Paso Fino Horse Association Board of Directors Meeting April 28, 2006 – April 29, 2006 Atlanta, Georgia

Report

Friday evening, April 28, 2006, was spent making final decisions on what the Board of Directors felt were the top points in each section of the Strategic Plan. Once this was accomplished, the sections were assigned to a task force to work on and bring their ideas back to the board for a vote at the October meeting. These task forces were directed to have their budget and base plans completed by the end of June so that the Board of Directors could discuss them with their regional members. The five goals to reach the vision that the Paso Fino is the most ridden recreational horse in America—and every Paso Fino owner is a PFHA member are: 1. A financially stable and secure organization 2. A functional organization that supports the goals and vision 3. A market develop program that creates awareness and leads to successful sales 4. Support for owners 5. Member engagement To reach these goals the following task forces were put into place. For Goal 1 two strategies were adopted. They are: Strategy 1 - Increase member growth and retention. Gwen Wright will chair this task force. Other members are Bob Linteau, Chair of Membership Committee, Chair of Marketing Committee, Tony Coleman. They will use Regional Presidents as resources. They will give a report with their ideas and findings by the October PFHA BOD Meeting. Strategy 2 - Continue to monitor ongoing expenses for efficiency and effectiveness. The Finance Committee will be responsible for this strategy. They will have any budget requests in by June and a report in by October. They will prioritize their ideas for return on investment. Goal 2. adopted two strategies. They are Strategy 1 - Revise governance structure. The Chair of this task force is Cordy Overgaard. Other members are BJ Schuler, Bernardo Pigna, Spud Maulsby, Glenda Newland, Charlene McFadden and CJ Marcello. The will make their report to the BOD at the October meeting. Strategy 2 – Build and re-build relationships. This strategy will address the issues of lack of trust between the members and their regions, the members and PFHA, the regions and PFHA, the BOD and the Executive Board, everyone and the PFHA office. Communication is the key to making this strategy work. The Chair of this task force is Ron Graham. Other members are Lew Haines, Mary Emmons and Nancy Mills. They will report at the October PFHA BOD meeting. Goal 3. To reach this goal the BOD adopted 3 strategies. They are Strategy 1 – Develop the brand for the breed. This entails two components: 1. promoting the image of the breed and creating a value proposition for the product and 2. enhancing the perception of the breed. Sara Holt will chair this task force. Other members are Bob Winsor, Judi Stiranka, Janice Meyer and Lynn Gallop. They will report back at the October meeting. Strategy 2 is Get more people on Paso Finos. The Chair of the Professional Trainers Association will chair this task force. Other members are Chair of the Events Committee, Barbara Preisse and Cori Clark, a PFHA employee. They will have their budget done by June and will report in October. Ben Leon will be a resource for this task force. Strategy 3 is Create and implement a plan for buyer support that leads to owner engagement with PFHA. John Tonetti will chair this task force. Other members are Alice Page, Charlie Minter, Jr. and Mary Emmons. They will report in October. Goal 4. To reach this goal the BOD adopted 3 strategies. Strategy 1 – Maximize communication vehicles to further education, communication and community building. These communication vehicles could include: Horse World, PFHA website, website yourpasofino.com, regional websites, regional director communications, regional newsletters, etc. Communication is a key element in supporting new and existing owners. The Chair of this task force is Sharon Londono. Also on this task force are Lee Vulgaris (Planning Committee), Sara for the Marketing Committee and Lynn Gallop for the Communications Committee. Their resources will be Cordy Overgaard and the Finance Committee. They will report back in October. Strategy 2 is Develop and strengthen the Regions as Communities. Intra-regional communication is an important aspect of developing and strengthening the regions as communities. Frequency of communication may be more important than length of each individual communiqué for owners. The Chair of this task force is Sigrid Olson. Also on this task force are Charlene McFadden, Bob Linteau, Nivia Buchanan, Lee Vulgaris and Clayton Fell. The Regional Presidents and Delegate will be resources for this task force. Strategy 3 is Continue to offer strong customer service through the national office. CJ Marcello will chair this task force. Also on it are Charlotte Crill and John Tonetti. They will report in October. Goal 5. The BOD put off working on this goal until 2008 in order to do justice to the 4 goals that have been addressed.  Motion to approve the Strategic Plan with the designated responsibilities – passed.

Great Western had 236 votes at this meeting. One of the items in the Strategic Plan is increasing and retaining membership. This is not just a job for the Office Staff but for all PFHA members. If you know someone who is not a member of PFHA, encourage him or her to join. We can all help PFHA grow stronger.

