MEETING NOTES
01/10/2009
LOUISIANA EQUINE COUNCIL
GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
JANUARY 10, 2009
NELSON MEMORIAL BUILDING
LOUISIANA EQUINE COUNCIL
GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
JANUARY 10, 2009
NELSON MEMORIAL BUILDING
President Daniel Lyons called the meeting to order at 1:23 p.m.
Board members present for the meeting were: Daniel Lyons, Howard Cormier, Ruby Halter, Johnny Spears, Tom Foshee, Ruby Collins, and Dianne Morrill. Arriving late due to an accident on the interstate were Daryl and Ginger Schouest, Dixie Bunton and Johnny Boudreaux.
Board members absent were: Aleta Overby, Richard Hebert, John Henning, Melinda Schexnaider, Judy Travelby, and Jay Prather.
Advisors present were: Dr. Clint Depew.
Advisors absent were: Ron Harrell and Dr. Dennis French.
LEC members and guests: In addition to the above board members, about 25 additional people were present for the meeting, and introduced themselves.
On a motion by Roy Stewart, seconded by Tom Foshee, the minutes of the 2008 general membership meeting were approved as posted on the website.
Howard Cormier gave the Secretary’s Report. Daniel thanked Cormier and the AgCenter for their support of LEC.
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Annual Secretary’s Report:
The following report was prepared, submitted and presented by Secretary Howard J. Cormier:
2009 Annual Meeting Secretary’s Report
LEC 2008 Membership Status:
At the close of 2008, LEC had a total of 226 members:
1 Bronze (Camelot Wilderness Ranch/Schouest)
1 Silver Corporate Sponsor
60 Business/Farm
1 Large Organization (>100)
4 Small Organization (<100)
150 Families
101 Individual
3 Youth (under 18)
Most of those memberships are currently up for renewal.
Board of Directors Status and Meetings:
The LEC Board of Directors met nine times in 2008, with all meetings having a quorum. The majority of meetings were held via conference call, generously provided by board member John Henning of Lake Charles.
The 2008 LEC board was composed of 17 members: 7 were district members; 7 were at-large; and 3 were board- appointed. An election was held in December ‘07, with 7 members representing new district lines with 4 year terms, 7 elected to at-large positions with 2 year terms. One at-large board member (Johnny Spears) was named to fill the unexpired term of deceased member David Yount, and one, Judy Travelby was named to fill a district 7 position vacated by Jeanne Bitter, who resigned. (Up to 5 members may be board appointed.)
The next regular board elections will be in the fall of 2010.
Secretary’s Address:
The mailing address for LEC correspondence is listed as 1105 West Port Street in Abbeville, La. 70510. My physical work address corresponds with my job position as the Southwest Region Equine Agent, LSU AgCenter, 1373 Caffey Road, Rayne, La. 70578
Other Actions:
As secretary I have provided the Board Members with minutes of each meeting, maintained LEC files, and made personal contacts and written correspondence on behalf of LEC. I worked with the Expo committee, membership committee, annual meeting committee, legislative committee, the Hoofbeat Newsletter, and the Fun Ride trail committee.
I have tried to improve communications with LEC members. Email has been used to regularly send information to the general membership, especially news items from the American Horse Council, hurricane preparedness, and upcoming LEC events. The new Access database file for 2008 members made it easier to send snail mail by printing address labels.
I appreciate the support and cooperation of LEC board members and officers, and I thank the LEC for their patience and the opportunity to serve.
(End of report)
Secretary’s Report Acceptance:
Motion by Howard Cormier to accept the Secretary’s Annual Report.
Motion seconded and passed.
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Howard gave the Membership Report, in the absence of Richard Hebert. There were 321 total members, and 226 active (dues paying) members as of 1-1-09.
LEC Membership Count by District:
Membership Type Totals District 1 District 2 District 3 District 4 District 5 District 6 District 7 No District
Bronze Corporate Sponsor 1 1
Business/Farm Membership 60 5 3 2 7 23 12 3 5
Family Membership 150 5 11 7 7 40 41 26 13
Individual Membership 101 4 1 12 2 37 33 12
Organization of Less than 100 4 1 2 1
Organization of more than 100 1 1
Silver Corporate Sponsor 1 1
Youth Membership (under 18) 3 3
Total Membership 226 8 14 19 10 80 56 28 11
Howard then presented the Unwanted Horse Coalition report, which indicated that the problem is getting worse, and it is up to all horse owners to address the situation on their own farms and try to limit the breeding of mares just for the purpose of having a foal. Several audience members commented about seeing more and more unwanted horses in their vicinity. Roy Stewart stated that Judson Baptist Retreat Center (225-634-7225) will take serviceable horses and gave his phone number if people wanted to contact them. Johnny Spears suggested that we list horse refuge centers on our website. Calvin LeBouef indicated a need to facilitate the rescue of horses so the rescuers don’t become encumbered with bills for the care of horses that they do not own. Clint Depew stated that 3-5 horses are offered to LSU each day, so the problem is getting worse. Johnny Spears indicated that we need a campaign to inform the public of this situation. Cormier encouraged LEC members to complete the survey about unwanted horses at the American Horse Council website. Because the floor price is set by the slaughter market for horses, the value of horses continues to go down for all classes.
