AMHA MEMBERS THAT WANT TO VOTE BY MAIL OR INTERNET BALLOTS.......read this

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This is exactly why "they" are in control.

It is so easy to "divide and conquer" when we want to argue over even the simplest of concepts.

Please accept my apologies, as I have said before, " I am not a forum person". I truly was trying to stimulate thought and not emotional responses, but I played right into your hand, so to speak!
You've not "played" into any hand of mine.
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So no need for apologies.
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I'm not even strategizing...just stating what I have observed lately, just from reading "here". I'm TOTALLY NEW in all this AMHA stuff. So I'm only stating what I have witnessed of it ...so far...in my very brief experience of any of this.

The ruling faction of AMHA has the one thing that keeps them in power and I'm going to tell you their secret, listen carefully............................................

THEY ARE UNIFIED

Until all the rest of us can set our agendas aside and begin to practice bipartisanship we are just the middle class funding their ability to control.
I would like to also clarify that this seemingly issue of "DIVIDE AND CONQUER" seems, from what I'm reading so far, to derive straight from the top, the board themselves....based on your statement above. It seems to appear as though it is "The Board" who has initiated this stand of "Us Vs. Them". At least it appears that way...from what I'm reading so far. Or at least "The ruling faction of AMHA".
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Look on Tommy post, Horses Mouth signed his name on that thread.

Sue
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McBunz, I believe you are trying to make a positive contribution, but since words make a huge difference when trying to write proposal, or just in communicating on a Forum like this, I want to make a couple of points.

In your initial post, you quoted PART of an Article, not the full text. By only quoting part, I believe it gives a false understanding of what the AMHA Board can do without needing a vote of the membership.

This is what you posted:

“One of the bylaws that gives the Board this power is:

Article V, Section 3 Powers of the Board

Which states, "The Board of Directors shall have the power and authority to MAKE, amend,repeal and enforce such rules and regulations, not contrary to law, the Articles of Incorporation or these Bylaws, as they may deem expedient and necessary concerning the conduct, management and activities of the Association, etc?” (end of quote)

It is important to read the rest of the quote too. You failed to include the listed (as example) areas where the Board can (and does) make decisions without bringing them to the membership. Here is the FULL quote of the section: (with the parts you left off in colored text).

Section 3, Powers of the Board of Directors

(A) Enumeration

The Board of Directors shall have the power and authority to make, amend, repeal, and enforce such rules and regulations, not contrary to law, the Articles of Incorporation or these Bylaws, as they may deem expedient and necessary concerning the conduct, management and activities of the Association, including but not limited to the setting and collection of dues and fees, (excepting registration fees) regulations regarding stud book, registration, the expenditures of money, the auditing of books and records, the awarding of championships, the conducting of shows, contests, exhibitions, sales, social functions and other details relating to the general purposes of the Association. All of the foregoing are subject to revision or amendment by the members at any regular or special meeting of the members provided that written notice of any intention to revise or amend said rule(s) has been published in the Miniature Horse World or official correspondence at least sixty (60) days in advance of that meeting. (Amended 6-7-03, effective 01-04) (end quote)

It is my understanding that the above quoted rule is the one that allows the Board of Directors to set fees, and make decisions for the Association, etc. It is not a rule that is used by the Directors to make By-Law changes.

Following this, you give a complete excerpt from the rulebook, regarding the Special Provisions for PROPOSING By-Law changes after the Annual Meeting, and that is good.

But, right after that, (I colored the words that are significant) you wrote, “The Board has the power to make an amendment to allow members to vote without having to attend an annual meeting. We the membership have the right to insist that the Board make this amendment in order for the 11,900 members of the 12,000 member AMHA says we have to have a voice in how our Association is operated and how our money is spent. Remember that less than l00 members including 23 directors made decisions for all of us at the 2008 Annual Meeting.

If you are an AMHA member and want the Board to make this amendment to vote by mail and/or online, copy the proposed amendment to Article VI, Section 4, (A), above and send it to all your directors. Ask for a reply that your correspondence was received by your director.” (end quote)

I am not sure if you are aware that your words are misleading. Even though the Article you quoted referred to PROPOSED amendments, your words imply that the Board of Directors has the power to MAKE an amendment to the By-Laws that is binding. That is not so. The Board of Directors merely has the same right as the Membership to PROPOSE an amendment.

