be $250 to us. We would have to have 3.8 vendors to make up the extra $125 in cost. There were questions about who would collect from the vendors, when we would need to know how many vendors and what happened if we had no vendors. Cheryl said she would check on that and get back to the group by email.
New Business
Goals Setting one year and 5 year goals for the Association regarding:
1. Better serving our existing members and some ideas on how we can do that better. 2. new membership/promotion and how and what we can do to attract new members.
Barb said she had talked with Leslie and Terry Olson and they had agreed to help as time allows. Barb said that she would set aside some time to work on this and everyone could email ideas to her to be included in the plan.
Presentation of awards-Do we want to do it class by class or person by person. There are advantages and disadvantages to each. Class by class, the later classes don’t have as much to choose from and there are complaints. Person by person, the ones that have won the most classes have gone last and there isn’t so much to choose from and there are complaints.
It seems that any way we have done it, someone isn’t happy or hasn’t been able to get the prizes they want. There is no way we can afford to buy 54 of every type prizes. Erin suggested that we put out the awards in shifts, several of each type and when those were taken, we put out another group of each type. That way everybody would sooner or later have a shot at getting a prize they want. It was decided to do it that way next year. And we will give out the framed certificates listing the class placings.
Barb asked that if anyone saw good prizes to let Cheryl know so we could purchase at a better price. There was some discussion as to how much could be allowed for prizes for each placing. It will not be known until later in the year how much could be spent on prizes. Information was given based on last year’s budget but we may or may not be able to spend that much this year. Bruce mentioned that he would be sending in $100 as a donation. It was agreed to try to get more class sponsorships and donations.
United States Equestrian Federation membership This is up for renewal, $150. What we get is a certificate denoting the affiliation of our association, a USEF Roster of Licenses Officials, a subscription to Equestrian magazine, access to insurance coverage at special affiliated association member-only rates, publication of our association’s address and contact information in Equestrian magazine, opportunity to submit news of our association’s activities for publication in Equestrian magazine, all USEF press releases, by mail or by email, listing of our association on the Affiliate page of USEF website and a link to our website. We also get the rules. We don’t use the insurance any more since I found the same insurance much cheaper elsewhere. There is no way to send the magazine around to everybody and it mostly has news of hunter jumpers, dressage and three day eventing about people most of us have never heard of. The link is nice but I put the link out to as many places as I can find. We could buy the rules for about $20 and we really don’t use all the rules anyway. We could print out the rules from the USEF web site pretty easily. Do we want to spend the $150?
After some discussion, a motion was made and seconded to not renew the affiliate membership. Passed unanimously.
Merchandise Aimee brought down some of the merchandise that she had. There are t-shirts, shorts, rule book binders, some hats and steel insulated can holders. Cheryl wanted to put this merchandise on the web site with pictures to sell the hats, shorts & t-shirts for $5, the binders and cup holders for $2 plus shipping. This is pretty nice stuff. Cheryl would also take the merchandise around to the shows and sell it there. It all has the old logo on it and that is the reason for selling it so cheaply.
There was some discussion about giving a rule book binder to persons who renewed at the shows but that wouldn’t be fair to folks who renewed by mail. The member applications for folks renewing at the shows usually does not get sent until after the show so the binder would have to be mailed. They are heavy so the cost of mailing might be more than the cost of the binder. All the items would be taken to the shows to be sold there.
It was agreed to post the merchandise on the web site at the above listed prices plus shipping for those buying who want items shipped to them. An email will be sent when the page is up.
The meeting was terminated but not adjourned at 8:44 PM when the chat room broke. Cheryl sent an email that she would contact the web site host and get it fixed and the meeting could be concluded at a later date.
Meeting was reconvened on 3/19/08 at 7:42 PM. Present was Barb Rolf, Diana Alkire, Britney Harris, Erin Ward, Bruce Backman, Cheri Clark, Renee Dupuis, Cheryl Bryant. Absent Tricia Welnel.
Cheri had an item to add about the MSU Equine Conference in Bozeman in April. She had the paperwork for a booth but since they are only expecting 200 people, she didn't know if it is worth having a booth or not. A booth was $200. Bruce mentioned that when he got the paperwork, the lady had said they were sold out. It might not be our target audience.
