American Endurance Ride
Conference Meeting
held via Conference
Telephone Call, Tuesday, 9/16/03
President
C. Mike Tomlinson called the meeting to order at 6:03 p.m. Also on the line for the call: Vice President Mike Maul, Secretary Jan
Jeffers, Treasurer Terry Woolley Howe, Duane Barnett, Connie Burns Caudill,
Stan Eichelberger, Randy Eiland, L. B. Barney Fleming, Dean Jackson, Stagg
Newman, John H. Parke, Patti Pizzo, Maggy Price, Jan Stevens, Maryben Stover,
Roger Taylor, Stephanie Teeter, Gail D. Williams, and Executive Director
Kathleen A. Henkel. Absent: Jim Baldwin, Vonita Bowers, Margie Burton,
Dane Frazier, Susan Kasemeyer, Robert Ribley, and Louise Riedel.
Correction
noted in the minutes of the July 29, 2003 – Dean Jackson was present during the
call and his name will be added to the minutes. Roger Taylor moved to approve the minutes as amended, seconded by
Dean Jackson. Motion passes.
Barney
Fleming moved and Roger Taylor seconded to accept the committee reports
prepared before the meeting and append said reports to these minutes. Passed with one abstention – Jan
Stevens. Committee reports accepted:
Education Elections
Junior Limited Distance
Media National Championship
Past Presidents Research Grants
Ride Managers Rules
Sponsorship Technical
Trails Trails Grants
Veterinary-Drug
Testing report
The
committee reports accepted will be discussed thoroughly at the midyear meeting
in October.
Mike
Maul, technical committee chair, advised the updated website is complete and as
soon as the domain is moved he would like to turn it on for the
membership. Motion from committee: The Technical Committee requests board
approval to let the membership know that the new site is open as of September
17th. Motion approved with
one abstention – Jan Stevens.
Elections
Committee: Chair Mike Maul, advised 1600 ballots have
been returned to date and the ballots remain open until September 29,
2003. The ballot counting service at a
later date will provide the actual count.
Mike
Maul advised regional director nominations remain open. President Tomlinson encouraged any present
board member that has decided not to run for another term to get the word out
so that members in that region are able to nominate replacements.
Terry
Woolley Howe is preparing the unpaid rider fee list article and will present at
a future meeting.
Rules
Committee: Patti Pizzo, chair, advised copies of the
edited rules have been forwarded to all board members and the final revision
will be voted on at the midyear meeting in October for reprint and
dissemination to the membership at the beginning of the 2004 ride season.
Finance
Committee: Terry Woolley Howe, chair, advised the
paperwork is circulating to the officers now for signature and when all have
signed the paperwork will be forwarded to the Draper Group of Wachovia
Securities in Laguna Hills, CA for processing of the new account as directed by
the board at a past meeting relative to the staggering of funds to obtain
interest at higher rates than the present money market accounts.
President
Tomlinson reported on the re-affiliation with the NGB – they have agreed to
virtually everything requested. The
only item remaining outstanding is the NGB needs to have a person or a group of
people that is or are the national champions each year. We need to figure out how to make that
happen. It can be at an FEI ride, such
as the Pan Ams, at a championship such as the AERC championship rides. The board was requested to contact President
Tomlinson with suggestions in this regard.
We need to have a Pan Am, and an AERC championship, and an NGB
champion. Input is needed from this
board to name an event to be used as the champion for representation in the
national governing body.
Sanctioning
Committee: Chair Vonita Bowers was unable to
participate in the call. The new
sanction form is still under review and will be discussed at the midyear
meeting.
Debi
Sanger issue
– John H. Parke reported that an order of discharge was received regarding Ms.
Sanger. John advised he would like to
use a portion of the Legal Committee budget to contact a bankruptcy attorney
for a ruling as to what we can do with Ms. Sanger as it is not appropriate for
creditors to interfere with a bankruptcy judgment. President Tomlinson advised this is an appropriate use of the
Legal Committee budget.
The
office is working closely with NATRC regarding the convention. Speakers are currently being lined up. Susan Garlinghouse has accepted.
