American Endurance Ride Conference
BOARD
OF DIRECTORS MEETING
held
via telephone conference call
February
3, 2004
President C. Mike
Tomlinson called the meeting to order at 6:05 pm. Also on the line for the call:
Vice President Mike Maul, Secretary Jan Jeffers, Treasurer Terry Woolley
Howe, Vonita Bowers, Louise Riedel, Connie Caudill, Dean Jackson, Jan Stevens,
Stan Eichelberger, Patti Pizzo, Stephanie Teeter, Gail Williams, John H. Parke,
Susan Kasemeyer, Duane Barnett, Randy Eiland, Roger W. Taylor, Maryben Stover,
Jim Baldwin, Dane Frazier, Stagg Newman, Maggy Price, Robert Ribley, and
Executive Director Kathleen A. Henkel.
Absent: Margie Burton and Barney
Fleming.
President Tomlinson
advised the purpose of tonight’s meeting is to handle the housekeeping
items. The goal is to have a bit more
time at the convention for discussion of items face to face. Any items that are contentious at all will
be postponed until the convention meeting.
Maggy Price moved and
Roger Taylor seconded that the minutes from the December 9, 2003 conference
call be approved. Motion carries.
Minutes of the Executive
Committee Meeting held via telephone conference call on December 29, 2003
were read as follows: “President C. Mike Tomlinson
called the meeting to order at 8:45 p.m., PT, with Executive Committee members
Vice President Michael Maul, Secretary Jan Jeffers, Treasurer Terry Woolley
Howe, and Southeast Regional Director Susan Kasemeyer present on the line for
the call.
Motion: For the office to be directed to purchase
the proposed insurance policy from The Creelman Agency for $23,000, with all
2004 season AERC rides being charged by the office $60 per event day, with the
exception of those rides submitting proof of insurance to the office prior to
March 1, 2004. All members of the
executive committee voted in favor, via roll call vote, of the motion:
Mike Maul Yes
Terry Woolley
Howe Yes
Susan Kasemeyer Yes
Jan Jeffers Yes
Motion carries.
It was moved by Maggy Price and
seconded by Roger Taylor to ratify the actions of the Executive Committee. Motion carries with John Parke, Vonita
Bowers, and Jim Baldwin voting against the motion.
It was moved by Roger Taylor and
seconded by Robert Ribley to excuse two board members from this meeting - Barney Fleming is out of the country and
Margie Burton had a family emergency.
Motion carries.
It was moved by John Parke that the Board accept all
previously submitted veterinary committee reports pertaining to equine deaths
be accepted and included in the minutes of this meeting. Seconded by Vonita Bowers. Motion carries.
It was moved by Susan
Kasemeyer and seconded by Roger Taylor to accept the committee reports as
written. Motion passed. Committee reports received:
Media Ride Manager Veterinary
Sponsorship Technical Trails
Trails
Grants
Randy Eiland’s Cow Tanks ride was sanctioned with an
incorrect date. Randy Eiland moves the
Board grant a ride date change for the Cow Tanks Pioneer ride from February 14
through 16 to the correct dates, February 13 through 15, 2004. Seconded by Roger Taylor. Motion carries.
Vonita Bowers, Special Sanctioning Chair,
presented information on 4 upcoming rides that require special
sanctioning. Alabama Yellowhammer
Pioneer, SE Region, 10/7-9/04, 55/30 50/25
50/25. Susan Kasemeyer,
sanctioning director, approves of the ride and Vonita recommends it be
approved. Sanctioning approved by the
Board.
Mt. Charleston Challenge Pioneer, PS Region,
9/26-28/04, 55/50/50 & 30. Terry
Woolley Howe, sanctioning director, approves of the ride and Vonita recommends
it be approved. Sanctioning approved by
the Board.
Liberty Run Pioneer, SE Region, 5/28-30/04 55/25,
55/25, 55/25. Susan Kasemeyer,
sanctioning director, approves of the ride and Vonita recommends it be
approved. Sanctioning approved by the
Board.
Western States Trail (Tevis) ride, W Region, 7/31/04,
100 miles, requests entry requirements of 150 miles or more of AERC, NATRC, or
foreign equivalent of sanctioned endurance rides of 50 miles or longer. The sanction form signed by the Western
States Foundation Ride Secretary received in the AERC office for this ride
contained handwritten notes from the Western States Office. A new signed sanction form free of added
handwritten notes has been requested from the Western States Office. Vonita presents the following motion: The Special Sanctioning Committee recommends
the ride sanctioning application from the Western States Trail Foundation for
the Tevis Cup 100 mile ride be approved once a clean copy is received in the
office. Motion seconded by Robert
Ribley. The Western States Trail ride
is approved pending receipt of a signed clean copy of the sanction form.
Kathleen advised the Board voted to accept the dates
of 2/2/06 through 2/4/06 for the San Antonio convention, however, when the
contract arrived from the Adam’s Mark the dates were indicated as 2/23/06
through 2/27/06. The Board approves of
the date change and the contract will be sent to John Parke, Legal Committee
Chair, for review before signing.
