 | VHC
NEWSLETTER JANUARY 2003 |
| VHC
NEWSLETTER JANUARY 2003 |
|
Happy
2003! The Farm Show will be January 28 - 30. Chairman, Morris Lasell, is looking for gift certificate donations for the raffle, and for volunteers to man the booth. Contact Morris at 433-1344. Consider volunteering at the show, it's lots of fun. March 8th, UVM will be hosting their annual Horse Fair at the Spear St. barn. Starting at noon until 3pm, there will be demonstrations and venders. VHC has arranged for a table and now we need volunteers. Please call (728-9007) or email me (ldow@vermontlaw.edu) if you would like to help out. I urge you to come support the UVM Equine program and please stop by the VHC table to say "HI." UVM Equine Extension Agent Dr. Betsy Greene announced the VT Equine Summit IV will be March 29th in Burlington. When all details are confirmed we will send a News Flash with a registration form. Our annual membership meeting will follow the summit, starting at 3:30. Complete financial reports for 2002 will be available and the election of new officers will be held. Congratulations to our newsletter publisher, Virginia Lancaster. Virginia was named the GMHA Volunteer of the Year. 2002 was a great year for VHC and 2003 looks even better. The continuously growing membership is the driving force behind our successes. Thank you all for your support. Betsy Greene, the UVM Equine extension agent, is still collecting the 2002 EQUINE SURVEY. If you haven't done yours yet please do so and remind your fellow horse owners as well. We have the census on the VHC web page if you would like to print more copies. Sincerely,
During the October 27, 2002, directors meeting the VHC board proposed and approved an increase in the 2003 membership dues. The approved increases were to be from $12.00 to $15.00 for individual memberships, $15.00 to $20.00 for family, and $25.00 to $30.00 for farm. All others would remain the same. It was noted that the membership dues had not been increased since the early 90s, and it was agreed the increase was reasonable and necessary. Well, that's all well and fine, but by-laws are by-laws! After the holiday letter went out the board realized that a mistake had been made. The VHC by-laws state in section III - Membership Dues, "Dues for Senior, Junior, Family and Club memberships shall be determined by the general membership annually. So there it is; the board eats crow and the membership increases will be presented and voted on at the Annual Membership Meeting, March 29, 2003 Membership
Committee Report
If there are more out of state members than Vermont members in your county, start passing out membership applications to friends and family! 2002 was a proud year for the membership committee. When we started tracking the membership in January 2002, we had a left-over crowd of a dedicated 47 members. This year we ended 2002 with 128! I can't claim all the credit because I have been surrounded by people who have kept membership in mind while promoting their horses. VHC is strong again and we have been consistent for years in providing a quality service to horse owners. We should look forward to maintaining our current members and adding on throughout the year. Here are some ways we increased our membership: renewing members, Farm Show in January, Equine Summit III in March, Green Mountain Draft Horse Association Auction in May, the Fall Foliage Ride in September, and NEKET committee throughout 2002. Without these great committees and up-beat volunteers at these functions, VHC could not have come this far as it has even with meticulous paper work and annoying renewal notices! Speaking of renewal notices, our membership runs from January 1 through December 31. So, if you have not already paid your 2003 dues, please do so. You will only get your welcome packet if you renew for 2003. Our team is always thinking "what can we give our members" and in 2003 look forward to new welcome packets with VHC Bic pens and the much-anticipated barn safety audit. We will continue to field incoming emails regarding different interests and problems with horse owners. It's a great chance for our wide skills as a membership to help out-of-state trail riders and horse clubs at in-state events. Thank you for a wonderful year and we all look forward to a bigger and better 2003! Respectfully
Submitted, Terry Rose 2003
Election of Officers The 2003 nominating committee was appointed at the January 5th directors meeting. This years committee urges anyone interested in serving as an officer, or suggesting another member willing to serve, to call or email any committee member listed below. Election of new officers will take place at the annaul membership meeting on March 29th.
News
from the Treasurer We had a great 2002. Everyone has worked really hard in making VHC what it is today. All the time and effort that went into getting sponsorship for NEKET will help get it on its way, hopefully this spring. Way to go NEKET committee.
The Annual VHC Fall Foliage ride was a success. Job well done!! We had a 9% profit
increase from last years fall ride. We are looking for committee members for the 2003 Fall Foliage Ride. Anyone interested please contact me @ 802-438-6144 or via-email (SMcNeil@rrmc.org or Missr86@aol.com) by February 1st. New energy and ideas are welcome. The farm show has made the scholarship funds a profit every year. Way to sell those tickets Morris!!! This year besides the Cliff Murray & Floyd Fuller Memorial scholarship we plan to offer scholarships to 4H Horse Clinics. Our main expenses of the year were postage from large mailings, and this has certainly paid off. Any member that would like a copy of the financial reports can call me at 802-438-6144 or via-email SMcNeil@rrmc.org or Miss86@aol.com. These reports will be available at the annual meeting. Hope to see you there!! Sharon
McNeill
This past year updated pamphlets on 'Riding Safe and Smart' and 'Equestrian Helmets Save Heads' was redistributed. Special thanks goes to Susan McNeill in her hard work on the Trail Ride Equine Health Safety issues. Consequently, the ride went off without any troubles. The VHC Safety Committee has many goals and hopes for the upcoming year. We would like to get information and possibly a video on Road Safety into Driver Education courses throughout the state. This would include the Motor Vehicle Department, High Schools, police departments, truckers and other driver safety classes. Notices in newspapers and on radio for drivers to learn and understand horses sharing the roads is in early planning. Another possibility is to work towards a proclamation from the Governor of a Vermont Horse Safety week. We'd like to
ask for anyone interested in working on this committee to call me or any VHC officer.
These goals will require a lot of time and work, therefore we need more volunteers
to share the workload of what we'd like to accomplish this year.
Submitted by Robin Severy, VHC Safety Committee Chairman
In 1983 the VHC initiated the VHC Horseman and
Horsewoman of the year award. Cliff Murray, Marilyn Childs, Floyd Fuller, Thelma
Murray, Don Tobey and Mary Blades were some the first award winners. Those folks
still have a mighty reputation in the VT horse world. The VHC directors decided
it's time to start recognizing the top contributors the horse
The "Self-Guided Horse Facility Analysis" is complete and making its way around the country. Dr. Betsy Greene and Jan Dawson JD, co-authored this publication which found it's roots with the Vermont Horse Council. In 2001 Dr. Greene drafted a grant proposal to the VT Dept. of Agriculture on behalf of the council. September 2001 the "Lawsuit Avoidance" workshop was presented at UVM by Greene and Dawson, and the facility analysis sprang from there. Every new and renewing member of the VHC will receive a copy of this valuable resource in their 2003 membership packet. The unveiling presentation, in April 02, was at Cornell Unversity "Horses 2002" conference. In December of 2002 Dr. Greene presented the analysis during the annual meeting of the USEA, United States Eventing Association. The USEA is using the analysis as part of their instructor certification program as well. During January of 2003 Dr. Greene takes the program to the AYHC, American Youth horse Council, annual meeting in St. Louis, Missouri. There have been several presentations around Vermont, as well, with the "Evaluating Your Horse Business" workshops. Greene wrote an additional grant to fund publishing the booklets, this came from a Dept. of Ag. Risk Management Grant. If any member would like to obtain additional booklets contact Betsy Greene at UVM Ext. | |||||||||||