Minnesota Horse Council

MINNESOTA HORSE COUNCIL

ANNUAL MEETING MINUTES

JANUARY 17, 2009

Attendance: (Directors Present)

Tim Bonham, Glen Eaton, Dan Dolan, Teresa Hanson, Judy Jensen, Trina Joyce, Darrell Mead, Dawn Moore, Marian Robinson, Missie Schwartz, , Christie Ward, Mark Ward, Tom Tweeten, Lynn Wasson

(Directors Absent)

Laurie Slater, Sue McDonough, Tracy Turner

Welcome and Introductions – Dawn Moore

Invocation: Dick Lindeman
We Can Ride Inc.

DINNER

Opening statement – Dan Dolan

Meeting called to order at 7:46 p.m.

Treasurer’s Report – Tim Bonham

Please see annual financial summary report attached.
Motion by Mark Ward, seconded by Marian Robinson, to approve Treasure’s Report for the year 2008. Motion carried.

Approval of Minutes – 2007
Annual meeting minutes presented in printed from to attending Membership. Motion for approval by Glen Eaton, seconded by Mark Ward. Motion carried.

Secretary’s Report – Dawn Moore

There was another transition with the Administrative Assistant position in the year 2008. Andrea Dubay assumed the role of Administrative Assistant in June. This was the result of the unfortunate passing of Miriam Tschida in March. -2-

Committee Reports:

Minnesota Horse EXPO – Glen Eaton

The 2008 Minnesota Horse Expo was held April 25, 26, and 27 at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds in St. Paul, Minnesota. Through a strong northwest wind with snow and rain going side ways and the temperature in the upper 30’s and lower 40’s the General Public came to see the Clinicians, the 350 horses of over 50 different breeds and the 800 Vendor Booths. Keynote Clinicians were Chris Cox, Julie Goodnight, Katherine Thompson and Tommy Turvey. Many more local Clinicians were on hand to give speeches and demonstrations. Evidently Minnesotan’s and Upper Midwest West People are very hardy people because the attendance was down only slightly from 2007. We appreciate all of the Vendors, Horse Stall Renters, Clinicians, Demonstrators and the General Public that attended the 2008 Minnesota Horse Expo. PRCA Rodeo was held Friday and Saturday night with Sunday Afternoon Rodeo. Even with the weather we had a great Expo. It takes a lot of dedicated Directors and Staff to put the Expo together which it takes a least a year for each Expo. The Board of Directors and Staff for the 2008 Minnesota Horse Expo were Volunteer Chairperson - Missie Schwartz, Vice President and Program Editor – Linda Dahl, Treasure, Ticket & Sponsorship Chairperson – Brenda Miller, Rodeo Chairperson – Del Bauernfeind, Horse Rides, Children’s Area, and Carriage Rides – Laura Lyseng, Barn Manager, Parade of Breeds Chairperson – Darrell Mead, Secretary/Event Secretary – Jennifer Buskey, Legislative Chairpersons – Tracy Turner and Tom Tweeten, Attorney - Allison Eklund, President of the Minnesota Horse Council – Dan Dolan and Marketing, Clinician, and Scheduling Director – Mrs Kathy Juhl. Some Staff members have served since the first Expo in 1982 at the former Minneapolis Auditorium in downtown Minneapolis. Along with the Directors and Staff we have about 200 Volunteers that come on board each year at the event. Also I want to thank Mark Goodrich and his Staff for their help.

The 2009 Minnesota Horse Expo will be held April 24, 25, and 26th at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds. Keynote Clinicians booked at this time are Stacy Westfall, Craig Cameron, Susan Harris and Tom Lenz from the Unwanted Horse Coalition on Saturday only. Vendors Booths and Horse Stalls are being filled at this time and come Expo time all Vendor Booths and Stalls should be full. Of course we are looking for a great Expo and Attendance for 2009. SEE YOU THERE.

Trail Blazers – Darrell Mead

McCarthy Beach State park manages four State Forest camp grounds two of which are horse camps. Horse camps Togo and Stony Brook received a face lift with the addition of picket lines, hitching rails, and manure bunkers. The kiosks were also rebuilt for a total of $6,600.00 for the upgrades. Stony Brook Horse Campground is about fifteen mile north of Hibbing MN and Togo is 20 miles north of Nashwauk MN.

Seven Mile Creek Park, is a Nicollet County Park, where the picnic shelter was rebuilt closing in three sides with walls, ceiling and electricity for a total of $8,894.00.

