11-05 Regional Club Advisory

Regional Club Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes

November 3, 2005

Gary Connolly, Chair of the Regional Club Advisory Committee called the meeting to order at 11:00 am Pacific Standard Time, Thursday November 3, 2005. Those present for all or part of the meeting were:

Gary Connolly–Chair

Eric Beene’–ApHC Vice President

Eddie Buchanan-ApHC Director

Laura Lyon–ApHC Director

Leslie Foxvog-Territory II-Zone A

Diana Olson-Territory II-Zone B

Anne DeGraff-Territory II- Zone C

Rachel Marx-Territory III-Zone C

Lora Marshall-Territory IV-Zone A

Charlie Hall-Territory IV-Zone B

Mike Roberson Territory V-Zone B

Gail Phillips-Territory V-Zone A

Tracy Meisenbach-Territory V-Zone C

Floyd Vickery-Territory VI-Zone A

Lori Wunderlich-Territory VI-Zone C

Frank Holmes – ApHC Director of Public Relations & Communications

Merida McClanahan-Regional Club Coordinator

Regional Club Advisory Committee Members not in attendance:

Frank Larrabee – ApHC President

Keri LeForce – ApHC CEO

Norb Hansen- ApHC Director

Chuck McWhirter – ApHC Director

Lori Larsen-Territory I-Zone A

Dawn Hill-Territory I-Zone B

Doug Nickel-Territory I-Zone C

Dennis Placzek-Territory III-Zone A

Jennifer Holtgrew-Teritory III-Zone B Marjorie Keck-Territory IV-Zone C

Carla Straus-Territory VI-Zone B

Old Business

Regional Club Exemplary Award

The committee members expressed an overall positive feed back from the Regional Clubs.

Suggestions included:

That this award be broken out into categories (similar to high school sports) by having AAA, AA, A, B etc… ranking of the clubs so that a club in each division receives an award. Discussion concluded that it would difficult at best to create such divisions and it might not be well received by the majority of the clubs.
That we create a "Most Improved Award" based on exceptional increase in membership, shows, etc…
1. Could be added for the largest increase in membership
  1. Ultimate determination was to test this program for the first year and if the committee sees any pitfalls then we can bring a proposal to the full board.

Youth Program information was sent out with the minutes from the last meeting via email. A number of members did not receive this email and a few were unable to open the attachments. Merida will re-send the minutes separate from the youth programs information and instead of sending the complete Youth Programs Information Package, she will send only the links on the ApHC web site to access this information and any additional notes were necessary.

Report from ApHC Office by Merida: - Regional Club mailing to go out end of November 2005 that will include: 1) the Expanded Regional Club Exemplary Award Flyer, 2) Single Judge Show information to included corrections discussed at last meeting, 3) a FAQ sheet pending receipt of information from committee members to Merida (nothing received so far), 4) Show Approval Application, 5) a new Quarterly Regional Club Newsletter and 6) Promotional Materials Order form with copies of actual materials available from the ApHC, which will include important facts about order processing time and types of shipping available.

Single Judge Show

Some of the east coast clubs expressed that adding a single judge show to their current show season would not be beneficial. One major reason being that the show day runs very long already and some clubs are having difficulty figuring out how to add these classes in conjunction with other shows with out extending the show day. However, there is quite a number of regional clubs that already single judge show planned, this list includes:

A Tennessee Club has 1 single judge show planned

Calzona has 4 single judge shows planned

Spotted Valley has 3 single judge shows planned

Southern Cal has 1 single judge show planned

The committee requested that the clubs that have these shows planned forward details of their show via Merida at the ApHC office for the committee to review and share with regional clubs that are interested in putting on this type of show.

A question came up if it is possible for a club to hold two shows concurrently in separate rings, hiring a judge that will only judge in the single point show and one judge for the other show? Gary pointed out that this question would need to be forwarded to Keri LeForce for clarification.

Another question was is it required for the exhibitor to be an ApHC member of Regional Club member to earn points in the Single Judge Show? It was reiterated that the horse MUST be ApHC Registered.

