MEETING NOTES

06/09/2009
LOUISIANA EQUINE COUNCIL CONFERENCE CALL Draft BOARD Minutes JUNE 9, 2009

LOUISIANA EQUINE COUNCIL
CONFERENCE CALL Draft BOARD Minutes
JUNE 9, 2009


Daniel Lyons called the meeting to order at 12:00 noon.

Present were: Daniel Lyons, Howard Cormier, Daryl Schouest, Clint Depew, Tom Foshee, Johnny Boudreaux, Ruby Collins, Dianne Morrill, Aleta Overby, John Henning, Maurice Tynes and Dixie Bunton.

Advisors present were: Clint Depew

Board members absent were: Johnny Spears, Ginger Schouest, Melinda Schexnayder, Judy Travelby, Jay Prather and Ruby Halter.

Advisors Absent were: Ron Harrell and Dr. Denny French (who is no longer an advisor to the board since he is not working in Louisiana any more.)

On a motion by Aleta Overby, seconded by Dianne Morrill, the minutes of the February 10th meeting were approved. On a motion by Ruby Collins, seconded by Johnny Boudreaux, the minutes on April 8th were approved.

Howard gave the membership report, stating that LEC has 136 active members for 2009. That includes 92 inactive members who have not paid since 2007, and 123 members who have not renewed since last year. The total membership contact list includes 351 people. In discussion about what LEC could do to improve membership, Daniel Lyons agreed to talk to Ranch Outlet; Johnny Boudreaux will speak to Tractor Supply; and Howard will talk to Purina by the next meeting to see if they could provide any kind of discount for LEC members. This will require that members will need a membership card as proof of their membership in LEC. It was also stated that LEC needs all board members to have membership applications on hand so that when someone wanted to join they could be provided with the membership application.

Daryl Schouest gave the Treasurer’s Report, stating that LEC had a negative balance of about $1,500.00 for the 2009 year. However, there is $15,593.05 in the general checking account, $7,843.48 in the Expo account, and pledges receivable in the amount of $3,200.00. Total assets are $26,636.53. Ruby Collins stated that the organization had a negative balance of $5,169.17 in the account from the 2009 Expo; however, LEC will receive $12,200.00 from grant funds after the figures are finalized and sent to the state. Collins stated that the $17,563.00 in Expo revenue includes the gate money, stalls and donations. She also stated that a donation of $200.00 was made to Wild Horse Ministries for their presentation at the program. Daryl Schouest highlighted some of the large expenditures, including $8,900.00 for facility rental, $1,060.00 in added purses to LASH ,and an Expo luncheon of $2,200.00. He raised a question about whether LEC needed to pay these items in the future. He also complemented Ruby Collins and Aleta Overby for using a media company to target potential participants in the Expo. John Henning suggested that LEC use radio instead of TV for ads next year. LEC got some money from stalls, but the Ike Hamilton Expo Center received all funds from shavings. Daniel Lyons stated that LEC will not give added money for LASH next year.

In a discussion of insurance, the primary cost for insurance is the Expo, and that amount is $2,026.00. The cost for other incidental activities such as board meetings or the trail ride is only about $100.00, so one of the biggest costs for the Expo is the actual insurance. It may be possible that LEC could get a sponsor for the luncheon for next year.

Also discussed was a need to get someone at the gate to sell memberships, as students did not enthusiastically promote LEC membership to everyone who came in. Daryl also pointed out that LEC received $16,200.00 from government revenue, and less from corporate sponsors this year. Daryl Schouest moved to accept the financial report, including the Expo figures. It was seconded by John Henning and passed.

The next item on the agenda was mention of Dr. Clint Depew’s retirement, which all agreed was a very good function. Dr. Depew stated that there were still many things left to do with the horse industry and he would be available to help. Maurice Tynes suggested having more events for the kids, such as a sheep ride, a calf scramble, stick horses, etc. This would bring parents in. The kid’s alley was very good and well received this year.