The
2005 convention contract with the Nugget has been forwarded to John Parke for
review and discussion during the midyear meeting.
Research
Grants Committee: Chair Barney Fleming advised
the 5th committee member has not yet been named. Contact has been made with several
individuals interested in presenting proposals for grants, and several
proposals have been forwarded to the committee.
Ride
Manager Committee: Chair Connie Caudill advised
the educational video will be shot on Thursday, October 9th, the day
before the championship rides begin. Any
Board members arriving at the ride site on or before the 9th of
October are invited to assist with the video.
Ride
insurance: John Parke advised he is
still in the process of reviewing the Canadian policy and will report at a
future meeting.
Veterinary
Committee: Chair Jim Baldwin was unable to participate
in the call and will report on the veterinarian audiotape at the midyear
meeting. Dr. Baldwin will also report
at the midyear meeting regarding his long-range drug-testing plan.
Education
Committee: Chair Stagg Newman advised all revisions
have been forwarded to Troy Smith in the office and the final edits to the
riders handbook have been made by the committee and will be ready for reprint
shortly.
Stagg
Newman advised Dr. Susan Garlinghouse will hold a 90-minute seminar during the
convention and is working with Purina on financing for a daylong seminar for
the 2005 convention.
National
Championship Committee: Co-Chair Connie Caudill
advised approximately 50-60 riders have signed up for the 100 miler and about
80 for the 50 miler. Ride manager Carol
Hoeft has advised the riders the AERC BOD will be present at the ride showing
their support.
Future
sites for the National Championship ride – Red Rock for 2004, Jan Stevens ride
in Montana for 2005 and a ride in Michigan, the Wolverine, for 2006 that will
be presented to the board at a future meeting.
The ride manager will be able to host the ride at a time of their
choosing.
Sponsorship
Committee: Chair Randy Eiland worked out a deal with the
BLM and a contract has been received by AERC and has been furnished to John
Parke for review. Two equines will be
donated by the BLM for AERC to use as raffle prizes to raise money for the
organization.
Don
Daniels of Sundowner Corporation visited the national office on September 15th
asking to speak with me as they
felt AERC was in default with our agreement with Sundowner. The agreement with Sundowner as it is with
all our sponsors is that the sponsor is the official category sponsor, not the
sponsor of AERC. Sundowner is the
official sponsor of three categories.
Mr. Daniels was advised Gulf Coast is a dealer, not a manufacturer. Mr. Daniels will contact me with some
wording to put with their logo.
Mr.
Eiland and Dean Jackson advised a new survey of AERC members is needed to be
able to advise current and future sponsors regarding demographics. With the change of personnel at some
companies, current information is vital to keep them up to date with respect to
the needs of the membership.
Trails
Advocacy: Jerry Fruth will report in detail at the
midyear regarding the American Horse Council meeting and his budget requests.
Past
Presidents Committee: The members are working on a
long-range plan for AERC. The plan is
in process and will not be ready for the midyear meeting, but for another
meeting in the future.
John
Parke reported on some controversy on the email list about what Vet Committee
reports should look like and John was asked a question as to whether or not a
vet committee report could be edited at the board level and then sent to our
members. The answer is no. There has been a commitment to pass along
the committee reports to the members and they are expected. The vet committee reports become part of the
minutes and they will be disseminated as is to the membership.
Committee
reports presented by the vet committee will be discussed further at the midyear
meeting. Discussion will also be held
at the midyear pertaining to the election of the members of the veterinary
committee.
Horse
Welfare Committee: Chair John Parke advised he
will forward a report to the board after the meeting, explaining the case study
reports that will appear in the magazine.
One of the purposes of this committee is to make policy
recommendations. Policy recommendations
will be made at the midyear meeting from committee.
President
Tomlinson requested the BOD to review all the committee reports presented at
this meeting as they will be thoroughly discussed at the midyear meeting.