There was a long discussion on hiring Dr. Anderson to research if an altered tail can be detected in 100% of all horses presented. Fred and Edna Moretti have donated $4,500 to fund this research. Dick Lockhart has volunteered to donate funds in case the final bill goes over the $4,500 figure. A motion was presented that stated:  Motion to encourage the President to accept the donation of Fred Moretti and investigate the means that tail alteration can be detected. This motion passed. I voted yes. The GW BOD instructed me that I was to vote no if a motion was presented to use PFHA funds to pay for this research. I requested feedback from the GW BOD on how they wanted me to vote when I learned that the Moretti’s had made their donation. I was told that it probably would not come up in the form of a motion. Therefore, when the above motion was presented, I voted yes as you the members had instructed me to do.

The Amateur Owner Committee has asked us to remind you that the deadline for you to submit a PFHA Amateur Owner for the A/O of the Year Award is May 23rd.

A long discussion was held on yourpasofino.com during the Communications Committee Report. In the past there has been many discussions on whether or not this new website should be attached to the Paso Fino website. During the discussion it became apparent that the differences in opinion did not have anything to do with the second website but on how some BOD members perceive that it was started without their input. Since everyone agreed that having this second website is a great asset, I believe that this division of opinion of the PFHA BOD will soon be put to rest.

The Computer Committee report did not have any motions. The repairs needed when the computer system was damaged in early April have been completed. Any additional money requested for computer projects will be presented in the October budget. In the Confepaso report, Dr. Laracuente has stated that the 2007 Mundial will be held the third week in October 2007 at Silver Spurs Arena in Kissimmee, Florida. They are working on their budget, which will be presented in October, and believe that this show will make money. It may not be as big as the last Mundial held in Tampa. That previous Mundial was funded by the Florida region and lost money. However, the Florida Region reported that they paid $100,000 to people to bring their horses to the show. At the 2007 Mundial, no funds will be used to encourage people to participate. The Youth Mundial being held in July 2006 is still short of money and of donated horses. If you can help with these shortages, please contact the PFHA office. The USA judges selected to judge this show are Ernie Sanz and Phyllis Gaudreau. Mr. Rick Meyer told me prior to the meeting in Georgia that Dr. Laracuente was not against altered tails but was against the inhumane methods used to alter tails. I told Rick that I would speak to Dr. Laracuente and I did. Dr. Laracuente told me that Rick was not telling the truth and that he was against altering tails. Dr. Laracuente told me that he would speak to Rick about this issue.

The Events Committee presented two motions. Although the first motion passed, it will not go into effect for the 2006 Grand National Show as the awards have already been ordered. It will go into effect for the 2007 Grand National Show. That motion stated: The High Point Versatility Horse of the National Show will be the horse that accumulates the highest total number of points in the Versatility, Western Pleasure, Trail and Driving classes. An award recognizing this achievement will be given at each Grand National Championship Show.  Motion 2. Any region requesting or sponsoring a show or trail ride to be held after Friday, August 4, 2006 MUST agree to submit show results ON DISK OR VIA E- MAIL and the trail ride results to the PFHA office by the 3rd day following the last day of the show or trail ride. Show results not received on disk or via email and trail ride results not received at the PFHA office on the fourth day after the last day of the show or trail ride may not be counted towards year end point standings, awards or qualifying points for the 2006 Grand National Championship Show. Show or trail ride results not received by September 1, 2006 WILL NOT be counted toward year end point standings, awards or qualifying points for the 2006 Grand National Championship Show. Passed.

 Motion from Robin Ratliff to appoint Dan McPherson to a 3-year term on the Hearing Committee passed.

The results of the voting for the judges for the 2006 Grand National Championship Show are: 1. Mr. Don Schanche 2. Mr. Michael Cummings 3. Mr. Guillermo Iglesias 4. Mr. Rex Bradley 5. Ms. Carmen Cepero Alt. Ms. Ellen Perez A vote on the judging system to be used at the 2006 Grand National Championship Show was held over the internet. The result is the F1/F2 MOS judging system will be used. This is the system that has been used successfully in the past few years.

In the Membership Committee Report, the chair reported some interesting facts. Since Jan. 2004, the membership retention rate has been 74.45%. However, of those members who joined Pasos for Pleasure, the retention rate is over 90%. The motion presented by the Registry Advisory Committee to accept Asociacion de Caballistas Unitdos de Puerto Rico as an excepted registry passed.

The two rule changes presented by the Rules Committee passed. Beginning 4/29/06 a senior certified judge will not have to throw their names in the hat every 5 years to judge the Grand National Championship Show in order to keep their senior certified status.

Fred Moretti, chair of the USEF Committee, requested the following motion, which was approved. Board of Directors authorizes the Chair of the USEF Committee to submit the necessary papers to get the urgent changes (USEF term for rules changes put into effect prior to their new year starting) through USEF. Our show rule changes take place on Oct. 1st. USEF’s rule changes take place on Dec. 1st. To have our rule changes take effect for our show year, USEF requests that the paper work be submitted for “urgent changes”.

Carol Kuiper, Delegate