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Mike Want, AMHA President
January 23, 2007
Greetings to all AMHA and potential AMHA members!! We are not three weeks into the New Year and I’m sure all have taken atonement to count your blessings and then made the traditional New Year’s Resolution. How are we doing so far??? I wish to publicly thank every AMHA Office Staff person for their hard work which has enabled the office to continue working for the membership after the turmoil of only six months ago and the changes which have been made.
We are now getting ready for our Annual Meeting. We hope to see many of you in Las Vegas.
2006 was a year of change. Personally I learned how to use e-mail; I still have mixed feelings on that. In 2006 we changed Presidents, we saw our Registrar retire, our Miniature Horse World Editor leave to start her own venture as well as personnel changes. Change is good. We loose years of experience and integrity, but this pushes us hard to come up to the task, and keep functioning on the same level of excellence the members demand. And that they do. It seems there are some (a small group) who always see the glass as half empty instead of half full, and that through conversations seem to start unfounded rumors which seem to spread like wild fire. The percentage of rumors that are positive, good and uplifting are almost non-existent. We the Board, the Executive Committee, and the Staff at AMHA have stayed the course and not wavered because we know when the smoke clears, that truth will prevail. Error can not stand alone, it has to be mixed with some truth, we need to be able to discern what is truth is and what is fiction.
Here are a few truths. The World Show and Championship Shows were great and successful. See the Miniature Horse World and notice the pictures of all the smiling faces of our youths, amateurs and trainers. This is what the miniature industry is about. The Youth Calcutta raised a fantastic $31,575.00. Never before have we seen such high numbers and enthusiasm. The youth is the future of the industry. We saw new Performance Stakes classes and the AOTE Challenge come to the horizon. New software was purchased to push our Association into the information age. Every day we see the software improving to be what we expected in order to complete an infrastructure for shows, stud book, accounting, etc. Get on-line and check it out. We paid off our building debt and owe no one, with money left over, so many positive actions.
One thing is clear, there will always be complaints, adversary of one type or another, but AMHA is a complete global entity of miniature horses and a superior registry. AMHA horses are sought after around the World. We have the rules, regulations, and show rules in place after years of improving them. They are in place voted by the membership, not by a board only, as is the practice in other registries. You national office is in Alvarado Texas and serves the United States, Canada and abroad, doing a superb job. We have years of experience behind us.
We have in place committees, structured guidelines and a flow chart developed over the years by the members. All our Board members, committee chairs and members should apply their energy and effort to build and make better the Association which has stood the test of time and the change of leadership. This is the venue to work for the ASSOCIATION. Emails all over the world are informative, but to change and put things in place, the committees—the board—the Annual Meeting is THE WAY WE DO BUSINESS.
I have so many things to tell you, however I want to have some space for a note from our Treasurer. Below is the Treasurer’s Report which will be in the February Miniature Horse World. For those who may not read the letters in the Miniature Horse World, please read this. Thanks Tom for all the hard work.
Hello fellow AMHA members –
As I write this letter, your accounting team at AMHA is working diligently to prepare the year-end financial statements for our Certified Public Accounting firm to audit. I have the utmost confidence in our Controller, Randy Peacock, and I anticipate no “surprises†or serious recommendations from our external auditors. I’ve seen a preliminary set of numbers and am proud to say it appears we have made our 2006 full year budget! That said; the plan was a significant decrease from our record-setting profit in 2005. Nevertheless, we had an excellent year in 2006!!!!!
2006 was, as expected, a difficult year from a revenue standpoint. While our number of horses at the Championship and World Shows was slightly down, the enthusiasm and quality of Miniature Horses exhibited was up. It seems that every year the horses get better and better. Our youth Calcutta at the World Show exceeded everyone’s expectations and our average entries, per horse exhibited, increased…both signs of a strong and viable future for the AMHA. I am anticipating a strong 2007 for the AMHA and I hope everyone who reads this will contribute to help us grow and prosper. On the expense side, we executed those actions that were required to balance workload. We actually spent about $80,000 less in 2006 than in 2005, a sign that your management team is carefully managing all expenses. The office continues to operate efficiently and effectively even without a full-time office manager; a testament to the quality of the staff we have on board. The cohesiveness and dedication of the staff is an area of AMHA we should all be proud of. If you happen to call or stop by the office in Alvarado, please take the time to thank the staff for their efforts.
As previously reported, our records reflect there is no debt within the AMHA. In the last three years, we were able to payoff a debt of about $800,000 and have almost $200,000 in cash as we close 2006. This could not have happened without the dedication of each and every member who supported the AMHA. Remember, YOUR AMHA is a membership organization where, we, the members have the mandate to vote at our annual meeting to provide the AMHA with the direction for its future. I hope to see many more people at our annual meeting.
In closing, we are in the midst of preparing our 2007 budget. Since we will shortly have our new software operational, I am excited about the new environment we will have in the office. By adding more automation, all of our systems should be more efficient. These enhanced capabilities to use digital input and storage will modernize AMHA and provide better services to the entire membership. Our future looks excellent – we have the team to drive us forward. We all should be proud to be members of the AMHA!
Regards
Thomas E O’Connell, CMA
AMHA Treasurer
[email protected]
Our future looks excellent-we have the team to drive us forward.