Terry Woolley Howe advised that due to the recent
forest fires in the Southern California area, the trails to be used for the National
Championship ride must be moved.
The Warner Springs Ranch property is now available, near the Riverside
County line, a bit northeast of San Diego.
Terry advised she will hold the 100 mile ride Thursday, 10/7/04 and the
50 miler Sunday, 10/10/04.
President Tomlinson advised the Past Presidents
Committee has been very active regarding a long range plan for AERC and a
report will be provided to the Board in this regard during the Sunday 2/29/04
meeting held in conjunction with the convention. The Committee will hold a breakfast meeting on Friday, 2/27/04
and members of the BOD and the membership are requested to exchange ideas with
members of the Past Presidents Committee throughout the convention as this will
add to the productivity of the Sunday 2/29 meeting.
Connie Caudill, Ride Managers Committee Chair,
advised they are continuing work on the video with the hope of having it at the
convention for viewing and final approval by the BOD.
Jim Baldwin, Veterinary Committee Chair,
advised 300 copies of the completed audio tape have been forwarded to the
office. Total cost: $410 which includes some volunteer
assistance by Dr. Baldwin and others that participated in the production. A copy of the audio tape will be forwarded
to each Board member upon receipt of the tapes in the office.
Barney Fleming, Research Grants Committee Chair,
is out of the country and unable to participate in this call, however, it is
anticipated new grants proposals will be presented to the Board for the Reno
meeting.
Maryben Stover, Junior Committee Chair,
advised the committee will rework the 100 mile award and present it next year.
John Parke, Legal Committee Chair, advised he
consulted with a Bankruptcy Attorney regarding the Debi Sanger issue. It is the recommendation from committee to
modify the action previously taken regarding Debi Sanger and make it a straight
suspension for 3 years. Motion carries
with Stephanie Teeter and Randy Eiland abstaining.
John Parke requested as Legal Committee chair
that he be notified of any issues he should work on as an attorney before the
convention meetings so that he has time to work on legal matters before the
next meetings.
John Parke, Horse Welfare Committee Chair,
advised the committee disclosed policy recommendations at the midyear meeting
and was planning to request action during the Reno meeting. This will be delayed as acting on rules at
the Reno meeting is not necessary since the rules will not go into effect until
the 2005 ride year so the committee wants to be sure any rule changes are
thoroughly discussed and they can be dealt with at the 2004 midyear
meeting. During the workshops to be
held in conjunction with the convention the committee will discuss their policy
recommendations and any other ideas that the membership presents.
John Parke requested pictures of rides in all regions
from the members of the BOD for use during presentation of the regional awards
on Friday evening, 2/27 during the convention.
Kathleen was directed to forward copies of the
current insurance policy to members of the BOD upon receipt in the office from
the insurance agency.
Roger Taylor presented the following motion from the Insurance
Committee as follows: Delete the
“March 1, 2004” deadline for submission of proof of prior insurance and replace
it with a deadline of “prior to the ride”.
This is for the 2004 ride season only.
Motion carries.
President Tomlinson encouraged all members of the BOD
to attend the Reno meetings.
Meeting adjourned at 7:20
p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Jan Jeffers, Secretary
1/30/04
The RM
committee have reviewed and have also sent the vet video to the Vet Committee
and the Educational committee for suggestions. We have sent the changes to the
Tom Greer for editing. He still has plans on getting the tape finished by the
convention if all goes as expected. We hope the BOD will be able to view the
video during the convention.
Connie Caudill
1/30/04
Four members of the media committee are gearing up to cover many aspects of the
AERC Convention for Endurance News, Arabian Horse World, The Chronicle of
the Horse, and California Riding magazines, to name a few.
Pamela Burton and Stephanie Teeter will be focusing a little more on
international competition in addition to national competition in 2004 and
expanding on-line reporting on Endurance.Net. Stephanie will be writing a
piece on the recipient of the Pardners Award.
Bobbie Lieberman and Genie Stewart-Spears will be highlighting the lectures and
Hall of Fame inductees. And Bobbie has agreed to once again give us an overview
of the AERC Convention for Endurance News.
The attending media members will meet and discuss what rides will be
covered in the upcoming year, working to branch out to rides that have not had
coverage.
At present, Bobbie Lieberman has offered to cover the Tevis. Genie
Stewart-Spears can cover the Kettle Classic Colorama 50/100, which hasn't
received press and which will add FEI competition to this year's Midwest Region
event. Linda Sherrill continues to supply great photographs and some ride
coverage. However, until she completes a residence move, Linda can't say
what rides she can cover this year. With her "lighter side" of
endurance articles, Angie McGee continues to remind us that this sport is fun
and the antics we go through to compete are even funnier.
There is ongoing discussion with Mike Maul as how to protect photographs from
being copied from the AERC and Endurance.Net websites so that photographers
will be comfortable submitting their photographs.
John Parke has been contacted about the need for having a photo release written
into the AERC ride entry forms. This release is to allow the use of
photographs taken at events for the promotion of AERC. As of yet, he has
not replied.