Cheri mentioned that she also thought we could get the mailing list for the breed associations, send a letter of invitation and explanation about the breed award program. The letter would explain about MSHSA and list the shows we have. Many clubs have members who do not show at MSHSA and may not be fully aware of our organization. Barb mentioned this would be quite a bit of work and that Cheryl had contacted the breed associations. The breed associations were making information about the breed award program available to its members. Cheryl mentioned that she had put links on our site to the web sites of other associations and a breed membership contact and some of the breed associations had put a link about the breed awards back to us. Cheri also mentioned that we could maybe have a booth at the breed shows to explain MSHSA. Barb suggested a letter be sent to the president of each association to have them put it in their newsletter and mention it at meetings. Diana said that if someone can get some brochures to her, she could put them at the MFBF booth at the MSU Equine Conference. Barb asked Cheri if she could you compose a nice article to send to all of the breed associations. Cheri agreed to do that. Cheryl has the contact information and will send to Cheri. Diana said she would need the posters by 4/21/08 for the MSU Equine Conference. It was decided that a brochure would be better than a poster or letter. Cheri said she wanted to get it done by 4/15/08.
There was followup on the vendors. The Red Lion will only charge us $125 for the big room if we have vendors. Vendor tables would be $35 that we would have to collect and turn over to Red Lion. Red Lion would need to know by July. The vendors could start setting up around 11 am. So if we can get vendors, great. I have put out some inquiries to possible vendors already. If vendors signed up and we decided not to have them, we would refund the fee. Diana suggested that the booth spaces be put in the brochure. Barb suggested that we put something on the web site with a sign up form. Barb would make a form and send to me.
Committee Reports
Banquet Barb chair, Cheryl, Diana-Had been covered.
Promotion/membership Cheri chair-previously covered.
Budget/finance Cheryl-finances could be better. Memberships should start coming in soon. The schooling show had been advertised by mailing out posters to business, the books have been mailed, the show was listed on any web site that could be found that would list shows. Diana mentioned that she had put all the shows in the MFBF in their directory which would be mailed next week, 3000 copies printed, 950 to go to a targeted audience, the rest to fairs, etc.
Education Diana chair-Diana said she could get speakers for the meeting. It was mentioned that since it was a rules year, we generally did not try to get speakers for the general meeting but it might be good for the banquet. Or we could get someone from Department of Livestock to explain what horse folks are getting for our per capita fee. Diana said she would put some ideas together and email out. She mentioned she knew someone who did some singing and playing and was funny. Barb mentioned that her sister was willing to play the piano again and Barb volunteered to play the violin. Bruce said he was willing to MC.
Grievance whole board-No grievances
Rules whole board-No rules
Awards Tricia chair, Bruce, Cheryl-24 3rd or 4th place prizes have been purchased. Everyone should be checking the many catalogues they receive to see what items have good prices or are clearance items and let one of the committee know so we could make some early purchases.
Rules stewards Barb chair, Cheryl, Rene’-Nothing at this time
Big Sky Classic Tricia, Diana-Britney volunteered to manage the Big Sky Classic.
The chat room again gave us error messages. The meeting was finished by email.
The board voted to have the show. Cheryl will help Britney.
It was agreed to finish one last item of business. No one had heard from Tricia. Barb had sent a letter to her on 3/4/08 about her lack of attendance at the meetings. Cheryl mentioned that Tricia had not paid dues as yet. A motion was made, seconded and passed with 6 votes to send a letter to Tricia removing her from the board. Barb will send the letter. We will look at the current member list to get a replacement.
Meeting adjourned at 9:42 PM Minutes approved by email 3/30/08.