Tamarac Horse Camp was the recipient of two major storms. Volunteers worked many hours to get the trails back in shape. A contractor has been hired to put gravel under the picket lines in the first two loops.

“We are here” signs have been posted at all major intersections on the trails. Hopefully this will encourage new riders to try the area.

Forestville State Park is the most heavily used horse camp in the state. 2009 will see a major project to build a day use area. Currently there is no official area for this. This is a $60,000 project of which $30,000 is from matching funds.

Funds have been budgeted for two solar pumps at camps that already have pumps but no electricity. The estimated cost of this project is $8,000.00.

Work parties are being organized for Cut Foot Souix and Tamarac Horse Camps this spring. Please contact Darrell Mead if you are interested in helping. ()

Within the DNR, parks, trails and waterways have merged into one organization. While the change is taking place the unit will be called Division of Parks and Trails.

The second year of Horse Trail Pass has seen a decline in revenue. This past year only $112,000.00 was collected. It has been reported there will be increased enforcement of this state policy. A decision has yet to be made what to do with the funds collected.

If you have any ideas for future projects please give me a call. Little or big, we can talk about it.

Direct Funding- Christie Ward

The Minnesota Direct Funding committee is pleased to offer small awards (up to$500) to a wide variety of deserving non-profit organizations throughout the state.

Examples of the type of projects we fund through this mechanism include clinics, improvements to horse facilities at county fairgrounds, and the purchase of items that will significantly enhance the services an organization can provide.

In 2008, the committee approved 10 Direct Funding requests from the following recipients:

Silver Spurs 4-H Club: $500; youth horsemanship clinic

Fillmore County 4-H Horse Project: $500; Lita Hottel clinic

Cottonwood County 4-H Horse Project: $500; horsemanship clinic

Steele County 4-H Horse Project: $500; horse camp

MN 4-H Horse Library: $500; purchase of a laptop to manage library inventory

Minnesota POA Club: $500; support for the Midwest Regional show in Winona

U of MN Horse Extension Program: $478; firefighter training in horse handling

Cass County Agricultural Society: $500; footing in Pillager Fairgrounds arena

We Can Ride: $350; specialized saddle pads for use with adaptive tack

MN LINC, Inc.: $350; purchase of a vaulting surcingle

The Minnesota Horse Council thanks these organizations for their valuable contributions to Minnesota’s horse and human communities. Please keep this program in mind if you know of deserving non-profit organizations with projects that could benefit from funding of up to $500. Additional information regarding project eligibility is available on the brand-new MN Horse Council website, and we accept new applications year-round: http://www.mnhorsecouncil.org/

d. Minnesota Horse Council Legislative Committee- Tom Tweeten PhD

Members of the Minnesota Congressional delegation with appointments to agriculture legislative committees were invited to attend the 2008 Minnesota Horse Expo. They included Representative John Kline, Senator Amy Klobuchar, and Senator Norm Colman. Also invited was Joe Martin, Assistant Minnesota Ag Commissioner. We will be preparing invitations that will be sent to both Minnesota Ag Commission personnel and Legislative delegates to attend the 2009 Minnesota Horse Expo.

Our committee invited David Fredrickson, Agriculture Outreach Director for Senator Klobuchar, to attend the 2008 States Horse Council Advisory Committee Annual Dinner hosted by the Minnesota Horse Council in Bloomington, MN this past November. This was an excellent opportunity for an advisor to a Minnesota US Senate member to interact with Horse Council Delegates from across the country attending the 2008 SHCAC Annual Meeting.

A position statement on Unwanted Horses was developed and approved by MHC Board’s at our May 2008 meeting. It is posted on the MHC website.

http://www.mnhorsecouncil.org/minnesota-horse-council-position-on-unwanted-horses.php

The Minnesota Horse Council was the first state horse council to become a member of the Unwanted Horse Coalition in 2008. Since then, the Wisconsin Horse Council has become the only other state horse council to join. The Minnesota Horse Council Board of Directors has proposed 2009 membership. We could use the input of the membership for their opinion on whether we should continue this membership.

Dr. Tom Lenz, Unwanted Horse Coalition Chairperson, is a featured speaker at the 2009 Minnesota Horse Expo in April.

