2007 ASPC /AMHR Board of Directors

[Belinda]

Hi,

Just thought I would give a brief report on some of the things that took place at the Spring Board meeting. If I leave anything out maybe some of the other Directors can jump in and fill in the spaces :lol:

First let me say I think we have a board that seems to be able to work together, being my first year on , I was not sure what to expect.. But I think all and all everyone seems to have the what is best for the ASPC/AMHR at the top of their list.

I very proud to say that the Board voted to go with the same computer program that AMHA just went with. For those not at Convention Mark from Horse Stud Book gave a presentation and we told him we would do some research and bring it back to the board in the Spring. So I am not sure when we will be up and running as there were contracts and such to deal with but it should be soon.. And how great is this that Both Assoc. will be using the same program .. I think it is great as we do not have to learn two separate programs everything is the SAME .

:

:

Next was the Convention site for 2008 and that will be held at Branson , Mo. Sounds like they have a great time planned and for those that have never been to Branson , WOW lots and lots to see and do. Plan on a extra day or two..

Congress location 2008 will be again discussed at Convention 2007 , We want to see how things go this year as to how many more entries etc.. Several places gave us proposals for facilities..

We Finalized accepting the Falabella Reg , to be hardshipped just as the Shetlands are.

They appointed a Awards Committee for Congress and AMHR Nationals, to look into getting new Trophy's and Ribbons.. :aktion033: :aktion033:

We had a letter from John Eberth pertaining to his Dwarfism Research and we agreed that we needed a committee for that.

I guess there were some more things but at this time I can not think exactly what they were.

Belinda Bagby

Area V Director

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

Hi Belinda,

Thanks for the update!

I have a couple of questions: Was there anymore said or decided about the new driving class - country western something or other. And then was there any discussion about ways to cut costs/expenses at National shows going forward? I had heard there was some concern about this, but I didn't know about it personally.

Thanks!

 

[Lisa Strass]

I very proud to say that the Board voted to go with the same computer program that AMHA just went with. For those not at Convention Mark from Horse Stud Book gave a presentation and we told him we would do some research and bring it back to the board in the Spring. So I am not sure when we will be up and running as there were contracts and such to deal with but it should be soon.. And how great is this that Both Assoc. will be using the same program .. I think it is great as we do not have to learn two separate programs everything is the SAME .

:

:

I'm looking forward to this new program, too! Thanks for the update, Belinda.

 

[palsminihorses]

Belinda,

Thank you so much for the update! I'm so happy to hear that the Convention for 2008 will be held in Branson, MO! I live just 14 miles from there! I'm also happy to hear about being able to use "Horse Stud Book!"

Pam C.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

I'm also very exctied to hear that convention will be held at Branson next year. I'm like an 1hr 1/2 from there and Branson is alot of fun.

 

[LaVern]

Hey Belinda, Thanks for the post. Sure had to laugh. Here I thought we were getting closer to closing the registy up and making it a real breed and the you guys open it up to more.

I don't even give a hoot any more. Let ever old pony in. After all these years all I have is a bunch of grade little horses with some very expensive papers that mean nothing.

Just some marks on a stick, 200 bucks and your in.

But I suppose the Shetlands might need some more promotion money.

 

[Belinda]

Renee,

Now , come on you know you care

: The Falabella Reg. has been in business since 1973, They have documented pedigrees , and most are already eligible to be registered in the AMHA and the AMHR. So not sure why you feel this way. I am not a fan of the Falabella bred horses , but there are lots of people who are and really like them.

As to the shetlands needing more Promotion money, LOL!!! Renee, I understand that you feel we ( the miniatures ) need to be a breed. And someday that might happen, but I think right now we are a little ways off of that.. For many reasons..

And Renee you have a wonderful breeding program and it does mean something

:

 

[kaykay]

thanks for the update belinda!

 

[LaVern]

It is so nice to have someone on the board that gives it to us straight. So sorry if you have to take the heat when we don't agree with how things go Belinda.

But, I can't see what the reasons are that we can't close it up in the near future.

The American Shetland Pony wasn't a breed until some people made it one. How did they decide when they were good enough to become a breed? Suppose one day they just woke up and said," Okay we're great now, and we want to become one."

But, like you say it probably won't happen and I truely am getting tired of caring. The whole deal just gets more rediculous to me every day. Pretending to people that miniatures horses are special and blaa blaa blaa and they aren't even a breed, just measurments.

Let's bring in the Grady Bunch too. Thanks again, Belinda

 

[Amy]

Not sure where this is going-- or WHY??

Before this year -- if you wanted a Falabella registered with AMHR -- then you could just hardship it into AMHA & then bring it across to AMHR -- this has been done for many years-- so AMHA is full of Falabella also -- so what is the fuss about??

This just eliminates AMHA as the middle man -- for those that want AMHR registered horses. Those who want AMHA horses can still do it the same old way .