Sincerely,
Mike Want
AMHA President
American Miniature Horse Association
www.amha.org
Mike Want, AMHA President
January 23, 2007
Greetings to all AMHA and potential AMHA members!! We are not three weeks into the New Year and I’m sure all have taken atonement to count your blessings and then made the traditional New Year’s Resolution. How are we doing so far??? I wish to publicly thank every AMHA Office Staff person for their hard work which has enabled the office to continue working for the membership after the turmoil of only six months ago and the changes which have been made.
We are now getting ready for our Annual Meeting. We hope to see many of you in Las Vegas.
2006 was a year of change. Personally I learned how to use e-mail; I still have mixed feelings on that. In 2006 we changed Presidents, we saw our Registrar retire, our Miniature Horse World Editor leave to start her own venture as well as personnel changes. Change is good. We loose years of experience and integrity, but this pushes us hard to come up to the task, and keep functioning on the same level of excellence the members demand. And that they do. It seems there are some (a small group) who always see the glass as half empty instead of half full, and that through conversations seem to start unfounded rumors which seem to spread like wild fire. The percentage of rumors that are positive, good and uplifting are almost non-existent. We the Board, the Executive Committee, and the Staff at AMHA have stayed the course and not wavered because we know when the smoke clears, that truth will prevail. Error can not stand alone, it has to be mixed with some truth, we need to be able to discern what is truth is and what is fiction.
Here are a few truths. The World Show and Championship Shows were great and successful. See the Miniature Horse World and notice the pictures of all the smiling faces of our youths, amateurs and trainers. This is what the miniature industry is about. The Youth Calcutta raised a fantastic $31,575.00. Never before have we seen such high numbers and enthusiasm. The youth is the future of the industry. We saw new Performance Stakes classes and the AOTE Challenge come to the horizon. New software was purchased to push our Association into the information age. Every day we see the software improving to be what we expected in order to complete an infrastructure for shows, stud book, accounting, etc. Get on-line and check it out. We paid off our building debt and owe no one, with money left over, so many positive actions.
One thing is clear, there will always be complaints, adversary of one type or another, but AMHA is a complete global entity of miniature horses and a superior registry. AMHA horses are sought after around the World. We have the rules, regulations, and show rules in place after years of improving them. They are in place voted by the membership, not by a board only, as is the practice in other registries. You national office is in Alvarado Texas and serves the United States, Canada and abroad, doing a superb job. We have years of experience behind us.
We have in place committees, structured guidelines and a flow chart developed over the years by the members. All our Board members, committee chairs and members should apply their energy and effort to build and make better the Association which has stood the test of time and the change of leadership. This is the venue to work for the ASSOCIATION. Emails all over the world are informative, but to change and put things in place, the committees—the board—the Annual Meeting is THE WAY WE DO BUSINESS.
I have so many things to tell you, however I want to have some space for a note from our Treasurer. Below is the Treasurer’s Report which will be in the February Miniature Horse World. For those who may not read the letters in the Miniature Horse World, please read this. Thanks Tom for all the hard work.
Hello fellow AMHA members –
As I write this letter, your accounting team at AMHA is working diligently to prepare the year-end financial statements for our Certified Public Accounting firm to audit. I have the utmost confidence in our Controller, Randy Peacock, and I anticipate no “surprises†or serious recommendations from our external auditors. I’ve seen a preliminary set of numbers and am proud to say it appears we have made our 2006 full year budget! That said; the plan was a significant decrease from our record-setting profit in 2005. Nevertheless, we had an excellent year in 2006!!!!!
2006 was, as expected, a difficult year from a revenue standpoint. While our number of horses at the Championship and World Shows was slightly down, the enthusiasm and quality of Miniature Horses exhibited was up. It seems that every year the horses get better and better. Our youth Calcutta at the World Show exceeded everyone’s expectations and our average entries, per horse exhibited, increased…both signs of a strong and viable future for the AMHA. I am anticipating a strong 2007 for the AMHA and I hope everyone who reads this will contribute to help us grow and prosper. On the expense side, we executed those actions that were required to balance workload. We actually spent about $80,000 less in 2006 than in 2005, a sign that your management team is carefully managing all expenses. The office continues to operate efficiently and effectively even without a full-time office manager; a testament to the quality of the staff we have on board. The cohesiveness and dedication of the staff is an area of AMHA we should all be proud of. If you happen to call or stop by the office in Alvarado, please take the time to thank the staff for their efforts.
As previously reported, our records reflect there is no debt within the AMHA. In the last three years, we were able to payoff a debt of about $800,000 and have almost $200,000 in cash as we close 2006. This could not have happened without the dedication of each and every member who supported the AMHA. Remember, YOUR AMHA is a membership organization where, we, the members have the mandate to vote at our annual meeting to provide the AMHA with the direction for its future. I hope to see many more people at our annual meeting.
In closing, we are in the midst of preparing our 2007 budget. Since we will shortly have our new software operational, I am excited about the new environment we will have in the office. By adding more automation, all of our systems should be more efficient. These enhanced capabilities to use digital input and storage will modernize AMHA and provide better services to the entire membership. Our future looks excellent – we have the team to drive us forward. We all should be proud to be members of the AMHA!
Regards
Thomas E O’Connell, CMA
AMHA Treasurer
[email protected]
Our future looks excellent-we have the team to drive us forward.
Sincerely,
Mike Want
AMHA President
American Miniature Horse Association
www.amha.org