Policies
that may come up at the midyear meeting is a possible change in rules regarding
completion time after a ride is 30 minutes, not an hour as it stands now. Another rule change that may arise pertains
to a new rule prohibiting people from receiving placings or competing in their
first couple of months of competition to further protect the equine. Discussion will take place at the midyear
meeting, with publication in the magazine for the membership and voting to
follow at the convention.
Trails
Grants Committee: Chair Roger Taylor advised
the War Eagle Trail Association trail project would like to begin work this
fall on their project in the National Forest rather than waiting for funding
next year.
Motion
from committee: The War Eagle Trail
Association trail project be funded immediately. That the project coordinator be informed by the Executive
Director that funds are available for disbursement upon receipt of proper
paperwork. The funding for the project
is not to exceed $5,700 to be funded from the trails set aside funds. Motion passed.
Dane
Frazier was unable to participate in the call and asked Kathleen to relay a
short report. There was a death at the
Pan Am ride, the cause of death was a ruptured stomach due to complications of
colic and there will be a full investigation.
John
Parke reported on liability releases from riders with respect to our
organization. The issue bears further discussion and has been postponed until
midyear.
Limited
Distance Committee: A conference call meeting
will be held on the 18th of September and Chair Gail Williams will
present the minutes of the meeting to the Board prior to the midyear meeting
for discussion at the midyear.
Ride
length statistics was addressed and John Parke advised there is a rule
pertaining to the length of a ride and if people have questions regarding ride
length they can protest the ride and prove the length.
Terry
Woolley Howe moved to adjourn, seconded by Barney Fleming.
Meeting
adjourned at 7:49 p.m.
Respectfully
submitted,
Kathleen
A. Henkel
Executive
Director
Committee Reports - September 16, 2003, conference call: Elections Committee Report, 9/11/03 The tally is in progress on the Bylaws ballot with over 1100 having been received by 2 weeks ago. This meets the quorum requirement. A count is in progress but it's unknown at this point whether the change will be approved. At this point about 5-6 ballots are being received each week. The Bylaws change ballot will be closed on Sept 29. Mike Maul, Chairman Junior Committee Report, 9/9/03 The following proposals are presented from the Junior Committee: I - Junior 100 Mile Award Proposal Given that Junior riders are currently discriminated against in the National 100 Mile Award we are proposing to make the award more fair to all divisions of riders who ride 100 Mile AERC rides. Many Junior riders are as experienced, if not more so, as many of the adult 100 mile riders and they deserve to be recognized for the same accomplishments as the adults do. Current Award Description: National 100 Mile Award: Honoring the Top Ten Senior horse/rider teams with the most points accumulated on one day rides of 100 miles or more. Proposal: Change the National 100 Mile Award so that Endurance News lists Top Ten in all divisions, and awards are given to Top Five in each division, making it fair to every division. Details: By awarding the divisions separately this will allow each division of rider to compete on a more equal basis, including juniors. We could not simply add a set # of placements for juniors because that would make the award unfair for the senior riders. By awarding a set number of placings for each division that makes it fair to everyone. By listing Top Ten in Endurance News and giving awards to the Top Five in each division it would be following a similar format to the Pioneer Award, the difference being that awards are given to the Top Three in each division for that award. Cost of programming: estimated by Mike Maul to be $300.00. The cost of the awards will increase by 15 additional awards to a total of 25. We feel that 25 awards (and Top Ten listing in EN for each weight division) for all 7 AERC regions for all 100 Mile Riders will make those that ride 100's feel that they are getting the recognition that they deserve, including Junior riders who currently cannot place in this category due to how their points are calculated. Effective Date: Start of the 2004 ride season (December 1, 2003) II - Current Policy: A junior applies to the AERC for an unsponsored rider letter. When the letter is sent, the junior is automatically put in the senior rider weight division. All junior points earned in their region for that year just disappear. This effectively nullifies their junior standing. However, by rule, juniors are sometimes required to complete in two divisions at once. If a ride manager does not allow unsponsored juniors, they must go back to the junior division. However, they do