Board Meeting: 13 Mar 2003

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

March 13, 2003, Chattanooga, Tennessee

The meeting was called to order by President Barney Fleming at 6:10 p.m. Also present were, Dane Frazier, Stephanie Teeter, Louise Riedel, Susan Kasemeyer, Becky Hart, Vonita Bowers, Dean Jackson, Stan Eichelberger, Duane Barnett, Margie Burton, Randy Eiland, Jan Jeffers, Mike Maul, Connie Caudill, Patti Pizzo, Jan Stevens, Gail Williams, Terry Woolley Howe, Roger Taylor, John Parke, Mike Tomlinson, and Executive Director, Kathleen Henkel. Absent were Maggy Price, Maryben Stover, and Jim Baldwin.

The president thanked the office, convention committee for the hard work throughout the year to make the convention a success. As outgoing president, B. Fleming presented each board member with a thank you gift. Ground rules were handed out that will govern the meeting.

B. Fleming entertained a motion to excuse Maggy Price from the meeting, seconded by R. Taylor. Motion carried. T. Woolley Howe moved to excuse Maryben Stover and Jim Baldwin from the meeting, seconded by M. Maul. Motion carried.

Secretary’s Report: Secretary J. Jeffers made additions/deletions to the minutes of the August 23-24, 2003 midyear meeting. S. Kasemeyer moved to approve the BOD minutes from the Salt Lake City meeting. Motion carried. T. Woolley Howe moved to accept the Executive Committee minutes of January 8, 2003 and February 6, 2003. Motion carried.

World Endurance Update: D. Frazier gave an updated report from the FEI Endurance Committee. Endurance now has the second highest number of FEI events the world, second only to jumping. Countries that have recently started endurance programs are Costa Rica, Brazil, Chili, Argentina, Paraguay, Mongolia, India and Namibia. In the coming year or two, endurance will be part of the Asian Games and will be part of the Central American Games in South America. Brazil has more FEI endurance competitions than any other country. This past year at the World Equestrian Games International Endurance was marred by the death of two horses. A meeting was held in Paris last month where a seven member veterinary committee to the FEI Endurance Committee was formed. The U.S. representative will be Dr. Nancy Elliott. The United States has been very effective in representing our point of view for endurance. The reason it has been so is that we have had an excellent relationship with the allied organizations that we need to represent us to the FEI. The people who serve on that do so with the best interests of American Endurance and do not serve their own personal agenda.

National Office Report: K. Henkel reported that Candi is leaving the end of May. Amy will be taking over Candi’s job. Judy is handling membership. Troy will fill in between issues doing the ride results. T. Woolley Howe reported that the office will start maintaining a list of riders who still have a balance outstanding (bounced check) with ride managers. The ride manager can call the office for a list of those riders. This is a service the office will provide to ride managers who wish to use it. An article will be put in the Endurance News so ride managers will know this is an available service.

National Championship: D. Fruth passed out copies of what the committee has been doing for the last six months; i.e., questionnaire to ride managers regarding future ride sites, copy of budget from 2002 NC. A binder has been compiled for the 2001, 2002 and 2003 National Championship Rides. The binder will be kept in the office.

T. Woolley Howe moved, “That AERC contribute funds necessary to cover the costs of the veterinary staff at the National Championship Ride. These costs will include vet salaries, housing, travel and meals. These costs will include vet fees, travel expenses established by the vet committee (approximately $750 per vet); a per diem of $50 per day per vet for housing and meals. AERC will also waive the rider fees including the drug fees normally due AERC. Total out of pocket expenses from AERC for the above vet costs not to exceed $7,500.” Seconded by R. Taylor. T. Woolley-Howe recommended that it be budgeted for this year. It would be a new budget item; currently not budgeted. D. Frazier asked what other support is provided by AERC. AERC currently contributes $2,700 for awards and $2,976 (based on an ad for each month) for advertising. Finance Committee does not support the above motion. Motion carried.

Trails Committee: J. Fruth gave a report on the aquisition of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) from the Recreation of Land Use Committee out of the American Horse Council in Washington, D.C. The MOU is renewed every five years. This lays out our working relationship with the Forest Service. The Forest Service was chosen because other land management agencies pretty well follow the lead of the Forest Service. We are now working with BLM and the National Parks. There has been one case where this MOU has already been taken to a State Land Agency successfully.

J. Fruth gave a report on the Ft. Stanton Project in New Mexico headed by R. Taylor and how well received it has been. One of the things coming out of this project is that R. Taylor has been asked to go to Arizona and work with the BLM on a project there. The significance of this is that our objective here is for us to be able to work with BLM in that national monument in Arizona, and if successful other national monuments will open again to horses. J. Fruth also explained about T21 funding - horses are not mentioned in T21 funding. The Trails Committee this year will have an opportunity before Congress to get horses written into the T21 funding. J. Fruth also reported that a manual on maintaining trails (how you build them and how you maintain them) is being put together for the Highway Administration and all the other land agencies in Washington, D.C. One of the policy issues covered was regarding competitive trail and endurance riders and how land managers should govern our sport. The committee was instrumental in eliminating this policy in the proposed manual. J. Fruth reported on EnviroHorse projects. They are going back and taking a look at everything that is being published that affects our trails and identifying what is scientifically based and what does not. The Trails Committee has decided to create another slot on the committee of Trail Historian and that will be filled by Jim Barnett. He has experience with historical trails and will work with people from around the country who know where historic trails are and identify, map and document these trails.

