BOD Meeting Minutes – 2023
December 12, 2023
North Carolina Dressage and Combined Training, December 2023 Board Meeting Agenda held in person at M&M tack.
Lynn Kerin called the meeting to order at 7:07. Present at the meeting were Lynn Kerin, Helen Ingersoll, Heather Turner, Charlotte Meli, Sarah Bookner, Mandi Martyn, Jessica Brown, Ali Perkins, Erica Pawlak, Amy Brumbach and Tonya Bruno. Absent from the meeting were Jennifer Flowers and Becca Swann. Also present were Will Barrus and Shannon Hoffman.
Will Barrus, Membership Secretary- Will Barrus talked about HOY updates and awards for Gala. HOY will be updated by Friday, December 15. Discussion was also had about removing the Trainer’s Directory as cautioned by USDF from the website for liability purposes that need to be addressed in 2024. Ericka and WIll are working on Schooling Show organization and scheduling for 2024.
Shannon Hoffman, Newsletter- February 15, 2024 is the next newsletter deadline. Shannon is sending out the current newsletter with Gala and HOY scheduling.Shannon continues to ask for content for the Newsletter.
President’s Report, Lynn Kerin gave her report from the USDF Annual Convention which she and Helen Ingersoll(Vice President) attended. We won first place for our GMO Basket.
Vice President’s Report, Helen Ingersoll
Current membership numbers for 12/4/2023 (Membership year turned over November 30)
Adult Amateur: 39
Jr/YR: 8
Open: 19
Total Members: 66
Paid Horses: 25
Volunteer Card Horses: 3
Total Horses: 28
Other member information of interest
New Members: 4
Renewing Members: 57
Reactivated Members: 5
Dressage Only: 45
Western Dressage: 1
Dressage & Eventing: 16
Eventing Only: 5
Breeding: 3
Lifetime Members: 6
Trainers: 12
Officials: 6
Other Horse Information of Interest
New Horses: 7
Renewing Horses: 20
Reactivated Horses: 1
Helen asked for a Scholarship Committee to go through Scholarships submitted.
Treasurer’s Report, Heather Turner went through the current numbers.The Autumn Leaves expenses have been processed. Gala tickets are being sold through Stripe which is separate from PayPal which is how Membership is paid and allows easier tracking. Heather and Erica are working on Show expenses for 2024.
Competition Report, Erica Pawlak Erica provided the numbers for Awards and prize monies. Discussion was had regarding prize monies for Championships. Erica will use these numbers to determine the budget for 2024. Discussion was had regarding BLM’s and Championships. Show Management is set for Capital Dressage Classic and Autumn Leaves. Harvest Moon and Labor of Love have verbal commitments from Show Management. Erica has 3 people for a Competition Committee and is looking for more volunteers. Erica discussed the need for arenas with show management changes. Erica is recommending that we get three rings directly from the manufacturer. Lynn Kerin made a motion to buy 3 dressage arenas. Sarah Bookner seconded the motion and the vote unanimously passed. Erica needs to make some edits to the Media Kit and Vendor Contract and a call out for specifics on social media.
Gala Report, Sarah Bookner We had a discussion about the buying of tables and Gala ticket sales. Ribbons are ordered and prizes are ordered. The Hotel cutoff for rooms is December 20 and January 12 is the ticket cut off to allow for planning.
Education/Dressage Senior, Ali Perkins LaTorre gave feedback on the Instructor’s Workshop which went well and made a profit. Ali is planning to apply for a Dressage Foundation Grant for the ridden Instructors workshop. She has been approached for a Dressage 4 Kids clinic. Helen and Ali are working on a Jillian Kreinbring seminar for Summer 2024.
Education/Dressage Junior/YR, Jennifer Flowers and Mandi Martyn Mandy talked about the stall decorating at Autumn Leaves Show. Mandi wants to send out a Survey to Juniors to ask what they would like to see at Shows to encourage their participation. Will will get Mandi the mailing list of Jr/YR members. Mandi is working on the Scholarships. Lynn asked for a vote for a donation to the Region One Junior riders, Helen Ingersoll seconded it and it unanimously passed.