not earn junior points. Since they can't earn senior points they seem to be in some type of limbo. Proposal: When a junior requested an unsponsored junior status, the AERC would assign that rider a new AERC number, in addition to the original number. The junior would then be responsible for entering rides under the proper number. Once the junior reached 16 years and became a senior rider, the new AERC number would be retired and the mileage transferred to the original number and the status changed to the proper weight division. This would be a fair way for juniors to retain their regional points and standings by having their points and mileage posted to the correct division. Costs: This has been discussed with the AERC office and would be a simple procedure. Cost, if any, would be minimal. Effective Date: Immediately, upon approval. Both of these proposals will be brought before the Board of Directors at the September meeting for discussion by all of the appropriate committees. They will be brought as motions at the October meeting. Maryben Stover, Chair Media Committee Report, 9/12/03 We have nothing new to report since the last call. Genie Stewart-Spears, Chair National Championship Committee Report, 9/12/03 The NC Ride is coming along well. The numbers are looking good, hoping as many BOD members as possible will join in and help the ride manager. Future rides-we will be presenting two or three sites for a vote from the BOD at the mid year meeting. Connie Caudill- Co-Chair and NC Committee Past Presidents Committee Report 9/16/03 There is a new member of the committee, Bill Bentham (lifetime member), a past president that the office had lost contact with. He has been found and added to the membership roster with current data. The PPC met by conference call on 9/4. Here are the minutes from that meeting; Past Presidents Committee Conference Call 9/4 Call commenced at 5 PM PST with the following members present; Barney Fleming DVM Chairman Randy Eiland Dane Fraizer DVM Maggie Price Joe Long Jim Remilard Phil Gardner Roger Taylor Mike Tomlinson DVM (Current President) Stagg Newman (Advisor Capacity) Absent were; Vonita Bowers Mathew McKay-Smith DVM Crockett Dumas Mike Tomlinson, current president addressed the committee by telling the group why the committee was created. The purpose of the committee is two-fold, to lead the AERC into the future and to advise the current president. The entire meeting (1.5 hours) consisted of round table discussion of several topics brought to the committee by several of its members. Major topics were AERC Mission Statement, membership, finances, trails, and international. Roger Taylor was asked to put into writing a beginning mission statement for our committee to include long term planning and pass it on to the members for discussion. Randy volunteered to start an email list on Yahoo for our exclusive use. Three of the members present were not up to speed on AERC finances due to the fact they are not on the present BOD that receives regular financials. Barney will ask Kathleen to send recent reports to Jim, Joe, Phil and Crockett. A few specific points that are to be carried forward to the next meeting are a.) promote membership thru regional organizations. b.) Establish a legal contingency and c.) Establish a prudent reserve figure for AERC general fund. These will be agenda items at the next meeting. Our next meeting was scheduled for 9/22. The meeting was adjourned at 6:33 PST. Barney Fleming Action Taken: 1.) Kathleen has sent some of the financial info to the non-BOD members and is sending COMPLETE financial info to ALL members so that they have handy reference for future planning purpose. 2.) Roger Taylor has sent to the committee a very extensive PRE discussion draft of Mission and Long term planning. This will be worked on at our next meeting. 3.) Randy has successfully created a private email list for the exclusive use of the committee (including the ED of AERC) 4.) A conference call meeting is scheduled for 9/22. Respectfully, Barney Fleming DVM Past Presidents Committee Chair Research Grants Committee Report 9/16/03 The committee has been contacted by 9 individuals (most Universities types) interested in presenting proposals and are preparing them for us. As of this date we have 3 in for consideration 1.) David Kronfield PhD, Middleburg Ag Research and Extension, Middleburg, VA asking for 30K to support on going studies on "Potassium, Neuromuscular Excitability and Muscle Glycogen Resynthesis 2.) Howard Erickson DVM, Kansas State Dept of Anatomy and Physiology, asking for $26,093.00 for "The severity of Exercise=Induced Pulmonary Hemorrhage during Endurance Exercise. 