Motion to approve another show
Email sent to the Board on 12/22/07 for a vote. Cheri Clark has submitted a show application for the Harvest Classic Open ACS Show to be held in Bozeman at the fairgrounds on September 6 & 7, 2008. Judge to be selected. We need to vote on this since the application was submitted after the 10/1 deadline. I think waiting until the 2/13 meeting is too long so I move that we give approval to this show subject to all requirements being met by the show. Please do the reply all when you vote. Thanks Cheryl (Renee's copy has been mailed to her)
Approved unanimously 12/31/07
Board Meeting chat room 12/5/07 7:30 PM
Meeting came to order at 7:36 PM. Present Barb Rolf, Cheryl Bryant, Bruce Backman, Cheri Clark, Erin Ward. Britney Harris joined late. Diana Alkire was absent due to work. Rene’ Dupuis was absent due to illness. Tricia Welnel was absent for unknown reasons.
Treasurer’s Report
Motion was made and seconded to approve the treasurer’s report. Passed unanimously.
Old business
Rules on having vendors at the annual meeting/banquet. (Whole board)
Most were in favor of having vendors at the banquet and possibly charging a small fee, $20, for a table or display. We would need a larger room, which we could get. Cheryl will call the Red Lion to see how much a larger room would cost and how soon would they need to know. Might need to have a cut off date for a vendor to sign up. It was decided to get information from Red Lion on room cost, put together the ideas and discuss at the next meeting.
Rule on missing meetings (Cheryl) Somehow this rule got missed to be put before the general membership for a vote. I have it to be presented next annual meeting but since the general membership didn’t vote on it, the rule is null and void and has been removed from the web site. We can do several things: wait until next annual meeting; pass the rule again; or just make a policy of missing meetings until a rule can be enacted. A motion was made to re-adopt the rule on absences-- 3. A director may be removed from office after missing one board meeting without a valid excuse to the president. A valid excuse is circumstances that are not within the director’s control or that cannot be remedied with reasonable diligence. The director will be replaced at the following meeting. (Page 5). Seconded and passed unanimously.
Cheryl will contact Tricia to see why she was absent, then let the board know and we can vote on whether it is a valid excuse.
Breed Awards (Cheryl) A letter has been sent or an email to representatives of the breeds about a breed award at the next banquet. The Arabian folks (Cheri and Bruce) are willing to do that so it just a matter of getting together to iron out details. The Morgan folks (Barb) are the same. Maybe a meeting could be scheduled with the breed award committee (Cheryl, Bruce, Erin) and the representative in the chat room. Or we can just work individually with the breed representative to see how they want to structure it. Barb said the Morgan folks would be meeting 1/5/08 and she would know more after that. Brit said she would be with Deb Felton and meeting with the Appaloosa folks. The body of the letter was emailed to Brit so she would have the information.
New business
Banquet date and location for next year. (Barb) Everyone agreed that having the banquet the first or second weekend of November worked pretty well. It was decided to set the date for November 8, 2008 at the Red Lion. Cheryl will contact them to let them know.
Committee reports
Banquet Barb chair, Cheryl, Diana-already discussed.
Promotion/membership Cheri chair-Cheri is looking into setting something up at the MSU Equine fair. She asked if anyone knew of any other fairs we could set up a booth at. Barb said she would like to set some goals for one year out and 5 years out. The goals would be around better serving our existing members and some ideas on how we can do that better and 2. new membership/promotion and how and what we can do to attract new members. Barb said she would put some ideas together for the next meeting. Maybe a committee could be appointed or the whole board could work on it. Anyone who has ideas, send to Barb.
Budget/finance-Cheryl Finances are okey.
Education Diana chair-Absent, no report.
Grievance whole board-No grievances.
Rules whole board-No rule problems.
Awards Tricia chair, Bruce, Cheryl-Too soon to decide.
Rules stewards Barb chair, Cheryl, Rene’
Big Sky Classic Tricia, Diana-No one has come forward to do the show.
Youth Erin chair-Erin reported that her mother has been talking to Edie Baker. Edie would like to see the youth get together sometime this winter to hang out, have a demonstration or a clinic. Cheryl said she could pull contact information from the data base on the youth.
Audit (Cheryl) Linda Bossell, Dee Burnham, Amanda Workman agreed to perform the audit. This was done on 11/24/07. Report was as follows:
Audit Report November 24, 2007
Linda Bossell, Dee Burnham, Amanda Workman
Income and expenses from December 6, 2006 through October 25, 2007 were validated through receipts and bank statements.
