National Reined Cow Horse Association Board of Directors South Point Equestrian Center, Las Vegas, NV March 22, 2018 I. Call to Order by Todd Crawford, President at 3:03pm CST a. Present: i. Todd Crawford, President ii. Paul Bailey, Vice President iii. Frank Prisco, Secretary iv. Trey Neal, Treasurer v. Todd Bergen, Past President vi. Dr. Joe Carter vii. Corey Cushing viii. Diane Edwards ix. Amanda Gardiner x. Boyd Rice xi. Jon Roeser xii. Jake Telford xiii. Jerry Peters xiv. Dan Roeser xv. Sam Rose xvi. Jay Winborn, Executive Director xvii. Kelley Hartranft II. b. Via Teleconference i. Dave Allen ii. Bill Tointon (Ethics Committee Head) c. Not Present: i. Ted Robinson Orientation Packet Board Member Updates a. Jay Winborn informed the Board that he had received a letter of resignation from Jim Lane. Paul Bailey moved that the Board accept the resignation and appoint Dan Roeser to fill out the remaining board term. Diane Edwards seconded. i. MOTION PASSED, none opposed
III. IV. b. Todd Crawford informed the Board that he is going to name Dan Perez as his final appointment and make him the head of the owners committee. Paul Bailey moved to accept the appointment of Dan Perez. Amanda Gardiner seconded. i. MOTION PASSED, none opposed Approval of minutes from last meetings. a. Trey Neal moved to accept the minutes from February 8 meeting as corrected. Diane Edwards seconded. b. MOTION PASSED, none opposed Committee Reports a. Ethics i. Bill Tointon addressed the board regarding a recent official report of an ethics violation (judge intimidation) ii. The Board discussed the rules infraction. Todd Bergen moved that be suspended for 6 months and pay a $500 fine. Boyd Rice seconded. 1. MOTION PASSED, none opposed b. Affiliates i. Pending Topic Show Management seminar. The Board continued discussion regarding how we might support local affiliates in shows. ii. Affiliate Support proposal by Jerry Peters. The proposal outlines potential staff additions to help affiliates run shows / have access to trained secretaries. There are still questions about logistics. iii. It was suggested that we need a packet for new Affiliates to help them get started. Should cover topics like Forming a Non Profit, How To Run a Show, How to Promote Your Show, How to get interest in Cow Horse in your area. Staff will work with the committee to develop. iv. The question was raised What does NRCHA need to provide affiliates besides money? v. Frank reported that they had a Rookie Clinic that was very productive. vi. Staff suggested that we reexamine the idea of a seminar that covers all of those kinds of topics. vii. Paul Bailey moved that staff, Jerry Peters and Frank Prisco work together to establish a date / location for the seminar weekend and that the Board allocate $5,000 for cost deferment. Jerry Peter seconded. 1. MOTION PASSED, none opposed c. Animal Welfare i. Nothing to report. d. Hall of Fame
i. Dan Roeser reported that he has been working on trying to codify the requirements for Hall of Fame consideration. He distributed a work in progress document for discussion: 1. Nomination someone submits or committee proposes 2. Hall of Fame a. Eligibility i. Current or Former member ii. Minimum 60 years of age b. Selection Criteria / Consideration i. Contribution to NRCHA ii. In arena success iii. Years of service iv. Quality of contributions / actions 3. Hall of Merit a. Significant contributions to the betterment of NRCHA outside the show arena b. Service to NRCHA c. Financial contribution d. Judging e. Employment by NRCHA 4. Horses a. Eligibility i. At Least 15 years of Age or Deceased b. Selection Criteria / Consideration i. NRCHA Competition history 1. Titles won, show record, money earned. ii. Offsprings NRCHA Competition History 1. Titles won, show record, money earned 5. ii. Crisis Fund Staff asked the status of the crisis fund application process. Last discussion was that the forms were available on the website which is not the case. Staff will follow up with Sandy Collier to determine the last status. e. Horse Sale i. Sale Pass Out Fee staff questioned how the pass out fee was to be distributed among the incentive years. It was agreed that: 1. Yearling pass out fees would go into the incentive for the year that they would be show at the futurity (2 years in the future) 2. 2 Year Old pass out fees would go into the next year s futurity (1 year in the future)
