AMHR Convention News (Unofficial)

[AshleyNicole]

I was told that it is supposed to go to all the different areas but some areas can't or don't want to sponsor it so it goes to the area willing to sponsor it, thats why it ended up in Arkansas this year.

 

[MiLo Minis]

Until I purchased a Shetland this past year, I was one of those "die-hard" individuals that thought minis were THE only thing that was important. THEY were the BEST, the BRIGHTEST, and put the most money in the coffers and should be the "future".However, if you carefully listen to the PEOPLE that own Shetlands and the ones that own Minis, you get the distinct difference in how they think. Just look on this forum how the minis people RIP on the Shetlands. Go to the Shetland forum and that's not happening in the reverse. I'm not saying that mini people are rude or difficult but we have been brainwashed, so to speak, from the first start in minis that our horses were special and Shetlands were the "difficult" ones. I was just as insulted when I first started that our money went into the same pot as the Shetlands and that ALL the pictures in the magazine were Shetlands. I didn't understand then about covering different shows like Congress in one issue and Nationals in another.

I'm not so good with the words but we need to be more open. We need to look at things from both perspectives. NO I'M NOT A DEMOCRAT. I'm not a breeder nor trainer. I just LOVE showing! I just feel that if you (we) think that we're the best, we're slighted, we, WE WE....maybe "we" should try a few steps in "their" shoes. The Shetlands really are wonderful, sweet animals and their attendance is down (the economy isn't helpful) and they need support and help. Hmmm, I believe this was how minis got started---- a helping hand and some understanding ...could it really hurt?

I have not in this thread, or any other, "ripped", "bashed" or felt threatened by Shetland ponies in ANY way. I own a Shetland mare that we all love dearly - she is sweet, well mannered, gorgeous and a lovely little horse in every way (she didn't arrive that way but it was in her all the same)! I have trained many Shetlands and met an equal number of them as Minis that can be difficult or not. I don't think I have ever met ANY breed of horse that didn't have many redeeming characteristics (even Trakehners

) but I also own and breed Minis and I don't think it is a bad thing to want equal representation in our registry which I don't necessarily feel we are getting at present. It is my feeling that the Shetland people feel they 'own' the registry and don't want to 'lose power' to the Mini people. ARE they working in OUR (the memberships) best interests?

 

[OhHorsePee]

Sandee, I own both minis and ponies. I can't speak for all that own ponies but I do not hear discord for minis when I am with "pony people." I wish everyone would just acknowledge that they are both small equine and look at them from that angle. A lot of us "pony people" have and love both. It's all good!

I wish they would have Convention at a place that is more horse related like Louisville, KY.

 

[kaykay]

Larry said something that really hit home with me on the mini vs pony thing.

I am paraphrasing:

He said "I thank the miniature horse people for their contribution and support of AMHR and shows. I thank them for helping the ponies out of a bad spot all those years ago and enabling me to show my ponies."

"I thank the Shetland people for having the foresight to start a registry for small equine and for giving me a place to show and register my miniature horses."

Kay

 

[muffntuf]

Yes I agree. I listened carefully to those words that Larry spoke. It is true. The miniatures added value to the registry, but the Shetland,the Show Pony and the National Show Pony are adding their value to us. I think we have much more as a registry to offer the world, because we have diversity, yet we are related by heritage.

I own miniatures, all divisions of shetlands except Foundation, and show ponies. I see no difference in my pasture. They are all beautiful and all hold a place in my heart. And all can be shown!

 

[JWC sr.]

Folks, we are still sitting at the hotel where the convention was held and will start home today. All in all it was a lot of fun and I enjoyed getting to see folks I knew from the forums in person. Additionally, I enjoyed sitting in on the committees, the judges work shop and watching the process work in person.

Yes, there was a bit of discord at the convention and several tense moments for a number of people. But with that said, the majority of the points of contention were worked out prior to any real in-fighting developing. Politics suck most of the time to me in cases like this, but when folks attempt to put aside personal agendas/differences and work thru a problem. Personally I can handle whatever the outcome is and in most of the cases this is exactly what happened here at convention.

The few exceptions of things left undone caused several folks that had put in a lot of time and effort like Ray Tobin into the tasking that the BOD had charged them with in a position where the fruits of their labor did not bear fruit or come to a final decision. I want to say to Pat (our new president), Ray and a few others thanks for your efforts and please continue to think of what is best for the registry in the future.

The costume party was a blast to attend also, the costumes were crazy and it was a little hard to tell who was who with some of them.

Of the two points that someone else brought up that were points of contention in the proposed by-law changes, I can only give you my personal take on them.

On the subject of term limits: My postion is pretty straight forward and I was the the lone no vote on the by law forum against this proposal. I do not want to do anything to limit the ability of someone that is is willing to put in the time, effort and money it takes to be on the BOD. It is at best a thankless job, pays nothing, is highly controversial and a labor of love that most "rational" folks want no part of. If a BOD member is not doing what we want in any given area we have the ultimate choice of voting them out. So I was against this proposal.

