Patty Campbell has taken over the reins of the National Snaffle Bit Association as its 2013-14 president. She accepted the president’s gavel from Outgoing President Steve Thompson during the association’s annual meeting, held on Thursday, October 24, during the All American Quarter Horse Congress.
President Campbell noted that she is looking forward to the year ahead. “I want members to know that this is your association,” she said. “Speak with us about your needs and how we can serve you better. We all need to take ownership of the association.”
Among other goals, Campbell noted that she would like to build on the success and growth of the NSBA World Championship Show, continue to encourage growth in programs such as Smart Points and Riders With Disabilities and further strengthen the NSBA’s relationships with its alliance partners.
Outgoing President Steve Thompson reflected on his year as president, and cited the NSBA Kaplow Insurance Breeders Championship Futurity Yearling Sale as one of the year’s highlights. “The sale is a great addition for NSBA,” he said. “We will be paying out $68,500 to sale graduates next year.”
Thompson also discussed the decision to bring The Way To Go membership magazine in-house and thanked Brad Borton for his years of service as the magazine’s publisher. “Having the magazine in house will be very beneficial for the association. We’re excited to have the opportunity to present more editorial content about our programs,” he said.
In addition, Thompson thanked members of the Judges Committee, Grievance Committee and Crisis Fund as well as the 2012-13 executive committee, board of directors and staff.
Executive Director Dianne Eppers provided a quick overview of the association’s financial report and state of the association. “We continue to look for ways to improve existing programs and add new ones,” she said. “Changes that we’ve made to the Stallion Incentive Fund and the Breeders Championship Futuriy over the past few years are good examples. We did a study on the licensing program and found our payout was going to a small number of people, and we have changed the licensing program to be based on our dual-approved classes.”
Eppers noted that there are currenlty 5,600 licensed horses in the Stallion Incentive Fund licensing program. “It seems to be quite popular and serving more members, especially since the addition of pattern classes to the approve classes,” she said.
In the Breeders Championship Futurity, the extension of the nomination to include horses to age six has also a been positive change, Eppers noted. “By extending the BCF nomination to age six and including Trail and Western Riding BCF classes along with the Western Pleasure and Hunter Under Saddle, there is increased value to the member for the same $100 nomination fee,” she said. “This has also added more value for stallion owners, who now get two more years for their $400 investment.” Eppers said the association is experiencing a significant number of nominations for weanlings for both programs. The weanling nomination deadline is December 15.
Eppers also noted the NSBA’s work with its alliance partners, including in the areas of judges, animal welfare and monitoring and responding to trends in the industry.
The association’s election of officers also took place during the meeting. David Dellin was elected president elect, Allen Mitchels – first vice president, Bill Cosentino – second vice president, George Shaw – treasurer, Susie Johns – secretary, Ron Miller – reporter, and Jana Simons – parliamentarian. Patty Campbell had been elected to the position of president-elect at the 2012 membership meeting.
Named to the 2013-14 board of directors were Darrell Bilke, Justin Billings, Chris Darnell, Taft Dickerson, Jerry Erickson, Mike Fester, Karen Stone Graham, Karen Kennedy, Scott Myers, Scott Neuman, David Pardue and Corbett Ryan.
