Dear AHA Member,

This is my first message to you following a great Convention and a successful 2005. I want to share with you several new important developments as we move forward with anticipation that year 2006 will be one of growth and improvement in our breed and Association. We have laid the foundation with a solid business plan in place and clear-cut goals and objectives. There is a sense of positive momentum among you, our members, and we want to maintain that upbeat spirit.

Within the next several months, the Arabian Horse Association will be seeking a new individual as Executive Officer. Barbara Burck, Executive Vice President for many years, has resigned as of January 6, 2006. I realize many of you know Barbara and hate to see her leave our organization. I am sure you join me in wishing her well.

I have appointed Janet Holloway, Senior Director of Competition Services, to manage the day-to-day operations at AHA. This is a temporary position until a new administrative leader is hired. A task force will be appointed, a search firm will be hired soon and we will move forward to find the very best person possible. I think our Association has made great strides in the past year and I am confident we will attract a list of highly qualified candidates.

As I remind you periodically, change is never easy. As we go through this process of finding and hiring a new executive leader, I am confident our AHA staff in Aurora will continue to provide you the same level of service they have in the past. I have worked with many of them over the last year and have great confidence in the staff. I will keep you informed of the search for a new administrative leader. I am optimistic that the search process will prove to be a seamless transition.

During this process, though, we have business and tasks that must be addressed as we continue into 2006.


I hope you are all aware of the new Sweepstakes program that was approved by the Board of Trustees just prior to Convention. It is important to me that everyone has an opportunity to take advantage of the new Sweepstakes program and I would hate to see anyone miss this deadline. I want to urge you to pay close attention to the extended deadline of March 1, 2006. You have until that date, this year only, to nominate your foals as Breeding Entries. If you miss this date, the foal will need to be nominated as an Original Entry for $15,000 in order to participate. For the first time, the breeder/nominator will be eligible to earn payback on all of the horses they enter as Breeding Entries for the life of each horse. The owners of Nominated Sires will have additional opportunities to earn payback on each of their stallions nominated. Remember, for the first time, there is an opportunity to win money at all AHA recognized events by a reward system based on points (ACS shows not included). We will also have the allocated money payout at regional and national levels. The new program gives opportunities to more people to earn Sweepstakes money at various levels of competition. With individual support and the strength of our new Sweepstakes program, those exhibiting their horses have wonderful new opportunities to earn payback money. If you need more information about Sweepstakes, go to the AHA website and click on the Sweepstakes logo. Also, staff will be happy to help assist anyone who needs help. In addition to Sweepstakes prize money, we have people stepping up and providing prize money for classes at the national level. This occurred at the U.S. Nationals in 2005 and we are currently working on more classes with more sponsors for added prize money.


While attending the U.S. Nationals in October, I was pleased to meet and spend time with a representative from New Holland, a leader in agricultural and construction equipment. He was visiting our nationals, meeting our staff, our exhibitors and spectators. I am pleased to welcome New Holland as our new corporate partner. I know the product line has a long-standing excellent reputation in the agricultural community. We are proud of this new relationship. The new three year Corporate Partner agreement with New Holland provides AHA with both a cash contribution and the use of their tractors at all four of AHA’s national shows. In addition, AHA members may receive periodic promotional incentives on New Holland equipment. New Holland joins our other corporate partners: Paint Rock Designs (manufacturer of Turtle Neck horse products); MD Enterprises (barns and other horse building items); Dealer Direct (automotive sales and leasing); MBNA (credit cards); Equisure (insurance), and Sundowner Trailers. The Arabian Horse Association values these partnerships and we are proud to be associated with companies that have such outstanding reputations. Remember, they are helping us, so when you are contemplating purchases consider one of our corporate sponsors. Their support is an indication of confidence in the Arabian breed and AHA.


For a number of years now, there has been discussion about the need for medical insurance in our Association. This would be particularly helpful for the professional trainers who have no means of having uniform insurance coverage or any member that needs insurance at a group policy price. We have included the subject of offering an insurance program for members on the agenda for the March 3rd and 4th Board of Director’s meeting in Aurora. If you have any opinions on this subject, please share them with your regional director prior to the March meeting.


I have good news to report on our registration numbers for 2005. For the first time in a long time, we had an increase in purebred registrations. Last year we had 7,861 purebred Arabians registered which represents a one percent increase over the year before. While the percentage may not be that high, it is a positive step forward. We had 4,182 Half-Arabians and Anglo-Arabians registered for a 15 percent increase over the previous year. It comes as no great surprise that our increases over the last 15 years have come when we have had amnesty programs. We are constantly seeking ways we can decrease our costs. It is important to point out that we have not had a price increase in our registrations in 15 years. I sincerely believe we will begin to see encouraging numbers as we aggressively promote our breed and offer new incentive programs for our members.


Some other good news comes with our Arabian Community Shows program. There has been a growing need to develop shows that are more affordable, less complicated, and with less bureaucracy; so we designed the Arabian Community Shows. We continue to have groups and clubs sign up for these attractive, new amateur-friendly shows, and we will soon hit the projected number of 50 shows established by MDP for 2006. It is now possible to go on line, sign up for a show, and get plenty of information to help guide you when putting on one of these shows. Particularly helpful is a section on Frequently Asked Questions. When the first of these shows is held early in March, the ACS process will be completely on line, from registering a show to posting show results. While the Arabian Community Shows appear to be well on their way to responding to a need, our fun trail ride coming up again in Nebraska next fall holds the promise of being even better than the one in 2005. We had openings for 120 riders for the 2006 ride. The ride was announced early in January and we are already almost full. Better get your reservation in early as this looks like a sell-out. Take it from me, a ride participant in 2005; this was one of my most enjoyable times.


One of the task forces established last year was one to review Resolution 5-90, the resolution that established the Judges & Stewards position and office. The task for this group is to revisit this resolution, examining what has transpired since the resolution was passed 16 years ago and to use best practices and benchmarking to determine the values, benefits and objectives. The members of this task force would like your views about the results since the resolution has been in operation. Feel free to offer your comments to the task force by sending your email to: comments@arabianhorses.org. This is an opportunity to share your thoughts.


I attended the USEF Annual Convention in Cincinnati, Ohio, earlier in January. This was an important date on my calendar as it gave me the opportunity to interface with many other leaders from the horse world. Reminder: when joining USEF, remember to check Arabian on the entry form as your first interest (some people check Western, Reining, or Dressage instead of Arabian). If you check any other box as your first interest the Arabians do not get credit and subsequently, do not get representation. The USEF Convention helps me to put into perspective the role AHA plays in this organization and how USEF functions when conducting business.

I think it is important that we strive to be the best horse association possible. My upcoming plans call for a visit to Region 5. These sincere and enthusiastic Arabian members are planning what looks to be a most enjoyable weekend; I am looking forward to meeting folks and visiting that beautiful part of our country. I am honored to be asked to be a part of their activities. After that, I will be at the CBC (Color Breed Council) where many breeds are represented. This gives me insight into education for judge’s and gives me the opportunity to attend seminars about various breeds. While there, I will also serve on an advisory board. I will than attend the Scottsdale show in February and look forward to meeting with exhibitors and spectators during that time. As you know, I am very approachable and enjoy talking with you, listening to your concerns and gaining new insight. Please feel free to approach me and introduce yourself.


At this point in time, I believe we have a bright future ahead. Even though this period of transition will be difficult, your Board of Directors, Executive Committee, staff and I will be working extremely hard to make the best possible decisions for our Association. As always, if you have any concerns or opinions you want to share with me, please feel free to do so. I hope to visit with many of you in my upcoming travels.

Thank You and God Bless,