BOARD OF DIRECTORS MID-YEAR MEETING

MARCH 5, 2000

The meeting was called to order at 7:10 a.m. by President Randy Eiland. Also in attendance were Board Members Louise Riedel, Barbara McCrary, Becky Hart, Barney Fleming, Terry Woolley Howe, Vicki Rutter, Earle Baxter, Hans Devuassoux, Duane Barnett, Susan Kasemeyer, Jerry Fruth, Frank Farmer, Crockett Dumas, Dane Frazier, Stephanie Teeter, Courtney Hart, Jim Baldwin, Maggy Price, Lem Beason, Vonita Bowers, Gail Williams, Dean Jackson, Maryben Stover and Executive Director Doyle Patrick.

Hank Collins and Tom Johnson, representatives from the National Horse Sports Foundation, one of our sponsors, addressed the Board with some concerns about the Foundation's relationship with AERC. They feel that they have not received expected values and cited a number of instances of perceived failures to fulfill our responsibilities. V. Bowers moved to approve an ad hoc committee consisting of T. W. Howe, V. Rutter, B. Hart, C. Dumas, and Kevin Watters to work with all sponsors. D. Jackson seconded. Carried unanimously.

SECRETARY'S REPORT-

The secretary had distributed copies of the minutes from the March 2 meeting. V. Rutter moved to approve the minutes, T.W. Howe seconded. The motion failed. The minutes will be reviewed and a vote taken within the next 30 days.

OFFICE REPORT - Regarding convention location, we are committed to come to Reno through 2002. The Silver Legacy has made the same offer as this year with the exception that we will not be charged $2500 for the Pavilion. V. Bowers moved to negotiate the contract offer for 2002 subject to legal committee advice. B. Fleming seconded. Motion carried unanimously. D. Patrick reported that the membership survey statistics are not completed. Results will be mailed. A question arose as to the picture of an unhelmeted rider on the cover of the Year-book. A policy is in effect that no picture of a rider without a helmet may appear on the cover of Endurance News. V. Bowers moved, S. Kasemeyer seconded that the covers of ALL publications produced by AERC shall not have a mounted rider without a helmet. Motion carried.

FINANCE COMMITTEE-EmployeeRetirement. V. Rutter moved from commit-tee to enter into a Morgan-Stanley/DeanWitter savings incentive matched plan for employee retirement. B. Fleming moved, T.W. Howe seconded for a roll call vote, which resulted in unanimous approval (23-0).

PROPOSED HALL OF FAME-

Based on the directive from the Thursday Board meeting to refer the matter to the finance committee in consultation with J. Parke, the following memorandum of understanding was presented: "AERC is interested in being a participant of a future 501c(3) corporation for the purpose of acquiring real property and constructing a multi-purpose complex for the storage and display of historical items, storage of supplies, offices and a conference center. This participation is exploratory only and may be terminated unilaterally. This does not require the commitment of any funds other than those that would be necessary for the formation of the corporation. This is estimated to be about $3000.00 which would be evenly split by number of organizations to be involved. The share from this organization (AERC) shall be limited to no more than $500. The finance committee has recommended that subject to legal review that AERC allocate no more than $500 for the participatory exploration of this project. The decision of the legal committee is to be returned within a week, after which thirty days will be allowed for a board vote.”

Carlos Crespo presented a Policies and Procedures Manual for Accounting and Financial Control of AERC. C. Crespo moved from committee to declare as the main financial objective of AERC the achievement of a 7% return on equity for the fiscal year 2000. Motion carried unanimously.

The president asked C. Crespo to put **, second motion concerning AERC International in writing with a 30-day period allocated for review and discussion of the Board.

An earlier motion proposed by T.W. Woolley Howe was withdrawn.

RULES COMM1TFEE
Regarding the proposed new rule book, D. Frazier questioned the legality of any rules that regulate introductory rides since they are not covered in the by-laws. V. Bowers moved from committee to approve the rules for endurance and limited distance, D. Frazier moved to amend by deleting the section on introductory rides until we have had a ruling by the legal committee.