J. Fruth made a motion coming out of the Trails Committees as follows: “The AERC shall establish a policy whereby every effort shall be made to secure conservation easements for the establishment of its own trail systems through out the United States.” The general consensus of the Board was that the motion was too general and had liability issues. J. Fruth withdrew the motion. It will go back to committee.

J. Fruth made a motion coming out of the Trails Committee as follows: “The Trails Committee is proposing that a ‘project trails fund’ be established whereby those funds donated will be placed strictly in the ‘project trails fund.’ And any unused funds set aside into the regular trails fund shall be deposited into the project trails fund at the end of each fiscal year for the future use of special trails projects.” J. Fruth explained how this project trails fund would work. T. Woolley Howe stated this fund is already established and that the funds are not co-mingled with the general fund. After discussion the motion was withdrawn.

(Meeting turned over the Vice President, S. Teeter.)

Research Donation: B. Fleming made a motion as follows: “It is moved that this board accept a donation of $8000.00 from a donor who will make the donation provided it be used for the acquisition and analysis of the data accumulated through the Pride Project. First, $6500.00 to be dispersed to Barney Fleming DVM for the right to use the data collected by him for the benefit of AERC and its members. Second, $1000.00 will be paid for the analysis and conclusion of the data and third, $500.00 be used to defray cost of publishing the results for the membership. Dr. Fleming will retain a non-exclusive right to use the data for further research and publishing. “ Seconded by T. Woolley Howe. This motion went through the Veterinary Committee, Finance Committee, Office, Legal, and Sponsorship. Effective date is immediately. The donor will not have the funds available until April. Impact on the office would be about an hour to disperse the funds and editorial time for publishing the results and financial impact to AERC is none. At the suggestion of V. Rutter, B. Fleming presented a letter from AERC’s accountant stating the effect that this would have on AERC as a 5013C. S. Garlinghouse and S. Wickler will be doing the analysis. Motion carries. J. Parke and B. Fleming abstained.

(Meeting turned back over to the President, B. Fleming.)

Ride Insurance Update: R. Taylor gave an insurance proposal presentation. This proposal came out of the midyear meeting. All sanctioned rides must have insurance and a certificate sent to AERC before the ride naming AERC as an additional insured. R. Taylor had several proposals submitted for ride insurance. West Coast Equine’s proposal was the most competitive. The details were explained of this policy. AERC would purchase the policy and sell to ride managers who wanted to purchase this insurance. The sanction form will have to be modified (paper copy as well as on line). Some clubs have their own ride insurance and will not choose to take AERC insurance. R. Taylor asked to have more discussion at the Ride Managers Meeting and then vote on the motions at Sunday’s meeting.

(Dinner break at 7:45 p.m.) (Workshop led by J. Parke. Time: 8:00 – 8:30 p.m.)

Meeting called to order by B. Fleming at 8:33 p.m.

Discussion continued regarding purchase by AERC of ride insurance for ride managers. T. Woolley Howe’s concern is that AERC will have to make up the additional cost of the policy for the rides that do not use AERC insurance. Most ride managers now use either Equisure or Creelman, a small group that use Markel. D. Frazier stated that every two or three years this subject has come up about doing the membership a service by purchasing a policy; however, it is for most ride managers more expensive than what they have now. D. Frazier also wanted to know how much work will it be on the office to track this. K. Henkel stated that she did not know how much extra work it would before the office at this time. J. Jeffers stated that all rides should have insurance and have AERC as a named insured. S. Teeter stated that we are discussing two different things: One is the motion that we passed that AERC has to be an additional insured on the policy and that ride managers have to have insurance for their rides. The other motion is an idea to have one insurance program to cover all ride managers. C. Caudill suggested that insurance issue be discussed at the Ride Managers meeting on Friday. S. Kasemeyer moved to postpone the insurance discussion until Sunday’s meeting; seconded by D. Jackson. Motion carried.. G. Williams abstained as she would not be in attendance at Sunday’s meeting.