Eventing Senior, Becca Swann and Amy Brumbach
Eventing Junior/YR, Amy Brumbach and Becca Swann did a NCDCTA sponsored pizza party at WAR Horse. At this meeting there was discussion about the new HOY award qualifications. Sarah Bookner brought up reaching out to key Eventing trainers to find out more why their students are not Members, as well as to determine what we can do better to engage them. The Board discussed Eventing outreach opportunities.
New Business
Old Business
Lynn Kerin adjourned the meeting at 9:04.
Minutes respectfully submitted by Tonya Bruno, Recording Secretary, and passed by majority vote.
November 7, 2023
North Carolina Dressage and Combined Training, November 2023 Board Meeting Agenda
Lynn Kerin called the meeting to order at 7:01. In attendance were Lynn Kerin, Heather Turner, Helen Ingersoll, Jessica Brown, Charlotte Meli, Amy Brumbach, Sarah Bookner, Mandi Martyn and Tonya Bruno. Absent from the meeting were Jennifer Flowers, Erica Pawlak and Becca Swann.
Will Barrus, Membership Secretary
Current membership numbers for 11/6/2023. These are the final numbers for 2023. Next month will reflect 2024 numbers.
Adult Amateur: 427
Jr/YR: 116
Open: 151
Total Members: 694
Paid Horses: 398
Volunteer Card Horses: 115
Total Horses: 513
Other member information of interest
New Members: 143
Renewing Members: 450
Reactivated Members: 100
Dressage Only: 422
Western Dressage: 56
Dressage & Eventing: 212
Eventing Only: 41
Breeding: 27
Lifetime Members: 6
Trainers: 95
Officials: 28
Shannon Hoffman, Newsletter The Newsletter deadline is November 15, 2023. Shannon asked for stories from the Show.
President’s Report, Lynn Kerin Lynn opened the meeting by thanking everyone for their participation at the Autumn Leaves Show (11 Board Members volunteered and participated) and Erica Pawlak did a great job running the Show.
Vice President’s Report, Helen Ingersoll Helen and Heather are making plans about working on the Budget for 2023.
Treasurer’s Report, Heather Turner Heather listed current numbers which do not reflect the majority of the Autumn Leaves.
Competition Report, Erica Pawlak Erica thanked the many Board members who attended and helped with the Show. Erica has solid leads for Show Management for 2024 and a signed contract for Autumn Leaves. She is getting pricing for the two dressage rings for Raleigh Shows. We can rent the Arenas at the Carolina Horse Park but will need rings for Raleigh. She is going to present pricing at the December meeting.
Gala Report, Sarah Bookner The Gala website is live and people have already purchased tickets. Sarah discussed the seating arrangements which will be assigned seating for the Gala. The links have been sent out.
Education/Dressage Senior, Ali Perkins LaTorre The Trainers Workshop is scheduled for November 18. She needs Volunteers for the Event and will put up a document for sign up for Volunteers.
Education/Dressage Junior/YR, Jennifer Flowers and Mandi Martyn The Stall decorating contest at Autumn Leaves is something that will be continued for future Shows.
Eventing Senior, Becca Swann
Eventing Junior/YR, Amy Brumbach WAR Horse Championships is this weekend and Amy is going to have a pizza party for Juniors to talk about NCDCTA and Membership.
New Business
Old Business We clarified the Scholarship Program which Jessica Brown presented and was approved at the October 2023 meeting. Mandi Martyn is writing up a synopsis to put in the Newsletter, website and social media.
The next meeting will be in person on Tuesday, Dec 5, 2023 at M&M Tack.
Lynn Kerin adjourned the meeting at 7:49.
Minutes respectfully submitted by Tonya Bruno, Recording Secretary, and passed by unanimous vote.
October 3, 2023
North Carolina Dressage and Combined Training, October 2023 Board Meeting
Meeting was called to order by Helen Ingersoll, Vice President at 7:04. In attendance at the meeting were Helen Ingersoll, Sarah Bookner, Jessica Brown, Charlotte Meli, Erica Pawlak, Amy Brumbach and Tonya Bruno. Absent from the meeting were Lynn Kerin, Jennifer Flowers, Heather Turner, Ali LaTorre and Becca Swann.