 

[Minimor]

I can surely see Renee's point. Since AMHR closed the registry to hardshipping, I personally was hoping that the next step was going to be to close the registry completely--no more AMHA horses to be accepted unless they were off AMHR parents and therefore eligible to be registered the ordinary way.

 

[LaVern]

Amy, I think some of these horses are B horses and could not come in the AMHA backdoor. Also if we stopped the AMHA horses we are still not closed. The Shetlands can still come in.

One more point and then I'll shut up. I don't think the members of the board know how much they have hurt some of our feelings. How would Sheland breeders feel, if at some convention it was decided that, okay we are going to open it up and let the Icelandic pony into the Shetlands because they have been around for along time.

How dare they make a mockery of our AMHR registered horses and all our work.

Just keep giving us your money and we'll do and use it anyway we seem fit.

There will come a day when we will not be able to con anymore people into thinking that these little guys are worth anything. Already people are wising up and figuring out that these papers are just record of height. And "sometimes" the height is not right.

 

[Belinda]

How dare they make a mockery of our AMHR registered horses and all our work.

Just keep giving us your money and we'll do and use it anyway we seem fit.

There will come a day when we will not be able to con anymore people into thinking that these little guys are worth anything. Already people are wising up and figuring out that these papers are just record of height. And "sometimes" the height is not right.

Renee ,

NO ONE is trying to make a mockery of anything :no: The AMHR has always been about Height ! From it's very beginning, We all know are should know that the Miniatures came from the Shetlands. Just look back in the pedigree's. AMHA and AMHR have always just been about the height that is how they were started. So I am not sure why people are upset that Ponies if small enough can still come in.. At least AMHR requires that they have some Reg. Papers , and not just any unknown.

If you started breeding Quarter horses and called it Miniature Cow Horses

: but your Registry .. made it they could only be 12 hands, that does not take away that they started out as Quarter Horses

Ok , I will get off my soap box now.. :bgrin

 

[SweetOpal]

I was very shocked when my director sent out a breakdown of the minutes to hear that the Youth Gold and Silver brush was dissolved. This was never even mentioned to the youth committe, nor was the youth chair invited to attend the meeting and defend herself. What a disgrace that we would take away the most prestigious award that the children can earn. And regardless of what the alligations are, there is never any good enough reason to take an award away, especially one that has been in the registry for many, many years!

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

As far as being a height breed well that is a age old issue.. if you want to be a blood breed then no one can complain when 40+ in stock is being bred. Size doesnt take away from a blood breed.

I think sometimes this is a no win situation with either side not going to be happy and a BOD who is just trying to do the best it can to stay in the middle

Maybe there will be in the future a time limit for the falebella's like someone else said.. just saving those who want R horses from having to go thru AMHA

 

[Arion Mgmt]

OK Ladies, now go back to your corners and have a drink!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just Kidding, I love you both!!! THIS IS ACTUALLY REALLY GOOD. I'm not going to go into a long dissertation But I do need to tell you, Renee, what AMHR did is actually good, genetically, please believe me.

The Miniature horses do have quite alot of Falabella genetics in the pedigrees, and also, from my understanding of how that Falabella "breed" was started, was that the original horses he started with came from the US and Europe anyways, so all the same genetics are there already, just he line bred them so severely to get the size down to be more homozygous to more consistently produce smaller Minis than Europe and US. Instead of a body type he chose size. The other thing to remember is that height is not ever goingto be exact, EVER, no matter how much you try to breed consistency of a height you will always get variations. Even if you have 100 horses and all of them 30" you will get a range of offspring heights, and if you only bred the 30" horses every generation it still would give you variations for almost indefinitely, but the longer you would breed only the 30 inchers the more you would see the variation get less extreme, so there would be less 26 inchers and less 34 inchers, but you would still get outcrops.

Example are the Chinese people, for eons they inner bred, they have a look, and a smaller stature, well they still get outcrops of height, and I'm not talking a few inches!!! Yao Ming is over 7 feet tall!!!

Also ALL of the Miniature registries at least in the US and some in other parts of the world, are much more concerned of height than type, all these registries are just height registries BECAUSE we do NOT have a very specific type required to be allowed to breed and our judging allows any type to win, if the conformation is good enough.

So as it stands right now you will NEVER have a true breed, only height registries. We have no type, UNLIKE the ASPC, they have very specific types AND their judges adhere to those standards much more rigorously than compared to our judges. The ASPC even uses pictures to show you the types so there is no confusion and less room for a judge's errant thoughts.

Anyways, height is a genetic characteristic that you will not ever totally tame, given what we are using now in our registries, It would be much more productive for our "breed" to decide a type and make the judges stick to it, so that would make the breeders stick to it, because those of a specific type would win, giving them more value to the breeders, therefore giving the "breed" more value to others.