A proposal from the Board, like a proposal from a petition of 5% of Members that comes after the Annual meeting, must still be voted on at the next Membership Meeting to be approved (providing the proposed amendment is published in time to meet the ‘notice’ requirements). The Board does NOT have the ability to change a rule or regulation, article of incorporation, or a By-Law, all by themselves. In AMHA it must be done with approval of the membership, (unlike in AMHR whose Board can change By-Laws without membership approval.)

And, as a final word on your initial post on this thread. The wording you proposed would definitely need to be tweaked. In the way it is written, members could vote more than once. All members would be allowed to vote by mail AND on-line (two votes), and then if they go to the Annual Meeting, they can vote again (three votes).

You might consider something along the lines of, “All members will receive one vote per issue presented. Votes may be cast in person, by mail-in ballot, or via the internet. If a member wishes to vote via mail, they must inform the Association of their preference by mail at least 60 days before the date that mail-in voting closes. This notification will be accompanied by a self-addressed, postage-paid envelope with the required fee.” (The amount of the fee is something that can be voted on by the Board, per the Section 3, Powers of the Board that is quoted above.)

The ‘logistics’ of voting by mail or internet would have to be worked out, but I am not sure exactly who would do that, when it would need to be done, or if that would have to be put into a rule or regulation. It might mean a new Committee would need to be formed to work out the details.

Just some thoughts…
 
I just didn't have time to get to the full extent of intent of my previous posting...as other priorities arose simultaneously, for the brief moment.
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Which in turn, brings me to my point of "prioritizing"....in the context of our country, we send our military to fight/stand for us, while we ourselves are able to stay here at home and tend to matters just as important here on the homefront.

How can this be held any differently to what applies among us within the registry?

Our HEARTS would most definatley WANT to be there, all of us fighting for ourselves, but it just not is feasibly possible for most of us, so we THANKFULLY have our very brave loved ones who are there for us.

EDITED TO SAY: I take that back...not FIGHTING for ourselves, but rather STANDING UP FOR WHAT IS RIGHT, ourselves.

I bet it would be worth the expense and effort. Come on, I've been taking a bullet for all of you fo 5 years now and I still have not given up!
Hi

I would like to Thank you for taking the bullet for me , BUT you forgot to let us know who you are ? :DOH!

I really like this forum and enjoy all the views and opinions, the ONE thing that really bugs me is when people will NOT sign their name to the post.. Maybe it was just a oversight...
I too, would like to thank you!
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Please do, let us know who we owe our gratitude to?

Speaking of unsigned posts...I'm still baffled as to who "Bingo" is, LOL.
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I really think in this day and time we all need to pull together and try to get along as much as possible , there is so much arguing and fussing in the world , I really wish we did not have to have so much in our little world.. of equine, but I guess that is just a dream also..
AMEN! TEAMWORK, should be the common goal among the members AND it's board. I will hope and pray for that, that things can and do come to that.
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Humph.............I actually did note that your posts (just like this one quoted above) were not signed. This is why when I addressed you in my post I addressed you as SWA.

But I have never been one to hide, I just thought we were all using screen names.

I am Gary Barnes. I married Lisa Putman (AMHA Senior judge, past LOC member and trainer for 16 years) IN 2001. We moved to Texas to make a successful business in Miniature horses. Together we operate as bar NS Ranch. We train AMHA driving/performance horses. Our website is located here: www.minidrivinghorse.com

It needs to be updated to reflect our 2008 string of 20 clients horses and our 7 (soon to be 8) NFC Dandys Moon Man foals.

I started the Performance Committee. It was an out growth of trying to "better" our driving classes and our judging. This led to me petitioning the BOD to allow my proposal to remove the Driving Futurity from the existing combined futurity. This was a move to exact driving horses into the limelight instead of giving the Halter horses a third year class. It also stimulates our industry so young horses don't have to compete against older, many times champion horses in every class. This in turn gives people a reason to start a young horse instead of buying last years champion. I actually had to have it voted on 5 times before it was implemented, even though it was passed unanimously every time! I also started the AMHA Performance stakes. Oh by the way the new driving futurity starts in 2010 and will have seperate classes for Country, Single and Hunter.