3. It was suggested that the Weanling / Broodmare / Performance Horse pass out fees could be used to fund a new program for Hackamore / Bridle horses in future futurities. The idea received positive feedback. Staff will put together a proposal for the next meeting. ii. Todd Crawford brought up the topic of creating a foal subscription program to make the payouts bigger at Stakes. There were mixed reactions. It would require new rules, additional staff time to track, etc. Jerry Peters and Garth will look at possible programs and get back to the Board. f. Judges i. Sam Rose reported that the committee is planning to offer the 6 th chair / continuing education program at Stakes, the Derby and Snaffle Bit. There has already been a very favorable response and they have quite a few people signed up. ii. The Board discussed the prior topic of increasing the day fee for judges just at the Stakes. After much discussion, there was no change to the existing pay scale. g. Non Pro i. Diane Edwards reported that the Non Pro committee would like to see several changes implement in 2019 but will discuss under rules. ii. Intermediate Non Pro Bridle HS class have eligibility treated the same as the Intermediate Open Horse Show class and have it based on the top 12 on a rolling 3 year lifetime earnings. There will be additional discussion in the future. h. Owners i. Dan Perez has yet to meet with the owners; but will schedule a meeting during this show and report back. i. Professionals i. Corey will have a meeting during Stakes to review different agenda items. j. Rules i. Select Non Pro Age change the Board discussed raising the age of the Select Eligibility from 55 to possibly 65. Will require more discussion. ii. Fall Back Rule change to Bounce Back which allows anyone reaching a qualifying age (TBD) would be able to bounce back and forth between fence and boxing without penalty. Discussion centered on changing the age of Select. Additional discussion will be needed. Staff will draft language for the 2019 Rulebook for consideration. iii. $5,000 Non Pro Limited increase to $7,500. Diane reported that the Non Pro committee would like to see the earnings limit increased from 5K to 7500 in the boxing class. The Board expressed concern that in 3 years, they would ask for another increase just so people wouldn t graduate out of the class. No change for 2019. It will stay as is at $5K. iv. World s Greatest 1. Corey Cushing brought a proposal that during the World s Greatest, if a horse / rider combination that makes the finals is unable to compete, that a rider change should not be possible; especially to one that
competed in the preliminaries and did not make the finals. There will be additional discussion. a. Someone not entered b. 11 th move to 10 th and compete c. 10 th just scratch and get 10 th place money 2. Based on the entry numbers for this year, 7.2 would have taken 12 to the finals. The Rulebook says only 10 go back. It was suggested that all of the rules should be taken out of the Rulebook and moved to the Terms and Conditions of the Event so that changes are easier when situation changes. Additional discussion is required. v. Grade Horses at Stakes there is a situation where a foal in utero that went through the sale in a DNA mare that was in foal to a Subscribed Stallion. The SBF sale catalog advertised the foal as being Stakes Eligible, even though it would not be able to be registered. Historically, Grade horses have not been allowed to be shown at Stakes. The Board will revisit when this foal is entered. vi. Adjusting Show Fines $100 for egregious fines is not enough. Staff will write proposed language. vii. World Show Leased Horses topic was revisited. No progress made. viii. Advanced Boxing Staff asked if the Board would like to change the format to Box Drive Box Drive to match AQHA and SHTX class definitions. It was agreed that since it was not an official NRCHA class, that would be fine. It was also discussed that we should change the name. Beginning Fence Work will be the new class moniker. k. Shows i. 2018 Snaffle Bit Schedule the Board discussed 3 different schedule proposals. The differed based on finals structure, how many days of sale, horse show class structure, etc. Paul Bailey moved to adopt version 5 pending moving the Non Pro Two Rein onto Saturday. Trey Neal seconded. 1. MOTION PASSED None opposed ii. 2019 Show Dates 1. Celebration of Champions staff reported that the Fort Worth Stock Show will push back one week in 2019 and doesn t end until February 9, which means we can t move in until Thursday, February 14 and start the show on Friday, February 15 February 23. There is no possibility of keeping the same dates. 2. Stallion Stakes 2019 contract has not been finalized. Working on a new 3 year agreement. Keeping the same dates in 2019 (March 23 30) would mean that entries would be due only 5 days after the close of the CofC and the show would start in exactly 4 weeks instead of 5, giving the office staff less than 2 weeks to prep the show. Jay Winborn inquired with the South Point about the possibility of pushing the Stakes back one week in 2019 to March 30 April 6. The dates were available at the South Point. It was agreed that we continue discussing the date push and confirm that rooms, etc. were available at the South Point.
