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ASHA Names 2015 Officers And Executive Committee



At a meeting of the Board of Directors of the American Saddlebred Horse Association held on Saturday, January 17, 2015, in conjunction with the UPHA's Annual Convention at the Marriott Riverfront Hotel in Savannah, Ga., the Board announced election of the following officers for 2015:

President:  Bob Funkhouser (MA)
Vice President:  David Rudder (KY)
Secretary:  Stacey Kipper-Perrelli (CO)
Treasurer:  David Mount (KY)

The Board also elected the following three individuals to serve on the ASHA's Executive Committee for 2015, together with the above four officers:

Randy Cates (OK)
Elisabeth Goth (KY)
Tandy Patrick (KY)

At the annual meeting of the membership of the ASHA also held on Saturday, January 17, 2015, the following two ASHA members were elected to serve on the 2015 Nominating Committee for Directors:  Kristen Cater (NH) and Kim Cowart (NC).  ASHA Board members David Rudder (KY) and Kenny Wheeler (VA) were elected by the ASHA Board to serve on the Nominating Committee for Directors, and per the ASHA's Bylaws, Bret Day (KY) was appointed by the President to serve as Chair and the fifth member of this Committee.  The Board also elected Matt Shiflet and Sandra Currier to fill the two ASHA vacancies on the American Saddlebred Registry Board.

The annual membership meeting included an informative presentation by Fran Crumpler, Chair of the USEF Saddlebred Committee, regarding proposed USEF rule changes.  The membership voted in favor (653 for, 7 against, and 2 abstain) of a USEF rule change that has been proposed by the ASHA that requires riders, drivers and handlers of horses competing in the Saddlebred division of USEF shows to be members of the ASHA (in addition to owners and trainers of horses, which are already required to be members of the ASHA).  A total of 662 ASHA members were represented at the annual meeting, either in person or by proxy.

The ASHA Board elected the following three individuals to serve on the 2015 Nominating Committee for Officers: 

 David Mount (KY)
 Holly Nichols (LA)
 Matt Shiflet (NC)

All other ASHA Committees will be repopulated in 2015, and ad hoc Committees will be established, all of which will be announced in the near future.  Committee members must be members in good standing of the ASHA; each Committee includes at least one ASHA Board member, to serve as a liaison to the ASHA Board. Committee news and minutes will appear on the ASHA Web site from time to time throughout the year.

Outgoing President Tandy Patrick thanked the UPHA for permitting the ASHA to hold various ASHA meetings at the UPHA Convention, and noted that the ASHA was so pleased to have several UPHA members in attendance for the ASHA Marketing Committee presentation on Friday afternoon, as well as the ASHA annual awards luncheon on Saturday.

Incoming President Bob Funkhouser noted,  “I thought this was mutually beneficial to hold our annual meeting and awards luncheon in conjunction with the UPHA Convention. For 2015, I’m looking forward to continuing the ASHA’s marketing focus that began under Tandy’s leadership. Marketing of the American Saddlebred to the general public has been at the top of the list for a great number of members for many years and I know our entire Board is committed to making it happen.”

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