Walking On Volume 3, Issue 2, February 2016 | Page 4

WHOA Dispatch

WHOA Holds Annual Meetings
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

The Walking Horse Owners’ Association (WHOA) held its annual
Board of Directors meeting on
Satruday, Febrauary 13, 2016, at the
Miller Coliseum in Murfreesboro,
Tennessee. Of the association’s 26
directors, 20 were present.
The financial report revealed
that the 2015 International Grand
Championships had netted a profit
of $58,818.45 and that WHOA’s
balance sheet, as of January 31,
2016, showed assets totalling
$40,563.60 including current assets
of $1,208.60.
Providing the Horse Show Report next, Executive Director Tommy Hall related that in 2015 there
were 90 WHOA shows in 13 states
that had 15,923 entries with an
average of 184 entries per show. He
compared that to 2008 when there
were 35 WHOA shows with 7,652
entries. In his report, Hall also noted that the association had adopted
a casual dress code for some shows
that would require collared shirts,
long pants, and boots.
Continuing to discuss horse
shows, Director Jason Bachert said
that in addition to the two successful shows that WHOA already
hosts in Missouri, plans were in the
works to add two more. Secretary/
Treasurer Rhonda Martocci then
stated that they hoped to have one
show per month in Middle Tennessee. She also noted that the classic
classes had been successful only in
the Classic Country Pleasure and
Classic Trail Pleasure divisions.
Discussing WHOA’s promotional efforts, Hall reported that the
4 • Walking On

association had set up a booth at a
number of multi-day equine events
in 2015. Those events included
Equine Affaire as well as horse fairs
in Tennessee, Illinois, Virginia,
Ohio, Wisconsin, and Michigan.
WHOA also hosted three Service
Horse Compeitions and attended
the American Horse Council meetings in Washington, D.C.
The WHOA HIO report was
given by Director David Pruett. He
said that 79 shows had been affiliated in 2015 with 4,148 different
horses inspected and 16,324 total
inspections. Over the course of all
those inspections, one violation was
found.
Discussion then turned to the
Rules Committee’s recommendations, which were voted on. Starting
in 2016 at WHOA shows youth
riders 11 and under will be required to use helments in versatility
classes, cavasons will be permitted
in versatility classes, and riding
in leg wraps will be prohibited at
horse shows.
Following the Rules Committee’s
recommendations, Martocci reported that, as a result of a study of
the past three years’ entry numbers,
the decision was made to
drop the Classic All Day
Pleasure and Classic Lite
Shod classes from the
Interntaional class schedule. Keg shoes are permitted in All Day Pleasure
and Trail Pleasure but not
lite-shod shoes. Additionally, an extended gait may
be called for at the judge’s
discretion but it should

be noted on the show bill.
Closing out the meeting with
New Business, Shelby Finch and
Linda Starnes gave the “Just Say
WHOA to Drinking, Drugs, and
Bad Decisions” presentation that
they planned to give at the American Youth Horse Council Symposium in Lexington, Kentucky.
MEMBERSHIP MEETING

Also held on February 13, 2016,
at the Miller Coliseum in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, the WHOA Membership Meeting attracted a large
group from all over the country.
Tami Steinbrecher provided a
well-received report on the success
of the WHOA affiliated Southern
Strides shows and clinics held in
Georgia in 2015. She noted that
their last show had over 250 entries
and that each of the shows at least
broke even financially.
The Rules Committee then went
over the rules voted on in the board
meeting. It was noted that while
riding in leg wraps will be prohibited at shows, lunging in leg wraps
will be allowed, Additionally, riding
in splint boots will be allowed in
warm up areas.