3.) Mary Durando DVM, Meg Sleeper DVM and Eric Birks DVM, University of PA, asking for $6050.00 for "Can successful endurance performance be predicted by physiology? Relationship between a heart-specific regulatory protein (troponin I), electrocardiograms and competitive performance in Endurance Horses. All 3 of these appear to be worthwhile studies and represent work that will benefit endurance horses but will need extensive evaluation before we can recommend any action. From the information I have on the other possible proposals there are several more good ones to come. Obviously we cannot support all of these now. At this time the committee feels that the BOD should take $45K of accumulated funds and dedicate it to Research. Proposals, as they are received, will be evaluated and ranked by the committee and brought to the BOD for their final selection or rejection. This committee can not move forward until the BOD decides what monies are available for research. Respectfully Barney Fleming DVM, Chair Research Grants Committee
Ride Managers Committee Report 9/11/03 We have been busy with the planning of the vet video. Tom Greer will be our videographer. We will be taping on Oct. 9, the day before the 100 mile ride. Todd Holbrook DVM from Oklahoma, has agreed to help in the video. Debby Lyon has agreed to be in it as a rider. When the script has been completed, we will have the vet and education committee review it. The entire BOD is welcome to come and watch the shooting of this video. Connie Caudill and the Ride Managers Committee Rules Committee Report, 9/12/03 The committee has been working on the final draft of the rules which was forwarded last week to all the BOD's. The following letter was also sent out with the draft, I am including the letter in the committees report and it follows: To the AERC Board: The Rules & Regulations booklet has undergone revision and updating by the Rules Committee. Please check over the entire document before voting to approve the changes. At the midyear board of directors meeting all the corrections to the draft will be complete and presented to the BOD for final approval.Following are four sections that need closer review. These will be discussed at the conference call board meeting on September 16, and your comments will be welcome. If you have any comments or recommendations for changes, please contact Patti Pizzo by September 12 (phone 215-343-4928, fax 215-343-6353, or email: Piz220@aol.com). (Introduction) The following rules and regulations have been adopted by the Board of Directors of the AERC and are binding on AERC sanctioned rides. While the AERC assumes that most participants are responsible and caring, it is recognized that a highly competitive and demanding sport requires regulation. The AERC's concern in establishing rules and regulations is to assure that competition occurs within standardized parameters considered fair and reasonably safe for equine and rider. The AERC services the requirements of the competitor by promulgating and establishing rules and regulations, recording and publishing results of events, and providing awards; but the competitor is ultimately responsible for self and mount before, during and after an endurance ride. AERC Rules and Regulations provide minimum conditions and directives for managing and competing in AERC sanctioned endurance rides. Additional measures may be taken by any ride to provide greater safety for equine and rider. However, except in the event of emergency, these additional measures must be explained to the competitors and made available to them in written form at a pre-ride meeting. We not only feel it is necessary to regulate our sport, but also to penalize infractions and to provide mechanisms for addressing grievances and appealing decisions.(ORIGINAL MOTION) All entrants in any distance of a ride know and agree that their entry into the ride is with the stipulation that all activities that relate to the ride are subject to use by AERC for analysis of ways to improve and educate all concerned be they riders, ride managers, veterinarians, etc. (RECOMMENDED VERSION) All activities that relate to an AERC sanctioned event are subject to use by AERC for analysis of ways to improve and educate all concerned be they riders, ride managers, veterinarians, etc. The following documents complement and provide additional information for AERC Rules and Regulations: AERC Ride Manager's Handbook, AERC Veterinarian's Handbook. These publications are available through the AERC office. (RULES) 9.4.2.1 (ORIGINAL MOTION) In regional or national endurance Best Condition awards, no horse will be listed or awarded unless it has 2 or more placings or a minimum of 100 points. 9.4.2.1 (RECOMMENDED VERSION) Equines must receive two Best Condition awards or a minimum of 100 Best Condition points during the ride season to qualify for these awards. L9.4.1.2 (ORIGINAL MOTION) Limited Distance riders must receive two Best Conditions during the calendar year to be in contention for a year-end award, effective 12-1-01. L9.4.1.2 (RECOMMENDED VERSION) Equines must receive at least two Limited Distance Best Condition awards during the ride season to qualify for this award. 