Welcome to the Executive Committee

from NCHA Cutting Horse Chatter • FALL 2022 • Vol.75 No.3

NCHA Non-Pro Horse of the Year

Cara Brewer

BY AMY OLSON

Cara Brewer had the unique opportunity to grow up in the cutting horse world.

Her parents both competed in the Non-Pro and Amateur in northern Illinois. They also produced and hosted shows in the area. She had the experience of showing all over the country in the Youth, eventually coming up through the Amateur and Non-Pro levels. Brewer began showing in the Open in her early twenties. She was previously on the professional trainers committee, where she was the chairman, and left this position when she moved to the executive committee.

Brewer is a good fit for the At-Large position on the committee due to her midwestern roots and her current travels for cutting. Her experiences with Youth, Non-Pro and Amateur riders, as well as with breeding horses, will help her to see different viewpoints.

Now, she and her husband have a Black Angus ranch in northeastern Oklahoma, where Brewer trains cutting horses. Her husband also helps her train, which was his full-time role prior to following his passion for the beef industry.

They also breed cow horses on their ranch, including the unprecedented stallion Hashtags, and his full sibling, Tagging, whom Brewer piloted to the 2021 NCHA Open Futurity reserve championship. In 2004, on a trainer’s permit, she won the NCHA Super Stakes on Playing Tag, Tagging’s maternal grandmother. She is proud to have such a connection to the bloodlines she rides, and she loves the breeding program.

At the 2022 NCHA Great American Insurance Group Summer Cutting Spectacular, she made the Open Classic/ Challenge semi-finals on Tagging. Her 9-year-old son, Brand, is in his third year showing in Youth events and made the NCHA Foundation Scholarship Cutting Junior Youth finals for the first time this year. Brewer noted this as a big highlight of the show.

Brewer also helped Jim Hayworth and John McGraw with their breeding programs and has a special connection to their mares.

“It’s great to see the qualities that are passed on to the babies, and every year they grow into their own individuals,” Brewer said.

Looking ahead, she sees a promising future for the sport of cutting. With entries up, Brewer only sees the NCHA continuing to get bigger and better. She has a humble appreciation for the work that has been put into the association’s growth in the last five to 10 years and is ready for the commitment of her threeyear term on the executive committee.

“My number one accomplishment is having a family and being a woman trainer,” Brewer said.

Welcome to the Executive Committee

Kathleen Moore

BY AMY OLSON

Kathleen Moore of Madill, Oklahoma, started her cutting career around 2000 but has been an animal lover her entire life. Originally from Iowa, she has spent most of her time around cattle, but now operates a successful equine breeding facility in Oklahoma. She is also a Certified Public Accountant and has a strong sense of business management.

OK Brand, owned and operated by Moore’s family, is a manufacturer that began with the simple goal of building livestock panels. They now produce much more than panels and Moore continues to stay involved with the family business, saying that business management just comes naturally to her.

Her nephew, Ty, on the other hand, takes naturally to anything with horses. Moore is proud to have him riding many of the horses she has bred and credits him with driving her to become more involved with the National Cutting Horse Association. While she was just learning to cut, she accompanied Ty on his campaign to the NCHA Youth World Finals as a Youth competitor.

Moore says she’s ridden in every division except for the Youth and Open, and she now has horses in training with Lloyd Cox and James Payne. At the 2022 NCHA Great American Insurance Group Summer Cutting Spectacular, she took home the Non-Pro Derby championship on Purdys Rebel, and Ty took third on Two Smooth Shoes.

She couldn’t refuse when asked to be on the Executive Committee in June. She felt as though the NCHA has given so much to her, and now she’s ready to give back.

“I just think it’s important to listen to what the members have to say, and not have my own agenda,” Moore said.

She went on to explain that she is very invested in the NCHA while showing and breeding horses.

“I might have my own agenda, but if it’s not what the membership wants then it doesn’t matter,” Moore said.

Her favorite part of the process is getting to go to shows and be around her friends, who she now considers family. She stays focused on the major limited aged events but attends weekend shows often to keep herself and her horses tuned up.

Representing Region 8 is going to be a learning experience for Moore. She understands many of the workings behind the shows but is excited to learn more about the association as a whole.

As more of her family members become involved in cutting, she hopes to see the same growth in the association.

“I just think the people are what makes the NCHA special; there are just so many good people here,” Moore said. “You just want to see it thrive and do well in the future.”

Welcome to the Executive Committee

John P. Lavelle

BY AMY OLSON

Born and raised in Athens, Ohio, John P. Lavelle still resides there with his wife of 30 years, Lora. They are both involved in the National Cutting Horse Association through showing, breeding and raising horses, and Lavelle has been an NCHA member since 2001. This is not where Lavelle’s journey with horses started, though.

Growing up, his main interest was Tennessee Walking Horses. Lavelle attended The Celebration, one of the most prestigious events for the breed for many years. During his time at Middle Tennessee State University, where he earned a business degree and a minor in equine science, Lavelle served as the school mascot and could be seen riding a Tennessee Walker on the sidelines of each football game.

Later, he attended Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. The American Bar Association chose his program as “Most Outstanding Student Bar Association in the Country,” while Lavelle was serving as the president of the board during his senior year.

Lavelle then returned to Athens to join his family’s law firm, where he began trial work. He later began his own practice, which he still operates today. In his 40 years of practicing law, he has tried many cases ranging from aggravated murder with death penalty specifications to traffic issues and wrongful death.

In 1990, Lavelle purchased a farm in New Marshfield, Ohio, where he raised and trained stock dogs and managed a cattle operation. He first felt the thrill of cutting horses when he was riding a cow-bred horse while working, and it really took hold of a cow. He then sought out a cutting trainer, who told him to attend a weekend show just to watch. He was hooked.

In only his second year of serious showing, Lavelle won a $2,000 Limited Rider cutting class at the American Quarter Horse Congress in 2015. He credits this as one of his biggest accomplishments on a cutting horse. He currently has horses in training with Bill Riddle and shows often.

Lavelle has served on many boards and committees including the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency State Executive Committee.

“I felt that I could improve communication between members, directors and the committee,” Lavelle said. “Everyone has to start somewhere, and that’s how the NCHA will grow.”

In his three-year term as the Region 4 representative for the NCHA Executive Committee, Lavelle plans to focus his support on weekend shows and beginner events.

NCHA ANNUAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS KICK-OFF MEETING MINUTES

JUNE 3, 2022

MARRIOTT AT CHAMPIONS CIRCLE – FORT WORTH, TX

The 2022 NCHA Annual Convention began with a kick-off meeting for Board of Directors held at 7:00am on Friday, June 3, 2022, at the Marriott at Champions Circle located in Fort Worth, Texas.

President Ora Diehl called the meeting to order at 7:06am and welcomed everyone back to the Annual Convention.