Last year I envsioned a better Halter futurity. Since the committee had fallen apart I asked to be the co-chair with Toni Reece. I then crafted a plan to resurrect the dying halter futurity by turning it into an in-utero program based on hours upon hours of talking to the head of the Arab futurity and our Amateur and AOTE members. By the way the new program had close to $75 thousand in it (if memory serves me correctly) this year and the old one finished it's last year with only $50 thousand.

I am the creator of the (name to be determined) new driving division. There is a thread or two running here and we need unification and participation in contacting AMHA, the BOD and the office (please cc to [email protected]) with support. This could be the Golden Goose for our dying industry (if it ain't dying then it's cancerous).

NO I have not done this single handedly. In facy many MANY great people have joined in on making these thing come to life. THIS IS WHY I SAID WE NEED TO UNIFY.

Respectfully

Gary
 
Nothing I've said is "bow worthy".
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I've only shared here as I have observed, same as the rest of you.
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WOOHOOO Tanya! YOU GO GIRL! Now stand up and take a bow!!
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NO I have not done this single handedly. In facy many MANY great people have joined in on making these thing come to life. THIS IS WHY I SAID WE NEED TO UNIFY.

Respectfully

Gary
Hello Gary, I am honored to meet you. I must apologize too, my name is Tanya Belasky, I didn't sign my posts, because most here already know me. That was my oversight, and I do apologize to you and to any newcomers. I guess that must be the case with "Bingo" too, LOL. Some must already know him/her, but not all of us. As for myself though, I will try to keep that in mind, and try to remember to sign all my posts too.

That said, in further reading your posts, we seem to really be on the same page with the most important matter...to not dwindle time and effort consumptions over small stuff, and come together for the good overall.

I don't know if you have had opportunity to review back over my previous post, regarding the "divide and conquer" issue that seems to be arising from all this. I have edited that post add some afterthoughts.

Aside from that though, I am grateful to meet you and am in total agreement with much, if not all you have shared as well. (Primarily, your statement above. )

With appreciations,

Tanya
 
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I've been taking a bullet for all of you fo 5 years now and I still have not given up!
And for this I thank you.

This is not meant to be directed at anyone, but I have told our 13 yr old adopted daughter many times; Fair is where you go to get Cotton candy....
This comment made my day and gave me a great laugh. I have never really thought of "fair" that way but you are so right. I can only hope your daughter understands.
 
Julie

Section 3 says, "including but not limited to". Those things are just examples and most all corporation bylaws read this way. Please don't misread this as all they can do. More than likely this is why mcbunz only qouted the first part.

Gary

I've been taking a bullet for all of you fo 5 years now and I still have not given up!
And for this I thank you.

This is not meant to be directed at anyone, but I have told our 13 yr old adopted daughter many times; Fair is where you go to get Cotton candy....
This comment made my day and gave me a great laugh. I have never really thought of "fair" that way but you are so right. I can only hope your daughter understands.
Hi Neil!

How is California? I'm sure it's a better place since my departure, lol!

Gary
 
Wow..I am not normally like this...I need to be quiet...I am getting too upset.
Lisa, me neither.
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I have no clue what got into me?
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I guess you can say, I must have "had my nap".
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Ok, I'll go back to quiet now, as it seems R3 and Gary have matters back on track toward constructively moving forward. A few others have made attempts at positive suggestions as well (myself included), but they got pushed to the side, when I must have "woke up from my nap". :DOH! I do apologize to all of you, and do look forward to continued learning as I go with all this AMHA stuff.

As I've shared on here, and with a few privately, I am TOTALLY new with all of AMHA, especially with all the political elements of the registry. I am learning as I go though, and am grateful for that privilege. Gary and others with far greater experience with past issues and present, seem to have everyone's best interests at heart, and I look forward to reading onward of their input here and continue learning as I go as well.

