American Endurance Ride
Conference
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING
(Revised)
held via telephone
conference call
December 5, 2005
The
meeting was called to order by President Stagg Newman at 6:00 p.m. Also
on the line for the call: Vice President Mike Maul, Jan Jeffers, Secretary,
Treasurer Patti Pizzo, Vonita Bowers,
Mike Jaffee, Roberta Harms, Connie Caudill, Jan Stevens, Howard Kent, Stan
Eichelberger, Gail Williams, Bob Morris, Terry Woolley-Howe, Susan Kasemeyer, Duane
Barnett, Randy Eiland, Roger Taylor, Barney Fleming, Jerry Fruth, Laura Hayes,
Robert Ribley, Dinah Rojek, Mike Tomlinson, and Executive Director Kathleen A.
Henkel. Absent – Nick Warhol, J. Parke.
New
Board members on the Call are: B.
Waitte, Joe Schoech, Joyce
Mocilan Susan Horne, Tom Dean,
Jennifer Nice, Jeff Trinkle.
Melissa Ribley on the call for Veterinarian Committee
presentation.
Housekeeping
Approval of minutes from prior meetings.
Motion by R.. Ribley – second Susan Kasemeyer to accept minutes of the Midyear Meeting –
Motion carries.
Excusal of BoD members unable to attend: N. Warhol, J.
Parke. Motion by B. Morris – Second S. Kasemeyer. Motion Carries.
Old Business
Finance Committee – Patti Pizzo with Kathleen Henkel
The most recent financial reports have been
passed out, no action to be taken. We
will be running a deficit somewhere around $15,000 to $20,000; however, waiting
on fees to come in from about 10 rides and a few outstanding bills.
Update on membership levels and renewal –
Kathleen Henkel
Membership
as of November 30, 2005 – 2,206 members so far for renewal. Year 2005
ended with 6,565 members. Highest
membership in 12 and a half years. A
lot of early renewals; a lot of new people joining for 2006. No complaints about no new member discount.
Renewals will be tracked monthly and compare to prior years. We will utilize
our regional directors to encourage members to renew.
New Business
Sanctioning Committee -
Vonita Bowers
Draw
IV Ride – Midwest Region - October 8, 2005 – sanctioned as a 50/30. The mileage for the endurance ride was two
29-mile loops or 60 miles. Riders were
credited with 50 miles. Motion by V.
Bowers to allow riders who did the mileage get credit for 60 miles instead of 50 miles. Motion Carries.
Special
Sanctioning:
Strawberry
Fields Forever Ride – Mountain Region
- 6/23/24/25/2006 – 55/25, 50/25,
50/25. A two-day ride in the past, now requesting a three-day pioneer ride.
Motion Carries.
Hog Wilder
Ride – PSW Region – 4/14/15/16/2006 - 55/25, 50/25, 50/25,
two-day ride in the past, now requesting a three-day pioneer ride. Motion
Carries.
Nicola Pine
Railway Ride - NW Region – 5/20/21/22/2006 – in British Columbia. 30/50 30/55 30/50. Saturday, Sunday Monday ride – holiday for Canadians. Approved for 2005 but not held. Motion Carries.
A rule change proposal allowing
the Special Sanctioning Committee to sanction Pioneer Rides without requiring
board approval will be presented to the Board at the January or February
Conference Call, to be voted on at the Convention Board Meeting.
AERC
International Committee – Kathy Brunjes
Kathy
submitted a written report (See Attachment A). No action required.
Veterinary
Committee – Melissa Ribley
The Vet
Committee believes it is important for AERC to consider qualifications for head
veterinarians. This is new for AERC,
however, other equine disciplines require qualified veterinarians who are
familiar with the guidelines and rules of the particular sport they are
officiating.
Minimal
veterinarian qualifications would include
basic familiarity with the Veterinarian Guidelines Handbook and AERC rule
book. Written exam given based on an
open book test. See written report
below (Attachment B).
Concerns from the Ride
Manager’s Committee are, hard time getting vets to take exams, how long will
the process take to qualify veterinarians, and
what kind of an emergency plan for a replacement qualified veterinarian
if the head vet cancels at the last minute.