Roll was called with a quorum of 114 Board of Directors in attendance including:

Region I: Western/Central Canada – Connie Down-Cicoria and Sandy Reid; Colorado –Nathan Miller, Ron Pietrafeso and Bob Tragemba; Idaho – Denise Shewmaker; Montana – Suzanne Nellen; Oregon – Marcea DeGregorio and T. Scott Tullis; Washington & Alaska – Holly Jones and Dean Rebhuhn; Wyoming – Kristen York

Region II: Arizona – Sherry Cowan, Joe Kalt, Tim Smith and Mike Wood; California & Hawaii – Phil Benadum, Kathy Cardon, Tim Castilaw, Rock Hedlund, Fiina Ugrin Jolley and Suzanne Rodoni-Silverberg; Nevada – Theresa Gillock

Region III: Iowa & Wisconsin – Travis Grover; Kansas – Rebecca Waters; Minnesota – J.P. Bell and Bob Janssen; Missouri – Ernie Beutenmiller, Jr. and Sonny Martin; Nebraska – Kirby Smith; North & South Dakota – Jason Reed

Region IV: Indiana – Byron Green; Kentucky – Randy Mesalam; Michigan – Dan Agnew; Ohio – Jeff Brown, Steve Duff, John Lavelle and Chuck Smith; New England (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT) NY, NJ & PA – Marty Miller, Bill Stein and Jack Werner; Virginia, West Virginia, D.C., Maryland & Delaware – Roy Bauer and Jim Johnson; Eastern Canada – Eric Van Boekel Region V: Alabama – Andrew Sligh; Florida – Josh Deason, Ora Diehl, Bill Kidd, Sandra Lines and Sharon Overstreet; Georgia – John Hulsey and Mark Senn; North Carolina – Garry Merritt and Barnwell Ramsey; South Carolina – Tracy Barton; Tennessee – Zeke Entz and Maben Thompson

Region VI: Arkansas – Diana Cunningham, Toddy Pitard, Tommy Williams and Lewis Wray; Texas East – Johnny Bates, Bradey Davis, Jan Gandy, Cynthia Patty, Ronnie Smith and Michael Wood; Louisiana – Robert Charles Brown, Elizabeth Quirk and Bruce Richerson

Region VII: New Mexico – Leslie Graor and Richard Hicks; Texas South – James Davison, Jimmy Eakin, Scott Ferguson, Bobby Hunt, Janice Little and Jane Mancuso; Texas West – Cheryl Callis, Sherry Graham, Skip Jones and Steve Smith

Region VIII: Oklahoma – Cara Brewer, Lloyd Cox, Jody Galyean, Kathleen Moore, Ty Moore, Bill Riddle and Brad Wilson; Texas North – Jeremy Barwick, Sharon Beach, Lindy Burch, R.L. Chartier, Jo Ellard, Matt Gaines, Casey Green, Cody Hedlund, Gavin Jordan, Tom Lyons, Susan McBryde, Frank Merrill, Matt Miller, Ken Mock, Bruce Morine, Rick Mowery, Lachlan Perks, Dan Popeck, Phil Rapp, Ben Roberson, Jonathan Rogers, Corrie Rousey, Ted Sokol, Chubby Turner and Bronc Willoughby

Absent were the following:

Region I: Western/Central Canada – Darcy Geherman, Les Jack, Amanda Smith and Doug Wiens; Colorado – Steve Norris, Nicole Pietrafeso and Joel Schulz; Idaho – Barbi Madgwick; Montana – John Seymour; Oregon – Cameron Verstegen; Utah – Josh Hofeldt and Steve Williams; Washington & Alaska – Jeff Knight; Wyoming – John (Jack) Enright Region II: Arizona – David Costello; California & Hawaii – Bob Adams, Norm Clark, Rick Corso, Morgan Cromer, Bernie Talbot, Carol Ward and Stan Williams Jr.; Nevada – John Echeverria

Region III: Illinois – Rick Jackson and Bret Parsons; Iowa & Wisconsin – Seth Kirchner; Kansas – Grant Smith; Missouri – Greg Beutenmiller and Joe Wes Davis; North & South Dakota – Matt Lopez

Region IV: Indiana – Andrew Larson; Michigan – Crystal DeWitt; European Directors (Waived) – Josef Bachmeier, Jana Kucerova, Martin Parage, Denis Pini and Sergio Traverso

Region V: Alabama – Julie Beasley, Brenda Burns and James Hooper; Florida – Pam Scott; Georgia – Nate Pettit; South Carolina – Ric Rumble; Tennessee – Barbara Brooks

Region VI: Texas East – Punk Carter; Louisiana – Gwen Coie, Keith Deaville, Edley Hixson, Jr., and Chris Thibodeaux; Mississippi – William Cole, Taylor Flowers and Don McGraw

Region VII: Texas South – Frank Bowen, Burt Bull, Hydie McAlister, Mike Mowery, Harrison Perrin and Sam Wilson; Texas West – Josh King

Region VIII: Oklahoma – James Payne; Texas North – Clint Allen, Chris Benedict, Dennie Dunn, Leon Harrel, Jim Milner, Steve Oehlhof, Tarin Rice and Tatum Rice

Purpose of this kick-off meeting was to provide some opening remarks for the annual convention by welcoming the Board of Directors and establishing a quorum before each report to their respective regional meetings

Ora opened with a moment of silence for all those that have suffered any loss or hardships since our last convention. Immediately following, everyone was asked to stand and join in to recite the “Pledge of Allegiance” to the United States of America. Thanks was offered to all who serve and protect each day. Before adjourning, President Ora Diehl highlighted the events scheduled during the annual convention which included but not limited to the Past President’s Seminar and some training seminars for Standing Committees and Directors along with the ordinary business of the annual meetings. President Ora Diehl adjourned the meeting to allow each Director to attend Regional Meetings.

NCHA ANNUAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS 1st SESSION MEETING MINUTES

JUNE 3, 2022 MARRIOTT AT CHAMPIONS CIRCLE – FORT WORTH, TX

The first session of the 2022 NCHA Annual Board of Directors meeting was held at 5:30pm on Friday, June 3, 2022 at the Marriott at Champions Circle located in Fort Worth, Texas.

President Ora Diehl called the meeting to order at 5:55pm central standard time.

Roll was called with a quorum of 109 Board of Directors in attendance including:

Region I: Western/Central Canada – Connie Down-Cicoria and Sandy Reid; Colorado – Nathan Miller, Ron Pietrafeso and Bob Tragemba; Idaho – Denise Shewmaker; Montana – Suzanne Nellen; Oregon – Marcea DeGregorio and T. Scott Tullis; Washington & Alaska – Holly Jones and Dean Rebhuhn; Wyoming – Kristen York

Region II: Arizona – Sherry Cowan and Joe Kalt; California & Hawaii – Phil Benadum, Kathy Cardon, Tim Castilaw, Rock Hedlund, Fiina Ugrin Jolley and Suzanne Rodoni-Silverberg; Nevada – Theresa Gillock

Region V: Alabama – Andrew Sligh; Florida – Josh Deason, Ora Diehl, Bill Kidd and Sandra Lines; Georgia – John Hulsey, Nate Pettit and Mark Senn; North Carolina – Garry Merritt and Barnwell Ramsey; South Carolina – Tracy Barton; Tennessee – Zeke Entz and Maben Thompson

Region VI: Arkansas – Diana Cunningham, Toddy Pitard, Tommy Williams and Lewis Wray; Texas East – Johnny Bates, Punk Carter, Bradey Davis, Jan Gandy, Cynthia Patty and Ronnie Smith; Louisiana – Robert Charles Brown, Elizabeth Quirk and Bruce Richerson

Region VII: New Mexico – Leslie Graor and Richard Hicks; Texas South – James Davison, Jimmy Eakin, Scott Ferguson, Bobby Hunt, Janice Little and Harrison Perrin; Texas West – Cheryl Callis, Sherry Graham, Skip Jones and Steve Smith