Policy Committee Report: S. Teeter stated the BOD needs to continue to raise awareness regarding policies and procedures. J. Parke stated that if AERC has a set of procedures that they are clearly defined as procedures. S. Teeter read the final report from the Ad hoc Policy Review Committee as follows: “ During the past 6 months several AERC members collected all available documents pertaining to AERC policies and procedures. We converted the documents to electronic format (pdf files, Word doc and html) and were then able to search, review and analyze them. We reviewed all of the minutes from previous Board meetings, isolated Board motions and directives and categorized them according to the type of motion (e.g. rules, finance, competition, sanction) and also the validity or status of the motion (e.g. resolved, unresolved, conflicting). We cross-referenced existing documents such as handbooks and the 2000 Administrative Policy & Procedures manual. This required literally hundreds of hours of combined effort. The work is archived on the AERC website (non-public) and available for the current and future Boards if anybody else is ever crazy enough to want to go there. The final ad hoc Policy Review Committee report that is in your notebook contains: A Fire and Brimstone summary from Bob Morris, who personally contributed an enormous amount of time to the effort; a list of motions from 1990 to 2002 which contained directives from previous Boards for action which was never taken, or in some way conflicts with existing rules or written documents; a list of motions from 1990 to 2002 that defined Rules changes or revisions that have not yet been recorded in the current Rules document; a recommendation from the committee to remand the above lists of motions to the appropriate committees (e.g. rules, office, legal) and then be presented to the Board with committee recommendations. The Board must have the final decision to either rescind these previous motions, or to ask that they be moved forward. It is neither responsible nor acceptable to ignore previous Board motions and resolutions; a request that the AERC Administrative Policy & Procedures handbook be revised so that it is current, and may be a useful reference to the Board of Directors; a set of guidelines that we feel will help future Boards to do business more efficiently and with greater assurance that individual contributions will not be lost due to neglect, or changes in committee chairs, office staff and AERC executive officers. In conclusion, this has been a most interesting task. My overall impression upon studying 30 years of Board meetings is that many talented and dedicated individuals have helped build AERC and we have an organization to be proud of. It is also obvious that much of the business of AERC is conducted in a rather spirited and spontaneous manner that can sometimes lead to impulsive or ill-advised decisions. Looking forward, I strongly urge the Board and future officers to place greater emphasis on (1) Planning; (2) Clarity of motions presented to the Board; (3) Follow-through. I ask that this Board accept the committee report as submitted, and specifically the recommendation to remand the lists of unresolved motions to the appropriate committees for review, and eventual determination by the Board.”

S. Teeter asked that the Board to accept this report as submitted, specifically the recommendations to remand the above lists of motions to the appropriate committees and the committees to review and eventual termination by the Board.

S. Teeter proposed the following motion:

“Whereas the current procedure for review and approval of Special Event and Special Qualification ride requests does not guarantee the opportunity for full Board consideration of such requests; and

“Whereas initial review of such requests should be made by the entire committee of Sanctioning Directors to guarantee National as well as Regional consideration; and

“Whereas the timeliness of such requests can be expedited by eliminating the need for full Board approval when there is a unanimous vote by the Sanctioning Committee;

S. Teeter moves that:

“The AERC Board of Directors directs the Ride Managers Committee, The Sanctioning Committee, the Legal and Bylaws and the Rules Committee to review and make recommendations regarding the following:

“The Sanctioning Committee shall initially receive all requests for Special Event and Special Qualification rides and render a committee decision on the request for sanctioning. If there is not a unanimous decision by the Sanctioning Committee, the sanction request shall then go before the AERC Board for final review and decision.

”Further, the Board directs the Executive Director to publish in the May and June issues of Endurance News, the original motion to modify the process of Special Event and Special Qualification sanctioning as well as the
recommendations from the referenced committees. A final motion (original or revised) will then be brought to the AERC Board for final consideration at the Midyear AERC Board Meeting. If approved it will be effective for the
2004 ride season.” Seconded by M. Tomlinson. Discussion: J. Parke indicated that the way this is structured it would take a bylaws change. Our bylaws define the sanctioning committee. D. Barnett does not support this motion because rides like Race of Champions or the big XP ride have such an impact on all the other rides and all members in AERC and they should require a vote of the full board. R. Taylor favors moving this to a group of committees to talk about and come back to the Board. Motion carried. D. Barnett voted no.

Technical Committee: M. Maul reported that the Tech Committee has accomplished the following: On-line membership renewal; added a printable “members paid” feature; official AERC listing of horse/rider availability from the members page; added a targeted E-mail list mailing within the AERC; i.e., vets, ride mangers, members who have not renewed. Percentages of people who access AERC records: 53% bookmark the page, 40% from AERC home page and 7% from Endurance.net. The Tech Committee is interested in and working on putting Endurance News or a cut-down version on line. Overall rides are up 5% from last year; LD rides are up 12% from last year, 50’s up 3%, 75’s up 2% and 100’s down 5%.

Sanctioning: V. Bowers stated that the Sanctioning Committee appreciates the ability of Sanctioning Directors who sanction on line. It has made our job a lot easier. V. Bowers suggested that Sanctioning Directors train the ride managers in their area to use on-line sanctioning.