Purchase of a certificate of deposit should be shown as an expense and income when redeemed. All checks should be listed on the monthly expense sheet. The expense sheet should be checked against the bank sheet when the checkbook is checked.
Signed report on file.
Schooling show/Clinic Cheryl chair, Barb, Britney Rea’s has been contracted for May 3, 2008. We will use the outdoor arena since its $200 and the indoor is $250. If weather is bad, indoors we go. John Xanthopoulos will do 3 90 minute sessions with 7 riders in each one. Then we can do 16 classes in the afternoon. If the schedule works out right, we should start at 9 and be done by 5:30. Brit and I will split the office duties. I’ll do the book and posters to mail to businesses.
For classes, we could run the English classes, then western. No halter, showmanship or pattern classes, would take too much time.
Green horse English Pleasure (maybe walk/trot) Green horse Western Pleasure (maybe walk/trot)
Junior Horse English Pleasure Junior Horse Western Pleasure
Senior Horse English Pleasure Senior Horse Western Pleasure
Open English Pleasure Open Western Pleasure
Maiden Rider English Equitation (maybe walk/trot) Maiden Rider Western Equitation (maybe walk/trot)
Junior Rider (15 & Under) English Eq Junior Rider (15 & Under) Western Eq
Senior Rider (16 & Over) English Eq Senior Rider (16 & Over) Western Eq
Open equitation English Open equitation western
That gives us 16 classes but is pretty well balanced. We could have prizes for first place in each class and have a western hp, English hp and an overall hp.
We have ribbons left over from the Big Sky Classic that we could use and save some money there. We could call the thing the Big Sky Classic Clinic and Schooling Show. I can print the programs and entry forms. That would save on printing costs since buying some ink cartridges and paper is cheaper than having it printed. And it would be in color.
Classes could be $5 each and a $5 office charge, $6 post entry class fee and not worry about an all day fee. It was decided to charge $25 for the clinic.
Breed Awards Cheryl chair, Bruce, Erin-see above
Sweepstakes, Cheryl chair, Cheri, Rene’-There is no added money as yet for the sweepstakes and can’t have the sweepstakes until there is.
It was mentioned that there is no provision to have a high point 10 & under award. Leslie Cochran-Olson was sponsoring it for the last few years but might not since she was doing quarter horse circuit. Bruce mentioned that Cheri might sponsor it if Leslie and Terry decided not to.
Vendors whole board-see above
The web site has been redesigned and is up and running. Check for mistakes and let Cheryl know if there are errors.
February 13, 2008 at 7:30 in the chat room was set for the next meeting. Adjourned at 9:34 PM
Approved by email 12/9/07.
Minutes for New Board 11/10/07 at Red Lion Colonial, Helena MT
Meeting commenced at 3:42 PM. Present were Barb Rolf, Cheryl Bryant, Erin Ward, Cheri Clark, Bruce Backman, Diana Alkire, Rene’ Dupuis. Absent Tricia Welnel and a member to be appointed by the Board.
The first order of business was election of officers. Barb Rolf was nominated for president. Diana Alkire was nominated for vice-president. Cheryl Bryant was nominated for secretary/treasurer. Nominations accepted on voice vote and passed unanimously.
Committee appointments were made as follows:
Banquet Barb chair, Cheryl, Diana
Promotion/membership Cheri chair
Budget/finance Cheryl
Education Diana chair
Grievance whole board
Rules whole board
Awards Tricia chair, Bruce, Cheryl
Rules stewards Barb chair, Cheryl, Rene’
Big Sky Classic Tricia, Diana
Youth Erin chair
Audit *three members to be recruited by Cheryl Bryant
Schooling show/Clinic Cheryl chair, Barb
Breed Awards Cheryl chair, Bruce, Erin
Sweepstakes, Cheryl chair, Cheri, Rene’
Vendors whole board
It was explained to Rene’ how the board works with email and the chat room. Rene’ said she didn’t have email at home but could be reached at work. Since her work is for the State, that is not an option. She could come to Cheryl’s house for the chat room meetings. Everything else would have to be done by phone call or mail.