Region VIII: Oklahoma – Cara Brewer, Kathleen Moore, Ty Moore and Bill Riddle; Texas North – Jeremy Barwick, Sharon Beach, Lindy Burch, R.L. Chartier, Dennie Dunn, Jo Ellard, Casey Green, Leon Harrel, Cody Hedlund, Gavin Jordan, Tom Lyons, Susan McBryde, Frank Merrill, Matt Miller, Ken Mock, Bruce Morine, Rick Mowery, Steve Oehlhof, Dan Popeck, Phil Rapp, Ben Roberson, Jonathan Rogers, Corrie Rousey, Ted Sokol, Chubby Turner and Bronc Willoughby

Absent were the following:

Region II: Arizona – David Costello, Tim Smith and Mike Wood; California & Hawaii – Bob Adams, Norm Clark, Rick Corso, Morgan Cromer, Bernie Talbot, Carol Ward and Stan Williams Jr.; Nevada – John Echeverria

Region IV: Indiana – Andrew Larsen; Michigan – Crystal DeWitt; Ohio – Steve Duff European Directors (Waived) – Josef Bachmeier, Jana Kucerova, Martin Parage, Denis Pini and Sergio Traverso

Region V: Alabama – Julie Beasley, Brenda Burns and James Hooper; Florida – Sharon Overstreet and Pam Scott; South Carolina – Ric Rumble; Tennessee – Barbara Brooks

Region VI: Texas East – Michael Wood; Louisiana – Gwen Coie, Keith Deaville, Edley Hixson, Jr. and Chris Thibodeaux; Mississippi – William Cole, Taylor Flowers and Don McGraw

Region VII: Texas South – Frank Bowen, Burt Bull, Hydie McAlister, Jane Mancuso, Mike Mowery and Sam Wilson; Texas West – Josh King

Region VIII: Oklahoma – Lloyd Cox, Jody Galyean, James Payne and Brad Wilson; Texas North – Clint Allen, Chris Benedict, Matt Gaines, Jim Milner, Lachlan Perks, Tarin Rice and Tatum Rice

Ora opened with a moment of silence for all those that have suffered and are no longer with us followed by a heartfelt prayer and a reading from the book of John 16:33 that emphasized the importance of guidance, health, peace and strength.

MISSION STATEMENT

At Large Executive Committee Member Ernie Beutenmiller addressed the Board of Directors by reciting the NCHA Mission Statement…

The National Cutting Horse Association promotes and celebrates the cutting horse, whose origin on Western ranches allows us to support ranching and its Western heritage. By establishing rules for the conduct of cutting horse shows, NCHA strives to give cutters a level playing field and a progressive class structure which accommodates everyone from the beginner to the advanced competitor. NCHA draws on the diverse talents and background of its members and encourages their participation in helping it achieve these goals.

PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

As we have celebrated our 75th year of our association, our founding fathers provided an industry that many of those sitting in our audience today have built a foundation around. Please take a minute to thank our founding fathers for what we have and where we are as an association today. Applause was offered by the attendees.

President Ora Diehl mentioned that as we move forward with our convention, we will gather and conduct business, honor recent inductees at the Members Hall of Fame Gala and hear from some guest speakers on Sunday during Board of Directors Session II. Our standing committees have worked hard to provide you with current agenda items to discuss during our meetings. The Board of Directors have been diligent is supporting and fulfilling their duties for our association. We gather for one common purpose, the betterment and success of our association.

Ora expressed gratitude and appreciation for the wonderful team of Executive Committee members that she has had to honor of serving with these past few years. Ora also recognized the NCHA staff members for their hard work and dedication to making it all happen and continue strong for our membership.

As we continue our work, our duties and our responsibilities, she reminds each in attendance of a quote from our very own Buster Welch, “this is our time to give back as an honor with an awesome duty and gratifying personal responsibility, one that many NCHA members and supporters are well equipped to embrace.”

President Ora Diehl offered a recap of her journey as an officer of this association and encouraged the membership to stand strong as they have come a long way in a short amount of time under her leadership. She addressed the attendees by thanking them for the privilege to serve as their President.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

Executive Director addressed the members in attendance that everyone in this room can attest that the world has been a crazy place, not only have we incurred a multiyear worldwide pandemic we are now faced with rising costs of every aspect of our lives. Many of you in attendance are show producers and have intimately felt the rising costs to produce a show, others of you in this room are trainers, owners and competitors all of whom have also felt the rising costs of participating in this sport we all love.

As an organization, our goals are multifaceted, we need to focus on ability to maintain fair and equitable entry fee structures for our participants, we need to focus on the ability to produce and manage our shows according to schedules and spaces that best suit our needs and the needs of our equine athletes and most importantly we need to focus on the sustainability of this unique sport of cutting for future generations. Jay closed by welcoming all with plans of having a productive convention and thanking them for taking the time to attend.

PROOF OF DUE NOTICE

President Ora Diehl provided the proof of due notice that was emailed to all Board of Directors on May 2, 2022, and also appeared in The Cutting Horse Chatter, Spring Issue of 2022.

DISPOSAL OF MINUTES

A MOTION was made by Frank Merrill and SECONDED by Tracy Barton to accept the minutes from (Annual Meeting of the Board of Directors – August 2, 2021) that appeared in The Cutting Horse Chatter, October Issue of 2021. MOTION PASSED.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ELECTIONS

It was reported that the following regions met and voted on Executive Committee representatives for each region and are committed to serve a three-year term scheduled to expire at the annual convention in 2025. The newly elected regional members to serve on the Executive Committee for Regions IV, V and VIII are as follows:

Region IV: John Lavelle

Region V: Sharon Overstreet ran unopposed and was reinstated

Region VIII: Kathleen Moore

The existing Executive Committee members congratulated and welcomed them all to their new positions on the committee.

President Ora Diehl turned things over to President-Elect Ted Sokol to facilitate the next agenda item.

2022 AT LARGE CANDIDATES

There was (1) one at large Executive Committee position open for election at this year’s convention for a three-year term scheduled to expire in 2025. The 2022 At Large candidates are as follows: Cara Brewer (Jay, OK) from Region VIII, Ora Diehl (Ruskin, FL) from Region V and Rick Mowery (Weatherford, TX) from Region VIII. Each candidate addressed the board of directors in attendance highlighting their campaigns and answering questions as they prepared to run for the open At Large position.

President-Elect Ted Sokol announced that the election for this position will take place during the Board of Directors 2nd Session Meeting to be held at 9:00am on Sunday, June 5, 2022.

APPROVAL OF EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MINUTES

A MOTION was made by Skip Jones and SECONDED by Ben Roberson to approve the Executive Committee Meeting Minutes for the Period of August 2, 2021 – May 31, 2022. MOTION PASSED.

NCHA FINANCIAL REPORT

NCHA Treasurer Denise Seiz and Mark Senn, the current Chairman of the Finance and Audit Committee addressed the Board of Directors by providing a financial update on the current status of the association with reports to highlight FY2021 year end and YTD as of April 30, 2022.

Chairman of the Executive Committee, Mark Senn offered appreciation to all the hard work that the Finance Committee members have put forth the past few years to straighten out of finances and get us where we are today. This effort was led by the countless hours that Ora Diehl and Denise Seiz dedicated to balance our Great Plains accounting system with HUB of which we are proud to report has balanced since. Mark wanted these members to be recognized for all their time and support for our association. Mark emphasized that we are extremely fortunate to have Denise Seiz as our Treasurer. Denise thanked Mark for his kind words and stated that we have a Finance and Audit Committee that works very hard, and she is honored to be a part of it and serve as Treasurer of this association.

