HIGH PLAINS PASO FINO HORSE ASSOCIATION

MINUTES OF BOARD OF DIRECTORS’ MEETING

NOVEMBER 12, 2002

The November meeting of the High Plains Paso Fino Horse Association board of directors was held by conference call starting at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, November 12, 2002. Those board members attending were: Charlene McFadden, Steve Burgess, Jeff Peterson, Linda Rader, Sheri Tenney, Esther Oppliger, and Jean Basore. Bob Doerr was also present. Doug Ford was present to present some ideas for the board to consider for the next show year.

Charlene brought the meeting to order. A quorum was established. Steve moved and Linda seconded to approve the minutes as presented. Motion carried. The minutes will be posted on the website. Esther asked about putting the unapproved minutes from the annual meeting. It was agreed that it would be acceptable to do that since the membership is the only group that can approve those minutes, and the membership only meets annually.

TREASURER’S REPORT: The current balance is $4,995.54. Linda will mail her written report to board members and to Linda Gaddy so that it may appear in the next newsletter. Lenora Schuldt is anticipating a profit of around $9,000 from the Topeka show. Members agreed this large profit was a direct result Lenora’s very hard work and talent. Jean moved and Steve seconded to approve the treasurer’s report. Motion carried.

ANNUAL BUDGET REPORT: A rough draft beginning of a budget was included with the agenda as Attachment 1. Income and expense items were added. We will need to continue plugging in items and approve as an official budget in the near future. This will enable us to operate with more comfort that our region is financially stable. Linda and Charlene will continue to communicate about this budget so that it can be presented to the board the next time it convenes.

SHOWS:

Much discussion took place in regards to the 2003 show year and possible show sites/plans. Paula Wolff is checking into the American Royal facility in Kansas City for a May/June show. Due to the $10,000 fee that is charged for putting dirt in the arena, the only way to consider having a show there is to arrange with several other horse associations to share the fee and divide up the weekends in a month so that each organization would take a weekend for their separate show. It was decided to table any decision or further discussion on this possibility until we have more information and dates.

Doug Ford discussed his suggestion of having a multi region show in Tulsa in October. He has checked with the fairground there and the weekend of October 18 and 19, 2003 is available. There is another possible facility in Claremore that he can check on. Doug also discussed the possible date of the last weekend in May but this is the weekend after Spectrum which would be highly likely to detract from Tulsa.

The fairground facility has been added to and there are three arenas for horse activities. So there would be other events going on at the same time to draw spectators for our show. They offer R.V. hookups for living quarter trailers, etc. Doug reports he has had feedback from Colorado people who are interested in this show. Doug proposes to present this show as a “championship style show” with some prestige and money for winners. His hope is to get participation of several regions. He talked about the idea of this being a big show west of the Mississippi with lots of build up and recognition of winners with pictures in Paso Fino Horse World, etc. Doug has talked with several people to make sure other areas would participate such as from Texas, Tennessee, and Arizona. Doug proposes to get big money by getting big breeders to donate breedings (such as for Capachino), having a horse auction, having team penning, etc. Doug discussed the committees that would be needed to put this show together as he is willing to work on this but not do it all himself as he has done in the past. The cost of the arena are $300 per day, stalls for 2 day show are $18 per stall for both days, $22 for 3 day show. There is also a $1 per day tax added to the stalls.

Charlene explained that the dates we have spoken for in 2003 for Topeka are the same dates that Ozark Empire has moved their Gateway Classic. This means we could easily loose 5-10 horses. Other considerations for Topeka are the weather issues that can possibly interfere late in October. Sheri discussed some of the benefits of Topeka over Ozark Empire’s show, and Bob expressed his desire for our show to attract the Kansas City draw. Charlene posed the question “Why are we having shows?” Possible reasons include; to make money to support our region, to promote our horses to new buyers, to have competition with other regions, to further the breed, to qualify for nationals, to give members (especially novices) activities close to home, to have fun, and to win.