The date of the next meeting was set for 12/5/07 7:30 PM in the chat room. Send agenda items to Cheryl. Meeting adjourned at 4:15 PM
Approved by email 11/17/2007
Minutes for Board Meeting 11/10/07 Red Lion Colonial, Helena MT
Meeting was called to order at 10:27 AM. Present Barb Rolf, Cheryl Bryant, Erin Ward, Leslie and Terry Olson, Cheri Clark, Bruce Backman with vice-president Barb Rolf presiding. Absent Diana Alkire and Tricia Welnel.
Dorinda Stock award. Charmaine Lindgren was nominated for the following reasons:
Charmaine Lindgren has been a member of MSHSA since the 1970's. She has cheerfully volunteered to announce at the schooling show, has worked to get items for the silent auction, served on the board and has been a friend to everyone in MSHSA. She has also volunteered to work at MSHSA approved shows and the Big Sky Classic. Her whole family has participated. The long time members will remember her family’s palomino horse, Sweet Pea. Her daughter, Amber Gerhardt, has shown for many years. Husband Robert has worked at the MSHSA Schooling show. Charmaine was an active showing member in western and driving with Tiger. You can tell who Charmaine is, she is the one with a big smile and she gives you a hug. Our heartfelt appreciation goes to Charmaine. We are lucky to have her as a member.
Passed unanimously.
Montana Arabian Horse Club sent in a show application for 5/23, 24, 25, 2008. Voted to accept late show application pending meeting of all requirements.
Cheri indicated the Bozeman Show may put in application for a September Show around Labor Day. She mentioned they might add some stakes classes.
Ideas to publicize MSHSA were discussed. The Wrangler and the web site is used currently. Maybe get a booth at Nile, show in Bozeman, contact other clubs, 4-H clubs, other publications, clinics. Cheri will get a booth together for Equine Fair and/or Nile. We could also ask members to contact non-members to get a membership.
Meeting adjourned at 11:56 AM.
Approved by email 11/17/2007
General Meeting November 11, 2006 at the Red Lion Colonial, Helena
The meeting was called to order by President Tom Knight at 1:03 PM.
The minutes from the 11/12/05 general meeting were read and approved by voice vote.
Treasurer Report that showed 2005 and 2006 income and expenses was passed out to members. Report on the futurity, schooling show and Big Sky Classic was read. Diana Alkire moved to accept. Leslie Cochran-Olson second. Passed on voice vote
Vote on rules
Rule 1 Clarify membership to a 1/1 to 12/31 calendar basis (page 4). The board had recommended to pass.
Passed unanimously.
Rule 2 Clarify membership requirements to be a director (page 4). The board had recommended to pass.
The purpose of the prior year requirement was to show a commitment to the Association and allow members to get to know the person who wanted to be a director. The members thought it might be too restrictive to require a prior year membership but did agree that the person must be a member in the current year before being eligible to be a director.
The rule was amended by Cheryl Bryant to read “To be eligible for the position of director, a person must be a current member of MSHSA”.
The rule as amended passed unanimously.
Rule 3 Change same room requirement for board and general meeting to same building (page5). The board recommended to pass.
Passed unanimously.
Rule 4 Add email to method of notification of board meetings (page 5). The board had recommended to pass.
Passed unanimously.
Rule 5 Clarify notification date on bad checks (page 27) The board had recommended to pass.
Passed unanimously.
Rule 6 Clarify when award fees are due to MSHSA from shows (page 25). The board had recommended to pass.
Passed unanimously.
Rule 7 Clarify reporting a horse owned by a family member to MSHSA and shows (page 14).
This rule was withdrawn during the board meeting due to possible conflicts with other associations and open competition programs.
Rule 8 Delete encouragement of dispute resolution for shows in the premium book (page 12). The board had recommended to pass.
There was discussion about how shows needed to have a dispute resolution. The rule that allowed shows to charge $50 for a formal grievance was to eliminate frivolous complaints. It was pointed out that there was nothing MSHSA could do if a show did not have a dispute resolution in their premium. Some members found no problem with having encouragement in a rule book. Other associations do it. It might alert members to the fact that they could dispute rulings at a show and what the member had to do to get a ruling.