Denise began her presentation to the attendees by announcing that she is excited to share some positive financial reports but before getting into the numbers she wanted to give a few comments. Over the past few years as a result of the pandemic, our association was presented with some unique challenges. The good news is that she is happy to report that even with those unanticipated challenges, this association is financially sound. In fact, under the direction of our Executive Director Jay Winborn, the NCHA Officers and an incredibly talented Executive Committee and Finance Committee, this association through challenging times made great strides financially and operationally to better serve our membership. Specifically, the Finance Committee has worked hard on three things. • First to improve our financial transparency, to maintain adequate reserves and develop the framework in which accurate financial data could be used in the management of the day-today operations. These efforts supported by the EC, Finance Committee and the

Executive Director have led to monthly financial reports that are shared with the department heads and any significant variances from budget is investigated

•Second the Stallion Foal Program funds have been separated and they now have their own checking account along with investment fund account to manage appropriately. Each month the Chair and Vice Chair of the Stallion Foal Committee are provided reconciliation reports of the checking account, investment portfolio, foal nomination reports and lastly stallion subscription reports for complete transparency.

•Third and most importantly given the status of our economy, the Finance Committee and the Chair and Vice Chair of the Stallion Foal Committee meet with our investment advisors (Frost Bank) on at least a quarterly basis to review the performance of our investment portfolios, current market conditions and advisors forecast of things that need to be considered. This summarizes a quick overview of the accomplishments, procedures and policies that NCHA has in place to secure the financial well-being of our association.

National Cutting Horse Association Statement of Financial Position September 30, 2021

ASSETS Cash & Investments $12,299,539 Stallion Foal Cash & Investments 3,198,628 Accounts Receivable, net 1,558,184 Property & Equipment, net 1,450,518 Prepaid Expenses 423,438 TOTAL ASSETS $18,930,307 LIABILITIES Deferred Event & Sponsor Revenue $4,382,807 Deferred Stallion Foal Program Revenue 2,959,400 Accounts Payable & Accrued Expenses 637,484 Deferred Membership Revenue 256,007 TOTAL LIABILITIES $8,235,698

NET ASSETS Undesignated $7,598,053 Board designated for Youth Program 399,125 Net Income 2,697,431 TOTAL NET ASSETS $10,694,609 TOTAL LIABILITIES & NET ASSETS $18,930,307

REVENUE: Shows & related activities ,050,241 Affiliates & Independent Producers activities 1,430,825 Promotion & development 1,255,152 Investment income, net 1,016,043 Member services 734,687 Other 43,668 TOTAL REVENUE $23,530,616

EXPENSE: Shows & related activities $18,248,987 General Administrative 2,793,793 Promotion & developmen 1,061,213 Member services 747,874 TOTAL EXPENSE $22,806,867 Net Income before MERP reimbursement $723,749 MERP reimbursement $1,973,682 Net Income after MERP reimbursement $2,697,431

National Cutting Horse Association Statement of Financial Position As of April 30, 2022

ASSETS Cash & Investments $12,847,792 Stallion Foal Cash & Investments 3,137,967 Accounts Receivable, net 2,714,892 Property & Equipment, net 1,424,582 Prepaid Expenses 246,792 TOTAL ASSET $20,372,025

LIABILITIES Deferred Event & Sponsor Revenue $3,362,252 Deferred Stallion Foal Program Revenue 3,008,300 Accounts Payable & Accrued Expenses 830,117 Deferred Membership Revenue 230,314 TOTAL LIABILITIES $7,430,983

NET ASSETS Undesignated $10,295,484 Board designated for Youth Program 399,125 Net Income 2,246,434 TOTAL NET ASSETS $12,941,043 TOTAL LIABILITIES & NET ASSETS $20,372,025 REVENUE: Shows & related activities $14,630,411 Affiliates & Independent Producers activities 960,276 Promotion & development 702,712 Investment income, net 202,396 Member services 625,028 Other 107,819 TOTAL REVENUE $17,235,503

EXPENSE:

Shows & related activities $13,654,976 General Administrative 1,868,506 Promotion & development 585,067 Member services 437,529 TOTAL EXPENSE $16,364,078

Net Income before MERP reimbursement $871,425 MERP reimbursement 1,375,009 Net Income after MERP reimbursement $2,246,434 Denise is proud of how well the accounting department is running now and working together.

NEW BUSINESS

At this time, there is no new business to bring before the Board of Directors for discussion.

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business, MOTION was made by Frank Merrill and SECONDED by Casey Green to adjourn the meeting. The Board of Directors will reconvene on Sunday morning at 9:00am on June 5, 2022.

NCHA ANNUAL BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2nd SESSION MEETING MINUTES

JUNE 5, 2022 MARRIOTT AT CHAMPIONS CIRCLE – FORT WORTH, TX

The second session of the 2022 NCHA Annual Board of Directors meeting was held at 9:00am on Sunday, June 5, 2022 at the Marriott at Champions Circle located in Fort Worth, Texas.

President Ora Diehl called the meeting to order at 9:04am central standard time.

Roll was called with a quorum of 109 Board of Directors in attendance including:

Region I: Western/Central Canada – Connie Down-Cicoria and Sandy Reid; Colorado – Nathan Miller, Ron Pietrafeso and Bob Tragemba; Idaho – Denise Shewmaker; Oregon – Marcea DeGregorio and T. Scott Tullis; Washington & Alaska – Holly Jones and Dean Rebhuhn; Wyoming – Kristen York Region II: Arizona – Sherry Cowan, Joe Kalt, Tim Smith and Mike Wood; California & Hawaii – Phil Benadum, Kathy Cardon, Tim Castilaw, Rock Hedlund, Fiina Ugrin Jolley and Suzanne Rodoni-Silverberg; Nevada – Theresa Gillock

Region IV: Indiana – Byron Green; Kentucky – Randy Mesalam; Michigan – Dan Agnew; Ohio – Jeff Brown, John Lavelle and Chuck Smith; New England (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT) NY, NJ & PA – Marty Miller, Bill Stein and Jack Werner; Virginia, West Virginia, D.C., Maryland & Delaware – Roy Bauer and Jim Johnson; Eastern Canada – Eric Van Boekel Region V: Alabama – Andrew Sligh; Florida – Josh Deason, Ora Diehl, Bill Kidd, Sandra Lines and Sharon Overstreet; Georgia – John Hulsey, Nate Pettit and Mark Senn; North Carolina – Garry Merritt and Barnwell Ramsey; South Carolina – Tracy Barton; Tennessee – Maben Thompson

Region VI: Arkansas – Diana Cunningham, Toddy Pitard, Tommy Williams and Lewis Wray; Texas East – Johnny Bates, Bradey Davis, Jan Gandy, Cynthia Patty and Michael Wood; Louisiana – Robert Charles Brown, Elizabeth Quirk and Bruce Richerson

Region VII: New Mexico – Leslie Graor and Richard Hicks; Texas South – James Davison, Jimmy Eakin, Scott Ferguson, Bobby Hunt, Janice Little, Hydie McAlister and Jane Mancuso; Texas West – Cheryl Callis, Sherry Graham, Skip Jones and Steve Smith

Region VIII: Oklahoma – Cara Brewer, Jody Galyean, Kathleen Moore, Ty Moore, Bill Riddle and Brad Wilson; Texas North – Jeremy Barwick, Sharon Beach, Lindy Burch, Jo Ellard, Matt Gaines, Casey Green, Leon Harrel, Cody Hedlund, Tom Lyons, Susan McBryde, Frank Merrill, Matt Miller, Ken Mock, Bruce Morine, Rick Mowery, Lachlan Perks, Dan Popeck, Phil Rapp, Ben Roberson, Corrie Rousey, Ted Sokol, Chubby Turner and Bronc Willoughby