14. (ORIGINAL VERSION) No equine and/or rider may enter more than one distance at any AERC sanctioned event. 14. (POSSIBLE VERSION) No equine and/or rider may enter more than one distance per day at any AERC sanctioned event Patti Pizzo, Chairman Rules Committee Sponsorship Committee Report, 9/11/03 Sponsorship Committee is working hard on attracting new AERC Sponsors. Our latest deal is with BLM. The Contract has been received from the BLM and John Parke is reviewing the Contract (the BLM used a federal contract rather than the AERC Sponsorship Contract). This deal is for a minimum period of 2 years and is based on BLM Mustang Raffles. The BLM is allowing AERC to "adopt" two mustangs for $25.00 each and we will sell raffle tickets thru the Convention with the drawing held during the National Awards Banquet. Based on past equine raffles, we anticipate a minimum of $1,700.00 raised per equine - in 1999 we made about $3,000.00 off one filly raffle with the entire raffle period being the two days of Convention, and the least we made was a little of $1,700.00 on the last equine raffle with the drawing at the 2000 AERC NC. Once the new AERC Web Site is made public, the Sponsorship Committee will be mass mailing it to prospective Sponsors and we think we will exceed the 1999/2000 Sponsorship Level. Randy Eiland, Chairman Technical Committee Report 9/9/03 Report on new web site progress: Most of the website is complete. Still looking at the search capability and need to transfer the domain name to test the "Contact AERC" email generation. I would like to get the BOD approval in the conf call to open the site to members after the call. Please let me know of any concerns you have about this before the meeting. I will only be able to attend a short period of the meeting as I have another conf call at the same time. I will have to defer the discussion of the budget item for the records s/w purchase until the mid year meeting. The present BOD mail list and committee email lists will need to be transferred to Yahoo Groups after the new web site is activated. This is at John Teeter's request. Yahoo offers a digest form and an archive. Unfortunately it also has an ad with each email. The service is free. You will not need to have a yahoo account to use the email list. I will take care of setting these up for the office to administer. Mike Maul, Chairman Trails Advocacy Report, 9/12/03 Committee will present a comprehensive written report for the Board at the mid-year meeting. Items being worked on are legislation in Washington dealing with our right to ride on federal lands, SAFETEA legislation, horse identification, Hippa legislation, and a comprehensive review of the new proposed national trail management classification for trail maintenance in our national forests. The trails manual being produced in cooperation with the Federal Highway Administration, Clemson University and the American Horse Council is moving right along. On going projects dealing with regional trail closures in something that never lets up. Will have a review of progress being made at the Shawnee National Forest and some current information on potential trail closures in California. Jerry Fruth, Chair Trails Grants Committee Report, 9/9/03 The committee is requesting by motion the funding of the War Eagle Trail Association Grant this year from trails set aside funds. The committee has approved and requested funding of $15,000 for the Wolf Creek Trailhead Grant. This funds the road and we will see if others fund the trailhead. The committee has tentatively approved funding of the Harrison-Crawford and Clark State Forest for $5,700 awaiting comments from the Forest Rangers in those respective areas. The funds of $15,000 and $5,700 would come from next year's funds presumably using up the trails set aside and then getting some funding from the General Fund. WE have had discussions on two more grants but no formal paperwork has been received for review. If these materialize we would like to ask that they be funded next year so we have added an additional $16,300 to our budget request for next years funding. As you can see the Trails Grants committee is very busy and probably will get busier as the members see that AERC is really funding trails projects. Roger Taylor, Chairman Drug Testing Report to BOD 9/16/2003 As of this date there have been 7 rides tested with NO positives found. There are 8 more scheduled to be tested before the end of the year. If the budget allows there could be up to 3 more scheduled. Watch for the tested rides to be in the EN. A goal for this year is to test as many rides as the budget allows and to have the office doing most of the work involved in getting the rides tested. There is a Testing flow form now being used by the office that has successfully guided all involved in completing their tasks. The results are providing the office with good records of Drug Testing. Barney Fleming DVM Drug Testing Chair, sub-committee of the Veterinary Committee.