6 yes votes 16 no votes Rule did not pass.
Rule 9 New rule limiting number of horses based on size of the riding area. The board had recommended to pass.
This rule was put in place by the board before the show season for safety reasons after members had brought up some concerns with overcrowded arenas. Some members felt we were policing shows and this would not make a difference. Some exhibitors do not ride in a safe manner and this rule would not change that. It was pointed out that with this rule requiring 40 feet of space in canter classes, an exhibitor would have room to get out of the way of an unsafe rider or horse.
20 yes votes 4 no votes Rule passed.
Rule 10 New rule for substitution of judge in case of a judge’s inability to go to the show. The board had recommended to pass as amended.
The rule had been amended at the board meeting to add “of MSHSA” after president and secretary.
Passed unanimously.
Rule 11 Delete redundant section about warm-up areas and arena use (page 26). The board had recommended pass yes.
Some members did not see a problem with having encouragements in the rule book.
9 yes votes 14 no votes Rule did not pass.
Rule 12 Delete redundant section about schooling areas and trail practice area (page 27). The board had recommended to pass.
20 yes votes 3 no votes Rule was passed.
Rule 13 Allow elevated obstacles for walk/jog. Allow curved walk/jog-overs (page 30). The board recommended 4 votes to pass, 2 votes no.
The rule was amended in the board meeting to read “1. No elevated obstacles allowed for lope-overs or jog overs. Obstacles may be elevated on one end, not more than 12" for walk-overs. All elevations must be at the same end.”
There was discussion that having elevated obstacles would be discouraging to new riders or green horses.
10 yes votes 14 no votes Rule did not pass.
Rule 14 Delete redundant sections on trail horse novice and western control (page 32). The board recommended to pass.
There was some discussion that these sections were in the class specifications list where the other section was in the conduct of the class. It was pointed out that all shows are just listing the name of the class and not using the class specification list because their premium book would be huge.
21 yes votes 2 no votes Rule was passed.
Rule 15 Delete section for hunt pleasure no more than 8 horses to hand gallop (page 33). The board had recommended to pass.
This rule was contingent on passage of rule # 9, limiting horses in the class based on riding area size. Since that rule passed, this section was redundant and could be eliminated.
Passed unanimously.
Rule 16 Combine Saddle seat 17 & Under and 18 & over for all saddle seat classes (page 22, 23, 34). The board had recommended 5 no pass and 1 yes.
The discussion was that saddle seat may increase in the next few years and kids starting out in saddle seat might not want to ride against adults.
5 yes votes 19 no votes Rule did not pass.
Rule 17 Split maiden rider and green horse walk/trot into English and western classes (page 22, 23, 29). The board had recommended to pass.
These classes are hard to place in a show schedule because of tack changes. It is also difficult to determine what a green status might be the following year since there is no way to know which way the class was ridden. The classes were filled when shows split the classes into English and Western before the rule was passed disallowing any classes that were duplicates.
Passed unanimously.
Rule 18 Delete redundant class qualifications and explanations in the class list for flat classes (page 22). The board had recommended to pass.
It was pointed out that the explanation for hunt and saddle seat should be moved also.
Passed unanimously.
Rule 19 New rule on schooling in MSHSA required classes. The board had recommended to pass .
There was some discussion as to what a schooling technique was since some schooling does take place in classes. It was pointed out that it had to be contrary to what the judge was requesting and be disruptive to the class.
23 yes votes 1 no vote Rule passed.
Rule 20 Provide three options on chaps requirement in western equitation classes (page 24). The board recommended to pass as amended.
The rule was amended in the board meeting to leave only option #2, chaps are required in all western equitation classes except walk/trot classes. There is no penalty for riding without chaps.
21 yes votes 3 no votes Rule passed.
Rule 21 Make chaps optional in all western equitation classes (page 24). The board had recommended a no pass.
This rule was withdrawn by the member who proposed it.
Rule 22 Modify requirement that shows have MSHSA rules books for sale (page 25). The board had recommended to pass.