It was requested that when a club submits their show application, the ApHC includes promotional materials in the show package that is sent back to the club, to assist the regional clubs in providing more information about the breed and the ApHC programs and membership information to those in attendance at their shows. Merida explained that on the ApHC website there is a promotional materials order form http://www.appaloosa.com/Association/promolit.shtm where the clubs can order their Free materials. Merida also reminded the committee that the clubs must order their materials 30 days in advance of the time they would like to receive the package. Also, in the Regional Club mailing that is going out by end of November there will be an order form that can be used and sent in by fax or regular mail and will include example of the promotional materials available.

Motion # 5 – (for 2 or more regional clubs for putting on shows consecutively at the same location with one day off between shows for clinics, education, sporting competition and lectures, etc. Limit one per zone.)

At the September meeting a sub committee was formed to develop a "Special Permit" based on specific criteria and this permit would be approved and issued from the ApHC Show Department. Tracy Meisenbach-Chair volunteered to organize a group of committee members to research this issue and prepare a proposal to be reviewed by the committee at the next meeting. The following people volunteered to participate in this group: Ann DeGraff, Rachel Marx, Laura Lyon and Gail Phillips. Please contact Tracy if you are interested in working on this proposal.

Report from Tracy Meisenbach-Chair: A plan of action has been developed and the committee will continue working on developing the "Special Permit Criteria" soon. Tracy requested that Merida provide a spread sheet that contains the following information:

Number of Regional Club Members in each Club
Number of Regional Club Members in each Territory

Upon receipt of the above-mentioned data, this group will contact the regional clubs to determine what their immediate needs are. This information will be compiled to determine where the permitting is most needed. Tracy is confident that the first draft of the "Special Permit" proposal will be completed and ready to submit to the Regional Club Advisory Committee for initial review at the next committee meeting.

A few of the committee members reported that some of smaller clubs in their area are still a bit apprehensive about pursuing this type of show with out having a mileage restriction in place. Gary explained that this is exactly why we are looking at the requirement of a Special Permit and this would be limited to one show per territory per year.

Gary explained the process of getting this proposal implemented.

The proposal must be written
The proposal will be brought to the Regional Club Advisory Committee and voted on.
If passed, it will go to the Show Committee
If passed, it will go to the Rules Committee
If passed, it will go to the Full Board for final approval
Rule changes must be voted on twice by the Board of Directors prior to implementation.

Other questions brought up about requirements for a club to be eligible for this Special Permit:

Based on Membership numbers
Based on show entries and number of shows

New Business

Improving Show Management –Judges Committee Meeting

Gary Connolly explained that most shows on the regional level are managed by volunteer help. Some judges have expressed that there is not enough professionalism from the regional clubs and show management. Several clubs have children as ring stewards, which is not proper. There is need for the ApHC to help the regional clubs learn how to properly manage their shows.

Merida reported that there is already some information available from the ApHC regarding show management guidelines, this is published in the ApHC Rule Book Page 117 Management General Rules. The ApHC Rule Book is available on line at http://www.appaloosa.com/rulebook/rulebook05.pdf Merida will forward additional information along with the Color Breed Council Ring Steward Seminar information (application available at http://www.colorbreedcouncil.com )to the Regional Club Advisory Committee for review and receive any questions, comments and suggestions. This information will be provided to Keri LeForce for approval and the Horse Show Management Guidelines information will be updated if necessary and sent to the Regional Clubs. Merida will also try to get this information published to the ApHC website as a downloadable form.

General consensus is that better show management brings more entries.

Quarter Point System Proposal – Tracy Meisenbach

¼ point qualifying rule change

This is the rule that we have in effect now.

701. SHOW PLACINGS

A. All nationally pointed open classes shall count towards national point system based awards. Points shall be earned according to the number of horses shown and judged in a class as follows.

Number of horses 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th

2 1⁄2

3-7 1 1⁄2

8-12 2 1 1⁄2

13-17 3 2 1 1⁄2

18-22 4 3 2 1 1⁄2

23-27 5 4 3 2 1 1⁄2

28 and over 6 5 4 3 2 1 1⁄2

B. Actual participants judged shall be counted as the number of horses in a class, rather than horses entered. Scratches do not count for total number of horses when points are determined. In most cases, disqualified entries are considered judged.

C. Judges must place the top eight entries in each class except in classes of fewer than eight entries or in instances of lack of merit. No class is complete until all ties through point-earning placings are broken. If a tied contestant is disqualified in the run-off, (s)he is not to be placed any lower than the lowest position for which (s)he was tied. Contestants disqualified during the first run are not considered to be tied for a place even if there were fewer than eight entries in the class.

