Dear AHA Member,

December brings a time of reflection about the year and what has impacted our lives. We’ve had a year of considerable change and accomplishment in the Arabian Horse Association, thanks to the efforts of so many people. It was a year ago, just after Convention that I assumed the office of President, promising you changes in many areas. I am pleased to tell you that progress is taking place.

At Convention, we took communication to a new level when my message was captured on tape and made available to members the next day on the internet. Nearly 1,500 people have accessed that personal message to you, our members. This tells me we have a lot of people who are interested in hearing from their President and who are committed to improving our breed and Association. We plan new initiatives in this outreach medium next year. For those of you who have not seen the report, please go to www.arabianhorses.org and click on the President’s Report from Convention.

Convention delegates heard good news about two major activities involving AHA. The day before Convention began, the Board of Directors approved a new Sweepstakes program that opens the door for more people to participate at many levels of competition. Just prior to attending Convention, I visited Tulsa, Oklahoma, the site of the 2008 U.S. Nationals. There I learned that the state of Oklahoma has paid our contract money deposit of $60,000, easing our financial costs for that first year. This gesture confirms to me that Oklahoma and Tulsa want our business. This was a great way to start off a Convention report!

It is the new Sweepstakes program that I believe will have one of the most important influences on our breed and Association for years to come. Just to give you a recap, the Sweepstakes Commission had given the Board of Directors (acting as Trustees of the Commission) a proposed program. The Trustees did not approve the program and consequently I appointed a Task Force. The Task Force worked with the Commission’s proposal and factored in the wishes of the Trustees based on a survey they completed. The Task Force presented their program, and the Trustees approved it. You can find the details about the new program by visiting our website. I want to point out that this program has flexibility for change, responds to the grass roots exhibitors, continues to reward stallion owners and those nominating foals, and is based on a sound financial principal of never paying out more than the program can afford.

I want to congratulate and thank the Task Force members for taking on this important job. They are: Jan Decker, Dean Meier, Sue Meyer, Dan Stevenson and Lance Walters. These folks did a great job in a very short time. This program is a major accomplishment for our Association. I will touch more on Sweepstakes later.

There was more good news about the Arabian Community Shows, the venue you have been seeking from AHA for many years. A day after I announced the launching of the shows on January 1, with a goal of 50 shows for the first year, there were 20 shows signed on. Within days, 40 shows had been scheduled. I have long been a proponent of this type of show that is designed to be low cost, with minimal red tape, and amateur friendly. I am extremely pleased that you, our members, are embracing it. Your Association is listening.

There was good dialogue and debate during Convention about the resolutions before the delegates. Please go to www.arabianhorses.org for details on the resolutions. There are several topics I want to touch on, and I will start first with my thoughts on Sweepstakes.


This program was on a downward spiral with no chance for a return. We lost over $3 million dollars over the past seven years. Prior to my election, I promised we would re-evaluate Sweepstakes. Indeed, this has been done and the changes reflected in the new program will affect more members than anything done in the past decade. Many of you e-mailed me, called and wrote letters. Your voice was heard. You repeatedly told me that the Sweepstakes program was an “elitist program,” that was too expensive with little chance of winning money, the cost of sending out to a professional trainer to win the money was cost prohibitive, there was no added value to owning a Sweepstakes horse unless it was national caliber, and, the same people keep winning the money, etc. etc. I am pleased to tell you that we have changed all of those negatives to a positive. We specifically targeted the grass roots to stimulate breeding and encourage people to enter the Sweepstakes program. You do not have to be a big breeder or national competitor to be appreciated or rewarded. If you own a Sweepstakes horse you will still be rewarded at regional and nationals levels. And, for the first time in our history every Sweepstakes horse owner will be eligible to earn money at various levels of AHA recognized shows! You no longer have to win a regional or a national title to earn money! The other added benefit, which had never been done before, is awarding the mare owner 10% of every dollar earned from every horse you beat for the rest of the horse’s life. This is another example of your Association responding to what you said you want.


Treasurer Frank Galovic and the AHA staff along with Controller Jon Barnickel, have done an excellent job of providing comprehensive reports that are timely and accurate. For one of the first times in a decade, registration of purebred Arabians was up. The four national shows generated revenues of $4,586,182, an increase of $468,692 over 2004. Membership revenue for the year was $249,262 higher than the previous year and expenses were down by $85,436 for a net improvement of $334,698. Frank pointed out that we saved $25,000 in Handbook expenses by changing to a policy of sending Handbooks only upon request. Our Arabian Horse Magazine, the biggest income area in marketing, had revenues $81,714 higher than the year before. In the area of personnel expenses, overall payroll expenses were down $336,180, principally due to decreased staff size. I will cut to the chase and tell you that last year we lost over a half million dollars. Now, what about this year’s bottom line? At the operating level, our net assets increased by $253,577, and our cash investments increased by $261,960 – for a total of well over a half million dollars. This does not mean that we are out of the woods. We must be consistent with expenses and revenues. The Association must use benchmarking and best practices in every aspect of our business. We must use cost accounting to identify exactly where our profits or losses are and be able to calculate our net profit on each product or service we offer.