If a veterinarian has worked a ride as a head veterinarian within the
past 3 years, they would automatically be put on the head vet qualified
list.
S. Newman suggested there could
be two ways to qualify – exam and apprenticing with head vet.
The next step will be for M.
Ribley to put an article in EN and C. Caudill will put an article in EN about
some of the issues and concerns. Elicit
ideas from the membership.
Straw poll was taken of the BoD
to proceed with articles in the January Endurance News. All in favor.
Welfare of
the Horse Committee – Laura Hayes
Written
fatality reports – see Attachment C.
The Old Dominion report will be
a longer, more involved report. More
lessons to be learned.
8 deaths in 2005. 6 reports are finished and two reports to be
published are done. The vast majority
have been autopsied or necropsied.
Rio Grand
LD Distance Motion – Randy Eiland
Motion
to add 5 miles to the Rio Grande LD Ride held November 19, 2005 due to a change
of trail at the last minute, making the sanctioned distance 35 miles instead of
30 miles. Did not change any placings in any regions. Motion by Randy Eiland,
seconded by Roger Taylor. R. Eiland
abstained. Motion Carries.
S.
Newman will put a response out to the membership on the Members Only List that summarizes our insurance coverage,
corrects all the misinformation that was put out by J. Teeter. Underlying issue of J. Teeter is our
coverage does not suffice for USEF.
USEF wants per event coverage and ours is aggregate for the year. The response will also be put in Endurance
News for the membership that are not on line.
M. Maul and P. Pizzo are
working together on our long range planning
and will present their findings at the January Conference call.
Megan
Davis contacted S. Kasemeyer and stated that due to storm damage she will
either have to cancel or postpone her ride. Susan offered her another date.
Explanation
to new board members before going into Executive Session regarding Nicole
Luck/Frazier protest/appeal.
Executive
Session begins (6:54 p.m. PST).
Motion to adjourn the meeting by S. Eichenberger,
seconded by V. Bowers (meeting adjourned at 7:07 pm PST).
Respectfully Submitted,
Jan Jeffers, Secretary
ATTACHMENT A
AERC-I Committee
Board Report
December 5, 2005
Conference Call meeting November 28, 2005
Attendance: Kathy
Brunjes, Chair
Mark
Dial, Vice-Chair
Tom Johnson,
Nat’l Chef d’Equipe
Mike Tomlinson,
AERC Past-Pres., USEF Technical Comm.
Sue Phillips -
Central
Betty
Baker, Treasurer - East
Linda
Strelnik, Holly Ulyate - Mountain
Teresa
Cross – PacSouth
Amanda
Taylor, Recording Secretary
Susan
Kasemeyer, AERC Liaison and Educ.Comm
Jennifer
Nice, Electronic Newsletter Editor
Russell
Broussard, Advisor
Absent: Stagg
Newman, AERC President
Grace
Ramsay - Central
Julie Bullock –
East
Michele Roush,
Carol Giles – PacNorth
Tinker Hart -
PacSouth
Art Priesz,
USEF High Performance
Mary Lutz, USEF
Endurance Director
Items Discussed: For informational purposes only – no action
required by AERC BoD.
1.
Committee spent majority of conference call on planning
for the Convention.
-
discussion of booth location and merchandise to
sell, as well as booth schedule
-
Tom Johnson will present the Aachen, Germany 2005
pre-ride slide show and discuss the course during the Trade Show.
-
AERC-I and USEF will co-sponsor an educational panel
entitled “FEI De-Mystified” on Saturday, 11:00 am – 1:00 pm. Kathy and Mary will work together on panel
participants and outline
-
AERC-I will plan a brief slide presentation of the
North American Endurance Championship medalists; John Parke has agreed to
incorporate this into the Regional Awards on Friday
-
AERC-I will NOT sponsor a separate
reception/cocktail party, but instead would like to be included in the Friday
Regional Awards presentation. Kathy
will talk with John Parke on the logistics
-
AERC-I will plan to hold a committee meeting on
Saturday morning (9:00 am)
2.
Jennifer Nice presented a proposal for the electronic
newsletter, including a schedule for distribution.