The next item discussed was “Road to the Horse” plans. Several ideas included having from four to eight rings or round pens, selling sponsorships to each pen, providing major awards such as saddles to the winners, and charging a $100.00 entry fee. This is something that will bring in the crowd, so it was felt that payback would be worthwhile. The committee comprised of Clint Depew, Tom Foshee, Johnny Boudreaux and Howard Cormier will meet and report at the next LEC meeting. Finally, it was stated that participants must be LEC members to compete, and participation will be by invitation only, up to seven or eight contestants, so that LEC would not have to judge these events in different parts of the state prior to the meeting. Tom Foshee offered to provide and auction colts after the program and give part of the money to LEC. Maurice Tynes offered to serve as auctioneer. Daryl moved to have the Expo last three days, seconded by Dianne Morrill. It was suggested that we keep Thursday open, but contract with the Ike for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, March 12, 13 and 14 of 2010. Motion passed. It was suggested that competition start a bit later than 8:00 a.m., which is too early to get the public out.

News articles were then discussed. Hoofbeat News, as part of the Louisiana Cattlemen’s magazine, has been discontinued due to lack of profitability. Traci Benoit offered to do an e-mail newsletter and a hard copy newsletter, selling ad space to pay for postage and printing. Daryl Schouest moved to authorize Traci to do the e-mail newsletter now and after ads begin to be developed, the board will consider doing the printed and mailed newsletter. It was seconded by Howard Cormier, and the motion passed.
Peggy Bianci discussed the Kisatchie trails clean-up on June 6th. There were five horsemen who participated, with over 12 bags of trash picked up. One idea presented for next year was to have a clean-up day before the spring Fun Ride since people will be there getting settled in. Peggy Bianci agreed to talk to the Kisatchie rangers about this possibility. The Fall Ride is tentatively scheduled for October, but there are conflicts with hunting season, so Peggy will need further information. There is no news yet on grant funds for the Trail Committee. Peggy did state that June 20th, beginning at 8:30 a.m., Hodges Gardens will be celebrating their 75th Anniversary. Howard agreed to send this information to the members after he received it from Peggy.

The Farm Bureau Annual Meeting will be June 27th in New Orleans at the Marriott. It was suggested that those who attend the Farm Bureau Convention bring LEC membership applications with them.

Aleta stated that she had received a file showing horses appearing more and more in economic representations of parishes. Thirty-one parishes had horses as one of the top three economic entities, out of the total of 64 parishes in Louisiana. Next year Farm Bureau’s Ag in the Classroom Program will be about horses. Maurice Tynes talked about the use of the Internet and YouTube to access and provide free videos. The LEC website could have a link to some of this information about horses. Maurice agreed to work on this with Richard Hebert, who is currently serving as LEC Webmaster.

The next item discussed was unwanted horses and horse slaughter plant re-openings. The public knows about horse slaughter, but not about the abandonment issue. Howard agreed to keep members apprised of new developments in the political arena regarding this.

Daniel Lyons mentioned the cook-off held April 25, 2009 at Ranch Outlet, stating that the food was excellent, the publicity was great for LEC and horses, and Ranch Outlet was pleased with the outcome of the event. Although Daniel said LEC broke even on cost and prizes awarded, the publicity that was generated was beneficial. There was discussion about having some sort of cook-off at the Expo next year.

Concerning the newsletter, Maurice Tynes stated that he would be willing to assist in providing articles about tack, training, vet and legal tips to add to what people could expect from the newsletter each year. He agreed to talk to Traci Benoit about this.

The Lamar Dixon facility in Gonzales will remain open due to the influx of stimulus money. This is good news for all horsemen.

Ruby Collins stated that Bastrop, in Morehouse Parish is getting a multi-purpose center like the one Ruston has.

Concerning the district LEC meeting, there were only four attendants who participated in Lake Charles, but there was a good exchange of ideas.

The Southwest Louisiana Economic Development group gave a commitment to work with the equine industry for horse tourism and other forms of economic development.

Aleta Overby sent board members economic figures on the value of horses by parish. Daniel provided a legislative update, stating that he had spoken to people about supporting the equine industry through LEC so that more funds could be generated for the state from the horse industry. It was stated that LEC needs to show the political clout it has as an organization in promoting horses.

Howard mentioned the Texas Incentive Fund, which is a new program whereby owners of stallions nominated must pay a minimum $30.00 fee to have their foals eligible for increased purses.

In a final matter of any other business, Daryl Schouest moved to give the same scholarships to the 4-H horse winners at the State Show as last year, which was $1,000.00. Ruby Collins seconded the motion, and it passed.

The date of the next meeting was tentatively set for July 22nd as a face to face meeting. Johnny Boudreaux will work to provide a meal and meeting place.

On a motion by Howard Cormier, seconded by Dianne Morrill, the meeting was adjourned at 1:52 p.m.