Warmest always,

Tanya
 
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How much does AMHA pay for aproximatly 100 members out of 12,000 to go to the meetings?
Wow, when did the AMHA start paying members to go to meetings? Wish I had known that before I shelled out all that money to go to Vegas last year.

If we have aproximatly 100 members going to the meeting out of 12,000....doesn't that tell us something is wrong and needs to be changed?
What it tells me is that the majority of the remaining 11,900 really don't care. But, listening to this forum there are a few people that do care but cannot find the resourses or time to make it to the meetings.

At the last meeting in February the AMHA provided an online connection for members to watch/listen to the membership meeting. I was very dissapointed to see how few took the time to watch/listen.
 
How much does AMHA pay for aproximatly 100 members out of 12,000 to go to the meetings?
Wow, when did the AMHA start paying members to go to meetings? Wish I had known that before I shelled out all that money to go to Vegas last year.

If we have aproximatly 100 members going to the meeting out of 12,000....doesn't that tell us something is wrong and needs to be changed?
What it tells me is that the majority of the remaining 11,900 really don't care. But, listening to this forum there are a few people that do care but cannot find the resourses or time to make it to the meetings.

At the last meeting in February the AMHA provided an online connection for members to watch/listen to the membership meeting. I was very dissapointed to see how few took the time to watch/listen.
Neil

I took that paying for 100 members line to mean:

the cost to put on the meeting that only 100 attend, so extrapolate to:

that money could be better used to fund mail in ballots.

This is 'boiling" it down to basics and the meeting would still have to happen. My thought would be to hold the voting portion of the meeting (carry all motions forward) at the World show where we have a "captive" audience of "showing" members (this is just a thought in progress). It would make a nice interim step and might be easier to get past the "powers that be".

Also the number of members in AMHA. I hear "trumped up" figures (that I was told included family members, ie. youth) of around 10,000. But if I remember right someone in the office told me approx. 6000 actual members.

My experience is as you said. There are many reasons that people don't get involved. Disillusion, apathy, lack of time, lack of caring, feeling like they don't count and on and on...............but the reasons to get involved are few and far between. It is my aim to keep thumping the drum and to create more reasons for people to care! Maybe then we can get more that 100 (and a majority would be 101) to really make this an association rather than a CLUB. Seems like it shouldn't be too hard, but after 5 years I am beginning to wonder!

Gary
 
Also, in Febuary I was very sick and did not even know about it. That is why I think a forum would be good. The board could post on what they are working on as soon as anything and everything is started. Wouldn't a forum give people several months to check the forum and see what issues are coming up? It would also give people time to look at both sides.

If I am wrong correct me. This is just my oppinion.
Lisa

Here is a concept to ponder:

Our Bylaws state (close by memory) that the Vice Presidents duties are to Chair the HUB committe and then to fill in for the President in his absence. Wouldn't it be grand if our HUB committee (read this as hub ie. "central to all others") actually tried to facilitate communication beteen all of our committees? Strange notion. huh? Then of course our magazine should be used to spread that communication to the members. I know why this doesn't happen and I'll bet you are not so niave that you can't figure it out.

Gary,

We must have been posting at the same time.

Thank you for stating ..what I was trying to say.
My pleasure darlin'!
 
Neil

I took that paying for 100 members line to mean:

the cost to put on the meeting that only 100 attend, so extrapolate to:

that money could be better used to fund mail in ballots.

This is 'boiling" it down to basics and the meeting would still have to happen. My thought would be to hold the voting portion of the meeting (carry all motions forward) at the World show where we have a "captive" audience of "showing" members (this is just a thought in progress). It would make a nice interim step and might be easier to get past the "powers that be".

Also the number of members in AMHA. I hear "trumped up" figures (that I was told included family members, ie. youth) of around 10,000. But if I remember right someone in the office told me approx. 6000 actual members.

My experience is as you said. There are many reasons that people don't get involved. Disillusion, apathy, lack of time, lack of caring, feeling like they don't count and on and on...............but the reasons to get involved are few and far between. It is my aim to keep thumping the drum and to create more reasons for people to care! Maybe then we can get more that 100 (and a majority would be 101) to really make this an association rather than a CLUB. Seems like it shouldn't be too hard, but after 5 years I am beginning to wonder!