At the conclusion of Doug’s presentation of ideas, he signed off the phone call, and the board continued their in depth discussion. With the potential of getting back into Kansas City through an American Royal show and continuation of the Springfield show as being our region’s show, the Tulsa idea sounds very worthy of consideration. It is agreed that we need to commit to doing a show and stick to the same show yearly. Steve then moved and Linda Rader seconded the support of our region’s participation in the Tulsa Show, tentatively scheduled for October 18 and 19, 2002. Motion carried. Steve agreed to keep in touch with Doug and report back to members. Jean has agreed to work with awards and decorating, and Jeff agreed to participate with events coordination. Steve moved to not renew the contract for the Topeka show for 2003, and Linda Rader seconded the motion. Motion carried.

Springfield Show: Linda Rader discussed some of the issues surrounding our show in Springfield including concerns over stalls. Other options/locations, etc. were discussed. It was noted that the Springfield community really supports the show. We have already had board action committing to this show for 2003. The sale show is going to be promoted more for 2003.

Equifest: Lenora and Jeff are to be working on this event after Thanksgiving. Charlene has requested the $300 fee. The eight horses will be accepted on a first come, first serve basis for demonstration.

Topeka Show: The preliminary report was reviewed, and it looks like there is a large profit from this show in the neighborhood of $9,000. It was agreed by the board that the credit for this goes solely to the hard work of Lenora and the help that she enlisted. Discussion took place regarding some problems with ads paid for by Wildcat Construction Company and Poney Creek Ranch. Issues were discussed surrounding possible printer error, miscommunication, etc. Options to rectify the situation were discussed. Linda Rader moved and Esther seconded to refund $100 to Paula Wolff and to give a half page ad to Wildcat in our newsletter. Motion carried with one abstaining. Charlene will contact Lenora to write this check out of the Topeka show account. It was agreed that keeping very complete written records of ad transactions might prevent this from happening in the future, and the paper trail should be kept. It was also recognized that putting a show together like this is a huge job and members need to participate and help cut down the responsibilities of the few people volunteering to do the job.

Springfield Show and Proposed Budget: Linda Rader provided a written proposal as Attachment 2. This was reviewed. The projected expense is $10,507 with a projected income of $12,370 with an over all net profit of around $2,000. This is figured from an entry of 80 horses. Linda believes this will be a difficult show to make ends meet and she asks that everyone contact a farm they know to ask people to participate. Linda has appointed a show committee of five who have already started communication. There are new ideas for sponsorship, and Linda plans a sales class. Audrey Colyn has agreed to act as steward. Betsy McHugh has agreed to being a judge. All plans are going as scheduled.

MEMBERSHIP: Sharon is seeking renewals. The concensus of the board was that we want her to go back and try to contact those who have not renewed but not to offer a discount for renewing. We suggest a questionnaire to determine what the membership wants from the region.

NEWSLETTER: The board agreed that we want to continue every two months. We would like to see more advertising by the membership to help support the expense of the newsletter.

AWARDS: No report. The board agrees the committee is doing a great job.

WEBSITE: Bob is getting the site up and running. We recognize that it will take some time for this. We need to all be advertising and seeking ads from other members. Trainers and farriers, etc. should be encouraged as well.

SADDLE UP A PASO FINO DAY: We need a date in April or May or we can all pick our own date for our farm. Sunday was suggested as a good day to get people out. This can be a fun way to promote the breed on a very local level without a lot of trouble or expense. Each farm can come up with their own ideas for activities. If rides are given, releases should be signed.

EQUUS AMERICANA: Advertisements are starting to appear in major horse magazines. Charlene has not heard any more from Al Berry. We all need to be thinking about the type of horse we need to showcase here in mid America and what kind of look will give the crowd some excitement. It was commented that we need to stay true to what the Paso Fino is best at that other breeds don’t do. Peggy Roos from Colorado has submitted information about her badge and trophy company. We may want to consider developing a T shirt to sell, etc. We will be discussing this whole event further in the future.

OTHER BUSINESS:

Conference call reimbursement for committee chairs: The board had previously agreed to pay the expense for our conference calls for board members only but have been asking committee chairs to join the call at their expense. Discussion took place over this issue. Steve moved and Jeff seconded that the region pay for conference call time to be scheduled for committee chair reports. Motion carried. Charlene will need to set up the agenda to allow for this.

Planning Meeting: Charlene would like to have another board planning meeting in January. Jeff is to check on meeting room in Wichita or McPherson. No board conference call will be held in December unless there is news about the American Royal show. If that happens, we will need to call a special meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:16 PM.