The Annual International Board of Directors Meeting of TWHBEA was held on Saturday, Dec. 1, 2012, at TWHBEA Headquarters in Lewisburg, Tenn. The meeting was called to order at 9:15 a.m. by President Marty Irby.
Secretary Alie Napier called the role and 63 of the 69 Directors were present. The newly elected directors were administered the oath of office.
A motion was made and seconded to approve the agenda of the meeting. The agenda was approved by unanimous vote.
A motion was made and seconded to approve the minutes of the May 26, 2012, International Board of Directors Meeting. The minutes were approved unanimously.
The first order of business was presentation of the 2013 Budget by Rob Cornelius, the Administrative/Audit/Fiscal Vice President. There was a motion and a second to accept the budget. The budget was approved unanimously.
The next item of business was the standing committee reports. There had been some heated discussion at Friday’s meeting concerning the fact that these reports were not presented to the General Membership and were to be reported only to the Board of Directors.
The first standing committee report was the Administrative/Fiscal/Audit Division. It was presented by Vice-President Rob Cornelius. He predicted an approximate $6,400 loss for 2012, and predicted a break-even year for 2013. He reported on travel reimbursement for Executive Committee and International Directors and reported there is a Bylaws revision in the works relative to reimbursements.
The next standing committee report was the Enforcement Division and was presented by Vice-President Christy Lantis. She reported that five complaints were filed in 2012: three were dismissed due to improper filing, one was withdrawn, and one is ongoing. Lantis reported that the proposed new rulebook was 70-80% complete. She reported her committee used the 2006 rulebook as a template and began updating from there with emphasis being placed on reciprocity of shoeing rules.
The next standing committee report was the Equine Welfare Division reported by Dr. Lynda Montgomery. Dr. Montgomery reported there had been three incidences reported in 2012 that required TWHBEA’s assistance. She stressed the confidentiality aspect of the cases. She reported that she asked at last year’s meeting for funds to be used by her committee and the Foundation had only raised $100. An additional $275 was donated by members in attendance. Monies can be earmarked within the Foundation for Equine Welfare.
The next standing committee report was the Horse Show Division presented by Vice-President Tracy Boyd. He reported on the magnitude of moving the Futurity away from the Celebration to coincide with the World Versatility Show. It was the consensus of his committee that this had been the correct decision. Futurity nominations were 540 in 2010 and 490 in 2012. Open classes were added to the 2012 Futurity show to make it well rounded and the goal of the committee is to increase the Futurity nominations in the future.
Boyd reported that the first ever International High Point Awards were presented at Friday’s meeting with Mr. Bill Harlan of Harlinsdale Farms being awarded the first award in the weanling division for Rowdy Sunshine. Mr. Harlin received a standing ovation from the membership for his lifelong work on behalf of the betterment of our breed.
Cris Van Horn, Director from Okla., suggested that TWHBEA award its own World Grand Championships as well based on high points.
The next standing committee report was the Marketing Division enthusiastically presented by Vice-President Joyce Moyer.
The next standing committee report, the Owners/Exhibitors/International Division, was given by Vice-President Stephen Brown, and focused on sales abroad. Brown reported that the top five countries for horses were: United States 9 million, China 7 million, Mexico 6 million, Brazil 5 million and Argentina 3 million. He reported on the enthusiastic response to the Tennessee Walking Horse in mainland China.
The standing committee report of the Performance Horse Division was given by Vice-President Mike Hicks. Hicks reported that the focus of his committee has been to promote the show horse through education and information. He suggested that TWHBEA needed to better partner with WHTA in this regard.
The standing committee report of the Pleasure Horse Division was presented by Vice-President Rick Wies. He thanked his 39-member committee. He reported that five adult supreme versatility champions had been named this year and further reported that Sherrie Szucs had been named Pleasure Horse Ambassador.
The standing committee report of the Breeders Division was presented by Vice-President DeeDee Miller. Online registration is finally available and being used. A Motivated Mare Program has been devised to coincide with the popular Go Gelding Program. Miller reported that five Master Breeder awards were presented at the banquet the night before. She stated that her committee is considering offering Family Memberships.
The Member At Large Bylaws report was presented by Loyd “Buster” Black. He reported that three revisions of the Bylaws had been tabled in the past due to lack of funds to do the mailing to the membership. He reported that the 2013 budget has a line item of $13,000 budgeted for such a mailing. He further reported that committee member Fran Cole had undertaken a fourth revision which would simplify the Bylaws.
The Member At Large Youth report was presented by Linda Starnes who works tirelessly with the youth members of the Association.
The final standing committee report was the Training Division, delivered by Vice-President Wayne Dean. The focus of the Training Division has been revising and improving the Academy Program and Certified Riding Instructor Program.
With the standing committee reports presented and approved, the next order of business was the Election of Officers.
Marty Irby read the slate of officer nominees presented by the nominating committee. The nominating committee consisted of Mary Irby, Linda Starnes, Joe Rankin, Mick Salm and Cris Van Horn.
President: Stephen Brown
Senior Vice President: Lloyd Black
Admin/Fiscal/Audit: Rob Cornelius
Horse Shows: Pat Stout
Trainers: Sherrie Szucs
Breeders: Mike Hicks
Pleasure Horse: Rick Wies
Performance Horse: Christy Lantis
Enforcement: Lori Northrup
Equine Welfare: Dr. Lynda Montgomery
Marketing: Joyce Moyer
Owners/Exhibitors/International: Jason Bachert
Member at Large Bylaws: Fran Cole
Member at Large Youth: Caroline Hoffman
Secretary: DeeDee Miller
Five of these nominations were uncontested and accepted:
Breeders: Mike Hicks
Equine Welfare: Dr. Lynda Montgomery
Marketing: Joyce Moyer
Owners/Exhibitors/International: Jason Bachert
Secretary: DeeDee Miller
Nominations were accepted from the floor as follows:
President: Tracy Boyd
Senior Vice President: Margo Urad
Admin/Fiscal/Audit: Rick Chovan
Horse Shows: Kasey Kesselring
Trainers: Wayne Dean
Performance Horse: Leslie Topham
Enforcement: Denise Bader-Keyser
Pleasure Horse: Sherry White
Member at Large Bylaws: Dr. David Mullis
The meeting was interrupted at 12:00 noon for lunch to be served and reconvened at 1:00 p.m. for each candidate in a contested office to speak for three minutes. After each candidate spoke, the ballots were handed out by roll call and collected by roll call. The election committee and the CPA retired to count the votes. When the meeting reconvenened at 2:00 p.m., the results of the election were announced:
President: Tracy Boyd
Senior Vice-President: Lloyd Black
Admin/Fiscal/Audit: Rob Cornelius
Horse Shows: Pat Stout
Trainers: Wayne Dean
Pleasure Horse: Rick Wies
Performance Horse: Christy Lantis
Enforcement: Denise Bader-Keyser
Member at Large Bylaws: Dr. David Mullis
(in addition to the five uncontested seats)
As the last order of business, Mike Hicks, Vice-Present of Breeders Division, asked that an Economic Impact Survey be completed by each member of TWHBEA to assist his committee. A motion was made, seconded, and passed unanimously that the Breeders Division Committee distribute an Econonic Impact Survey to each TWHBEA member on 01/15/13 to be completed and returned to the Association by 03/01/13.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 2:45 p.m. This meeting was covered by Channel 4 News from Nashville and was visited by three protestors of pads and action devices. Having no permit to demonstrate, the protestors were escorted from the property by the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department.