Gary
Gary, I am responing to your posting but my comments also cover comments made by LisaF and Castle Rock.

I agree, I also took LisaF's "100 members" comment the same way but you need to read my signature line, "Say what you mean, mean what you say." I worked as a technical writer for most of my working life and good communication skills were very important. So, I repeat, "Say what you mean, mean what you say."

As for the numbers that Castle Rock is posting, I have a question. When I look at the numbers I see only one set for the Annual Meeting yet there are also at least two conference calls and the June meeting in Texas. Is it possible that this set of numbers covers all of these meetings. I see no way for these meetings to go away and keep the AMHA running. So, adding online voting for the membership is not going to cut down on the Annual Meeting costs.

I like your idea of having the voting at the World Show. The voting membership numbers would be way up but I fear that there will still be that group of members that for what ever reason just won't be able to attend the World Show, many of the same group that cannot attend the Annual Meeting.

As for the number of members, we have discussed the numbers in other threads. My guess is that LisaF just didn't read threads or forgot. I still think that the majority of members really don't care.

As for your "beating the drum" good luck. I have been involved in a lot of club/organizations over the years and from my experience the majority of the membership just doesn't care. There always seems to be a small group of hard working members that do the work while the rest just go with the flow and don't really care. Over the years it was really frustrating to be the small part of the group that had to do all the work. i would be willing to guess that the majority of the group here on the fourm want to vote want to do just that and not do any work for the association.

It might be interesting for the forum members to go look at the committee members for all of the AMHA Committees. Although it looks like a lot of people when you look closer you see that some people work on multiple committiees. I think that the rule is that you cannot serve on more than three. I have always felt that I should be serving on one of these committees but have some limitations on traveling which I expect will resolve itself in the coming years. Although I don't show on the lists I did offer to work with the understanding that I would not be at the June meeting but would attend the Annual Meeting in San Diego. Hopefully, I will be attending the June meeting but from home in Madera online. Time will tell.

LisaF, sorry but I really do take my signature line seriously.

Gary, all is well here in Central California and I miss you and Lisa. The fire season seems to have started early this year. For the last three days straight we have had nonstop winds (even at night). By late afternoon I had to close the house up because the smoke from all the fires was getting so bad. I went out to feed grain around 6 pm and it was still windy so I closed the barn up. The center isle can be like a wind tunnel some days. Strangely, when I went out to feed the hay later around 8 pm the wind had stopped. It was truly weird. Kind of like being in the eye of the storm. Hipefully, the wind is over for a while but the smoke will just lay here in the valley.
 
Neil you aren't just working on the Rules and Regs committee, you are ON it as a member. The list in the magazine just hasen't been updated yet. I got clearance from the EC for you to miss the June meeting, but I will keep you in the loop as I am bringing my laptop on the trip.

A comment on the costs for the annual meeting. Those expenses are for rental of meeting rooms for the committees, general membership meeting, board meetings, and BOD and staff expenses since some of the office staff attend the meetings. Remote voting won't lessen those expenses.

At the June meeting, since it is local to the office, the office staff can commute from home and save us some money. We would be able to save even more money if we could meet in the AMHA office, but there isn't enough room for the committee meetings.
 
I am posting this for Kathy Porter:

Hello Forum Members.

Let me introduce myself, I am Kathy Porter, 2008 AMHA Treasurer….first time poster…so to speak.

I just feel the need add a few of my thoughts to this post….

I am not sure where the perception of the AMHA BOD or Executive Committee not wanting the members to vote either by ballot or internet came from. There is not one Board member who doesn’t value the interests of the membership. At least from what I have seen. I will be the first to admit I am very new to the BOD and EC, but EVERYTHING I have seen has been geared towards the best interest for the majority of the membership. So I am not speaking of what has happened in time before me, I am only commenting on what I have seen while serving on the BOD. Having said that, please keep in mind the membership voted in the measuring rule, no matter how small the population, it was still passed by membership.