H. Devouassoux seconded. B. Hart moved that Rule L 9.1 concerning limited distance rides should read "a best condition award may be available" (instead of should be available as written). B. Fleming seconded. L. Riedel called for a point of order since there was already a motion on the floor which required a vote. T.W. Howe moved, B. Hart seconded to require a roll call vote on the motion as amended to approve the rules. (It was suggested that if we vote the motion down we can then amend to include motion on LD best condition). The motion failed 12-10 with 1 abstention. (Nay: Riedel, McCrary B, Hart, Fleming, Howe, Rutter, Baxter, Devouassoux, Barnett, Dumas, C. Hart, Stover. Yes: Kasemeyer, Fruth, Farmer, Frazier, Teeter, Baldwin, Beason, Bowers, Williams, Jackson. Abstain: Price.)

B. Hart moved, B. Fleming that Rule L9.1 be changed from "an award will be available" to "an award may be available." C. Hart called a point of order stating that We are attempting to amend something that was just voted down. T.W. Howe moved to revisit the original motion to approve the rules with the section concerning introductory rides deleted. H. Devouassoux seconded. T.W. Howe moved for a roll call vote, which passed unanimously. B. Hart moved, B. Fleming seconded that Rule L9.1 be changed from "an award will be available" to "an award may be available." Motion carried 14-9,

J. Baldwin moved from committee to change the following wording in the Preamble to the Rule Book from "the competitor is totally responsible for self and mount" to "the competitor is ultimately resonsiblefor sl f and mount." Motion carried unanimously.

COMPETITIONS COMMITTEE -
T.W. Howe reported that she had sent applications to host the National Championship Ride in 2001 to all AERC rides, resulting in 14 rides applying. She moved for committee that the Board approve the Competition Committee's recommendation that the 2001 National Championship will be held at the Rudy's Ranch in the Daniel Boone National Forest managed by Connie Caudill/Amy Whelan on May 31, 2001for the 100 mile ride and June 22, 2001for the 50-mile ride. Qualifying criteria: riders must top five in their weight divisions on any ride between April 1, 2000 and April 1, 2001. Riders must declare their intent to enter the championship within 30 days of qualifying or September 1, 2000 whichever is later. Motion carried unanimously.

VETERINARY COMMITTEE –

D. Barnett will present a veterinary certification program at the midyear meeting. He moved for committee to change the wording in the recently adopted Veterinary Handbook concerning the Cardiac Recovery Index from "may be done” at all veteri nary checks within the ride, including the finish line to "should be done." The president refused to recognize the motion based on Roberts Rules of Order, which states "to change what the assembly has adopted requires something more in the way of a vote --2/3 majority or previous notice to the members-- than was necessary to adopt it in the first place."

PROTEST ANDGRIEVANCE COMMITFEE –

No representative present. V. Bowers reported that the Rules Committee is in the process of revising P&G procedures in the rule book. She feels that all filed protests should be reported to the Board whether acted on or not. C. Hart feels that the chairman of the P&G committee should be questioned by the Board.. A policy adopted in January 1998 states that the Chairman of the P&G committee is appointed for one year by the President with the approval of the Board. The Chairman appoints the members with the approval of the Board.

TRAILS COMMITTEE - J. Fruth spoke of the development of the National Heritage Trust. He proposed to have one endurance rider in every state do an audit on trails in that state and report to a regional director, this data to come back to the Board

INTERNATIONAL COMMITTEE - T. Benedetti moved the following from committee:

1. Zone squad size changes from 6 to 12 (host country 12 to 18)with one team of 4 per zone. Motion carried.

2. 2. 2001 Pan Am venue awarded to the Green Mountain Horse Association Woodstock, Vermont, the second week in September. Motion carried.

3. Recommend to AHSA that two FEI rules adopted in 2000 be rescinded. (1) an I.V. allowed within 2 hours of completion.(2) Vet treatment can be authorized during the course of the ride and horse allowed to continue. Motion carried.