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Howard Cormier gave the Trails Committee report for Peggy Bianci, who has volunteered to assume leadership of the Trails Committee.
LEC Trails Committee Report
On March 29, 2008 the First Annual LEC Spring ride was held at Cane Camp in Kisatchie National Forest. Forty- three people rode and an additional ten enjoyed Ben D's Chuck wagon Cooking. Three baskets were raffled and many friendships made.
The LEC Trails Committee is continuing to offer services to Kisatchie National Forest to help improve and maintain the equestrian area and trails.
The trails committee is actively pursuing trail riding opportunities at Hodges Garden State Park and are presently encouraging them to open the equestrian area to overnight camping. New trails have been flagged and maintenance is being done at Hodges.
The committee is currently planning the Second Annual Fun Ride on March 21, 2009, at Cane Camp in Kisatchie National Forest.
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Daniel Lyons gave the Legislative Committee report and what LEC did to inform legislators of the financial needs of this organization. LEC is looking for grants and encouraged members to talk to their legislators and asked for their support.
Daniel also indicated efforts of the Marketing and Promotion Committee to appear on TV and publicize the horse industry.
No report was submitted by Melinda Schexnaider on the Facilities Committee.
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Cormier gave the Newsletter Committee report in the absence of Chair Traci Benoit.
LEC Newsletter Committee Chairwoman: Traci Benoit
January, 2009 Annual Report
In 2008 the LEC newsletter went through a few changes, but has stayed the same for the most part. A change in editors in the middle of the year went smoothly. Hoof Beat News continues to have eight pages of monthly editorial space with the La. Cattlemen’s Magazine. Ad sales are not up as expected and more could be used to help Hoof Beat News expand into a larger format.
The newsletter was again used to advertise for the Annual Expo and other LEC events and continues to be used as a benefit for joining LEC.
New additions have been made to the editorial guidelines including a section for readers to send in pictures of their favorite horses and an upcoming section on youth accomplishments. LSU and Louisiana Tech and some members of the board have contributed articles and other information for the newsletter.
In addition to the regular sections featured in Hoof Beat News, all members are encouraged to send in articles, news, events and other information relevant to our goals and ideas for the Louisiana Equine Council. New ideas are always welcome.
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Howard also presented the Website Committee report for Richard Hebert, which follows.
2008 Annual Website Report by Richard Hebert
In April 2008 the control of the website and domain was transferred from Calzone & Associates to Rockin H Enterprises, LLC, which is my company. It was rough going, because the information needed to transfer the domain was unknown and without that it was almost impossible. However after about a month I was able to get it transferred. The domain was transferred to and is being hosted by Godaddy.com. The site hosting is for three years at a cost of $131.27 and domain transfer was $16.57 for a total of $147.84, which was reimbursed to my company by LEC. The files were uploaded to the ftp site and the fun began. Since the site was data driven a database had to be transferred with the site files. That did not happen, so all data was lost and had to be reentered. The site itself was written and maintained with a program called Dreamweaver, which my company purchased at a cost of $400. It can be maintained with other products, but this one makes it easier. The site has a control panel that also makes it easy to enter data, such as member information, calendar, minutes, etc. After getting the site back up and running, I built a member forum so that our members could exchange information about horses. This is an open forum, so anyone can sign up. We had about 40 people sign up and all was going well until someone signed up and posted inappropriate material. It has since been shut down. Unfortunately this will be hard to police, but it is under review between me and the new webmaster.
I have been performing the duties of webmaster, but will pass this on to our member Mr. Mike Dartez. He has graciously agreed to this task. The web site is an important media for LEC. It disseminates important information to our members and informs the rest of the world of LEC’s purpose.
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Johnny Spears asked for Hoofbeat News ad prices and was directed to the Cattlemen’s Association for help. Hoofbeat News needs ads. It is an excellent venue for publicity as it goes to 5,000 people monthly.
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Ruby Halter gave the Annual Meeting report and set up the LEC backdrop display for the first time.
2008 Annual Meeting Committee Report, Ruby Halter
The 3rd Annual meeting of the La. Equine Council was held Jan. 12, 2008, at the John M. Parker Coliseum on the LSU Campus, in conjunction with the La. Cattleman’s Association.