The AMHA EC, BOD and Office makes no effort to hide anything from the membership. Remember, the BOD is strictly a volunteer basis. We have no direct personal gain to be made by the decisions we make. We merely try to sort through all of the options and make decisions based upon what we see.

I personally think it is a good idea for membership to vote via ballot or internet. But planning is crucial for this to be successful. Timing of the ballots, accuracy of the ballots and cost effectiveness are 3 major things to consider. Not that it can’t be done, but much work needs to go into the plan to make this successful.

Remember, rules have been established to make sure everyone follows the same guidelines to get things done. Can you imagine 12000 people wanting everything “their way”? I can’t.

And there was a good point made by a previous post….being in person to hear the 2 sides of the story. I always thought I knew the right way to do things and couldn’t figure out why some things were done the way they were until I started talking to people all over the country. Geographically, everyone has different needs from the AMHA. Not that you have to be at a meeting in person to vote on an issue, but hearing the other side of the story can be an eye opener.

Lastly, I encourage everyone to take a look at the other registries (not just miniature horses) and look at the fees that their members pay. The AMHA performs many free or low cost services for our members that other registries don’t.

Thank You.

Kathy Porter

2008 AMHA Treasurer
 
I just wanted to throw another 2cents out there. There are things about the AMHA that I don't agree with, but as it's not the AMHA of Telquest Miniature Horse Farm that is to be expected. There are a lot of people putting in a lot of time to create things that benefit those beyond themselves at personal expense. Thank you to those folks.

I was thinking about the decreased numbers at local shows, but I also wanted to throw another variable into the equation. In this area at least we also have more approved shows. We've had shows in the states next door approved on the same weekend as our established show for a few years now. I know we are not the only ones. Overall that may help the AMHA with total number of horses exhibited, but from a local view it gives us the feeling that numbers are decreasing and makes it harder for us to make the local clubs a go. It also limits the number of shows we can go to. Can't be in two places at once, and with numbers down overall it's hard to justify a longer trip when the points might not be there.

For the meeting people, a possibility is to have a club fundraiser and have your local clubs send one or two members to the meeting. If more want to go splitting a room makes it more affordable for all. If your person agrees to attend several committee meetings and disussions and bring that info back to the club for you it could benefit everyone. Think outside the box. There are other possibilities.

As to my personal reasons for thinking this or that feel free to PM me. I'm not up to another open round of creative interpretation.

Also wanted to put out there since a know a few folks I would like to know are reading this, thank you AMHA for the show promotion work you did. The media hit our show and the audience this year was the largest we have ever had. We also handed out the tickets are recommended by the show people at the National Meeting and it really paid off.

Edit Add: There was an article in Equus recently about the height issues that go on with hunter ponies. It was an eye opener for me.

Regards,
 
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Neil: When I look at the numbers I see only one set for the Annual Meeting yet there are also at least two conference calls and the June meeting in Texas. Is it possible that this set of numbers covers all of these meetings.
Neil,
No, June has it's own expense line. These are the categories for the expenses being recorded in 2008, and remembering that these are current only through March, 2008, you WILL note that the June meeting IS A SEPARATE expense category, and will show that cost as a separate line item.
Sorry Diane, you switched gears on me when I wasn't looking.

My comment was in reference to the Annual Meeting expense of $41,239 that you mentioned from the '07 report. In that report on page 14 I did not see line items for the June meeting nor the two conference calls.
 
Thank you Kathy Porter, but I do want to comment on just one line of your post...

Remember, rules have been established to make sure everyone follows the same guidelines to get things done.
Yes, I TOTALLY AGREE with this statement, UNFORTUNATELY it appears to be felt by many of "those in power", that this does not apply to them, and they have their own set of rules when it comes to certain things as we have discovered, pointed out and made public since we have been doing our research.
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I am posting this for Kathy Porter:

Hello Forum Members.

Let me introduce myself, I am Kathy Porter, 2008 AMHA Treasurer….first time poster…so to speak.

I just feel the need add a few of my thoughts to this post….