One of these days someone will start a Miniature Show Horse Registry that will have a strict type or look, not color or as strict on height, and when those horses breed, only those of a specific type or look can get in. This is how you start a true "breed" that will breed "true". That how just about any horse breed that I know of got started.

John

 

[LaVern]

I promised I would shut up, But here I go again.

Belinda, you are absolutely right. I signed on to a height registry and no one forsced me to do it. I have to keep that in mind.

It is just that after all these years, I want legitimacy and I want to hold my head up and be proud of something I helped crate. Even if it was just a tiny bit.

I think alot of my problem goes back to the Miniature Registry legally being owned by the Shetland Pony Club. I just can't stand having my competion OWN me. Maybe it is just paronia, but I feel that as long as the Sheland Club can keep us GRADE and let anybody in, we are in their eyes not as good and just a means to keep in business and promote the Shetland Pony.

When I walk into our National Miniature Horse Show in Tulsa and see a big old sign and display, promoting my compettion, it urks me.

When I run into our Promotion lady at our National Miniature Horse in Tulsa and she is there to pick up her Shetland Pony it urks me.

I like some of the Shetland Ponies, I admire the Breed. I like alot of Breeds. I am envious and want my horses to some day be one, also. I just don't want to be paying for those other breeds promotion while they degrade mine because mine are not a breed. Lucky Hart Ranch -Home of 6 generations of ROWDY BUCKEROO GRADE HORSES.

 

[Belinda]

I was very shocked when my director sent out a breakdown of the minutes to hear that the Youth Gold and Silver brush was dissolved. This was never even mentioned to the youth committe, nor was the youth chair invited to attend the meeting and defend herself. What a disgrace that we would take away the most prestigious award that the children can earn. And regardless of what the alligations are, there is never any good enough reason to take an award away, especially one that has been in the registry for many, many years!

In regards to your statement , Actually this award was just put on the back burner for a while until we could find a better way if possible to tabulate the points. There use to be the same award for the Adults

: Guess no one cared that they took it away from the Adults.. <<LOL>> :bgrin Some of these awards were put together many many years ago you are right, but at that time we only had a handful of Children participating and tabulations were much much easier, when you have 5 children verses 200 children.. Not sure they thought far enough ahead when putting it together. As far as I understood , if we or someone can come up with a way to tabulate points for this that is fair in everyway , they will start it back again.

Also sometimes all the facts of things that go on are not told. Erica Carlson is a director and also plays a very active roll in the Youth Committee and has been on the Youth Committee for over 12 yrs.. She was at the board meeting. So it is not like NO ONE knew what was going on..

:

And John I love you toooooooo

: And I do agree with what you said.

 

[SweetOpal]

Belinda,

Thank you for that explaination, however I do remember being at the youth committee meeting at Convention and I know that Erica had said that the current method was not working for tabulating the points. She proposed a way that would eliminate ties and alot of the other problems, she basically said if I am not mistaken to figure it out like the HOF award, point wise. Now I know we voted on it and the motion did pass. It is on page 210 of the December Journal for anyone that is intersted. I guess I am surprised that it is put on the back burner becuase the thing I received said dissolved.

I do understand completely that their are many more youth participating. But when the HOF system needed an overhaul, did they dissolve it or fix it? I am just trying to figure out how something is passed and then printed and then 4.5 months later taken away?

Not attacking you Belinda, but trying to figure it all out, and I am thankful that you had posted and are willing to share what goes on at the BOD meetings, it can be very informative.

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

One of these days someone will start a Miniature Show Horse Registry that will have a strict type or look, not color or as strict on height, and when those horses breed, only those of a specific type or look can get in. This is how you start a true "breed" that will breed "true". That how just about any horse breed that I know of got started.

John

Now that is something I would truly get behind! :aktion033:

By the way not that it matters to me I dont have enough horses or shows for Raven to compete in to qualify for the gold or silver brush.. but Belinda what is the correct info?

I to heard it was dissolved as in not going to be given out in 2007 is that the case?

Or is the back burner not the award itself but a new way to figure points?

One more thing La Vern intersting thoughts you have. I just don't understand why you feel that ASPC is our competion? I am just not sure I have ever thought of it that way.

I don't mind the ASPC/R horses showing at R nationals any more then I do the AMHA/R horses showing there.

I do agree we could have a bit more breed promotion however that said I am very pleased with the steps the registry has taken with photos, I am sure DNA will be soon to follow.

I am grateful we have a place for those that go over 38 to go to without losing a pedigree there are some good things, and some that can be improved but I am not sure I understand looking at the ASPC as competition other then strictly politics in the office/BOD I am guessing that might be what you meant?

Not trying to put you on the spot just trying to understand your position. I do respect your program and how long you have been involved in the breed just wanting to "hear" what you are saying.