Absent were the following:

Region II: Arizona – David Costello; California & Hawaii – Bob Adams, Norm Clark, Rick Corso, Morgan Cromer, Bernie Talbot, Carol Ward and Stan Williams Jr.; Nevada – John Echeverria

Region IV: Indiana – Andrew Larsen; Michigan – Crystal DeWitt; Ohio – Steve Duff; European Directors (Waived) – Josef Bachmeier, Jana Kucerova, Martin Parage, Denis Pini and Sergio Traverso

Region V: Alabama – Julie Beasley, Brenda Burns and James Hooper; Florida – Pam Scott; South Carolina – Ric Rumble; Tennessee – Barbara Brooks and Zeke Entz

Region VI: Texas East – Punk Carter; Louisiana – Gwen Coie, Keith Deaville, Edley Hixson, Jr. and Chris Thibodeaux; Mississippi – William Cole, Taylor Flowers and Don McGraw

Region VII: Texas South – Frank Bowen, Burt Bull, Mike Mowery, Harrison Perrin and Sam Wilson; Texas West – Josh King Region VIII: Oklahoma – Lloyd Cox and James Payne; Texas North – Clint Allen, Chris Benedict, R.L. Chartier, Dennie Dunn, Gavin Jordan, Jim Milner, Steve Oehlhof, Tarin Rice, Tatum Rice and Jonathan Rogers President Ora Diehl opened by moving the meeting to the first order of business, addressing the proposed bylaw changes. These three (3) proposed bylaw changes were noticed to all the Board of Directors by way of email on May 2, 2022.

PROPOSED BYLAW CHANGES

PROPOSED BYLAW CHANGE #1

Article V – EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Section One. There shall be an Executive Committee composed of the President, the President-Elect, the Vice President and such Regional Directors as described herein.and at-large members as described herein as shall be elected from among the Directors and the Life Directors. The President, President- Elect and Vice President shall each serve on the Executive Committee during their respective terms of office.

(a) Beginning with the June 1998 meeting of the Board of Directors, the Association shall phase in a revised system for the election of the Executive Committee which shall endeavor to promote diverse geographical representation on the Executive Committee. At that time, the Association shall establish eight geographically based Regions of approximately equal membership, from which certain members of the Executive Committee shall be elected. The revised Executive Committee Election process incorporating regional representation shall be phased in over a three-year period. At the completion of such phase in period, tThe Executive Committee shall thenceforth consist of fourteen members and shall be composed as follows:

(i) eight Regional Directors consisting of one Regional Director from each Region, each of whom shall have been nominated and elected by the Directors residing in such region from among the eligible Directors and Life Directors residing in such Region; (ii) three executive officers, consisting of the President, President-Elect and Vice President; and (iii) all at large members elected to serve on the Executive Committee at or prior to the June 2022 Convention shall serve out the remainder of their existing three year terms. No at large members shall be elected to the Executive Committee after the June 2022 Convention.three at-large members, each of whom shall have been nominated and among the Directors and Life Directors.No at-large members will serve on the Executive Committee after June 2025.

(d) Because of the staggered terms of membership on the Executive Committee, the election system shall work as follows:

(i) Commencing with the June 2003 annual meeting of the Board of Directors and thereafter, all at-large members and Regional Directors shall rotate off the Executive Committee as their respective three-year terms shall expire. Upon the expiration of their respective terms, each at-large member shall be replaced by an at-large member, and each Regional Director shall be replaced by a Regional Director elected from that same Region. Each at- large member and each Regional Director so elected shall receive a three-year term.

(ii) At each annual meeting of the Board of Directors thereafter, the Board of Directors shall elect as many members of the Executive Committee as shall be necessary to fill the expiring terms.

(e) Except as otherwise provided herein, all at-large members and Regional Directors who are elected to the Executive Committee shall serve on the Executive Committee for staggered three-year terms. Elections to fill all ordinary vacancies of at-large members of the Executive Committee shall be by the Directors and the Life Directors and shall be held at the annual meeting of Directors.

(i) Nominees for all at-large members must complete an At-Large Nominee application form and return the completed form to the Executive Director by March 1 in order to be eligible for the At- Large Election. A digital picture should accompany the application for website posting, if possible. Distribution to Directors of the completed applicant form should take place by April 15 either by posting on the NCHA website or by email to the Directors. Voting for the at-large members at the annual meeting of Directors will be by show of hands or written ballot as determined by the President. Those nominees receiving the highest number of votes from the Directors and the Life Directors shall become the new at-large members of the Executive Committee.

A MOTION was made by Ron Pietrafeso and SECONDED by Lewis Wray to adopt this proposed bylaw change as presented. After discussion, a vote on the Motion was taken. MOTIONFAILED.

PROPOSED BYLAW CHANGE #2

(iii) During their term of service, any member of the Executive Committee who misses two consecutive meetings of the Executive Committee shall be immediately terminated as a member of the Executive Committee unless the Executive Committee member has been granted an excused absence with respect to any such meeting by the President. The President may grant for illness or other emergency or other good cause, as determined in the President’s sole discretion. In no event may a person be elected to serve as a member of the Executive Committee for more than two consecutive three-year terms, or for more than eight consecutive years. However, this section does not prevent a member from serving past the eight consecutive year mark if such additional years of service are to serve as an elected officer of the Association.

A MOTION was made by Frank Merrill and SECONDED by Sharon Beach to accept the proposed bylaw change as presented. After discussion, a vote on the Motion was taken. MOTION PASSED.

Section Two. Any Executive Committee member who was elected to the Executive Committee as a Regional Director or an at-large member and who is then elected to the office of President, President-Elect or Vice President of the Association shall, upon assuming such office, be deemed to have vacated their Executive Committee position as a Regional Director or at-large member. The unexpired term of the vacated Executive Committee position shall be filled pursuant to an election conducted in accordance with Section One (e) of this Article V.

PROPOSED BYLAW CHANGE #3

Article VI – OFFICERS AND DUTIES

Section One. There shall be three elected officers of the Association: The President, President-Elect, and Vice President. Such officers shall be elected as follows:

(a) Prior to each annual meeting of the members, a Nominating Committee consisting of eight members shall be appointed by the Executive Committee for purposes of electing a Vice President. Four members of the nominating committee shall be from the Executive Committee. Four members of the Nominating Committee shall be from the Board of Directors, each of whom shall be from a different director district, and no more than two of whom may be from the same region. The Nominating Committee shall elect a chair for among its members. The Nominating Committee shall meet at least 120 days prior to each annual meeting of the members of the Association and shall nominate two candidates at least 60 days prior to each annual meeting for the office of Vice President. The candidates nominated for the office of Vice President must have been a member in good standing continuously, without suspension or probation, for a period of seven 7 years prior to nomination. The candidates must have completed three 3 years of continuous service as a director of the Association on or before the date of assuming the office of Vice President or have served as a member of a Standing Committee for three 3 continuous years within 10 years of nomination. In determining the nominees for the office of Vice President the Nominating Committee shall solicit recommendations from the Board of Directors. The Vice President shall be elected to a one-year term. A MOTION was made by Frank Merrill and SECONDED by Lachlan Perks to accept this proposed bylaw change as presented. After discussion, a vote on the Motion was taken. MOTION PASSED.