I am not sure where the perception of the AMHA BOD or Executive Committee not wanting the members to vote either by ballot or internet came from. There is not one Board member who doesn’t value the interests of the membership. At least from what I have seen. I will be the first to admit I am very new to the BOD and EC, but EVERYTHING I have seen has been geared towards the best interest for the majority of the membership. So I am not speaking of what has happened in time before me, I am only commenting on what I have seen while serving on the BOD. Having said that, please keep in mind the membership voted in the measuring rule, no matter how small the population, it was still passed by membership.

The AMHA EC, BOD and Office makes no effort to hide anything from the membership. Remember, the BOD is strictly a volunteer basis. We have no direct personal gain to be made by the decisions we make. We merely try to sort through all of the options and make decisions based upon what we see.

I personally think it is a good idea for membership to vote via ballot or internet. But planning is crucial for this to be successful. Timing of the ballots, accuracy of the ballots and cost effectiveness are 3 major things to consider. Not that it can’t be done, but much work needs to go into the plan to make this successful.

Remember, rules have been established to make sure everyone follows the same guidelines to get things done. Can you imagine 12000 people wanting everything “their way”? I can’t.

And there was a good point made by a previous post….being in person to hear the 2 sides of the story. I always thought I knew the right way to do things and couldn’t figure out why some things were done the way they were until I started talking to people all over the country. Geographically, everyone has different needs from the AMHA. Not that you have to be at a meeting in person to vote on an issue, but hearing the other side of the story can be an eye opener.

Lastly, I encourage everyone to take a look at the other registries (not just miniature horses) and look at the fees that their members pay. The AMHA performs many free or low cost services for our members that other registries don’t.

Thank You.

Kathy Porter

2008 AMHA Treasurer

Thanks for the info, my husband I believe this problem of measuring is more with the Showing.

Hope to go to the Nationals to WATCH one day. yes, only watch.

We used to breed Paso Finos before the Miniatures ( Prices are lot more than minis ) we also did not have as many Paso's as Minis. Lot cheaper all around.
 
I am posting this for Kathy Porter:

The AMHA EC, BOD and Office makes no effort to hide anything from the membership. Remember, the BOD is strictly a volunteer basis. We have no direct personal gain to be made by the decisions we make. We merely try to sort through all of the options and make decisions based upon what we see.
Jodi

Please be sure Kathy sees this.

Kathy

Gary Barnes here. I realize you are "new" to the EC but surely you are aware of how our flow chart works and how, previously, the rule proposals have been handled. Here is a synopsis:

Proposals must be filed by the deadline at the February meeting, then show rules reviews them, March 15th deadline to forward them to related committees, May 1st the committees must send them back to Show Rules, Mid summer meeting June) Show Rules passes or tables them.

This is all on page 57 and 58 of our current rule book and went into effect in 2001.

I ask you this; How is it that the proposal for the Performance Committees new driving divison, which was filed timely with Kristy Mackey in February, made it to show rules and was voted down in their March teleconference call? It no longer appears on the list of proposals on the AMHA website. When Darlene, my co-cjair, called Kristy Mackey she was told she would "have to call Bob". Bob is standing by this decision and Austin Van Wyck and some directos and others have tried to talk to him. All to no avail............

By the way Bob Kane has been the chair of Show Rules for two years now and has never forwarded and performance proposal to this committee.

Please ponder over this and know that I am calm and collected and would like to discuss it further with you. Anyone in our office will gladly give you my cell phone number or you can email me your number and I'll spend some more of the money we make training AMHA driving horses. edited because my conscious (Lisa) tells me it has a tone..........What I mean to convey is that we dirive our income from training performance horses in AMHA shows. That said I am not shy about spending it for the betterment of our chosen profession!

Thank you for your time!

Gary Barnes

[email protected]
 
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Neil,

I am not sure if you intentionally did not answer my questions OR you don't know the answer to my questions.

As you stated I either had not read previous post or forgot because I was wrong on the number of members in the AMHA.

I have read the post and I have seen 12,000 members posted several times. Including one above by Kathy Porter. Since, apparently you said I was wrong alot of members must be wrong..so, please feel free to let us all know how many members AMHA has at this time.

If you have the time, I would also appreciate answers to my questions.
 

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