This was just an expense of time and money to mail rule books to shows and shows would have to mail them back. The show is given a rule book for the office that could be made available.
Passed unanimously
Rule 23 Eliminate requirement that 10 & under classes are combined for one award (page 24). The board had recommended to pass.
It doesn’t seem fair that kids pay the entry fees and only one kid gets to go up and get a prize. Eliminating this requirement allows the kids to get a top 4 prize just like other members.
24 yes votes 1 no vote Rule passed.
Rule 24 Modify requirement that show must have a manager and a secretary (page 20). The board had recommended 3 pass, 1 no, 1 abstain.
Discussion was that a show secretary had little authority to make decisions. Decisions were made by the show manager. It would be difficult to take care of the office work and still make decisions. It was pointed out that shows are not required to have one person do both jobs but may if they wish to as a money saving measure.
9 yes votes 10 no votes 3 abstain Rule did not pass.
A break was taken from 3:08 to 3:18.
Rule 25 Modify age groups to have 3 groups, 15 & under, 16 to 39, 40 & over (page 22). The board had recommended 2 votes to pass, 4 abstained.
There was discussion that the 18-39 group had been very small in the last 2 years and it wasn’t fair to that age group because they were not getting points. Shows were being required to have more classes, which costs more for ribbons. The over 40 group seemed happy not to compete against the younger riders. There was concern that the 16-17 were not comfortable competing against more seasoned riders. The rule was amended after discussion to go back to the age groupings from 2004, 13 & under, 14 to 17, 18 and over.
18 yes votes 6 no votes Rule passed.
Rule 26 Modify age groups to have 3 groups, 17 & under, 18 to 39, 40 & over (page 28). The board had recommended 0 to pass, 4 no pass and 1 abstain.
The rule was withdrawn.
Rule 27 Make hunter hack category 6 and remove it from the required flat class category (page 22). The board had recommended to pass.
The discussion was it was time consuming to set up and take down the jumps and expensive to have the jumps and standards. This way, shows would have a choice of having hunter hack or not.
23 yes votes 1 abstain Rule passed.
A committee was formed to reformat the rules, to put items together that belonged together and eliminate some of the confusing numbering system. Cheryl Bryant and Linda Waddell will work on that.
Election of directors
Linda Bossell nominated Tricia Welnel, Cheryl Bryant, Barb Rolf, Tom Knight
Cheryl Bryant nominated Bruce Backman
Tricia Welnel nominated Terry Olson
Cheryl Bryant nominated Diana Alkire
Cheryl Bryant nominated Cheri Clark, who had indicated she wanted to be an alternate.
Bruce Backman nominated Leslie Cochran-Olson as an alternate.
Deb Felton? moved to accept slate as is. Linda Bossell second. Passed on voice vote. New board will meet right after the general meeting.
Leslie Cochran Olson presented information about a year end Versatility Challenge Award of a western saddle donated by Helena Trailer Sales. The new owners, Bob and Cathy Pernell, have purchased a western saddle for a year end award. The saddle will be tooled to add Versatility Challenge Award and MSHSA. Only members are eligible. A nomination form must be completed for one horse, one rider. The member is required to show in the respective halter class and may choose 3 classes, pleasure or equitation. The classes cannot be changed and points only count after the nomination has been made. The member would have to show at 65% of the shows but all points from all shows attended would count. The highest total of points from the classes chosen by the member would win the saddle. The saddle will be on display at all the shows. Leslie and Terry will keep the saddle and take to the shows. The saddle would be awarded at the 2007 banquet. The board had voted to accept this award.
An audit committee was appointed. Marie Jerome, Diana Alkire and Bruce Backman will do the audit. It was discussed that although Diana and Bruce were now board members, they were not on the board during the period being audited. A date of 12/9/06 about noon was set to do the audit in Helena.
Several new logos were passed out to the membership. A vote was taken on which logo most members preferred. The logo below received a majority of votes.
Linda Bossell moved to adjourn, Deb Felton second. Meeting adjourned at 3:55PM.
Minutes approved at general meeting 11/9/07