The problem with the current rule is that it awards points based on the number of horses in a class, but gives no value to someone who shows and makes the effort to attend the show. Consequently many people who are starting out and know they are not at top levels simply don’t make the effort to attend breed shows since they know they will never get points by placing third or lower (in the average size class which is pretty small right now.) The new ½ point qualifying rule for Non-Pros was a big issue because in some events, and some areas, getting even ½ a point is going to be a hardship. With the rising cost of equine related expenses and the poor economy showing has become a real hardship for some members.

One way to encourage attendance and reward people for high entry fees and the National Point Fee is to give them a ¼ point merit for just being in the class. I propose a ¼ point merit be awarded within the next five placings AFTER the final ½ point placing. This would allow a person to be rewarded for attendance, to gather points in low participation events and to qualify as a non-pro based on effort, not placings. It will NOT allow someone to qualify for big open halter or WP classes ¼ point at a time unless they spend a boatload of money. Even at a 4 judge show the most you could walk away with is 1 point, after spending a hefty wad of money. It would take 6 four judge shows, placing within the top twelve, to get the 6 points necessary to qualify for aged stallions at halter. Objectively, that person has then spent a major amount of money supporting regional clubs to qualify a ¼ point at a time. I say if someone wants to spend a couple of thousand, trying that method, then more power to them, more money for the regional clubs and I wish them luck. Should someone actually reach a world qualifying number of points a ¼ point at a time and wants to spend the money to go to the Worlds then we need to smile, take their check and admire their fortitude. I really think this type of point system would be easy to implement and would work especially well in the new single judge show system, because it encourages participation at all levels.

# of horses 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7^th 8^th 9^th 10^th 11^th 12^th

2 1⁄2 ¼

3-7 1 1⁄2 ¼ ¼ ¼ ¼ ¼

8-12 2 1 1⁄2 ¼ ¼ ¼ ¼ ¼

13-17 3 2 1 1⁄2 ¼ ¼ ¼ ¼ ¼

18-22 4 3 2 1 1⁄2 ¼ ¼ ¼ ¼ ¼

23-27 5 4 3 2 1 1⁄2 ¼ ¼ ¼ ¼ ¼

28 + 6 5 4 3 2 1 1⁄2 ¼ ¼ ¼ ¼ ¼

This type of merit system would keep points within the top 12, which is still in the upper half of our largest class participation listed. Another thing it would do is encourage participation in the early season shows because green horses and foals are not going to be penalized for a bit of off behavior as long as they show in the class. They can gain ¼ points and then by the time the summer and fall shows arrive they will be on their way to being qualified, without having to do a mad trailer race in August and September.

ROM and Medallions: In order to retain the merit and distinction for the ROM and Medallion programs a horse must earn at least ½ or ¾ * of the points in active competition in order to qualify for the award. ( to be decided by show committee)

Tracy explained that non-pros need a ½ point to qualify for the World Show and that in many areas this is a hard ship. This change will reward people for showing up and making the effort and getting into the class. At a ¼ point at a time there is no way people will get 30 points unless they spend $10,000 and it give people back something for paying the national point fee. Medallions and ROMS you would have to make a certain percentage of the point in an actual qualification and beat a number of horses. You would not be able to get a ROM just on ¼ points. You would have to earn at least half to ¾ the points in active competition. If we want people to attend regional shows and put their money behind the regional clubs, then they need to be able to receive something instead of paying the point fees, stall fees and travel expenses to walk away with nothing. We can use this to increase membership, registration and participation at the regional shows. To fact is that people are showing with in a 300 mile radius of where they live so we need to give them incentive to show at as many shows as possible with in that radius to get their world show qualification. We are talking about ¼ point per judge, this will primarily fall into the single judge shows or double point shows.

Committee members to review this proposal and discuss this proposal in further detail at the next meeting.

National Point for Regional Show

To equalize the point system so an exhibitor would not drive past a 2 judge show to attend a 4 judge show. A copy of the proposal was not available for distribution at the meeting. Gary Connolly will forward the proposal to Merida at the ApHC office and it will be distributed to the Committee members under separate cover.