4. Recommend through AHSA that the FEI rules state the World Championship must be 160 km (100 miles) in one day. Motion carried.

5. Resolve minimum qualifications for officials. Motion carried.

6. Recommend the ELDRIC test of FEI rides of 160 km having 1. Total hold times of 3 hours (now 2 hours) and 2. Eliminate20 minute holds or less prior to 80 miles. Motion carried.

The International committee moved to donate $1000 to USET for the US team.

EDUCATION COMMITTEE - M.Price proposed to revise the Riders' Handbook. She also proposed articles on AERC policies and more input from the Education Committee in Endurance News.

RIDE MANAGERS COMMITTEE -B. McCrary reported that copies of the Oklahoma State University endurance video are to be viewed by the committee. Recruitment of new veterinarians is needed, and it is proposed to establish a database of available veterinarians. J. Baldwin proposed putting the veterinarian handbook on audiocassette tapes to be sent to veterinarians and getting the Vet rulebook on line.

MEDIA COMMITTEE – Genie Stewart Spears is working with the office to schedule high quality articles for Endurance News and other publications. TECHNICAL COMMITTEE-S. Teeter reported working with the office on priorities -cleaning data, online sales, investigating a new database, etc.

BY-LAWS/LEGAL COMMITTEE –

No report. S. Kasemeyer recommended that we strongly suggest that a member of the legal committee attend the Board meetings.

AWARDS COMMITTEE –

D. Jackson moved for committee to approve two new awards which are to be donated : the Charles Barrieau award for endurance photography and the Endurance News award for journalism. Motion denied unanimous . M.Price questioned these, or any awards having been given without the approval of the Board or the president. She also recommended that the final awards should be the Hall of Fame and Pardners awards as the climax of the evening.

SPECIAL SANCTIONING-

S. Kasemeyer moved for committee that the 3-day 160 mile Around the Mountain Ride on December 1, 2, 3 be approved. Motion carried.

A request had been approval for sanctioning for the Lost Wagon Train, October 23 - 26. Susan moved for committee to wait until after an April ride under the same management to see that everything is satisfactory. Motion carried 22-1.

Eiland moved that the following list of committee chairman be approved:
Awards-D. Jackson; By-laws- Steve Rutter; Competitions - T.W. Howe; Conventions - S. Kasemeyer; Education - M. Price; Elections - B. McCrary; Executive - B. Hart; Finance - V. Rutter; International - T. Benedetti; Junior- Roger Taylor; Legal- Rich Maxwell/ co-chairman to be announced; Limited Distance - Barbara Sundok; Media – Genie Stewart Spears; Sponsorship – Kevin Watters; National Office - V. Rutter; Protest and Grievance - John Parke; Ride Manager - B. McCrary; Rules - V. Bowers; Sanction- hag - E. Baxter; Technical - S. Teeter, Trails - J. Fruth; Umbrella - Carlos Crespo; Veterinarian - D. Barnett/Jamie Kerr; National Championship Ride - D. Fruth. Motion carried unanimously.

Protest - In the case of a rider who competed on a 4-year-old horse and was put on probation, he was found to have subsequently entered another ride while the horse was still under 48 months of age. The matter was remanded back to the Protest and Grievance Committee.

CHILDREN'S MOST PREFERRED ENDURANCE RIDE – An invitation has been issued from the above named ride to be held in the UAE. AHSA requested AERC's opinion. M. Price and R. Eiland voted no on an AHSA vote. Postponed for further consideration.

EMPLOYEE EVALUATION –

L. Beason chaired a committee of seven people to consider the performance of the Executive Director, whose contract requires yearly evaluation for renewal. Subsequently a subcommittee met with Doyle. The basic recommendation of the committee is for him to continue in the capacity of Executive Director. A list of objectives and areas to be improved was developed.

Meeting adjoumed at 1:15 p.m.

Louise Riedel, Secretary