Will Barrus, Membership Secretary
Membership numbers as of 10/3/2023
Adult Amateur: 420
Jr/YR: 115
Open: 153
Total Members: 688
Paid Horses: 388
Volunteer Card Horses: 115
Total Horses: 503
Other member information of interest
New Members: 135
Renewing Members: 444
Reactivated Members: 95
Dressage Only: 408
Western Dressage: 55
Dressage & Eventing: 207
Eventing Only: 41
Breeding: 27
Lifetime Members: 6
Trainers: 91
Officials: 28
E-News ONLY: 96
Will is having some difficulties getting the Breed show information on the website (he is having a problem loading HTML to the website.)
Will is sending out information on 2024 dates to current Show Organizers. They will have until November 30,2023 to have the same date they had this year.
HOY will be updated the week of Oct 9, 2023 as will Autumn Leaves qualifying information.
Shannon Hoffman, Newsletter
President’s Report, Lynn Kerin
Vice President’s Report, Helen Ingersoll Helen Ingersoll has talked with a Show Manager for Labor of Love who has verbally committed.
Treasurer’s Report, Heather Turner, Bills for Labor of Love and Harvest Moon are clearing. Bills for Autumn Leaves starting to come in. People are signing up for the Trainers (unmounted) workshop in November are paying via Stripe.
Competition Report, Erica Pawlak Erica is working on Show Management for 2024 and has some good leads on people for Labor of Love, Championships and Harvest Moon. She is evaluating pricing for either buying arenas or renting arenas. We made a profit on Labor of Love and we did not on Harvest Moon. Erica is looking for help for Volunteers for Autumn Leaves.
Gala Report, Sarah Bookner Sarah went to The Grandover (Gala Site) and picked out the menu and the timeline of the Event. Sarah will be sending the menus and room rates to Will to distribute.
Education/Dressage Senior, Ali Perkins LaTorre, There are 10 people signed up for the November Trainers Conference. The Conference is open to all equine professionals (farriers, bodyworkers, Veterinarians, professional riders) Ali has gotten sponsorship for the event and is looking for Volunteers and has a Volunteer sign up.
Education/Dressage Junior/YR, Jennifer Flowers
Eventing Senior, Becca Swann
Eventing Junior/YR, Amy Brumbach WAR horse is this weekend. Amy is going to do a pizza party there as there are a lot of Juniors going there.
New Business Discussion was had regarding the need to engage Eventers and make sure we are supporting our Eventing Members.
Amy Brumbach wanted to talk about the new HOY Breeders Program to engage NCDCTA Breeders. She also wants us to look at the categories and break apart several of the age groups.
Old Business- Jessica Brown proposed that we have 4 (four) $800 scholarships to include one Dressage Professional, one Dressage Amateur, one Eventing and one Junior (can be Dressage or Eventing.) “Give back” requirements would include an article for the Newsletter, Presentation to Board and one day of Volunteering (Volunteer Day can be broken into two half days.) Erica Pawlak made a motion to accept the recommendation and Sarah Bookner seconded the motion. It unanimously passed.
Helen Ingersoll adjourned the meeting at 8:35.
The next meeting will be held remotely on November 7, 2023.
September 5, 2023
Board Meeting via Remote Call.
Lynn Kerin called the meeting to order at 7:01. Present for the meeting were Lynn Kerin, Heather Turner, Charlotte Meli, Erica Pawlak, Amy Brumbach, Ali Perkins LaTorre, Jessica Brown and Tonya Bruno. Absent from the meeting were: Sarah Bookner, Jennifer Flowers, Helen Ingersoll and Becca Swann. Also in attendance were Will Barrus (Membership Secretary) and Shannon Hoffman (Media and Newsletter.)
Competition Report, Erica Pawlak Chair Labor of Love was well supported and had 120 horses and we had enough stalls to make the minimum requirement which we haven’t done in several shows. The Competitor Party was well attended. Preliminary numbers show that we should make money on the Show.
Harvest Moon is approaching for September and Erica needs Volunteers for the Show.
Going forward for 2024 Erica has concerns about who will run our Shows for 2024, particularly for CBLM’s as that is a Level IV Show which has stricter requirements. Different suggestions were made by the Board. Erica stressed that going forward we need a team of people to handle the different aspects of the Shows so they do not fall on one person.