The LEC business meeting was held at 1 p.m. in Nelson Memorial Building, next to the Coliseum. The General membership meeting was followed by the Board meeting. Following a joint meal sponsored by the Cattleman’s Association, a reining horse presentation was done by Matt Howell at 6 p.m. in the Coliseum for both LEC and LCA members.
Approximately 50 people attended the demonstration, and that concluded the annual meeting activities.
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Halter also presented the 2008 Expo report held at Lamar Dixon.
The 2nd Annual LEC Horse Expo was a tremendous success and Louisiana horsemen and women once again were provided with a great opportunity to experience horsemanship at its best! Richard Winters, our featured clinician shared his knowledge about starting young horses and shared his approach on basic and advanced horsemanship. He also gave in depth demonstrations on working with ranch horses and problem horses (yes they really are two separate things!) Mr. Winters, in his calming demeanor, spoke and demonstrated to the audience that a great horseman is molded by continually endeavoring to learn about horses. Mr. Winters has fine tuned his methods over the years by continual trial and error, and also by taking the opportunity to learn from the best teachers he could find.
The Expo spanned an action packed weekend on March 8th and 9th, with Saturday being filled with a variety of activities. The Louisiana Appaloosa Association held a day long two-judge event in the back arena while the main arena had a continuous stream of events including a Parade of Breeds, and a Dressage Demonstration by noted Louisiana horsewoman, Anne Hornebeak of Folsom, LA. Membership in the Louisiana Equine Council was not without its benefits as LEC members were given the opportunity to participate in a Hands-on Horsemanship clinic with Richard Winters. The evening was capped off with a Barrel Racing Event, Chili Cookout and musical entertainment by Bruce Shultz, Haywood and Clarity Martin.
Sunday morning started with Cowboy Church, followed by a Jumping demonstration by Kathleen Aerthker of Folsom, LA. The back arena was filled with Louisiana Stock Horse Association members participating in Cutting, Ranch Versatility, Western Pleasure and Trail classes.
The 2008 Expo exceeded its goals and objectives by providing entertaining and educational events that appealed to horse people of all breeds and disciplines. There was an increase of at least 35 new memberships and 11 renewals at the expo. Approximately 3500 people attended the expo, which was an increase over last year’s numbers. Gauging by the increase of attendees, the word is spreading across the state about this exciting horse event.
The difference between the first horse expo and this year’s event, proved to be that despite a loss of critical personnel, the event went forward without a hitch. The LEC Horse Expo is still in its infancy. It is growing into an equestrian event looked forward to by all horsemen and women in this and surrounding states. With the success of this expo and future ones, the LEC will be able to bring to light the vast exceptional horses, breeders, trainers and owners this state has the honor to be home to. With the success of this expo the state of Louisiana should be able to tout the exceptional equine vet schools we have, the awe inspiring riding/camping areas that are available to trail riders from across the U.S. The State of Louisiana in conjunction with LEC should revel in the knowledge that this is the home state of some of the finest equestrian event locations around the country.
Ruby Collins gave the 2009 report on the Expo to be held at the Ike Hamilton March 13-15. The indoor arena is both heated and cooled. There will be practice pens available. She gave out the tentative schedule, the application to ride with Clinician Joe Walters and indicated that there would be an educational alley, a gaited horse show, parade of breeds daily, Greenwell Springs Drill Team, Peruvian Possibilities Drill Team, Mark Wilcher Reining Demonstration, farrier presentation, saddle fitting demonstration, and knot tying demonstration. She indicated the need for website publicity. Paul Dailey will present a Wild Horse Ministries program. The Governor and legislators are invited. LEC has received a $1,900.00 grant from the Chamber of Commerce and is looking for vendors. Ruby is hoping for 8,000 people to attend.
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Daniel Lyons invited the Paint Horse Association to host a show in 2010.
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Clint Depew discussed the Horseman of the Year program, the Louisiana Road to the Horse and John Henning’s Equine Excellence Award. Each major group of horse entities in the state would nominate a trainer who would give a performance of groundwork, horsemanship, trail, and free-style. Bill Davis stated this is a good way to get everyone involved. Ruby Halter moved to establish the Horseman of the Year in 2010 at the Expo. Ginger seconded the motion. Motion passed.
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Dr. Henry Morrow, with the Louisiana Department of Ag & Forestry State Veterinary Office, talked about changes in EIA where the horse will bring less than $50.00 at a sale. The owner will be charged for the EIA test. An equine passport system, which is based on a six month health certificate, will be established. People can go to Global Vet Link for more information. They must supply the itinerary every six months to maintain this.
