For Immediate Release – August 28, 2019 – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – The National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Executive Committee and Board of Directors met at the conclusion of The Run for a Million, which featured the Million Dollar Invitational—the focus of Paramount Network’s “The Last Cowboy”—in Las Vegas, Nevada, to discuss topics surrounding the goal of growing reining worldwide.
One highlight was unanimous approval of the 2020 NRHA Worldwide Eligibility Policy with changes that were supported by members who participated in a recent survey about the topic. The Eligibility Committee dedicated significant time and effort to developing the policy throughout the year, convening for numerous meetings and conference calls, developing and deploying the survey, interpreting the survey’s results, and processing feedback on the draft of the policy.
Other accomplishments during the meeting included:
- 2020 Dues & Fee Policy was approved with no changes from the 2019 policy.
- 2020 NRHA Derby, 2020 NRHA Futurity, and 2020 Adequan® North American Affiliate Championships conditions were approved. Additionally, the inclusion of 7-year-old horses in the 2020 NRHA Derby conditions was also approved.
- Approved changes to the NRHA Nomination Program, including the addition of 7-year-old horses to the North American program, new European program money splits, and a $10 handling fee for European program nominations not submitted online.
- Addition of one executive committee seat starting in 2020 was approved. This member will be elected by the board for a one-year term. In addition to the qualifications outlined in the NRHA Election Procedures, all candidates for this seat must have served at least one year on the NRHA Board or two years on an NRHA Committee.
- Affiliate applications were approved for the Japan Reining Horse Association (RHA), Southern New South Wales RHA, and Israel RHA.
- Developing affiliate applications were approved for NRHA Chile, NRHA Thailand, and NRHA South Africa.
- A gradual increase to the North American nomination fee was approved to ensure that future NRHA Futurity and Derby purses stay in line with inflation. The change will start with 2020 weanling nominations ($320), followed by $20 annual increases over the next five years. The current $300 nomination fee has remained unchanged since the program’s inception in 2008.
- NRHA’s medications program was discussed. No positive medications test results have been received year to date. It was approved for staff to develop procedure for accommodating show management inquiries to test at specific events. Additionally, the board supported that NRHA rules prohibit the use of cannabidiols (CBD) and their metabolites.
- Term limits for members of the NRHA Judges and Stewards Committees were extended to improve education and teaching structure.
- A proposal to build purses in the Adequan® North American Affiliate Championships was discussed.
- NRHyA Officer election revisions were discussed with a proposal to be submitted for approval in 2020.
- The board agreed to move forward with a rule-change proposal to add a fee for classes that do not charge an entry fee (similar to the current 5% NRHA fee based on entry fees, excluding those classes required to have an entry fee of $0).
- Organization of the NRHA Handbook was updated, placing related sections in a more logical order and moving some items to the NRHA Record Book as online policy.
- The Finance Committee’s recommendation to pass on a price increase from NRHA’s trophy supplier for one year in order to allow time for other avenues to be researched was approved.
“As you can see from the above summary, we had a very productive meeting,” said NRHA President Mike Hancock. “Thanks to the NRHA staff for preparing all the material and distributing it well in advance so the board could be well-informed. As always, I was impressed with the dedication and deliberation of your board. I would also like to thank all the members who provided input and feedback on the Eligibility policy. Your involvement in the process was essential; remember we are all in this together!”