NWSA
Meeting Minutes
May 18, 2015
I. Call to order
Doug Cross called to order the regular meeting of the NWSA Board at 2:43 p.m.
II. Roll call:
Present
Doug Cross: President
Ginger Failor: Vice President and Website
Jeffrey Frechette: Secretary
Heidi Cuddeford: Treasurer
Stephanie Schoenborn: Youth Group
Pam Christenson: Silver Circuit Points
Cathy Sauer: outreach
Mel Lueck: Futurity
Ben Lachman: Membership and Outreach
Absent
Dana Paparo: Trainer’s Representative
III. Youth of the Year Presentations
Grace shared her essay with us about her introduction to Saddlebreds. She gave her
account of rescuing her own Saddlebred and although she isn't able to afford fulltime
training she does her best on her own and with the help of others. She loves to ride and
has fallen in love with the breed. For her art project she made an exquisite ceramic box
with beautiful etchings of Saddlebreds strutting their stuff on the sides.
Sydney Coover from Corbett Stables read her history of horseback riding which
eventually lead her to this great breed. Sydney is a very passionate rider and great
competitor. Sydney made a photo collage of her riding with pictures of horses and her
friends all artfully pasted to an English saddle.
Savannah Livingstone, also from Corbett Stables, read an intriguing history of the
World's Horse Show at the Kentucky State Fair in Louisville. She had some great
historical facts to share and I think we a learned something new about the historical
event. Savannah passed around a ceramic horse she made and glazed herself.
All three of the Youth of the Year applicants did an amazing job presenting their hard
work. They were very composed, focused, and charming. The board will vote on the
2015 winner at the retreat in November.
IV. Fall Classic Planning
Martha Keck and Peggy Kelber attended the board meeting to share some of their
thoughts and concerns regarding the planning of the annual Fall Classic.
This year the show was down 15 horses from last year with a total of 122 entries. 3
barns did not attend the show.
The dates for the show were moved up to the great delight of many but did make it
difficult for the trainers and exhibitors who had the opportunity to go to Louisville.
Perhaps next year the show could be one week later. This would require an existing
Arabian show to be moved to another date. The crew assembled for the show is
amazing and some of the best in the industry and therefore an important consideration
that any date changes also work with the professional staff.
The Oregon Horse Center has been a great facility to work with. Next year the judge
will be certified in both Saddlebreds and Morgans in order to include Morgans in the
show.
It was brought up that the USEF adjusts their calendar yearly altering the dates of the
Louisville show so some research required to determine how those dates and the future
dates of the Fall Classic would be affected.
Martha suggested that there be a board position for the Fall Classic. It is so much work
and there needs to be a way to make the task a shared experience but not necessarily
done by committee.
The board expressed great gratitude to Martha and Peggy for their incredible efforts
making the Fall Classic such an amazing event!
V. Convention
Jill Anthony was present to discuss this year's convention and awards banquet.
Dates: January 29th & 30th
Location: Heathman Lodge, Vancouver, Wa.
Costs: Rooms $119.00 & $129.00 a night
Guest Speaker: Elizabeth Goth
Jill would like people to start thinking about some questions to ask Elizabeth. She will
have a lot to share about both breeding and showing Saddlebreds.
There was some discussion on how to improve this year's convention. There is a
consensus that the awards should move along as well as the raffling etc. Some people
would like to see music and dancing return to the event.
VI. The formal NWSA board meeting was called to order by Doug Cross at 2:43
VII. Approval of minutes from last meeting: Meeting minutes from August meeting were
approved. Ginger pointed out a typo which will be corrected.
VIII. Treasurer’s Report
The board approved the financial reports provided by Heidi.
There seems to be some confusion regarding the Atwood Scholarship funds:
There is no record of a check or funds being deposited from the Atwoods for the
2014 award. At this point the attempts at contacting the Atwoods have been
unsuccessful.
IX. Ginger Reported on the NWSA Website
The number of "hits" on the NWSA website average around 1000 monthly. With this
knowledge perhaps some interest for advertising would be generated.
X. Bylaws
There has been no feedback from the NWSA membership regarding the proposed
changes to the bylaws therefore the new bylaws will be voted on at the convention.
XI. Membership
At the August board meeting there was discussion regarding a late NWSA membership
registration by Raven Scott. At the time with the facts as known at the time it was
decided that Raven's back dated registration would not be allowed. Mel Lueck clarified
the situation and took responsibility for the late entry. In order to not penalize Raven it
was decided to allow the back-dated entry form.
XII. Silver Circuit
Pam passed out forms which showed both the members and the non-members and their
standing in this year's Silver Circuit Awards race. It was very helpful to see who was
participating and was not an NWSA member; in most cases the riders may not be aware
that they are not up to date on their membership and would potentially join up or renew
if it was pointed out to them.
XIII. Meeting adjourned at 3:30 p.m.