Questions
regarding issues around selling ad space or not will be discussed during the
December Committee call, after Jennifer has had time to contact Mike Maul and
Troy Smith. Jennifer will have a sign
up sheet/mailing list request for the convention booth; the first issue of the
electronic newsletter is slated for March 1, 2006 – the Committee will
advertise the newsletter during Convention (the newsletter will be used as a
marketing tool in gaining International membership).
3.
Holly is still working with Mike Maul on the AERC-I
webpage; currently software interfaces are being “negotiated”.
Attachment B
Veterinary Committee Report
November 29, 2005
1)
It is recommended to the BoD to have a minimum qualification standard set for
veterinarians that will be working AERC rides as head veterinarian. The qualification would be completion of a
written exam based on the AERC Veterinary Guidelines for Judging AERC Endurance
Competitions and the AERC Rule Book.
2)
A note that reads as follows will be included in the
ride packets that are sent to the head veterinarian for each AERC ride:
“To AERC Head Veterinarians:
AERC has approved funding for performing necropsies on
equines that die as a result of participating in AERC sanctioned rides. Since much valuable information can be
obtained from a necropsy, please encourage owner of horses that have died to
have a necropsy performed and remind them AERC will fund this. Make every attempt to have the necropsy
performed at a referral hospital or lab.
If this is not possible, a field necropsy is acceptable. If a field necropsy is done, be sure to
submit appropriate samples and clearly document findings, both normal and
abnormal. The amount of reimbursement
will be limited to $300.00 per necropsy.
If a horse is referred from a ride to a clinic for
further treatment, communicate to the referral hospital that should the horse
die while at their hospital that costs of a necropsy will be reimbursed by
AERC.
Thank you,
The AERC Veterinary Committee”
Submitted by Melissa Ribley, DVM
Chair, AERC Veterinary Committee
AERC Head Veterinarian Qualification
The AERC Veterinary Committee and the Welfare of the Horse Committee recognize the importance of
having a qualified veterinarian to serve as head veterinarian at endurance
rides. The purpose for qualified,
knowledgeable head veterinarians is to ensure the health and welfare of horses
competing in endurance rides.
It is the duty of
the head veterinarian to know the rules to the best of his/her ability and to
consider the medical safety and health of the horse participants. Necessary supplies for treatment, or the
arrangement thereof, and a comprehensive plan for treatment, are the
responsibility of the head veterinarian.
It is the duty of the head veterinarian to act as a liaison between the
veterinary staff and ride management.
The head veterinarian will often be the deciding factor in questionable
horses or decisions requiring sound, experienced judgment. The head veterinarian is often a mentor at
the ride for any veterinarians working the ride that are new to the sport of
endurance riding.
A veterinarian not familiar with the sport, not familiar
with the handbook, Veterinary
Guidelines For Judging AERC Endurance Competitions and not familiar with
the AERC Rules and Regulations serving
as head veterinarian sets up a situation possibly dangerous to the welfare of
the horses, unfair to the riders and
frustrating to ride management. It also
will likely end up with the under qualified veterinarian having a bad experience
with the sport and not likely to return.
A head veterinarian more familiar with the veterinary guidelines and
rules will more likely have a positive experience and be willing to work with
future ride managers.
The task of being a head veterinarian implies a
commitment to the horses, riders and ride management and a qualified head
veterinarian is required to protect the well being of endurance horses. The requirement of completing a
qualification process in order to work an endurance ride as head veterinarian
adds a level of professionalism and credibility to our sport. It also will help ensure there is at least
one veterinarian in charge at the ride who is knowledgeable about AERC rules,
procedures and veterinary guidelines.
This will make a better working environment for all the veterinarians at
the ride. A positive experience for
veterinarians new to the sport will much more likely encourage that
veterinarian to return and work future rides than would a bad experience where
the veterinarian felt unprepared or unqualified for the task. The veterinarians having a negative experience
early on in their endurance career are the veterinarians AERC will likely not
see return to vet rides.
