American
Endurance Ride Conference
held
via telephone conference call
August 1, 2005
The
meeting was called
to order by President Stagg Newman at 6:05 p.m.
Also on the line for
the call: Vice President Mike Maul, Treasurer Patti Pizzo, Vonita
Bowers, Connie Caudill, Jan Stevens, Howard Kent, Stan Eichelberger,
Bob Morris, Terry Woolley Howe, John Parke, Susan Kasemeyer, Duane
Barnett, Roger Taylor, Nick Warhol, Barney Fleming, Jerry Fruth, Laura
Hayes, Robert Ribley, Dinah Rojek, and Executive Director Kathleen A.
Henkel. Absent – Secretary Jan Jeffers, Mike Jaffe, Roberta
Harms, Gail Williams, Randy Eiland, and Mike Tomlinson.
Susan Kasemeyer moved and Robert Ribley seconded to excuse Terry Woolley Howe from the June 27, 2005 conference call due to an unexpected emergency. Motion carries.
The office metrics report was
given by Kathleen, reporting a membership total of 6430 currently, with
6208 the total at this time last year, showing an increase of 222
members over this same period last year.
It was moved by Robert Ribley and seconded by Bob Morris to accept as written the minutes of the March 20, 2005 conference call meeting.
Jan Stevens requested a change in the April 4, 2005 minutes as she was present on the call. It was moved by Bob Morris and seconded by Dinah Rojek to amend the minutes to reflect Jan’s status properly. Motion carries.
It was moved by Stan Eichelberger and seconded by Robert Ribley to accept the April 4, 2005 minutes as amended above.
It was moved by Susan Kasemeyer and seconded by Stan Eichelberger to accept the May 2, 2005 minutes as written. Motion carries.
Bob Morris advised the board he would prefer a standard policy for all grants handled through AERC. President Newman asked Patti Pizzo and the Finance Committee to work toward this end for full discussion at the midyear meeting.
President Newman turned the meeting over to Vice President Mike Maul as he will be out of cell range for approximately 10 minutes.
Sanctioning Committee Chair Vonita Bowers advised the sanctioning committee has no problem with changing the mileage for the Big Horn ride, held July 16, 2005, Mountain Region, due to a trail change. Sanctioning Director for the region, Jan Stevens, advised the ride manager changed the course to counter-clockwise for this year and the change involved a dangerous portion of the trail so the trail was rerouted and the original mileage calculations changed, increasing the mileage on 3 of the 4 distances. The 100 miler became a 110-mile course, the 75 miler became an 80-mile course and the 25 miler became a 30-mile course. The mileage correction will afford completions for those riders believed to be overtime. Jan Stevens advised some of the 25 milers were overtime, as well as a couple of folks on the 100 miler – all horses were vetted out so there should not be a problem with anyone ending the ride early believing they would not finish. Dinah Rojek moved and Roger Taylor seconded to approve the mileage change. Motion passed.
Roger Taylor, Trails Grants Committee, moved from committee to approve the Gold Country Trail grant for $6,000 from the 2005 budget. John Parke requested a summary of the project and Robert Ribley advised it is an area of trail along a major busy highway that is used for parking and the Forest Service has given approval to move the trailhead to an area more easily accessible and safer for riders, horses and trailers. The Western States Trail Foundation and the Wendell Robie Foundation have donated funds and names of the contributors will be visible on signage at the trailhead. Motion passed with Robert Ribley abstaining.
The Trails Grants Committee requests the addition of another trail master course for the Fall of 2005 with the cost running approximately $4,200 since the current Fall class is overbooked. This is out of the 2005 trails committee budget. Class time is 4 days and the participants in the course pay for their own housing and meals and AERC pays for their tuition. Class work in the a.m. and a test at lunch and fieldwork in the afternoon. The committee requests early approval of this course as it takes a number of months to advertise positions being available for the course and handling the paperwork necessary for the class participants. Motion from committee amended to read: “The Trails Committee requests the addition of another trail master course for the Fall of 2005 out of the 2005 budget, with a maximum cost of $4,200, if the class can be filled with 10 participants. If enough people do not sign up for the course, the course will not be given.” Jerry Fruth advised he would like to see each member of the Board take the course. Motion passed with Dinah Rojek abstaining.
From this point forward, President Newman resumed meeting duties.
President Newman discussed the proposed agenda for the midyear meeting. Focus of the meeting is planning the 2006 work program with a major emphasis on long-term planning. Presentations will be given to the Board regarding financial trends, membership growth, operational excellence, education, and planned giving.
Howard Kent advised the BLM/Flaming Gorge ride will take place in Rock Springs, Wyoming on August 20th and he invited as many directors as possible to attend. Mike Maul advised he would post the ride data to the AERC Member’s Forum and Ridecamp in an effort to encourage attendance.
It was properly moved and seconded to adjourn and the meeting was adjourned at 7:07 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathleen A. Henkel, Executive Director, in absence of Secretary Jan Jeffers
Committee Reports:
AERC International Committee
2005 Mid-Year Report
July 28, 2005
Submitted by Kathy Brunjes, Chair
Mission Statement (from AERC):
“The International Committee of the American Endurance Ride Conference shall promote excellence in the sport of International endurance riding through education, participation, promotion, facilitation and support of the United States effort. The AERC International Committee will represent and act for the American Endurance Ride Conference in all matters pertaining to international equestrian endurance riding. The Committee shall perform its duties in accordance with the AERC By-laws, policies and directives.”