Special Sanctioning: The following are rides that have special sanctioning requirements: (1) Glass Mountain, June 13, 14, 15, 2003, three-day (50-50-55), pioneer. V. Bowers has approved the ride as local Sanctioning Director. Unanimously approved. (2) Midwest Mountain Quest ride, October 3, 4, 5, 2003, three-day (55, 50, 50), pioneer. L. Riedel has approved as local Sanctioning Director; V. Bowers approved as Special Sanctioning Director. Unanimously approved. (3) Western States Trail Ride has a special qualification this year. The special qualification is: “Riders entering Western States Trail Ride must have completed at least 150 competitive distance miles on rides of 50 miles or more. This experience requirement can be met by having previously completed the Western States Trail Ride or 150 miles of rides 50 miles or longer sanctioned by AERC, NATRC or other recognized organizations. These qualifications apply to the rider only, not the horse.” Approved by M. Stover as local Sanctioning Director and approved by V. Bowers as Special Sanctioning Director. (4) XP 2004 beginning in Virginia City, NV on June 21, 2004 and ending in Rush Creek, Nebraska on July 24, 2004. There are a total of 25 days of riding a distance of 50 miles a day (five days and four days and one week three days of which one day was 55 miles). This qualifies for a Pioneer ride. Comments: J. Parke asked to abstain from consideration for reasons of potential conflict of interest. D. Barnett believes this ride has too much of an effect on points. It allows one individual to be able to go to this ride and stack their points for the year. D. Barnett does not approve of it for anything other than a mileage only ride. S. Kasemeyer stated she felt it has an effect on all multi-day rides that are occurring at the same time. R. Taylor approves of this ride and does not believe it will affect his ride. S. Teeter approves. It is limited to 60 riders. M. Burton approves of the ride for mileage only. Jan S. approves for mileage only. T. Woolley Howe called for a roll call vote. 12 in favor – 11 against. Roll Call Vote carried. Roll Call Vote: S. Teeter yes; P. Pizzo no; C. Caudill no; R. Ribley yes; M. Burton no; V. Bowers yes; D. Frazier yes; S. Eichelberger yes; M. Maul yes; J. Parke abstain; M. Tomlinson yes; J. Stevens no; L. Reidel no; D. Jackson yes; T. Woolley Howe yes; G. Williams yes; D. Barnett no; S. Kasemeyer no; R. Taylor yes; J. Jeffers yes; R. Eiland abstain; B. Hart yes. 13 in favor of sanctioning the XP 2004; 7 against and 2 abstentions – Motion to sanction approved.

Workshop: J. Parke reported there will be workshops dealing with horse fatalities on Friday and Saturday, March 14 and 15, 2003 at 7 a.m. for one and a half hours. New horse fatality reports will be incorporated as part of the minutes from now on.

The horse fatalities reports received as of the SLC midyear BOD meeting are as follows: (1) “August 20, 2002 To: Kathleen Henkel, Executive Director, AERC, From: AERC Veterinary Committee, RE: Horse Fatality – Idaho Spuds Ride, 6/22/02. Dear Executive Director: The Veterinary Committee has reviewed the information concerning this fatality. No specific management or veterinary circumstances have been identified that may have prevented this fatality. Conditions at the ride did not seem extreme although uumidity was reported to be medium to high and there was a moderate to severe climb in the trail. The rider was not the owner of the horse. The rider recognized the horse was not drinking well on the last loop and walked the horse in the last – 8 miles and completed the ride. It was after that when the horse developed signs of colic and treatment was started. In retrospect, this case points to the need for riders to be familiar with their mounts, their level of fitness and their drinking habits. It also points out that endurance riding has risks for the horses and that riders need to be aware of those risks. Continued rider education is indicated. Respectfully, AERC Veterinary Committee, Jamie Kerr DVM, Chairman.” (2) “June 29, 2002, TO: Executive Director, Kathleen Henckel, AERC, From: AERC Veterinary Committee, RE: Two horse fatalities, February 15, 2002, Cow Tanks Ride. Dear Executive Director: The Veterinary Committee has reviewed the information concerning the death of two horses at the Cow Tanks ride on February 15, 2002. No specific circumstances that may have lead to these deaths have been identified therefore no information that may be helpful in preventing future deaths has been found. Respectfully, AERC Veterinary Committee, Jamie Kerr DVM, Chiarman.”