The Contagious Equine Metritis or CEM has been found in Kentucky. This is a dangerous situation that had not been found yet in this country. Louisiana has one horse that might be positive, a Quarter Horse. There are four in Kentucky and three in Indiana. This is a venereal disease transmitted by live cover. There is a very involved test culture which takes eight weeks minimum to detect. There is also Equine Herpes Virus in the Thoroughbred breed, similar to Rhinoneupmonitis, but this is the neurological form. Horses on track should be vaccinated every nine days.
Daryl Schouest gave the Treasurer’s Report which follows.
LOUISIANA EQUINE COUNCIL
P O BOX 39
BREAUX BRIDGE LA 70517
INCOME STATEMENT
From 01/01/08 to 12/31/08
This Period
Account Account Name General Acct
4101 MEMBERSHIP DUES $5,730.00
4104 TRAIL COMMITTE REVENUE $592.00
4201 GENERAL DONATIONS -$100.00
4202 CORPORATE SPONSORSHIPS $10,000.00
4301 STALLION PAVALLION $550.00
4302 RESOURCE BOOK $6,450.00
4303 PARADE OF BREEDS $75.00
4304 EVENT SPONSOR $4,795.00
4305 BOOTH RENTALS $3,700.00
4306 BARREL RACE $1,832.00
4307 ADMISSIONS $1,525.00
4309 STALL INCOME $3,894.00
4311 BABY CONTEST $175.00
4312 CLINIC PARTICIPANT FEES $500.00
Total Revenue $39,718.00
5105 MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS $4,507.54
51502 Insurance Expense $2,026.10
520115 Contract Labor $131.25
52111 Office Supplies $310.00
52113 Mail/Postage $175.77
52116 DUES TO OTHERS $350.00
52119 INTERNET EXPENSES $147.84
5304 NSF CHECKS $71.00
5401 PRINTING $282.42
5402 FACILITY RENTAL $6,072.00
5404 CLINICIANS $3,814.76
5406 CONTRACTED VENDORS $1,126.89
5407 RESOURCE BOOK EXPENSES $3,561.70
5408 BARREL RACE EXPENSES $1,767.52
5409 ANNOUNCER $704.92
5410 MISC EXPENSES $1,166.50
5412 EVENT INSURANCE $51.60
5413 VENDOR BOOTH EXPENSE $998.20
5419 ADVERTISING & PROMOTION $3,973.16
5420 DONATIONS TO HORSE SHOWS $1,000.00
Total Expenses $32,239.17
NET INCOME $7,478.83
LOUISIANA EQUINE COUNCIL
P O BOX 39
BREAUX BRIDGE LA 70517
BALANCE SHEET
As of 12/31/08
Account Account Name
11021 GENERAL CHECKING ACCOUNT $17,405.17
11022 LEC EXPO ACCOUNT $7,576.61
11041 PLEDGES RECIEVABLE $3,200.00
Total Assets $28,181.78
21011 Accounts Payable - Vendor $0.00
Total Liabilities $0.00
33 Current Excess/Shortfall $20,702.95
Current Year Earnings $7,478.83
Total Equity $28,181.78
Total Liabilities plus Equity $28,181.78
Ruby Collins moved to accept the Treasurer’s report, seconded by Dianne Morrill, and it passed.
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On the By-Laws Daryl Schouest stated that no action has been taken.
Dixie Bunton gave the Equine Assisted Riding Committee report.
The Therapeutic riding programs that are associated with NARHA comprise the majority of the activity in this area within Louisiana. The primary educational program for therapeutic riding is the annual meeting of La. TRA, which was held last February at the LSU Vet School. The 2009 meeting is scheduled for January 31 and February 1at the LSU Vet School. There was an informational booth at the 2008 Expo and there will be one at the 2009 Expo in West Monroe. The Southwest Louisiana Expo is also scheduling several Therapeutic Riding demonstration and educational opportunities during their agenda this year.
Equine Assisted Activities continue to grow in spite of being the best kept secret for fun and rewarding time spent with horses.
Bunton gave out a directory of NARHA Centers in Louisiana.
Daryl Schouest moved to accept all committee reports, seconded by Ruby Halter, and it passed.
Dr. Eddie Cramer, a Baton Rouge Veterinarian, gave his presentation on breeding programs for mares to increase conception rates. The program started at 3:20 and ended at about 3:55 p.m.
Mrs. Peggy Sullivan, as Vice-President of the Therapeutic Riding of Lake Charles explained the origin and aims of the program for Friends of Therapeutic Riding. She described plans for the S.W. Louisiana Horseman’s Expo. LEC was invited to join Friends of Therapeutic Riding and participate in the S.W. Louisiana Horseman’s Expo.
Tom Foshee moved to adjourn the meeting at 4:18 p.m. Ginger Schouest seconded the motion and it passed.
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