Summary of Committee activities, January 1, 2005 – July 25, 2005:
1. AERC National Convention planning: how to make ourselves more visible and promote interest in the AERC-I booth. Merchandise was updated with more generic USA-Endurance logo. Two mini-courses were selected to be given by AERC-I members at Convention: “riding your first 100” and “how to fill out a horse passport.”
2. Committee submitted nominations to the USEF High Performance Committee for National Selectors’ Chair and National Chef d’Equipe. At Convention, National Chef d’Equipe was selected by USEF Committees (Tom Johnson selected); Linda Strelnik was named to continue as National Selectors’ Chair.
3. Committee solicited bids for the 2007 PAC and 2006 Pre-ride. To date, Manitoba is submitted a bid to FEI to host the 2007 PAC.
4. AERC-I procedures were revised and distributed to members by (and at) Convention.
5. AERC-I discussion list was revamped. Links to USEF/FEI websites were reviewed and revised and added to the AERC-I links on the AERC webpage. Committee worked with Mike Maul to facilitate these functions.
6. AERC-I Chair changed following Convention. New AERC-I Recording Secretary was appointed following Convention. Zone Reps were asked to conduct question-and-answer sessions at dual-sanctioned rides to help alleviate anxiety of non-FEI riders. Schedule of AERC-I members attending dual-sanctioned rides provided to EN.
7. Committee addressed questions raised by Board re: $10 membership fee and better communication of Committee activities. Meeting agenda changed to incorporate more formal reporting of various activities within the Committee.
8. Monthly articles to Endurance News incorporated both educational and informational topics; highlighting the April PanAms in Argentina, AERC-I member profiles, interpretation of FEI rules or impending changes and course description for 2006 WEG (including the pre-ride summary as presented by the National Chef d’Equipe). A more personal approach was sought in the articles provided to EN.
9. Committee discussed ways in which to identify International members in the directory, as well as recruiting new members during the annual AERC membership renewal period. Suggestions for placing an “I” after names in the directory, having a checkbox on the membership form to indicate desire for electronic newsletter, a welcome letter to members who join and/or renew, and AERC-I decal given to members with membership cards were all discussed. The Committee agreed to assemble a membership packet; Kathy to work with AERC office to facilitate this.
10. WEG selection procedures were issued and AERC-I worked with Mike Maul to get notice on the AERC website for finding the online procedures.
11. AERC-I asked input from the AERC Veterinary Committee on an issue an AERC member brought to the Committee for discussion (GastroGuard).
12. AERC-I contributed $1,500 in sponsorship to the OC of the NAEC.
13. Committee responded to an AERC member’s concerns re: 2005 WEC winner and positive substance finding.
14. Committee worked with ride managers of dual-sanctioned rides to help make them seamless to non-FEI riders entered in the events, specifically citing the AERC National Championship ride (Ft. Howes) as an example of good communication and education prior to the event.
15. Committee is working with OC of the NAEC, helping provide information to the AERC membership on details of the event.
16. 2006 proposed Committee budget submitted to AERC Treasurer.
17. Zones reports initiated in the monthly conference call meetings to help open communication lines within the Committee.
Final Summary: The Committee is committed to keeping lines of communication open with both the BoD and the general membership. Education of International events and rules/regulations has been a priority for the AERC-I Committee members. The Committee is eager to go forward with their proposed 2006 Goals, keeping both the general membership and AERC-I members in the forefront of their endeavors.
2006 Committee Objectives/Goals:
1. Market AERC-I Committee membership; make Committee more visible and approachable to general AERC membership
a. provide packet of information to renewing and new AERC-I members
b. letter of welcome from AERC-I Chair, AERC-I procedure booklet, decal and list of Committee contacts to be provided to AERC Office, to be used during 2006 membership drive
- Continue to educate AERC members on International proceedings/riding
a. monthly educational articles in Endurance News
b. establish a Q&A segment at the end of monthly EN International column, giving AERC-I committee member name for contact
c. re-institute International newsletter in electronic format – issue newsletters following FEI competitions, FEI news reports or International events of interest; bringing knowledge from other countries pertaining to the safety and welfare of the horse
d. establish scheduled International educational programs/sessions for the AERC Convention, work with AERC Office and Convention Committee to accomplish this:
i. passport application and completion of horse description
ii. how to get to the International level of riding
iii. riding off-continent
iv. shipping horses cross-country/overseas
- Continue to work closely with AERC Board of Directors; reporting accomplished through AERC President-appointed BoD member(s) to the AERC-I Committee
- Review AERC-I procedures on regular basis to assure relevancy
- Continue to promote FEI sanctioned rides on-continent, promoting new FEI ride manager funding through regular reminders in EN and through Zone Reps contact with Regional sanctioning directors; continue to support the United States effort in the sport of international endurance riding, through the goals listed above.
Office Membership report:
8/1/05
2005 Members YTD (8/1/05) 6430 (3293 singles & 1416 families totaling 3137 members)
2004 Members YTD (8/2/04) 6208 (3094 singles & 1411 families totaling 3114 members)
2005 Ride entries entered in Tomcat YTD (8/1/05) 11,948 starters with 10,148 finishing
2005 Ride entries entered in Tomcat YTD (6/6/05) 7354 starters with 6343 finishing
2005 Ride entries entered in Tomcat as of 4/29/05 3873 starters with 3334 finishing