Will Barrus (Membership Secretary) Will is putting together the Usernames and passwords who have access to the NCDCTA information. Will is working on a Survey regarding our website and how to make it a value to our Members. HOY numbers will be updated by Friday morning.
9/2/2022 Membership:
Members: 702
Horses: 447
Adult Amateur: 416
Jr/YR: 110
Open: 147
Total Members: 673
Paid Horses: 378
Volunteer Card Horses: 115
Total Horses: 493
Other member information of interest
New Members: 135
Renewing Members: 442
Reactivated Members: 95
Dressage Only: 408
Western Dressage: 55
Dressage & Eventing: 205
Eventing Only: 41
Breeding: 27
Lifetime Members: 6
Trainers: 91
Officials: 28
E-News ONLY: 96
Female: 647
Male: 26
Gender Unknown: 0
Other Horse Information of Interest
New Horses: 174
Renewing Horses: 260
Reactivated Horses: 59
Shannon Hoffman (Media and Newsletter) Shannon is waiting on a couple of things for the quarterly newsletter. She will then send that out to Social Media as well as emails through Constant Contact.
Treasurer’s Report, Heather Turner. We are awaiting the Labor of Love payment checks to clear.
Education, Dressage Senior, Ali Perkins LaTorre the Trainers unmounted conference is set for November at Ardenwood Farm in Chapel Hill. She is asking for help with Sponsors with specific ties to Trainers.
Education, Eventing Amy Brumbach Amy is going to work with Jennifer Flowers regarding the tack cleaning for Jr/YR as a fund raising event. She is also working with Portofino regarding possibly NCDCTA sponsoring a Horse Trials with the target of 2025 or 2026.
Gala Report, Sarah Bookner, Sarah is meeting with the Gala location (Grandover Resort in Greensboro) to discuss the particulars of our January Gala. She is evaluating the prizes for HOY within Budget parameters.
Director at Large, Jessica Brown, Jessica has been digging into Scholarship and Grant Programs from other large GMO Programs and will present recommendations to the Board on how to clarify our Scholarship and Grant program.
New Business, Tonya Bruno is going to be working on updating the Board Chair descriptions. We will use these to ask for new Board Members to join as well as clarify roles for existing board Members..
The next meeting will be via Remote video conference on October 3, 2023.
Lynn Kerin adjourned the meeting at 8:29 PM.
Minutes respectfully submitted by Tonya Bruno, Recording Secretary. Minutes passed by Majority Board vote.
August 1, 2023
August 2023 NCDCTA Board Meeting held in person at M&M Tack on Tuesday Aug 1, 2023
In attendance: Lynn Kerin, Helen Ingersoll, Heather Turner, Ali Perkins, LaTorre, Jessica Brown, Sarah Bookner, Amy Brumbach, Jennifer Flowers and Erica Pawlak. Absent were: Tonya Bruno, Charlotte Meli and Becca Swann. Also in attendance were Will Barrus (Membership Secretary) and Shannon Hoffman (Media.)
The meeting was called to order by Lynn Kerin at 7:07 pm.
Will Barrus Report: WIll is updating HOY. He is updating the numbers once a month. He will also work with Amy Brumbach regarding Breed Shows. He asked that we review Volunteer cards and evaluate the value as well as the accountability of them as they are given out. The conversation of raising the amount for HOY horse registration was discussed. The example was given of South Carolina who doesn’t charge to register horses for their Awards but charges $150 for Members to participate in Awards. It was decided to put together a committee to discuss Volunteerism in the organization. It was discussed having a Volunteer Coordinator.
Shannon Hoffman, Newsletter deadline and articles submitted were discussed. Ali LaTorre asked that Eliza Romm’s Festival PowerPoint Presentation be linked to the Newsletter (Will said that can be done on the NCDCTA website and a live link in the Newsletter.) Shannon requested that Eventing articles be submitted as well as an article about the Festival. Jessica Brown asked that we reiterate how the HOY is currently being calculated as questions came up at the Festival.
President’s Report, Lynn Kerin started by giving a standing ovation to Amy Brumbach and Ali Perkins LaTorre for an amazing job with the first NCDCTA Festival.
