ESQHA General Membership Meeting

 

President Gayle Farr-Moore called the membership meeting to order on February 18, 2007 at 11:07 a.m. at the Holiday Inn, Waterloo, NY. Those directors present were: Tom Hatch, Ed Brenkus, Linda Connors, Regina Kernin, Charlotte & Larry Jaynes, Ginger Tomassini, Wendy & Gene Bingman, Dan Bergstresser, Patti Hole, Lee Davidson, Rick Kenyon, Mike Bednarek and Sylvia Farr. Those directors absent were: Sandy Burback, Dave Phillips and Ann Manion. Karen Kulha arrived late after attending the youth meeting.

 

Treasurer’s report showed an ending balance of $46,370.87 as of 1/31/07.

 

It was noted that there are some outstanding balances due from exhibitors at the fall show, primarily from shavings.

 

The youth have a balance of $10,581. They raised over $3,000 from the convention auction.

 

Correspondence:

• Request from Sandi Emanuel that we approve the request for the Sunshine Fair horse show in Cobleskill to be double judged on 8/12/07.
• National Agricultural Statistics Service issued a press release that a report on the New York State 2005 Equine Survey will be available on 2/16/07. More details to follow. It was noted that the value of New York’s equine industry was 1.83 billion on 12/3/06.
• Equestrian Land Conservation Resource is looking for support from horse organizations across the country to help develop a national network, whose objectives are to preserve open land for use by horses (i.e. trail riding, show facilities and hay lots).
• E-mail updates from American Horse Council on various topics which have been forwarded to Tom Hatch and Alicia Fereday-Shiland.
• American Horse Council dues are up for renewal in April. Invoice was given to Ed for payment.
• Invitation for Gayle, as president, to attend the Affiliate breakfast at the AQHA convention 3/4/07.
• Doris Hagin sent a request for sponsorship for the National Barrel Horse Association
• Larry Jaynes received a request for a donation from Cazenovia. Mike Bednarek will contact the college and ascertain if this request is to continue to display our club’s banner.

 

Committee Reports:

            Convention: We served 28 people for lunch and 138 for Saturday’s banquet. The net cost was $2,077.08. A complete financial report was distributed and will be submitted to Alicia for publication in the newsletter.

 

            Marketing/Sponsorship:  Regina e-mailed our membership ad to Horse Bits.

            Breeders :  Regina e-mailed our membership ad to Breeders for their show program.

            Awards:  Regina reported that the last of the awards should have been delivered to Gayle's and they need to go through the last of them to make sure everything has arrived.  They are waiting for a couple more items from Schneider's.  Precision needs to bill us the final amount which will include the shipping.

            Directory:  Regina indicated that some of the ads that were sent in PDF format were not compatible with software she was using (PageMaker), so she purchased new software (InDesign) and that seems to be working fine.  The directory will be included in the March newsletter. 

            Newsletter:  Regina reported a total of 330 newsletters were sent in December.  The printing costs was $683.78 and total postage was $86.85.  The December newsletter consisted of 28 pages.  The January newsletter consisted of 16 pages.  A total of 330 newsletters were mailed at a cost of $83.91.  Cost of printing the newsletter was $451.41.  The February newsletter will be sent out the week of 2/12/07.

            Fall Show:  Regina reported that the Best Western and the Holiday Inn have been contacted to get special hotel rates for the show.  They are also going to try to get a special rate from the Comfort Inn this year.  Performance Halter has been added to the schedule along with additional select classes.  Novice Amateur and Novice Youth flat classes will be split after 16 entries.  Youth, Amateur, and Open classes will be split after 20 entries.  AQHA has approved us moving the show to September 20-23, 2007, which are the dates that the Fairgrounds had available for us.

            Charlotte presented a fee summary for the 2006 fall show and noted that it should be the chairperson’s responsibility to complete the financial report.  Regina will contact Ed to get the information she needs to complete the report for 2006.

            Promotion / Trail riding:  Dave Phillips reported that the continuum award notices have gone out.  He is presently preparing some informational packets to send out to clubs and stables.  Dave would again like to request board approval to place a full page ad in Horse Bits for the April and May issues.

               The Genesee Valley Equine Seminar- Informational table set up with AQHA and ESQHA material.  Had some interest and I received one membership.  Not a large group attending.  I would probably not recommend doing it again.