The horse fatalities reports received as of the March 13, 2003 BOD meeting are as follows: (1) “August 20, 2002 To: Kathleen Henkel, Executive Director, AERC. From: AERC Veterinary Committee. Re: Horse Fatality – Tevis Cup Ride 7/20/02. Dear Executive Director: The Veterinary Committee has reviewed the information concerning this fatality. No specific management or veterinary circumstances have been identified that may have prevented this fatality. This fatality involved a horse that fell off the trail, in the dark, and suffered a fractured neck. The rider was not injured. Although no specific management circumstances may have prevented this incident, the WSTF organization will be considering ways to prevent future similar accidents. Respectfully, AERC Veterinary Committee, Jamie Kerr DVM, Chairman.” (2) “February 19, 2003. To: Kathleen Henkle, Executive Director, AERC. From: AERC Veterinary Committee. RE: Horse Fatality – Colfax Rush 1, 7/28/02. Dear Executive Director: The Veterinary Committee has reviewed the information concerning this fatality. No specific management or veterinary circumstances have been identified that may have prevented this fatality. Conditions on this ride did not seem extreme although the ambient temperature and humidity did vary during the day. Both horse and rider were experienced. The horse and rider finished the ride and passed the final vet exam prior to the onset of colic symptoms (-1 hr post ride exam). The horse was treated at the ride sight (sic) and ultimately referred to a surgery facility where he was euthanized following a diagnosis of a ruptured stomach. Respectfully, AERC Veterinary Committee, Jamie Kerr DVM, Chairman.” (3) “February 19, 2003. To: Kathleen Henkle, Executive Director, AERC. From: AERC Veterinary Committee. RE: Horse fatality – East Bay Ride 9/14/02. Dear Executive Director, The Veterinary Committee has reviewed the information concerning this fatality. No specific management or veterinary circumstances have been identified that may have prevented this fatality. This tragic accident occurred the night before the ride. The horse, a stallion, broke out of his plastic portable pen about 3 a.m. Police found him later on a nearby road. He had sustained a fractured left humerus ad was euthanized. No information was provided regarding the experience of this horse with this portable corral. This fatality points out that all aspects of horse care is important, including their stabling arrangement while at a ride. Making certain they are familiar and comfortable with restraint/stabling methods before going to a ride can be critical…even then accidents can occur. Rider education about all aspects of horse safety is indicated. Respectfully, AERC Veterinary Committee, Jamie Kerr DVM, Chairman.” (4) “February 19, 2003. To: Kathleen Henkle, Executive Director, AERC. From: AERC Veterinary Committee. RE: Horse fatality – River Run Ride 1/16/02. Dear Executive Director, The Veterinary Committee has reviewed the information concerning this fatality. No specific management or veterinary circumstances have been identified that may have prevented this fatality. This fatality resulted when about 40 miles into the ride the horse placed its foot under a root in the trail and fractured the right radius bone. This is essentially a fatal injury and the horse was euthanized. The information did not indicate a difficult trail or severe footing. Experience of horse and rider were not reported. In the course of a 50 mile ride there are many obstacles for horse and rider to negotiate. Unfortunately this type of “mis-step’ occasionally occurs. Respectfully, AERC Veterinary Committee, Jamie Kerr DVM, Chairman.”

Awards/National Awards Sponsorship: D. Jackson reported that the Awards committee reviewed all existing descriptive documents referencing the AERC Awards program. There are inconsistencies between descriptions in the Endurance News, office Awards document and 2000 AERC Administrative Policies and Procedures’ Manual. D. Jackson made a motion to approve wording changes in the Bill Thornburgh Family Award and Julie and Bob Suhr Husband & Wife Award. J. Parke made an amendment to D. Jackson’s motion. Amendement by J. Parke is as follows: “Remand the whole Awards package the Board received back to the Awards Committee, Legal Committee and Rules Committee to review the wording and handle this at the midyear meeting.” Seconded by S. Teeter. Amendment carried. J. Parke then called for the question. Motion as amended carried.

Rules Committee: R. Eiland reported that the motion made by Maggy Price at the midyear meeting was remanded back to the Rules Committee for rewording. The idea of the motion was a rider would have six hours to complete a trail and then an additional 30 minutes to recover at the finish of the ride. The newest modified version of L5 is as follows: “L5.1 There may be no minimum time limit for completion. L5.2 Competition time will be according to the Limited Distance chart in Appendix A. L5.3 Riding time is the time used by competitors to finish the course, excluding all hold times L5.4 Ride Time of the competitor ends upon crossing the designated finish line, but placing will be determined by the time the pulse criteria is met. To receive a completion the equine must reach a preset veterinary criteria of 60 heartbeats per minute or less within 30 minutes of the competitors finish time, and satisfy all other completion criteria within one hour of arrival at the finish. There is a marked finish line on the course that is used to determine the finish of the course.” S. Kasemeyer moved to change the rules as they stand to allow Limited Distance to have six hours for 25 miles plus 30 minutes to reach criteria for completion. C. Caudill commented that it is closer to what the criteria is for the 50 miler. D. Frazier asked if the above wording had been placed in two issues of the Endurance News for notification of the membership and then receive comments on the changes and take it up at the next Board meeting. J. Parke agrees with D. Frazier’s comments. J. Parke likes the rule the way it is presently. M. Tomlinson would like to see more comments come in from membership. S. Kasemeyer, R. Taylor and G. Williams stated their regions wanted to leave the rule as it is. J.Parke called for the question. Motion to cut off debate and vote on motion carried. Motion defeated.