On the subject of removing the required shetland seats; This was more than likely the most polarizing proposed by-law change. In my personal opinion, it is more than likely lived past its usefullness. But with that said, in order to maintain as much harmony as possible within our ranks it is more than likely best for the registry to let it alone for the time being. At some point in the future we as a registry will address it, but we have bigger and more important problems to deal with right now. We need everyone's help and efforts channeled towards dealing with the current economy and how it effects our breed as a whole in my opinion.

I am aware of the history and foresight of the founders of the registry and am thankful to them for putting all this in motion for we the present day members to take advantage of. It is paramount that we as current members foster, groom and move forward with the business of the registry in as an effective manner as we possibly can. The attitude of "Inclusion not Exclusion" has always been ASPC/AMHR's strongest asset and we need to continue to foster that approach if at all possible.

Thanks to all of you that attended and we are looking forwartd to seeing everyone again in Portland next year.

 

[Reble]

Sounds like we will never please everyone.

I believe change can be for the better.

but, not just to please a few handful of people.

All ponies in our economy today, need help to keep things going in the

right direction.

 

[~Lisa~]

John let me say it was wonderful talking with you and your wife is very sweet. I enjoyed our evening well I guess it was later then evening at the bar discussing all kinds of things

As far as the tension there was some tension for a few moments but like John said.. it was not the entire Convention and often times those on opposite sides of a couple issues came together and had a great time staying up till wee hours of the morning talking and laughing.

The ability to put things aside outside of committee meetings and enjoy the company of old friends and new and just simply enjoy being with our mini and pony friends seems to be had by most.

Those that chose to remain negative and grumpy throughout the entire Convention did only themselves a disservice.

Me I am already looking forward to show season.. Congress and Convention next year

John hope you guys have a safe trip home

 

[kaykay]

John it was so nice meeting you and getting to chat with you and your wife!

Lisa it was good seeing you again too! While you and I dont agree on many things its not a personal thing its just a difference of opinion.

I do think my post on here saying there was some tension has been blown way out of proportion. There is always going to be tension at any kind of organization meeting. Some have really taken that statement and ran with it but thats okay, I always have my big girl pants on

I had a fabulous time there getting to see old friends and meeting new people. Overall it was a blast!

There were other concerning things besides the shetland seat removal, and it was more than just a couple people concerned as the vote to table the bylaws was I believe 96 in favor and 23 opposed. (I could be off by a couple on that) Remember this was a majority vote! Which is exactly how the members portion of the meeting is supposed to be.

Kay

 

[JMS Miniatures]

Was there anything else important that was discussed? Any talks about the Journal for an example?

 

[muffntuf]

There was a Journal Committee meeting, but I did not get to attend that. Everything else would have had to be a closed session of the BOD.

 

[OhHorsePee]

How did everyone get to meet John but me? Everyone kept saying "John's here!" I would be like where? And he would be gone. I began thinking they were all delusional. I wanted to meet you. Maybe next time!

I for one didn't feel tensed. You could see the tension of others. Some paced frantically with a stern look while others verbalized how tensed they felt because of this or that. Some even verbalized it loudly at others because they had a perception that they were being spoken about when they had not been. Put a bunch of adults with different views in one room together on a one on one stance and they will talk about their differences. Place the same people in a group setting and they feel they have to act out. Some is human nature and then some is romper room type behavior. I so hope everyone can just take a deep breath and just respect one another.

 

[~Lisa~]

Jamie... I think you were sitting behind me in the AMHR Committee but I wasnt sure so if it was I am sorry I did not say hi. Going on about 2 -3 hours of sleep a night my brain was having a hard time functioning lol

As for the Journal I was at the committee meeting the only one I did not stay for was breed promotion but anyway the Journal will be and is taking applications for a new editor

They are expecting the next issue to be pretty close to on time and hopefully will have someone in place quickly

YOUTH WILL NOT NEED TO PAY TO REJOIN THIS YEAR.. BUT THEY MUST FILL OUT AN APPLICATION AND SEND IT IN TO GET A NEW CARD ISSUED

 

[ruffian]

MiLo... I'm not sure how you'd calculate that, especially with the numbers of people who own both types of small equine.

I don't see the problem with having it split. OR, you could make it so ALL have to own BOTH as well as an ASPR or something!

Andrea

The answer is simple. Make all the seats open with the stipualation that they must be a member of AMHR/ASPC/ASPR. It doesn't make sense that someone would have to have a breed - AMHR/ASPC/ASPR - that you don't want in order to be on the BOD.

However, if you carefully listen to the PEOPLE that own Shetlands and the ones that own Minis, you get the distinct difference in how they think. Just look on this forum how the minis people RIP on the Shetlands. Go to the Shetland forum and that's not happening in the reverse. I'm not saying that mini people are rude or difficult but we have been brainwashed, so to speak, from the first start in minis that our horses were special and Shetlands were the "difficult" ones. I was just as insulted when I first started that our money went into the same pot as the Shetlands and that ALL the pictures in the magazine were Shetlands. I didn't understand then about covering different shows like Congress in one issue and Nationals in another.[/]4
All it takes to get the Shetland folks going is to state that you don't want them in the miniature horse world. Watch the rockets fly!!