In my previous report, I told you about the need for spending over $2 million to fund and improve our Information Technology operations. The challenge for the Association has been how to come up with the needed funds. Executive Vice President, Barbara Burck, outlined several options at the Board of Director’s meeting, with directors zeroing in on one particular plan of action. Over four years, beginning with 2007 and concluding in 2010, the Association projects spending $2.4 million on IT needs. The money to fund this need will come through larger revenue in a variety of ways including increasing memberships and registrations. At the same time, there will be greater efforts to operate more efficiently as a business with a focus on benchmarking and application of best practices as a business.


The Presidents banquet was the closing touch to a successful year as it marked my one-year anniversary as your President. This was the best part of Convention for me. I want to share some special moments with you.

National Awards
It is important for AHA to recognize members through service award programs. During general session, directors gave out regional awards to those who contributed significant service in their regions. The regional directors submitted the National Award nominees, and the Executive Committee then selected recipients. This year’s recipients of the National Award were: Shelly Stevens, Region 1; Lori-Schroder-Ross, Region 11; Patti Rowe, Region 12; Larry and Shirley Izor, Region 14; and Gerald McDonald, Region 17. It was a great experience to personally recognize these winners!

Director’s Award
There is also a Director’s Award that is voted on by the AHA Board of Directors. As you know, we have 18 regions, and the recipient must receive 18 of the Board votes to earn this prestigious award. It is a difficult award to earn, as this person must have contributed above and beyond normal volunteer service to be worthy of this special recognition award. This person has contributed an enormous amount of time to our Association. The success of the committee’s work was a direct result of this person’s leadership and contributions. There are two “E” words that we often look at as leadership qualities and they are energy and enthusiasm. I believe my friend and your Director’s Award recipient Cynthia Richardson, is a perfect example of energy and enthusiasm. I was very honored to give Cynthia the Director’s Award.

President’s Award
There is another award that is given out. It is the prestigious President’s Award. The coveted President's Award is the highest award the President can give. This was a very difficult decision for me to make, because many people have helped me and given so much time to AHA. However, I had to narrow it down to two people. Prior to my election, these two people helped me a great deal in my campaign to be elected President of the Association. They share my ideals and support my efforts to make our Association the very best that it can be. After my election, they remained steadfast in their support of me and have helped me in innumerable ways. Whenever I have needed help, they have been there for me. Over this past year, they have given many hours to help me and our Association. As President, I am in a position to see the time and commitment they have given to our breed and Association. The two people I am speaking of are Cindy Clinton and Larry Kinneer. It was a pleasure to present them with the President's Award. I want to tell you a little bit about them.

Cindy (cindyc@infinet.com) serves as my "eyes and ears" in the horse world. She has drawn upon her many associations and committee memberships to offer me insight into what is happening in our breed and Association. It is not possible for me to be involved in everything, all the time. With her active involvement in many aspects of our breed, she has her finger on the pulse of the industry. I have valued her insight tremendously and have found her to be available to help me at any hour of the day. I value and appreciate her friendship and support and most of all her commitment to our Association and breed.

Larry (larlv@aol.com) has been my voice. As you know communication is very important to me. It is also very important to Larry. The President's Bulletin was his brainchild. Based on the huge response from you, it has proven to be one of the best and most proactive measures we have taken. At times when I look through the hundreds of e-mail messages, I wonder what we have created. He also suggested we communicate to you from Convention, via the internet. He has been there for me at all times, to confide in and offer counsel. He helps me in my writing, by editing and questioning for clarity and sharing of information. As chairman of the Communications Task Force, he also advises AHA when communicating on sensitive issues.

I am deeply appreciative of their support and the many hours that they both put in to help not only me, but our Association. Each has a unique talent and they have shared it generously with our Association.



It would be easy at this point to rest on our laurels and look at the year with some degree of pride. However, we have a house to rebuild and we have only begun. Our house, as designed by our Business Deployment Plan, is well on its way to being built. The foundation is solid; we need to continue with construction. The BDP will continue to be monitored and available for all of you to see on line. As I said in my State of the Association message to you - it takes the efforts of many to accomplish what we have done and what we will do. Together, the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors, the AHA staff, and you, have responded enthusiastically, energetically and with a sense of determination that we can make our breed and Association the very best in the world. Let's keep focused on this objective. This is the last broadcast I will send you in 2005, and it is truly a time for reflection and a time to pause and say thanks to each and every one of you who has helped us on our path this year. It is important that you realize you are the beacon that guides us.