 

Chemung Area Horse Council: Charlotte presented the following projects scheduled for the fairgrounds in 2007:

 

1.  Paint the entry stand

2.  Add more lights behind barn 2 and in the camping area

3.  Update camping pedestals

4.  Electric and water line work

5.  New panels in the bathrooms

6.  Putting a Horse Show entrance sign on Grand Central Ave.

7.  Horse Council will provide the materials and the County will fix the lights in ring 1

8.  Taking bids for footing in the rings.

9.  The county will be tearing down the old Rudy's restaurant and Horse Council would like to see more camper spots be put in its place.

 

Motion was made to accept the committee reports, seconded and carried.

 

Old Business:

·      Gayle reminded board members to return their board assessment forms quickly when they arrive as time is of the essence. The facilitator has been booked for March 17^th. There will be a box lunch served.

·         Directors were asked last year to review the by-laws. Regina had some items she will forward to Gayle. Nothing further was done.

• Charlotte and Larry advised the board that there is a major problem with our horse shows and the youth shows in late June and early July. A car race held in Watkins Glen the first week of July has booked every hotel in the area, as far away as Ithaca. There was much discussion about our options, from changing dates, moving locations, combining shows. A motion was made to double judge three days, June 30, July 1 and July 2 in Horseheads. Motion was rescinded after discussion. Another motion was made to give our dates, June 30 and July to the youth and put two extra set of points into the fall show. No second to this motion and it was dropped. Charlotte will check with AQHA and see if they will hold our dates for one year if we opt out of having our spring show this year, A motion was made to cancel our spring show this year (June 30, July 1) with the understanding that our dates will be held in abeyance for one year. Seconded and carried. We will allow the youth to transfer their shows to the June 30, July 1^st date if they desire.

 

New Business:

• Gayle, Tom, Lee and Regina reported on the Affiliate Workshop with the following highlights:

o      There was talk about opening up the president’s meeting to include vice presidents

o      Board retreats

o      Term limits for board members

o      The problems with e-mails

o      Drug testing cost a total of $888,660 in 2006 with $25,760 in NY. Other statistics are available from Gayle. There will no longer be drug testing at all novice shows.

o      The success of Regional shows and talk of adding a Summit and YES convention

to the Regional shows

o      How special events impact us. It was suggest that each Affiliate be offered the chance to approve or disapprove a special event after AQHA verifies that their own requirements have been met

o      AQHA was not aware that we offered promotional awards 

o      Lee reported on his meeting concerning the trail ride. Registered horses totaled 423 nationally while 960 were all breeds. Lee felt the board development workshop was productive.

·      Linda Connors distributed a financial report for the Christmas party 2006. Each meal cost $25 with members paying $15 and the club $10. ESQHA’s total cost was $632.20.

·      A motion was made to place a full-page ad in the April and May issue of Horse Bits for our promotional program, seconded and carried.

·      Linda Connors spoke about what direction future ESQHA conventions should take. Suggestions from directors included moving the date to the last weekend in January to allow more time to order awards, booking speakers and moving to a more upscale facility. Linda has contacted the Marks Hotel in downtown Syracuse for prices. A DOT representative was a suggested speaker to explain the new licensing laws which affect driving horse trailers. Financial aid for speakers might be available from the NYS Horse Council and Farm Bureau.

·      A motion was made to approve Cobleskill’s request for AQHA to allow the Sunshine Fair to be double-judged on 8/12/07, seconded and carried. Secretary will forward letter to AQHA.

·      A motion was made to sponsor a $50 ESQHA membership ad to the National Barrel Horse Association, seconded and carried.

·      The youth reported that Jeff Steer will provide trail patterns for their shows. They have accepted our offer to take the dates of June 30, July 1-3 for their horse show in Horseheads. More fundraisers are in the works.

·      Linda Connors described the conference she attended in Calgary and suggested that AQHA should look at this venue of speakers and seminars as a way to promote the Quarter Horse, rather than the Regional shows. Linda feels that the Regional shows have started to hurt state horse shows and are not reaching the intended audience.

·      Larry indicated that the next conference call concerning the Regional show will be 2/26/07. He currently has three volunteers for ring stewards and will need three more. The class schedule needs to be redone.

·      Cathy Reetz advised the board of her intent to retire as secretary on December 31, 2007

 

Future meeting dates:

 

March 17, 2007, Board assessment workshop, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Holiday Inn Waterloo, NY

March 18, 2007, 10:00 committee meetings, 11:00 a.m. membership meeting, Holiday Inn Waterloo, NY

 

No meeting scheduled for April

 

Meeting adjourned at 1:30 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

Catherine S. Reetz, Secretary