 

[MiLo Minis]

The answer is simple. Make all the seats open with the stipualation that they must be a member of AMHA/ASPC/ASPR. It doesn't make sense that someone would have to have a breed - AMHR/ASPC/ASPR - that you don't want in order to be on the BOD.

That would be fine by me!

 

[kaykay]

To occupy the open seat you must also own either a miniature or a shetland. You wouldnt want someone that didnt even own a miniature or a pony as director would you?

The founding fathers were smart people. They made sure that if the new registry they started was successful it couldnt take over the parent company. This is common business practice. Coke and Diet coke are both pretty popular but my bet is Coke owns it all

I have asked many times in the past and no one has ever answered. Where are we as miniature horse owners being slighted? AMHR nationals gets way more exposure, decoration etc than Congress. in general miniature horses get more exposure and promotion. I just dont see where we are being slighted anywhere?

I do want to see the Miniatures become a breed and I am hoping we can all work toward that!

 

[~Lisa~]

Kay we are going to have to agree to disagree here.

No one is saying they are slighted well with the exception of saying you guys bring in on the lowest years 400,000 thousand more into this registry but we sure as heck do not want to give you your own seat on the board- I see no issue with the board holding 8 mini and 8 shetland seats and if one area has no one to run for a seat then it becomes open for a year at a time until such time someone is available to run

Wont even get into the Congress -Nationals debate until we pick a permanant location

My guess is that it will be a long long time until all areas filled a mini seat as we do not have a huge influx of mini people now filling the open seats so in the long run do I think the BOD would change much.. probobly not however it is the option and acknowledgement that the minis are equally important to the BOD and decisions that would be nice and frankly I do forsee it happening and do not see the decision for a split board (which by the way is what our newly elected President says he feels is the way to go) being the end of either divison

 

[JMS Miniatures]

Jamie... I think you were sitting behind me in the AMHR Committee but I wasnt sure so if it was I am sorry I did not say hi. Going on about 2 -3 hours of sleep a night my brain was having a hard time functioning lol

As for the Journal I was at the committee meeting the only one I did not stay for was breed promotion but anyway the Journal will be and is taking applications for a new editor

They are expecting the next issue to be pretty close to on time and hopefully will have someone in place quickly

YOUTH WILL NOT NEED TO PAY TO REJOIN THIS YEAR.. BUT THEY MUST FILL OUT AN APPLICATION AND SEND IT IN TO GET A NEW CARD ISSUED

LOL thats ok Lisa, I didn't get to sleep around 2 that morning I guess and woke up around 6 like I usually wake up so I was tired too, just couldn't get my brain to work.

Anyways I don't know about all these bylaws or shetlands seats or whatever. When it comes down to it financial wise who is bringing in more money and all, do we want to divide AMHR and ASPC and actually have our own seperate unit I guess you can say. Or do we want to come together and help the little guy. Yes AMHR is bringing in more money, if it wasn't for ASPC there would be no AMHR. ASPC is going under, but besides pointing fingers and blames lets get together and become a organization thats a family. Yes families may have disagreements but they are always their for eachother.

I don't know that might have sounded to much G rating lol but thats what I feel.

 

[~Lisa~]

I do not think anyone wants any seperation by any means at least I do not . I simply put just see nothing wrong with 8 mini seats and 8 sheltand seats with the provision that if one area has no one to take the spot by qualifications then the spot remains an open one. Just seems like the fair way to do things

Frankly I can not see any reason that anyone would disagree

 

[dmk]

There is always tension at Convention. Someone is always pushing an agenda that someone else is opposed to. This year was no different than most others that I have attended. From what everyone was saying, the general meeting was going to be horrible and it didn't turn out nearly as bad as some predicted. As usual, some could have been nicer but for the most part, everyone behaved I thought.

I was in the 23 to vote on the by-laws. Frankly I wanted to get it out of the way. We had the number of people to make it count one way or the other...if we didn't like the by-laws as written get rid of them and start again next year. That would be no worse off than sitting on these as they are. Now we have to vote on these again.

I will never vote to do away with the Shetland seat no matter how you word it. I am opposed to having only open seats for the simple fact, the organization belongs to the American Shetland Pony Club. The American Miniature Horse Registry is a part of that parent organization. To me that is pretty simple. Like Larry, I thank AMHR for everything it puts into this group. I see nothing that would benefit the group except perhaps we would get rid of some die hard old timers that won't move Congress maybe? (as in is that the point?) Otherwise, what would it do for us as an organization? Especially if we DO see the day there is an all mini board...for the Shetland Congress that does not make money what would happen to us? If the money is the issue then I can foresee a group thinking well that group doesn't pull their weight let's cut that out. Then what? No Shetland Pony votes in the American Shetland Pony Club? Sorry I just don't see it.

Term Limits I cannot deny might be a good thing. Frankly, I think term limits for Committee Chairs and committee members might be a good thing too. Works for the United States Government.

Anyway...Convention was soooo much fun and as usual a learning experience. I think the future looks bright for the club as a whole. Spending time with friends and getting to talk about ponies is always nice. Seeing the group work together and solve some of these issues in an amicable and adult manner is always good, too!