Motions from the Rules Committee: The Rules Committee was asked to modify Rule 2.1.8 and Rule L2.1.8 to reflect the method of reporting horse fatalities as voted on at the BOD Midyear 2001 meeting. “Rule 2.1.8 and L2.1.8 – Equines that die at rides shall be reported by the Ride Manager with the ride results. The ride veterinarian will report treatments and fatalities to the AERC office within two weeks of the ride date. This information will be kept permanently on file at the AERC office.” Discussion: D. Frazier feels that since there is another motion coming up on Sunday by J. Parke relating to the same subject that this is superfluous. J. Parke stated the proposed rule change is ambiguous. S. Teeter made a motion to remand the above rule to the Veterinarian Committee and Rules Committee for further revision. Seconded by D. Barnett. Motion carried.

R. Eiland stated that J. Baldwin made a motion that was remanded to the committee to replace in Rule 11.2.1. the words “pre-vet exam” with the words “pre-ride vet exam.” The Rules Committee makes the motion to replace the wording. Motion carries.

The Rules Committee makes a motion to clean up the typos in the following rules:

1) “L1.2.7 In order for a rider to elevate, the equine being ridden must meet the age requirements for the distance he is elevating into as stated in Rules 3 and L3. (currently only refers to #3)”

2) “L7 If placements are given, they must be determined using the procedure described in L5.3 and L5.4. The ride results will be posted in this order, but no points for placement or for completion will be awarded.” (currently refers to 5.3 and 5.4)

3) “L9.3 Under the AERC system, all of the first ten finishing horses are eligible for consideration, whether ridden by a junior, featherweight, lightweight, middleweight, or heavyweight riders. Keep in mind that the order of finish for Limited Distance riders is determined using recovery time as described in rule L5.4” (currently refers to rule 5.4). Motion carries.

Limited Distance: G. Williams reported that the LD Committee is putting together a poll and will have it put on line as well as in the Endurance News. LD seems to be the biggest growing segment of our sport.

Rule recommendation from T. Woolley Howe regarding Rule 8.8 with respect to regional points only that at least 20% of miles must be completed in the member’s own region. At the end of the ride year, all regional points from the last rides accrued which are above the 80% outside region mileage level will be eliminated until a 20/80 mileage ratio is achieved. S. Teeter read a petition from the Northwest Region. It stated, “We the undersigned members of the Pacific Northwest Endurance Riders believe that before a rider can be eligible to receive an AERC Regional Award that rider must compete in no less than one competition and physically reside in that area.” T. Woolley Howe withdrew the motion.

Legal & Bylaws/P&G: J. Parke reported that with the adoption of the Bylaws in 2002 there were complaints about the definition of “Regular Member.” This motion will have to have a two-third vote approving it by the BOD, then will go to the membership for their two-thirds approval.

Whereas, the AERC adopted new Bylaws in 2002; and

Whereas, Section 5.02(a) of Article V Membership of the AERC Bylaws defines "Regular Member" to require U.S. or Canadian citizenship; and

Whereas, both AERC Directors and Members have expressed an interest in allowing people who are permanent residents of the U.S. and Canada for immigration law purposes to be Regular Members of the AERC with the same
right to vote and serve on the Board as citizens;

J. Parke moved that the AERC Board of Directors amend Section 5.02(a) of Article V Membership of the Bylaws to read as follows:

"a) "Regular Member". A Member who is a citizen or resident alien of the 

United States of America or Canada , and who holds no other membership in the 

Conference shall be a Regular Member. "  Seconded by M. Maul.  Motion carried.  M. Maul asked that the office wait to send this out as Joe long is circulating a petition for minimum age for junior riders so both can be sent at the same time.  K. Henkel noted.

J. Parke moved on behalf of the Legal Committee the following:

Whereas, the AERC is now running a surplus of income over expenses in excess of $125,000 annually, over $20 per member per year, and has amassed unspent revenue in recent years of several hundred thousand dollars over and above the amounts necessary to operate the organization at current spending levels; and
Whereas, there currently are no restrictions whatsoever on the expenditure of these funds by the AERC Board and/or Executive Committee; and
Whereas, the surplus funds are currently invested along with all other AERC funds in low interest bearing money market accounts typically earning less than one percent interest per year even though Certificates of Deposit at the same institutions earn two to three times as much; and
Whereas, the AERC has relatively little or no money set aside to fund to support trails, education and veterinary research, even though promotion of those activities is included among the purposes of the AERC under its bylaws;
J. Parke moved that the AERC:
1) Immediately establish a separate fund known as the AERC Restricted Reserve Fund;
2) Immediately deposit the sum of $200,000 into the Fund and augment the Fund with an additional amount each year from then current annual revenues. This additional amount shall be within a range of 15% to 85% of the projected net operating income for that year and shall be determined by the Board taking into account the specific circumstances of the AERC's financial condition at that time;
3) Invest the Fund in investments of a more long term character, such as CD's, than the money market accounts in which AERC operating funds are currently invested;
4) Restrict expenditures from principal within the Fund to expenditures for emergency purposes or extraordinary capital expenses only;
5) Use the interest generated by the Fund to spend on programs for trails, education and veterinary research to be developed and/or approved by the AERC.

