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Pre-2008 Minutes



Any member wanting information about the treasurer's reports please email govcup@copper.net

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.

Logo for MSHSA

Linda Bossell moved to adjourn, Deb Felton second. Meeting adjourned at 3:55PM.

Minutes approved at general meeting 11/9/07

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