Determining what defines a qualified head veterinarian is
not a simple process. A step in the
right direction is to at minimum ensure the veterinarian is familiar with two
AERC publications – Veterinary Guidelines For Judging AERC Endurance
Competitions and AERC Rules and Regulations. A simple, straightforward and objective
method of determining familiarity with these two publications is an open book,
written exam based on these two publications. The exam would be written by the
Veterinary Committee and available to all AERC veterinary members by mail or
email from the AERC office. The
successful completion and submission of the exam to the AERC office would list
the testing veterinarian on the “AERC Qualified Head Veterinarian” list,
available in the AERC office and on the AERC web site to all ride
managers. If a veterinarian has worked
an AERC ride as head veterinarian within the preceding three years they can
request to be placed on the “AERC Qualified Head Veterinarian” list without
testing. If a veterinarian on the list
has not worked a ride at all for a five year period, they will be removed from
the list.
The ride sanctioning form would indicate, in the section
indicating who will be serving as head veterinarian, that the head veterinarian
must be on the qualified head veterinarian list. There would be an emergency exemption available for rides
requiring a last minute change in the head veterinarian with no “qualified head
veterinarian” available to work the ride.
This exemption would require approval from a member of the veterinary
committee before the ride. Riders and ride managers should realize that if a
qualified head vet becomes not available at the last moment that the ride would
need to be cancelled. This potential
situation of a canceled ride would present a hardship for the ride manager and
riders. AERC needs to decide if the benefits of requiring a qualified head vets
is worth this potential hardship.
The AERC Veterinary Committee and the Welfare of the
Horse Committee recommends a motion to the BoD that would require AERC
sanctioned rides to have a “Qualified Head Veterinarian” to serve as the head
veterinarian with the qualification based on a
written exam. This will help
ensure the safety and welfare of horses, provide more skilled and consistent
judging of horses for riders and provide a better working environment for both
the veterinarians and ride management. The AERC board of directors would like
to hear from the membership on this subject.
Questions to
consider are:
-Would you want to ride in a ride without a qualified
head vet
-Would you want to ride in a ride where the new head vet
(i.e. not grandfathered in) refused to take an open book exam to demonstrate
he/she is familiar with the judging of endurance horses and how to arrange for
treatment at endurance rides
-How do you feel about the fact that most other equine
organizations such as the competitive trail ride organization and FEI have
requirements for vets but AERC does not?
-How do you feel about the fact that a ride could
potentially be canceled at the last minute for lack of a qualified head
veterinarian?
Melissa Ribley, DVM
Chair, AERC Veterinary Committee
Attachment C
Welfare
of the Horse Committee
Fatality
Reports
November
30, 2005
#1
Old Pueblo 50, SW region, 3/5/05
On March 5, 2004, an experienced Arabian endurance horse with over 4000
miles to his credit, started the Old Pueblo 50 in the southwest region,
completing about 20 miles of the ride without problem. The 16 year old gelding
had urinated, drank and appeared bright and willing until about 300 feet from
the first vet check, where, while walking, he fell out from under his rider and
tragically expired in less than three minutes.
No post mortem was performed, in part, to respect the inconsolable grief
of the family shocked by this sudden death. The gelding was buried shortly
thereafter.
The most likely cause of death was determined to be a ruptured aneurysm,
one of the most common causes of sudden death in performance horses. This
situation could neither be predicted nor avoided.
The welfare committee extends our sympathy on the loss of a good and
loyal friend.
#2
Lost Posse Ride, SE region, 3/19/05
On March 19, 2005 following the Lost Posse Ride in the SE region, a 7
year old Arabian gelding with no apparent endurance history, died as the result
of a spontaneous fracture of his first lumbar vertebral body which completely
severed his spinal cord and a large blood vessel.
While traveling normally during the second loop of the 50-mile ride, the
gelding suddenly began to drag both hind legs and appeared to buckle in the
hind limbs. Within several steps the horse became recumbent, but calm and made
no attempt to rise. He was gently dragged into a trailer and sent to the
University of Florida Large Animal Clinic where he expired spontaneously from
blood loss, a few hours later. Necropsy concluded that no bone pathology was present
and no known reason for the fracture could be determined. This situation could
neither be predicted nor avoided.
The welfare committee extends our sympathy and thanks the veterinarians
and owners for their cooperation in this report.