UNFINISHED BUSINESS

At this time, there was no unfinished business from the Board of Directors 1st Session Meeting that was held at 5:30pm on Friday, June 2, 2022 to discuss.

AT LARGE ELECTION

President-Elect Ted Sokol asked the candidates running for the 2022 open At Large position to give their final statements before this position is voted on. Candidates came up in order of Cara Brewer and Ora Diehl (candidate Rick Mowery previously withdrew his candidacy). Ballots were distributed during the initial roll call and collected by staff once votes were casted. Votes were calculated by members of the Executive Committee overseen by the NCHA Officers.

Our new 2022 At Large Executive Committee Member elected was Cara Brewer out of Jay, OK in Region VIII.

NCHA FOUNDATION

NCHA Foundation Director Julia Buswold addressed the Board of Directors with updates from the Foundation. Julia started off by introducing the current members of the trustees which include Joey Milner, Jo Ellard, Frank Merrill, Charlie Israel, Dr. Glenn Blodgett and Lachlan Perks. The Executive Committee recently ratified a newly chosen candidate, Dustin Ewing to join these trustees and serve the NCHA Foundation.

The mission of the NCHA Foundation is to serve the National Cutting Horse Association and its members through the areas of focus below:

• • • • Youth Scholarships and Programs Historical Preservation Education and Promotion Animal Welfare and Research

Foundation currently has two (2) grant cycles that is open for submittals and consideration which are March 15th and September 15th each year. An explanation was offered on how funds can be awarded through this grant process. The Foundation budgets annually and follows the Foundation’s spending rule from the investment account of 3.5-5.0% annually to support the areas of focus for the Foundation. The NCHA Foundation is healthy and currently valued at $4.6M with most of the funds being made up of restricted funds and $1.2 million in restricted youth scholarship funds which have been awarded. After the annual breakdown of funds which are available for consideration to utilize, it is around $130K-150K to support the tenants or areas of focus. This typically breaks out to roughly $100K for youth programs and scholarships and $10-$12K each annually for the remaining three areas of focus. If you have any questions with regards to this breakdown or spending rule, please feel free to contact Julia Buswold for further explanation. Goal is to provide support and funding to the members of the NCHA for generations to come so spending rules are strict and guidelines are followed.

Since 2019, the Foundation has committed over $415K in support to the Youth. These funds are outside of the money in the scholarship investment account that the youth has already earned. Youth & Scholarships are currently the Foundation’s largest area of focus. Scholarships can be used towards any educational institution or possible skill/trade program that would advance their education and future. This past year alone, the Foundation has supported our Youth in the amount of $85K towards these efforts. Julia asked for a round of applause for the trustees as they approved disbursement of these funds. The Foundation officially announced the Lonnie and Barbara Allsup Fund endowment which will support the NCHA Foundation Merit-Scholarship program. The endowment allows for a $5K scholarship annually to go to the first place merit scholarship recipient. Foundation is honored to partner and continue with Barbara Allsup on this scholarship project for years to come. As a reminder, youth can access their scholarships accounts online through the portal to review funds available and all scholarship payment requests must be made through this system. Funds are only distributed directly to the educational or trade institute. Youth has until they age out at 25 years to utilize scholarships earned.

As most of you know the Foundation works hard on historical preservation and with this being the 75th anniversary they are scanning to preserve all the archives at 260 Bailey and the library files in Fort Worth. This effort is a work in progress over the past two years and so far have made it through the “L” files alphabetically. We want to recognize the Dogwood Foundation for putting in a grant to help staff an intern to assist with these efforts. The Animal Welfare and Research tenant is currently working on accessing several projects. Dr. Glenn Blodgett is Chairman of this tenant. The past few years, the Foundation has supported over $30K for animal welfare crisis funding due to floods and fires. Please spread the word of those in need that there are funds available through The Foundation for the Horse.

Foundation’s Education and Promotion, this focus is where you will see the most public activity. Last year during the Futurity, the Foundation raised over $420K at their cattle sale and with much excitement and new ranch donations this Western Heritage event is scheduled again for this year on Wednesday, December 7th, at River Ranch so mark your calendars to attend.

As many witnessed at the Members Hall of Fame Gala, it was important for the Foundation to take on the project of designing and offering a unique Members Hall of Fame pin that honors and recognizes all current and past inductees In closing, the Foundation was able to present “The Cut” this year as this project has been five years in the making but excited to show and share the streamline access which is forthcoming.

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business, MOTION was made by Jim Johnson and SECONDED by Marty Miller to adjourn the Board of Directors meeting and move into the General Membership Meeting.

MOTION PASSED

NCHA ANNUAL GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES

JUNE 5, 2022 MARRIOTT AT CHAMPIONS CIRCLE – FORT WORTH, TX

The 2022 NCHA General Membership meeting was held at 10:30am on Sunday, June 5, 2022 at the Marriott at Champions Circle located in Fort Worth, Texas.

President Ora Diehl called the meeting to order and invited Executive Director Jay Winborn to the podium to lead the meeting on the next agenda item.

Executive Director Jay Winborn welcomed the members in attendance, Jay stated that he had the pleasure to be a part of honoring the inductees of the Members Hall of Fame at last night’s gala event. He expressed a thanks to all those involved in making it such a special evening. It was inspiring to hear each inductee share their experience of what cutting means to them. We were fortunate enough to welcome Taylor Sheridan as our keynote speaker. Taylor said several things that stuck in Jay’s mind but one that resonated the most was when Taylor mentioned, “there is not a better event that has a better product than the cutting horse.” This is a true testament to all who are involved in the great sport of cutting. The world has been a different place the past few years, not only have we incurred a multi-year worldwide pandemic we are now faced with rising costs of every aspect of our lives. Many of you in attendance are show producers and have intimately felt the rising costs to produce a show, others of you in this room are trainers, owners and competitors all of whom have also felt the rising costs of participating in this sport we all love. As an organization, our goals are multi-faceted, we need to focus on ability to maintain fair and equitable entry fee structures for our participants, we need to focus on the ability to produce and manage our shows according to schedules and spaces that best suit our needs and the needs of our equine athletes and most importantly we need to focus on the sustainability of this unique sport of cutting for future generations. To quote Taylor Sheridan again, “if you are focused on the past when dealing with the present, you have no future.” To that end, the Executive Committee and I have been actively working on a partnership for the past several months that is interested in helping the NCHA achieve all the goals that Jay just mentioned. It gives Jay great pleasure to welcome Mayor Paul Paschall of Weatherford, Texas, the Weatherford City Manager James Hotopp and Trent Petty of Petty & Associates, a consultant for economic development and project management services to present an eyeopening opportunity for the National Cutting Horse Association to relocate its operations to Weatherford, Texas. As these concepts are preliminary the City of Weatherford is supportive and eager to continue discussions. Jay and the officers thanked the guest speakers of Weatherford, Texas for taking the time to come out and present these conceptual plans to the membership for consideration.

PROOF OF DUE NOTICE

President Ora Diehl provided the proof of due notice of this meeting that was emailed to all members on May 2, 2022, and also appeared in The Cutting Horse Chatter, Spring Issue of 2022.

DISPOSAL OF MINUTES

A MOTION was made by Ted Sokol and SECONDED by Lachlan Perks to accept the minutes from (Annual Meeting of the Board of Directors – August 2, 2021) that appeared in The Cutting Horse Chatter, October Issue of 2021.MOTION PASSED.