Vice President’s report, Helen Ingersoll
Membership numbers detailed below:
Current membership numbers for 8/4/2023
Adult Amateur: 408
Jr/YR: 104
Open: 145
Total Members: 657
Paid Horses: 364
Volunteer Card Horses: 109
Total Horses: 473
Other member information of interest
New Members: 125
Renewing Members: 439
Reactivated Members: 92
Dressage Only: 394
Western Dressage: 53
Dressage & Eventing: 203
Eventing Only: 41
Breeding: 24
Lifetime Members: 6
Trainers: 90
Officials: 28
E-News ONLY: 96
Female: 624
Male: 26
Gender Unknown: 7
Other Horse Information of Interest
New Horses: 162
Renewing Horses: 252
Reactivated Horses: 59
Treasurer’s Report, Heather Turner, went through current numbers. For the Festival most of the large payments have been cashed by the Festival clinicians.
Festival Report, Amy Brumbach and Ali Perkins LaTorre Ali Perkins LaTorre said she has a BIG NAME Dressage Trainer wanting to participate in the next Festival after she saw how successful the event was. The clinicians were very complimentary of the Event. The Event was less well attended on Sunday and there was discussion about how to spread out the attendance. Discussion was had regarding how to economize for the next event. We did sign up new Members during the Festival. It was decided that we would provide a financial report for the Newsletter. The biggest expenses were clinician fees and facility rental.
Timing for the next Festival was discussed and holding it bi-annually.
Gala Report, Sarah Bookner In September Sarah will do the first run through with the venue. Sarah presented ideas for the HOY prizes.
Education (Senior) Report, Ali Perkins LaTorre, Ali is working on the Unmounted Instructor’s Workshop scheduled for November, 2023. The Workshop will include an Equine Lawyer as the Keynote Speaker. There will also be an Accountant and a Veterinarian as well as other Professional Sessions. In addition, Ali is working to have Lendon Gray in the Summer of 2024 and NCDCTA will be a Sponsor.
Education (Jr/YR) Report, Jennifer Flowers The Labor of Love Scholarship recipients went out. Jennifer is donations for Labor of Love for Jr/YR for the Team Challenge. Jennifer is sponsoring the Russian rider, Elena Sidneva, in mid October.
Competition Report, Erica Pawlak Erica needs sponsors for the Competitors Party for Labor of Love (Saturday night) which is $500. Erica is finalizing what needs to be ordered for upcoming shows and Championships. Erica presented the Volunteer spreadsheet to run Labor of Love and Harvest Moon. Erica needs someone to handle the planning and organizing of the Competitor Dinner.
Lynn asked everyone to think about two items they would like on the prize table less than $5. Lynn asked that these be sent to Erica by the weekend.
It was discussed that now that Janine is retiring there will be some questions regarding the Sport Horse Breeding classes. Different options were discussed in handling going forward. Lynn Kerin suggested having an NCDCTA fund raiser of Jr/YR doing a “tack cleaning” event at the Championship Shows.Amy Brumbach and Jennifer Flowers will organize.
Eventing (Senior) Becca Swann asked about doing an Eventing Camp. She also shared that an Eventing Festival rider had an issue with their ride time change.
New Business: Lynn Kerin and Jessica Brown are working on revamping the Scholarship Program to make it clearer.
Shannon Hoffman brought up the Equine Sport Medicine Symposium which is being held in Chatham County August 26 & 27. It will be held in person as well as available online.
The meeting was adjourned by Lynn Kerin at 9:13 pm
The next meeting will be virtual on September 5, 2023
Minutes respectfully submitted by Tonya Bruno and approved by Majority Board Vote.
July 11, 2023
The NCDCTA Board Meeting was called to order by Tonya Bruno at 7:0 . In attendance were: Helen Ingersoll, Heather Turner, Jennifer Flowers, Jessica Brown, Amy Brumbach, Erica Pawlak, Sarah Bookner, Charlotte Meli, Ali Perkins LaTorre and Tonya Bruno. Absent was Becca Desper. Also attending to provide their reports were Will Barrus and Shannon Hoffman.