Seconded by S. Kasemeyer. T. Woolley Howe pointed out to the Board that the reason we have this surplus money is that we have not spent any of it. M. Tomlinson stated that the motion just says to put this surplus money in something that will earn higher interest. D. Barnett agreed with M. Tomlinson that it should be put in a higher earning interest account. D. Frazier is it possible that the BOD could do it in the same way we have without restricting it. When L. Kanavy was treasurer this BOD invested in staggered CD’s. Motion carried.

J. Parke’s next motion has to do with cleanup of Bylaws. Our current Bylaws give the Executive Committee an unlimited grant of power. This motion will establish some limits for the Executive Committee.

Whereas, the provisions of our new bylaws governing the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors, Section 11.01(a) of Article 11, state:

           'The Executive Committee shall, between meetings of the Board, exercise
           the duties and functions of the Board within the limits set down by the
           Board, though in any case the Executive Committee shall not reverse any
           prior decision of the Board.'

Whereas, under our new bylaws the Executive Committee has almost the same authority the Board does except as restricted by what limits we as the Board establish. Since the Board only meets twice a year, leaving the field open to the Executive Committee most of the time; and

Whereas, the Board has not established any limits on Executive Committee authority after the passage of the new bylaws.

J. Parke moved that the Board limit the authority of the Executive Committee's authority to act on behalf of the Board and the AERC, effective immediately, as follows:

1) The Executive Committee shall not authorize single expenditures or series of related expenditures, or entry into any contract for purchase or rental of personal or real property or hiring of services, in an amount in excess of $5,000;
2) The Executive Committee may handle personnel matters when necessary but shall not hire or fire the Executive Director nor shall it set overall salary levels for the AERC's employees;
3) The Executive Committee may approve Special Sanctioning requests when necessary but shall not Specially Sanction new events which have not previously been approved by the Board;
4) The Executive Committee may clarify existing awards for endurance riding when necessary but shall not establish new awards nor shall it modify existing awards;
5) The Executive Committee shall not amend, add to or revoke any of the AERC Rules nor shall it establish "policies" governing AERC operations.
6) No meeting of the Executive Committee shall take place without at least 48 hour prior notification (e.g. mail, fax, phone) to the members of the Board of all agenda items to be considered. Only those agenda items, which have been
so announced may be considered.

Seconded by M. Tomlinson. Discussion: J. Parke stated that this is a directive, not a Bylaw change. D. Frazier stated he feels very strongly that something like this needs to be done. The Executive Committee has taken undue license with what our Bylaws allowed them to do on several issues over the past four years and there was no retribution for doing so. D. Frazier stated that if he were going to add something to this motion it would be you put in things the EC cannot do and you put in things the EC can do. J. Parke stated that the EC can act for the Board between meetings. D. Frazier stated that the Bylaws state, “The EC shall between meetings of the board exercise the duties and functions of the Board within the limits set down by the Board.” D. Frazier stated that the limits he sets down as a Board is that you do not have the authority of an EC to do anything unless I grant you the power to do it. D. Frazier stated that we have executive boards that until recently have met and made decisions, things have been done our behalf that we did not authorize them to do and we did not even have the minutes as to how the vote went and who did what or anything. M. Tomlinson stated that the EC should totally act in an emergency. D. Frazier stated that he wanted the language that came out of the old Bylaws specifically put into the new Bylaws. S. Teeter stated the BOD can do telephone conference calling now as it is relatively inexpensive. T. Woolley Howe called for the question. Seconded by S. Teeter. Motion to call for the question carried, D. Frazier voted no. T. Woolley Howe asked for a roll call vote. Seconded by R. Eiland. Motion to have roll call carried. Roll call vote as follows: S. Teeter yes; P. Pizzo yes; C. Caudill abstain; R. Ribley yes; M. Burton no; V. Bowers no; D. Frazier no; S. Eichelberger yes; M. Maul yes; J. Parke yes; M. Tomlinson yes; J. Stevens yes; L. Reidel yes; D. Jackson yes; T. Woolley Howe yes; G. Williams yes; D. Barnett no; S. Kasemeyer yes; R. Taylor yes; J. Jeffers yes; R. Eiland yes; B. Hart yes. 17 in favor, 4 against. Motion carried.