Genie Stewart-Spears
Media Committee Chair
1/28/04
Jerry
Fruth, Chairman
Several
months ago I made the decision to restructure the Trails Committee.
Please make
a note that there is a difference between the Trails Committee and our
Trail
Advocates. Trail Advocates do not have a vote on the Trails Committee.
Trying to
keep track of all trail issues across the United States is a constant work
load.
Having a
Regional Trail Advocate work on trail issues, planning, trail maintenance,
and the
education for trail maintenance will not only be more effective, but
will allow
me more
time to work with other national trail organizations on a national basis.
In time,
the Trails Committee will be made up of 9 regional trail advocates. To
date
we have two
new regional trail advocates. We have one for the Southeast Region,
and one for
the Mountain Region. Their main focus for the near future will be to
educate our
riders on trail maintenance and to get the riders off their horse and
on the
ground doing trail maintenance. This will take a great deal of their time
and
energy so
please give them your support.
For the
past year the National Forest Service (FS) has been working on a new
five tier
plan for trail maintenance. I won't go into the details but the new plan
can put our
access to miles and miles of trails in jeopardy. For years the FS
has been
falling behind in maintenance. For those trials that are in the far back
end of a
wilderness, they want to place them in a category that will no longer
require the
FS to maintain the trail. Not that they have been doing it to date.
Our fear is
the next
step will be closure. The trial is not maintained, and sooner or later, a
new
FS Plan
will call for its closure.
When I took
over the Trials Committee in 2000, the first thing I did was to contact the
BCHA and
created a working partnership with them. Its been quite rewarding.
They
also have a
seat on the AHC Recreation and Land Use Committee. It has been the
staff of
the BCHA that has provided us with technical guidance when dealing with the
FS on
national issues. They are an excellent organization to work with.
In 2000
their position was that what ever the issue or problem, they would be able to
work
it out with
the FS. That is no longer the case. The BCHA has established a
legal defense
fund to pay
for litigation involving our trail access. The BCHA is asking for
assistance
in funding
the legal defense fund. A suit has been filed in California over the new
management
plan. If the BCHA prevails in its lawsuit, we will have won a major
victory over
access and
use. Please consider financial assistance to the BCHA and its legal
defense fund.
On April
19,20 the American Horse Council will have its annual business meeting. I
will
prepare a
special report for the Board after that meeting. On March 6th I will be
speaking in
Springfield Illinois regarding trails, and on July 29th I will be in Atlanta
doing the
same.
1/28/04 Mike Maul, Chairman
Discussion continues on the proposal for purchase of the
online doublejoy software.
The Tech Committee plans to have a proposal for the BoD
meeting in Reno.
Mike Maul visited the AERC office to provide training on the
AERC website maintenance on Jan 22-23. The office can now
update the home page, edit and modify present pages, and
send mailings to targeted groups of AERC members.
Feb 2, 2004
Randy Eiland, Chair
Since the start of the current AERC Season, the AERC
Sponsorship
Committee has signed Sponsorship Contracts with:
PLATINUM SPONSORS ($3000.00 or equal+ value)
1) BLM
2) Gulf Coast 4 Star Trailer Sales
3) Martinez Saddle Co. (dba Kanavy Saddles 0
4) Hyannis Cattle Company (Ted & Sheila Jeary)
DIAMOND SPONSOR ($2,000.00)
1) A prospective Sponsor has agreed and we are waiting for the signed
contract to be returned
GOLD ($1,000)
None signed
SILVER
1) Horse-o-Meter
Activities
Patti Pizzo is coordinating with the office and our Sponsors to have them
introduced at the Awards Banquet in Reno. Mike Maul and Troy Smith
(at
the office) are coordinating an update and corrections on our website.
Trails Grants Committee
1/31/04
Roger Taylor, Chair
Trail work projects
previously passed by the Board continue.
Information was
recently furnished to Julie Suhr regarding the Sonoma Lake Trails Improvement
Project and the War Eagle Trail Association trails project for her NATRC presentation
during the convention. Proceeds she has been donating to AERC Trails from
the sale of her book are the source of funds for both of these projects.
Based on
information provided to Julie she plans to say:
"There have
been two trail grants specifically from these funds--One headed by Candice
Bourne in Alabama for $5,700 is to buy a wilderness mower and trail relocatoin
materials. The second trails grant is a joint effort with the Corp of
Engineers, Back Country Horsemen and AERC to reopen the Lake Sonoma Endurance
Ride trail. On this trail our grant of $5,000 is to purchase culverts,
gravel and a special trailer to haul the gravel to the trail sites."
I hope some AERC
people can attend Julie's talk to show our appreciation for the great trails
donations.
Veterinary Report, 2/2/04
presented by Jim Baldwin DVM, Chair
The continuing education program has been
approved and 5 ˝ units will be granted for attendance at the convention CEU
program.
The vet audio tape has been
reproduced and copies of the tape have been mailed to the office for
distribution to those veterinarians working rides this season.