PROPOSED BYLAW CHANGES

The following three (3) proposed bylaw changes were proposed by the NCHA Governance Committee and duly noticed to all the Members in accordance with NCHA Rules on May 2, 2022.

PROPOSED BYLAW CHANGES #1

Article V – EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

(ii) three executive officers, consisting of the President, President-Elect and Vice President; and

(iii) all at large members elected to serve on the Executive Committee at or prior to the June 2022 Convention shall serve out the remainder of their existing three year terms. No at large members shall be elected to the Executive Committee after the June 2022 Convention.three at-large members, each of whom shall have been nominated and among the Directors and Life Directors.No at-large members will serve on the Executive Committee after June 2025.

(d) Because of the staggered terms of membership on the Executive Committee, the election system shall work as follows:

(ii) At each annual meeting of the Board of Directors thereafter, the Board of Directors shall elect as many members of the Executive Committee as shall be necessary to fill the expiring terms.

Due to some procedural confusion concerning whether this proposed Bylaw change should be considered since it was not approved by the directors, this proposed Bylaw change was not presented to the membership for a vote. (See minutes of Special Meeting of Members dated August 5, 2022.)

PROPOSED BYLAW CHANGE #2

A MOTION was made by David Pilcher and SECONDED by Tracy Barton to accept the proposed bylaw change as presented. After discussion, the Motion was voted on. MOTION PASSED.

PROPOSED BYLAW CHANGE #3

Article VI – OFFICERS AND DUTIES

Section One. There shall be three elected officers of the Association: The President, President-Elect, and Vice President. Such officers shall be elected as follows:

(b) Prior to each annual meeting of the members, a Nominating Committee consisting of eight members shall be appointed by the Executive Committee for purposes of electing a Vice President. Four members of the nominating committee shall be from the Executive Committee. Four members of the Nominating Committee shall be from the Board of Directors, each of whom shall be from a different director district, and no more than two of whom may be from the same region. The Nominating Committee shall elect a chair for among its members. The Nominating Committee shall meet at least 120 days prior to each annual meeting of the members of the Association and shall nominate two candidates at least 60 days prior to each annual meeting for the office of Vice President. The candidates nominated for the office of Vice President must have been a

member in good standing continuously, without suspension or probation, for a period of seven 7 years prior to nomination. The candidates must have completed three 3 years of continuous service as a director of the Association on or before the date of assuming the office of Vice President or have served as a member of a Standing Committee for three 3 continuous years within 10 years of nomination. In determining the nominees for the office of Vice President the Nominating Committee shall solicit recommendations from the Board of Directors. The Vice President shall be elected to a one-year term.

A MOTION was made by Mike Wood and SECONDED by David Pilcher to accept the proposed bylaw change as presented. After discussion, the Motion was voted on. MOTION PASSED.

STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS

The residing chairman from each of the NCHA Standing Committees gave a report on their committees meeting and recommendations from the Convention. These recommendations will be reviewed and considered for approval at the next Executive Committee meeting which will take place in the month of August.

1. Finance and Audit Committee – Mark

Senn (former Chairman) 2. Affiliate Officers/Secretaries Committee – Jack Werner (interim Chairman at

Convention) 3. Amateur Committee – Barnwell

Ramsey (Vice Chairman) 4. Cattle Committee – Bronc Willoughby (NCHA Cattle Manager) 5. Judges Rules Committee – Tim Smith 6. Non-Professional Committee – Sherry

Graham 7. Professional Trainers Committee – Cara

Brewer 8. Stallion Owners & Breeders Committee – Suzi Rodoni-Silverberg 9. Approved LAE Show Producers

Committee – Coleta Rosson 10. Weekend Show Committee – Bradey

Davis 11. Governance Committee – Dan Agnew 12. Growth and Development Committee –

Dean Rebhuhn 13. Limited Age Events Committee –

Shianne Megel (NCHA Director of

Shows) 14. Youth Committee – Kristen York (Vice Chairman)

NEW EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS & OFFICERS FOR 2022-2023

•At-Large Member – Cara Brewer • Region IV – John Lavelle • Region V – Sharon Overstreet • Region VIII – Kathleen Moore • Vice President – Mark Senn • President-Elect – Toddy Pitard • President – Ted Sokol

RECOGNITION OF OUTGOING EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEMBERS

President Ora Diehl recognized the outgoing members of the Executive Committee whose terms expired. She thanked them for their extended efforts and dedication to serving their regions on the Executive Committee and the NCHA. Byron Green, Matt Miller, and Tatum Rice (absent) were presented with a personalized GIST buckle set as a token of our appreciation.

75th ANNIVERSARY

President Ora Diehl presented a challenge to the membership last fall for members to submit a statement about what they think the Founding Father’s would say about the current NCHA. Prize for the winner selected anonymously by the Executive Committee would be a 75th Anniversary saddle awarded at the annual convention. Out of 37 comments submitted, the winner of the 75th Anniversary saddle on display at the annual convention is Jeremy Barwick, a Director out of Region VIII. You can read Jeremy’s message submitted below:

In the early years, Ray Smyth let us know that a horse could be bought for $40. We can only imagine the conversation that could take place if Mr. Smyth were to meet with Mr. Billy Wolf who would share a story about his outstanding mare WOOD SHE BE MAGIC which sold for $1,050,000 in 2020. Today’s sires’ offspring account for tens of millions of dollars in earnings. With advancing breeding techniques, NCHA members have raised the standard for cutting horses and have added value to these remarkable athletes. The history helps us become who we are and helps us evolve into who we want to be but never lets us forget.

OUTGOING PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

President Ora Diehl addressed the members of the association with a moving outgoing message. It’s now time for Ora to say goodbye. As Ora reflected back, she emphasized that she was thankful and grateful for her family and friends that have supported her along this journey and shared her well but most of all with a crackling voice for the unconditional love of her husband Frank to stand by her side the entire way. She could highlight all the accomplishments this Executive Committee has made over the past year but focused on the great job that NCHA did with the hiring of Jay Winborn. Strong leadership in our Executive Director has allowed the Executive Committee to stand down and allow Jay to manage the day-to-day operations. Not only did we survive the global pandemic, but our lively hoods depend on our association and getting back to showing as soon as we did was a proven exhibition of the quality leader and supportive staff that we have at 260 Bailey. Ora highlighted and recognized some achievements at the office with our membership department that is thriving with at least 30% retainage of our free memberships, our IT is working daily on the improvements and implementation to balance and utilize the data in HUB, our Foundation is doing a great job on supporting our Youth, the judges department is on a way to being the best in the industry, and Ora can’t express how proud she is with the processes and procedures that are in place with a well-run accounting department. The budgeting is better and allows the department heads access to an accurate tool to be held accountable, our show department managing the triple crowns in the black instead of in the red, the Stallion Foal program running independently and the weekend shows moving forward with the success of the National Circuit Program. The growth and participation of our affiliates is extremely encouraging right now and that is where generations are born being taught the culture and ways of the western lifestyle. In closing, today and tomorrow and for the years to come, Ora will treasure the times spent with all of you and she is sincerely grateful that we are all a part of each other’s worlds.