J. Parke stated that at the midyear meeting he conducted a workshop that dealt with horse fatalities. Our of this workshop he is proposing the following motion:

"Whereas, endurance ride related horse fatalities is a problem which continues to deeply concern members of the AERC and members of the Board of Directors, and threatens the positive public perception of our sport; and

Whereas, the AERC needs more information than it currently receives in order to evaluate horse fatalities; and

Whereas, our current procedures call for the receipt of horse fatality reports only from the head veterinarian of a ride where a horse fatality occurs, even though it would be more useful to have reports also from the rider, the ride manager and the treating veterinarian; and

Whereas, our current procedures are unclear as to what is considered a horse fatality and appear to only address horse deaths occurring at a ride, when it is believed that some ride related fatalities occur days or weeks after a
ride without notice to the AERC; and

Whereas, the issue of requiring reports on horse fatalities from treating veterinarians and riders raises serious confidentiality issues; and

Whereas, the AERC should require riders and/or owners of horses who die to waive any confidentiality rights concerning their treating veterinarians so that adequate information may be collected by the AERC; and

Whereas, it is recognized that key sources of information about specific horse fatalities, particularly treating veterinarians, will be reluctant to provide information if their reports will be made public, and may not
co-operate if their reports are to be made public; and

Whereas, AERC members are often eager to know the results of any AERC investigation of particular horse fatalities and should have the access to official AERC Veterinary Committee horse fatality reports received by the Board; and

Whereas, the AERC needs improved procedures for effectively collecting meaningful information on horse fatalities and rules which allow those procedures to be effectively implemented.

J. Parke moved that:

I. The AERC Executive Director and Legal Committee be instructed to immediately develop modifications to existing horse fatality investigation procedures to require:

    A. Horse fatality reports be required for fatalities for any horse which has died within 15 days following an endurance ride in which that horse was entered.

    B. Horse fatality witness statements be submitted not only by the head ride veterinarian, but also the rider and/or owner and the ride manager (at least about general conditions of the ride as well as any relevant direct observations of the ride manager) and be requested of the treating veterinarian, and that appropriate forms for these statements be prepared.

    C. All witness statements collected by the AERC for purposes of reporting on horse fatalities, including statements from the head veterinarian, treating veterinarian, ride manager and rider and/or owner, be immediately transmitted to the AERC Veterinary Committee for its review, but otherwise be held in confidence; and

    D. Board members to refrain from demanding copies of confidential witness statements notwithstanding their statutory rights of inspection, in order to encourage full disclosure of relevant information by witnesses concerned about confidentiality, except that the Executive Committee and Legal Committee Chairperson shall have access to witness statements as needed to verify their receipt and consideration by the Veterinary Committee; and

   E. The official Veterinary Committee report on any horse fatality received by the Board be made available to members on request (with any appropriate copying charge) and be published in Endurance News; and

   F. The modified investigation procedures to be developed under this motion are intended to gather information for the management of horses at endurance rides only and are not intended to judge the practices of treating
veterinarians for post ride care.

II. The Legal Committee and Rules Committee be direct to develop any appropriate rules to require rider and/or owners of horses, as a condition of entry in AERC sanctioned rides, which die within 15 days after participation
in an AERC sanctioned endurance ride to waive any rights to hold treatment records of the treating veterinarian confidential and which require the rider and/or owners of any such horses which die within 15 days after participation
in an endurance ride to immediately give notice of the death to the AERC and co-operate in it's investigative procedures.

III. The modification to horse fatality report procedures be reviewed by Board members for consideration by the Executive Committee as soon as practicably possible and the modification to rules be considered by the full
Board at it's next meeting.

Motion seconded by T. Woolley Howe. S. Teeter and C. Caudill asked that this motion go before the Veterinary Committee for their review. D. Barnett stated he could not support this motion as stated because there is currently a fatality reporting procedure in place. R. Taylor stated this is a good starting place for Friday and Saturday’s workshop on this subject. J. Parke asked to postpone this motion until Sunday. After more discussion on this matter, J. Parke asked for the BOD to think about this motion. J. Parke would like to get feedback from the members at the Friday and Saturday workshop and discuss it on Sunday. J. Parke moved to postpone until Sunday Board Meeting. Seconded by T. Woolley Howe. Motion carried.

Debora Sanger Issue: J. Parke conducted an open hearing regarding Deborah Sanger. Deborah Sanger was not present at the hearing; however, she did submit a rebuttal letter in her defense. The potential outcomes up for vote are as follows: Vote to suspend, vote to terminate, or vote to not do any of those things or vote to remand this to the Protest and Grievance Committee. R. Eiland, J. Stevens, Judda Schmidt presented their case. Other Board members gave statements who had dealings with D. Sanger. R. Eiland, Jan Stevens, and Judda Schmidt are made a motion to: “Have Debora Sanger’s membership in AERC terminated or suspended beginning now for a period of 12 months. If she is not a member of AERC, she will not be allowed to rejoin AERC for a period of 12 months as of this date, and in addition we do not want her to be able to enter an AERC event or any equine owned by her to enter an AERC event during that 12-month period. At the end of the one-year suspension period, she may be allowed to rejoin AERC upon reimbursement of any debts incurred at any AERC event and that are on record with the AERC office.” J. Parke moved to defer the motion until the Sunday meeting. Seconded by R. Taylor. Motion carried.

The meeting was adjourned at 12:35 a.m.

Respectfully Submitted,

Jan Jeffers

Secretary

Minutes approved as amended 5/6/03 during Board Conference Call.