Accomplishments of the meeting included the following:
    •    Approved 2019–2020 fiscal year budget
    •    Approved 2019 NRHA Futurity & Adequan® North American Affiliate Championship Show schedule
    •    Discussed US Equestrian’s SafeSport and recommended NRHA Staff, Board, Judges Committee, and Youth Committee complete the program
    •    Confirmed the Run for a Million—the million-dollar invitational class is approved under Category 11 (remainder of the event’s slates were pending approval at time of meeting)
    ◦    A motion was made to recognize the earnings in a new category (not counting toward lifetime earnings). The motion failed to achieve the two-thirds majority vote needed to reverse the Executive Committee’s original decision.
    •    Updated board expense-reimbursement policy
    •    Approved to move the NRHA Awards Banquet to the NRHA Derby starting in 2020
    •    Approved Calliope Sliders Reining Horse Club (Australia) as an NRHA Affiliate
    •    Reviewed outcomes of 2019 North American Affiliate Summit, presented by Montana Silversmiths
    •    Approved five-year transition of existing International Affiliate Program to encourage development of reining in emerging markets
    •    Endorsed new Affiliate Regional Championships request for proposals
    •    Approved Professionals Committee’s recommendation to institute a $20 opt-out Crisis Fund contribution with the purchase of NRHA Professionals membership
    •    Approved to list event approvals (calendar) online only
    •    Held preliminary discussion on 2020 Eligibility Policy, which is still in process with the Eligibility Committee
    •    Approved new disciplinary action procedures
When asked about the meeting, NRHA Past President and Current Vice President Rick Clark said, “I think it was a great meeting. We got a lot of work done and were very efficient with our time. The new bylaws and number of board members allow us to make better decisions, faster. Many of us have different views and opinions, but we all respect and appreciate each other. Operations are at a point that they are running like a well-oiled machine. During this meeting, the board made some important decisions and came up with some good ideas for some new programs.”
Each year, NRHA Members may submit rule-change proposals for addition to the following year’s official handbook. The NRHA Board of Directors discusses the proposals, sends them to NRHA Committees for feedback, reviews opinions shared by the membership, and casts votes at their annual mid-year (April or May) meeting. This week, the board considered 14 proposals and ultimately approved nine to become effective in 2020.
“I think the overall direction of NRHA is exemplified by the relatively small number of rule changes that were submitted for 2020,” said NRHA President Mike Hancock. “This shows we’re moving in the right direction. We also discussed the Run for a Million reining to be held in Las Vegas. Although there is a variety of opinions about a new event like this, I was proud of the respect for the process the Board followed. Even so, this should prove to be an exciting event and bring heightened awareness to our sport!”
Approved/Approved as Amended
    •    30-01-20: Publishing information online versus in NRHA Reiner—Approved
    •    41-01-20: Move Intermediate Horse from Category 5 to Category 1—Approved as amended to be a World Championship class and to rename it as Novice Horse 3
    •    42-01-20: Closed Aged shows must have a minimum of three stallions subscribed—Approved
    •    58-02-20: Additions to Single-Purse Structure option—Approved
    •    65-01-20: Youth earnings to count for awards regardless of the number shown in the class—Approved
    •    93-01-20: For riders 65 and older, remove the penalty for holding saddle horn—Approved as amended for non pro classes only (Categories 1,4,7,10) and for age to be as of January 1 of the show year. Staff and Judges Committee to work on an implementation recommendation.
    •    101-01-20: Add new patterns (similar to reverse of existing)—Approved as amended for the reverse of existing Patterns 6, 8, and 12.
    •    131-01-20: Edits to Pattern B—Approved
    •    65-02-20: Support to allow judges’ cards to be submitted electronically—Approved
A list of voted on and approved rule changes will be available on nrha.com in the Members Only section in the near future.

By NRHA Press Release