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The Arab Horse Society

Minutes of the Council meeting held on 10 January 2013 at Windsor House

Present: Joanne Lowe (JL)(Chairman), Natalie Meredith (NM), Sally Wrigglesworth (SW), Val Cridge (VC), Alastair McLeod (AM), Annette Dixon (AD) and Jean-Mary Crozier (JMC).

In attendance: Christina Roebuck (CR), President from 5.1

1.0 Apologies for absence

Apologies for absence were received from Jayne Armstrong (JA), Sue Bundy (SB), Madeleine Sutherland (MS) Diana Whittome (DW) and Teresa Sheward (TS).

2.0 To approve the Minutes of the Council Meeting 17 November 2012

2.1 The minutes of the meeting were approved as a correct record, SW proposed and AM seconded.

3.0 Matters arising from the last minutes

3.1 None arising

4.0 Financial Reports & Budgets

4.1 TS had circulated the November accounts and any concerns should be raised with TS directly. She is now working on the year end accounts and the timetable is as follows:

• A first draft of the Accounts will be produced on Monday 14th January and will be circulated to Council (in the normal spreadsheet form).

• The audit starts on Monday 21st January and will be signed off by the auditors by 5th February; the formal accounts will be circulated to Council.

• At the Council Meeting on 7th February formal approval of the accounts and sign off.

5.0 Committee Reports

5.1 S & E

The minutes of 5 January were reviewed and approved.

Malvern: An update on the National Show was given. An invitation had been set up through Facebook (FB) inviting people to the National Show – this had worked very well last year. Some Council raised objections to this method of communication but the general consensus was it worked well; however, subsequently it had been stated on the page that the schedules would not be sent out via post but would be downloadable from the AHS website or available by sending an s.a.e. to Windsor House; The matter had been raised at the AGM under 9f and again in the AHS Yearbook. It was agreed that S & E would look into arranging a small print run so that the office would not take up unnecessary time printing schedules off.

Cherif rules: Changes to the Cherif rules now stating “no horse shall be ridden in a mixed height class” and conflicting with AHS rules. The AHS rules are to be followed where a show is affiliated to the AHS and the Cherif organisers have spoken to most shows to ensure the classes are split appropriately, so little or no conflict should occur. AD had sent clarification to all AHS Ridden judges.

AHS Rules for Showing: Conflict of interest rule was discussed at the last Council meeting where 15 months was agreed. This was raised again and reviewed as it would be challenging to police. It was agreed that this should be revised to say 12 clear months.

CR joined the meeting

A discussion took place around how to identify handlers and riders were AHS members. AM volunteered to put a name and membership number space on the back of AHS members badges and all members would be asked to complete this and ensure it was available to be produced at a show if requested. If it was subsequently found that an individual had been in breach of the rules requirement to be a member, then the horse would have its position in the class removed.

Marathon: More sponsorship is needed to ensure costs are covered. The current organiser is new so NM volunteered to make contact and be the Council representative. In general it was considered that this is an excellent PR opportunity but it must try to cover costs.

Dope Testing: it was agreed that the £2 per exhibitor fee should be on the National Show entry form to highlight our intentions.

ECAHO: an update had previously been circulated to Council by AD. The AGM is 3 March and it was agreed that the UK should raise the following items for discussion:

• Code of Conduct & working practices; and

• Approve the 2012 Constitution (subsequently this item was not submitted).

It was agreed that JL would attend the AGM as our second representative.

5.2 SB &R

The SB&R meeting is next week.

DEFRA/NED: NED is no longer operational. Talks are now around the standardisation of passports. Some welfare and other organisations e.g. BHS are working to try and establish a central equine database – further information is required.

Registrations for 2012 were Pure 554, Anglo 38, and Part 442. A full review of costs for 2014 is required.

An invitation has been received to attend a race meeting in Qatar to discuss a global policy/ protocol and standards on the movement and identification of racehorses around the world. NM to attend.

5.3 PR & M

The minutes of 17 November were reviewed and approved.

Membership: AM gave an update on the new membership and highlighted a number of areas that require further focus, including Junior membership where it is proposed that from 2013 an introductory one year fee of £10 will be levied. Consideration also needs to be given to their right to show at the National Show. It also needs to be made clear on the website that those entering the Performance Horse Awards need to be Gold or Silver members (S&E to update). It is hoped that the new membership changes will go some way to try and reduce our declining membership base and retain some who may have otherwise cancelled but who may take a Silver or Bronze package instead.

This year at Malvern it is hoped to encourage those 70-80 non-members who pay £20 for a three day pass to take a bronze package at £22.50, the small extra cost providing them with two magazines and may encourage them to remain members in future years.

PB & AA individuals continue to not require membership to register and attend shows etc.

6.0 Welfare

6.1 SB will be asked by AM to circulate an update to Council. It was acknowledged that there was a significant amount of work taking place and PR&M were working to ensure SB had enough support.

6.2 It was suggested that a speaker on Welfare could be arranged for the AGM.

There was a short break and JMC left the meeting.

7.0 AOB

7.1 SW went through the 2013 election process. Namely all candidates need to have their completed paperwork at Windsor House by 31 January cob. This year we will utilise 2nd class post so this requires 24 (21 +3) clear days for written notice so mailings will be posted by cob Monday March 11th with voting closing Wednesday 3rd April. An independent scrutineer will be used with whom the Chairman only will have communication.

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