At our July meeting a position statement on tax classification of property used for equine activity was prepared and approved. The Minnesota Horse Council feels that Minnesota law is quite clear. Land used for raising, training, riding or pasturing horses should remain classified as 'agricultural' for tax assessments. It is posted on the MHC website:

http://www.mnhorsecouncil.org/resolution-on-equine-property-tax-assessments.php

Members interested in learning more about legislative issues affecting horse owners across the country should frequently visit the American Horse Council website (http://horsecouncil.org/legislation.html). Ongoing national and state legislative issues include:

· Immigration and Temporary Worker Programs

· Unwanted Horses including Wild Horses and Burros.

· Horse Slaughter

· Horse Transportation

· NAIS (National Animal Identification System)

· Manure Management

· Internet Gambling

Individuals are encouraged to contact their state and national legislative representatives to express their concerns and opinions on issues affecting the horse industry.

e. Certified Stables – Presented by Marian Robinson prepared by Sue McDonough

Welcome to our newest Certified Stable “Rum River Equestrian Farm” in Princeton MN. It was a pleasure to meet the farm manager Susan Graves and hear the story behind the farm.

Rum River Equestrian Farm is owned by the “Sheriffs Youth Program of Minnesota” Rum River provides an equine experience for the children that are served by the Sheriffs Youth Program of Minnesota. It is a wonderful and very unique program.

Dan Dolan and Sue McDonough moderated a discussion about the Certified Stable Program at the “State Horse Council” meeting, which took place at the Bloomington Ramada Inn.

Lynn Wasson of Wasson Performance Horses, Judy Jensen of Center Pointe Stables and Missy Schwartz of Tucker Road Stables were the gracious panel participants. Thank you to all of them for doing such a great job. The feedback was all positive!

As the Chairperson for the Certified Stable Program Sue would like to also thank Dan Dolan for helping her moderate the discussion.

f. Disaster Response – Marian Robinson

A short update on Houston, MN. We helped them out with a load of hay to get them through the winter in 2007. This spring the rain just wouldn’t stop and their new spring crops were flooded. They were able to save some of the crops but they are still in need of help down there. Several generous people donated money so those hit hardest could find hay to buy and to rebuild the washed out fences.

In August, Carol and Rick Dobbelaire brought one of their horses to the Animal Disaster Coalition meeting in Golden Valley and for over an hour Carol gave us all a crash course on how to take care of a horse after it has been through a disaster: how to take a heart rate, temperature, how to bandage a leg, what colic is and its symptoms, how a horse sees and the dangers of approaching a horse wrong, etc. Dr. Mike helped out a little as well. Everyone thanked Carol and Rick for coming and how much they found out about horses that they didn’t know before.

The Republican Convention came to town on Labor Day weekend and what a mess it was with the protesters. They surrounded the building where I was volunteering with Homeland Security and we went into lockdown mode on the second day. We were able to see what was going on outside on the corner of the building (on a video screen) and the mounted posse and police were blocking Cedar so they couldn’t get to the door. The horses and riders had things thrown at them and one woman threw a huge plastic container at one of the horses. Some of the horses were getting a little agitated so the bigger horses blocked the protesters from getting at the horses taking a breather. Thank you big time.

The Hugo tornado came might close to some of the bigger boarding stables east of Hugo. Volunteers from our team called up these stables to see if they were ok. One stable reported the tornado came within a mile of their place and they were ok. Another stable had minor wind damage but were ok.

This past summer I had the chance to have a three day class at Homeland Security with the best Homeland Security teachers from the East coast. The last day was a tabletop exercise and we were told anything could happen. We did this just in case any other emergency came up during the RNC. The ones that went into the room behind closed doors ran the show. I was to handle any animal problems that come our way since I was representing all the animal agencies at that time.A friend told me he didn’t think there would be much for me to handle. Next thing you knew I got a phone call and somewhere in the state a turkey farm had been affected by a flooded river and they lost most of their turkeys and wanted to know what HLS could do about it. I went to the Dept. of Ag. Table and introduced myself. They had also gotten the same call. I was told after a short time that they weren’t going to do anything because they considered them dispensable animals. I was surprised to say the least. Next call I got was a possible threat during the RNC by a trucker letting loose a semi load of goats. Sure enough it happened…they called me back and said, “ Who do we call?” I surprised them with an immediate answer, “Call the Washington County Mounted Posse, and here is the name to get in touch with.” They repeated my answer in disbelief. Within fifteen minutes some of the posse members were able to arrive and were catching goats and putting them in a contained area that was provided for them. Later that day I emailed Laura, a member of that posse, and just couldn’t keep a smile off my face. She was laughing and “pleased” that they were able to help out. So I guess HSEM can count on us horse people to get the job done, no matter whether it involves horses, turkeys, or goats (imaginary or not).