l. Sponsorship i. Jay Winborn reported that Aaron Ranch and Carol Rose had ended their sponsorship relationships with NRCHA. He also reported that he had replaced both with a new title sponsor. The NRCHA Cow Horse Classic derby as well as the High School Rodeo title sponsorships would be picked up by Linda Mars (marketed under one of her many enterprises / which one specifically was not yet determined). The derby would be sponsored for 3 years @ $25,000 / year and the High School Rodeo sponsored at $35,000 / year for 3 years. V. Financial Report a. Paul Bailey reviewed the 2018 budget for the World Show. 2017 actual was $46,649. 2018 budget was $1,241. 2018 actual (pending additional expenses) is projected to be $71,900. He reminded all members that the budget is a living, breathing document and it is never set in stone. VI. Old Business a. The Board discussed official formation of a High School Rodeo committee. There is a need to increase the availability of judges. We need to focus on getting at least one good representative per state to help further ingrain cow horse in the organization. Sam Rose, Jay Winborn and Todd Crawford agreed to help do that. Corey will put it on the agenda for the next professional s meeting to try and round up support. Jay also reported that he is going to go visit the Jr High School rodeo and start the process of getting the boxing class into that organization. b. Board member travel reimbursement proposal Jerry Peters presented a proposal which specifically addresses the September meeting to reimburse up to $500 per individual for travel expenses. He outlined that he chose that meeting since it is not held in conjunction with a premiere event. Discussion included expanding to the December budget meeting since that is equally, if not more, important. Jerry Peters moved to reimburse attendees at the September and December board meetings up to $250 per individual per meeting with valid receipts. Amanda Gardiner Seconded. i. MOTION PASSED none opposed c. Merit Award program changes Staff came back with proposed to modify the Merit award program based on previous Board discussions. i. Superior Level changes 1. Increase earning requirement from $5,000 to $10,000 2. Change award from a paper certificate to something more substantial ii. Boxing Merit Award 1. Requirements: a. $15,000 total earnings b. Minimum $1,000 earned in LAE money (can be in any division, fence or boxing, open or non pro) c. Minimum $10,000 earned in Horse Show Category 1 boxing classes (Non Pro Limited / 5K NPL / 1K NPL / Youth Limited). d. Category 2 earnings do not count.
VII. 2. Award Staff proposed a physical award with a cost somewhere in the $100 $150 range. 3. Name Non Pro Limited Achievement Award iii. As these changes require a change to the Rulebook, topic was tabled until next meeting for additional, second, discussion. d. Video History Jerry Peters presented a proposal to create a video history archive which would contain all the old video and be accessible for promotion, etc. Cost is unknown. There was a proposal a while ago for NRCHA to purchase all of the old video, but no one remembered exactly what that was. Jay Winborn will call the video companies and see if he can nail them down on a price. New Business a. 2019 Reno SBF show approval staff asked if the Board wanted to approve the show with the 70% fee retainage in the Open that isn t spelled out in the Terms and Conditions or anywhere on their website / entry form / etc. The Board instructed staff to approve the show but to include a strongly worded suggestion on the approval letter to spell out where/how the entry fee is split. b. 2018 Fund Raiser NRCHA didn t do a raffle horse in 2017. Staff asked if there was a plan for 2018. No plan to do another horse at this time. The budgets look good as they sit. The Board will revisit the idea in the future. Possibly a vehicle (truck) raffle. c. Intermediate / Limited / Level 1 Limited Open eligibility and payouts Jerry Peters quickly reviewed the success / failure of the 2014 change to a single entry fee for the Open divisions. The biggest concern is the disproportionate payouts between the Intermediate and the Limited (and Level 1) based on the number of riders eligible for those divisions. The old percentages were based on consistent numbers, but they have not stayed consistent. Additionally, the Intermediate was decreased from the top 30 to the top 20 riders which increased the number of eligible riders without increasing the percentage allotted to the Intermediate. There is a concern that Limited and Level 1 riders just aren t participating. Several board members had theories as to why those groups aren t entering, such as too expensive, don t have horses / owners that they feel are competitive, etc. i. It was suggested that perhaps limiting the number of horses a rider can show would shift the less talented horses to assistants / lower level eligible riders. No consensus on if that would help. Would require a transition time to allow owners / riders to rework their training programs so no one is blind sided with the limit. ii. It was suggested that perhaps the definition of Intermediate Open eligible riders should be changed to a rolling 5 year average of Lifetime earnings AND move it back to the top 30. iii. It was suggested that perhaps removing the Limited from the single entry and restructuring the divisions into two groups: Open / Intermediate as one entry and then eliminating the finals from the Limited / Level 1 second group might be an idea (especially with finals fees eating away at the prize money). iv. It was suggested that instead of guessing why the Limited / Level 1 eligible riders don t attend, that we reach out to them directly and ask. Staff will put
VIII. IX. together a budget to do actual an actual phone call survey since so many of the email surveys that other organizations have done lately are poorly designed and have very little or no response. d. Fee / Added Money Inconsistencies Jerry Peters reported that he had reviewed the entry fee / added money distribution across all of the premiere events and there were some inconsistencies. Discussion is tabled for this show year and will be revisited prior to the 2019 Budget meeting. Next Meeting a. Paso: June 8 th Adjournment a. Trey Neal moved to Adjourn. Amanda Gardiner seconded. Meeting was adjourned.