INCOMING PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Incoming President Ted Sokol commented that coming in behind Ora will be a hard seat to follow. Ted expressed thanks to the members and directors present that took the time, the money and the energy to attend the convention. It is greatly appreciated by himself and the rest of the officers and Executive Committee behind him. For the past two years, Ted has had the privilege of working with Steve Norris, Ora Diehl and Jay Winborn and he feels really great with this association moving forward. There is consistency and he sees more and more in our future. To all the Past Presidents that offered their condolences, he thanks you. Ted hopes to survive it just like they have. Thanks to all and let’s get ready to rock and roll.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S REPORT

Executive Director Jay Winborn addressed the members with a little bit of a retrospective of some of the things that have not been able to be discussed. A lot of the things that Ora said you will find mirrored in my report. That is just a small testament to the kind of working relationship that we had together, and it has been fantastic. Jay looks forward to the same opportunity with Ted, Toddy and Mark. This Executive Committee we have in place is aligned right now and when Jay first got here it was very fragmented. The past three years have been a little bit of a challenge. Right after being hired, we had to deal with a global pandemic and Jay was forced to change the way he planned to run this association. NCHA carried the torch for the other equine associations by being able to have a horse show in Will Rogers when everything was shut down. Jay has worked hard to make some necessary changes to the staff and with our accounting on the procedures they follow. Jay is happy to report that the accounting department is functioning at its highest level and everyone can see the high level of improvement in that area. It was priority number one for Jay to get that straightened out while the pandemonium was going on and he did not have a grow map and he did not have an accurate feel for what money we had and where we needed to cut to be able to grow in certain areas. These changes have allowed the association for the first time in many years to operate independently of the MERP program. When Jay started, he was handed a National Circuit Program that had been worked on for three years. Jay was pleased to be able to get that off the ground and running in six months with the help of a staff member Joshua Valdez. Jay wanted to give a shout out to Josh as he was instrumental in getting that program off the ground unfortunately is no longer with us on his own terms.

With the help of Jeremy Barwick of Western Bloodstock with horse sales and a great functioning finance committee we have been able to put money into our Futurity purse. Jay’s hope is to repeat that for all our shows. Jay also expressed his appreciation to Shianne Megel and the show department for the outstanding job they do for us each day. Allowing our employees to handle the aspects of their job has been the groundwork of our success.

Now that the finances are more secure, Jay will direct his attention to some major initiatives in the judging and the cattle for our shows. Jay’s goal is to have the best judges program in the equine industry and after the judges rules meeting at this convention, a renewed focus has been made to concentrate on accountability, education and the cultivation of new judges to grow our program. Jay encouraged all listening that if they or anyone they knew had an interest in judging to please contact the judges department to get certified. There are great challenges with securing cattle due to the rising costs of fuel and transportation, but this is not an area that Jay will let slide, he is determined to maintain the best cattle he can for our shows at an affordable cost for the NCHA.

In the months to come, you will see an improved state of our marketing and communications department. This area has been underserved in the past 24 months partly because of the pandemic and staffing changes. Jay has maintained control of this department as he wants to guide it over the next 12 to 24 months and will continue work closely with this group until he feels it can stand on its own. Plan is to better communicate with our memberships but to communicate and attract new members and sponsors as well.

Jay has spoken many a time about where we are in time and the attraction to our lifestyles. We must capture the hearts and minds of every individual to share our great sport of cutting and what we have to offer. That includes riding to the herd. We must do a better job of engaging our members and we will. Jay is very different than what most of our members are used to but it is what we need at this time for our success. The time is now, we must cease the day Jay believes in empowering his people and holding them accountable and not micromanaging them. We need to step outside of our box and look at ourselves with a different set of eyes on what our draw is. Only now are we starting to understand what it took to begin this association and attract people to it. And we need to learn how to apply that to this modern age. To boil it down, it is simple common-sense management and that is what Jay applies when our members tell us what we need to do, do not over complicate it. Keep our rules effective adjusting them as needed and most of all try to not come across as restrictive. Take care of your people, our members, our sponsors, our staff and our contractors. Treat them with respect and let them do their job and most of all be welcoming to the new members.

Jay would like to take a minute to thank some of the people that have been instrumental in helping him on his journey so far. Again to his staff who are all fabulous and make working at NCHA a pleasure. All staff is important to the NCHA and the engine on what keeps us together. To the Executive Committee and all the other committees that provide guidance and direction, and appreciation for Ron, Steve and Ora who have been by his side.

In closing, Jay is extremely proud of our accomplishments, and he states our because it has been an undertaking by many to get us where we are today. He is proud to be here and what we have done in looks forward to serving you, the members as we move forward.

NEW BUSINESS

At this time, there was no new business to bring before the membership for discussion.

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business, MOTION was made by Frank Merrill and SECONDED by Matt Miller to adjourn the General Membership Meeting. MOTION PASSED.

NCHA SPECIAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING MINUTES

AUGUST 5, 2022 WILL ROGERS MEMORIAL CENTER – FORT WORTH, TX

The 2022 NCHA Special General Membership meeting was held, both in person and electronically, at 9:30am on Friday, August 5, 2022, at the Round Up Inn at Will Rogers Memorial Center located in Fort Worth, Texas.

President Ted Sokol called the meeting to order and proof of due notice of this meeting was given. Ted invited NCHA Legal Counsel Jim Morris to describe the three (3) proposed bylaw changes that would be considered, how each item would be presented, that all votes would be made electronically and when the members will be able to cast their votes.

In attendance, there were two (2) representatives from Data On The Spot (DOTS) that gave a quick tutorial on how to participate in the meeting and cast votes electronically. DOTS will also be monitoring the Zoom callers to be able to address anyone that raises a question throughout the meeting.

PROPOSED BYLAW CHANGE #1

Article V – EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Directors and Life Directors residing in such Region;

(ii) three executive officers, consisting of the President, President-Elect and Vice President; and

(d) Because of the staggered terms of membership on the Executive Committee, the election system shall work as follows:

(ii) At each annual meeting of the Board of Directors thereafter, the Board of Directors shall elect as many members of the Executive Committee as shall be necessary to fill the expiring terms.

(e) Except as otherwise provided herein, all at-large members and Regional Directors who are elected to the Executive Committee shall serve on the Executive Committee for staggered threeyear terms. Elections to fill all ordinary vacancies of at-large members of the Executive Committee shall be by the Directors and the Life Directors and shall be held at the annual meeting of Directors.

A MOTION was made by Whit Davis and SECONDED by Billy Emerson to adopt this proposed bylaw change as presented. Before this motion was called for a vote, a MOTION was made from the floor by Frank Merrill and SECONDED by Lindy Burch to no action and table this proposed bylaw change until the next annual meeting at the convention. After discussion, President Ted Sokol called for a vote on the Frank Merrill motion from the floor first.

MOTION made from the floor by Frank Merrill FAILED. (141 for / 167 against)

After additional discussion, voting was then taken on the initial MOTION made by Whit Davis to adopt the proposed bylaw change as presented. MOTION PASSED. (191 for / 134 against)

PROPOSED BYLAW CHANGE #2

PROPOSED BYLAW CHANGE #3

Article VI – OFFICERS AND DUTIES

Section One. There shall be three elected officers of the Association: The President, President-Elect, and Vice President. Such officers shall be elected as follows:

Proposed Bylaw changes #2 and #3 were previously approved by the Members at the June 5, 2022, Membership Meeting. A MOTION was made by Whit Davis and SECONDED by Billy Emerson to ratify the prior actions by the Membership to approve Bylaw changes #2 and #3 as presented. After discussion, a vote on the Motion was taken. MOTION PASSED.

(211 for / 10 against)

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business, MOTION was made by Whit Davis and SECONDED by Billy Emerson to adjourn the Special Membership Meeting. MOTION PASSED.