Regional Club Membership Requirement for World Show

There is only one Regional Club that has a booth at the World Show to sign up members for their Regional Club. It is required to show at the ApHC World Show that you belong to a regional club.

Is there a way to regulate the regional club sign ups at the world show by requiring that the person sign up with the regional club in their area only?
1. This change would require to go to full board as a rule change
Dal-Worth is a paid vendor at the ApHC World Show.
If the ApHC office had time to notify the Regional Club representatives of the people that will need to get a regional club membership, and provide the contact information of that person(s) to the Regional Club that is in that area.
When a person get their entries back from the ApHC they do get a letter that says they need to obtain a Regional Club Membership. Can the ApHC office provide the name and contact information of the regional club in the area to that person?
What about circumstances when someone purchases a pre-qualified horse at the show and that person is not a member of a regional club and needs to join in order to show? It is a 24 hr transfer period, so couldn’t the ApHC office get the person and the appropriate regional club in contact with each other immediately?
Maybe more regional clubs should get together to set up booths like Dal-Worth has to sign up regional club members.

Develop Program to market Regional Clubs to ApHC Members that are not members of a Regional Club

Merida to provide the following reports: (by spreadsheet if possible)

Regional Club members that are not ApHC members separated by state.
Regional Club members that are not ApHC members separated by Territory and Zone
ApHC members that are NOT Regional Club Members separated by state
ApHC members that are NOT Regional Club Members separated by Territory and Zone

Copies of these reports to be provided to the Marketing Committee.

The following suggestion was made:

Can the members of this committee assist the regional clubs to develop and send out post cards offering a trial membership to their club? Mailing list to be provided by ApHC office based on the Non-Regional Club Membership list as outlined above.

Other Items

Committee members should try to attend as many Regional Club Banquets as possible and encourage their ApHC Director to attend as well.

Committee requested that Merida work with CEO and IT department to set up a web page similar to that of the Marketing committee for ease of correspondence.

Merida announced that she will be putting together a quarterly regional club newsletter, to include reminders, upcoming events, etc…Merida asked the committee to forward any ideas and suggestions they may have for this newsletter.

ALL Regional Club Mailings will be copied to all Regional Club Advisory Committee and Regional Club Committee members.

Merida explained that the ApHC maintains a complete list of each Regional Clubs membership and that this list is updated twice yearly and when the clubs provide additional updates. The ApHC mails the clubs a green bar print out of their membership and requests that any changes be made on the green bar and mailed back to the ApHC. There is not a problem with the regional clubs submitting their membership lists in the form of spreadsheets or even hand written lists, as long as they are legible and include complete name, address and phone number as well as ApHC membership number (which is provided on the green bar). If the membership lists identifies Tom Smith no ApHC number (or more common and incorrect ApHC number) and no address or phone number, we have to try to figure out which one of over 200 Tom Smiths it is. Therefore, to make sure that the regional club membership lists are accurate (for the World Show and mailing lists) it is imperative that the regional clubs provide the same level of detail on their membership lists that the ApHC provides on the green bar print out.

The ApHC would like to streamline the process of updating and maintaining the Regional Club Membership Lists. Merida requested suggestions, and they are as follows:

Make the Regional Club Membership lists available on the ApHC website and require that the clubs update the membership lists themselves
Can we discontinue the green bar and send the membership lists out via email or on CD-Rom in a spreadsheet format
1. What kind of programming is required in order to automatically upload the spreadsheet information into the ApHC database?
2. What kind of time constraints are involved with double checking the information and ensuring its accuracy and correct format in order to be compatible with an automatic upload into the ApHC database?
Online form to submit changes

Next Meeting

Thursday January 5, 2006 at 5:00 pm Pacific Standard Time

Post meeting Notes from Merida at the ApHC Office: Available shortly from the ApHC website on the Regional Club Page http://www.appaloosa.com/regionalclubs.shtm there will be an option to contact the Regional Club Coordinator via phone or a link to email. This can be used to update advise the ApHC of changes in officers, website, contact information additions to membership list or to ask questions as well as a way to submit information pertinent to the Exemplary Award

The ApHC is actively working on Web Development. There are some exciting plans for the future website and how to increase online services. As with everything, there are considerations to keep in mind such as availability of resources and priorities of the ApHC.