Will Barrus, Membership Secretary, Report There was some discussion about Volunteer Cards for payment for Shows. Will encouraged us to also evaluate the value of the Volunteer Cards (raising the value) and Horse Registration costs. Will is updating Horse of the Year this week.
Shannon Hoffman, Newsletter, Report Shannon has been working with Erica on Autumn Leaves Constant Contact for mailers. Shannon expressed appreciation for getting specific information on what we want to communicate. August 1 is the deadline for the Third Quarter Newsletter. Shannon asked for help
President’s Report, Lynn Kerin
Vice President’s Report, Helen Ingersoll
Current membership numbers for 7/11/2023
At this time last year we had 647 members and 398 horses.
Adult Amateur: 397
Jr/YR: 99
Open: 139
Total Members: 635
Paid Horses: 346
Volunteer Card Horses: 107
Total Horses: 453
Other member information of interest
New Members: 115
Renewing Members: 430
Reactivated Members: 90
Dressage Only: 379
Western Dressage: 52
Dressage & Eventing: 199
Eventing Only: 39
Breeding: 22
Lifetime Members: 6
Trainers: 88
Officials: 27
Other Horse Information of Interest
New Horses: 150
Renewing Horses: 244
Reactivated Horses: 59
Treasurer’s Report, Heather Turner We had a good profit from the Capital Dressage Classic and are starting to receive more Festival payments.
Communication Report
Gala Report, Sarah Bookner (DAL)
Education/Dressage, Senior, Ali Perkins LaTorre In addition to the Festival Ali is working on more support for Trainers and will have a weekend workshop specifically for Trainers in 2024. Ali asked about applying for grants to help offset the cost for the early 2024 unmounted Trainer workshop or wait and ask for the money for a mounted workshop. It was agreed that she would apply for the Grant for BOTH of the Workshops even though they would be on different dates.
Education/Dressage, Jr/YR, Jennifer Flowers She is working on coordinating Jr/YR for Labor of Love and has Speakers and articles for Scholarship people.
Education/Eventing, Senior, Becca Swann
Education/Eventing, Jr/YR, Amy Brumbach Amy asked about the fact that yearlings and weanlings are not separated out for the Breed Show HOY Awards. Initially the decision was made to combine them as it is our first year and we were not sure as to volume. We are going to review the numbers of young horses during the 2023 HOY and evaluate separating them starting in 2024.
Competition Report, Erica Pawlak For Autumn Leaves there is some confusion between the FEI Championship classes and the requirement that people ride two FEI classes in one day. Ali Perkins LaTorre suggested that the FEI Championship classes have two Judges for each Championship class to meet the two Judge requirements without the stress for the Horse of two FEI classes in one day.
Old Business
New Business
Festival Update (Amy Brumbach and Ali LaTorre)
We have sold 69 tickets as of July 10. There still will be a push for more signups leading up to the Festival.
USDF requires waivers for all people attending the Festival since it is a USDF Event.
Ali shared a sign up document for specific roles at the Festival. Once Board Members sign up for the first spots it will go out to the Volunteer List.
Heather Turner made a motion to adjourn the meeting and it was seconded by Sarah Bookner. Helen Ingersoll closed the meeting at 8:07
Minutes respectfully submitted by Tonya Bruno, Recording Secretary and passed by Majority vote Jul 19, 2023
The next meeting will be IN PERSON on August 1, 2023 at M&M Tack in Raleigh, NC
Jun 6, 2023(via Zoom)
Lynn Kerin, President, called the meeting to order at 7:01. In attendance on the call were Lynn Kerin, Heather Turner, Helen Ingersoll, Sarah Bookner, Erica Pawlak, Amy Brumbach, Charlotte Meli, Jessica Brown and Tonya Bruno. Will Barrus, Membership Secretary, was also in attendance. Absent were Ali LaTorre, Jennifer Flowers and Becca Swann.
Lynn started the meeting by thanking Erica Pawlak for doing such a great job at her first show for NCDCTA for the Capital Dressage Classic.
Will Barrus Report - WIll had sent out an email to the Board regarding Championships with wording stating that 1 qualifying score meeting the minimum requirement to be at dressage Championships. There was no discussion with the Board so Will is incorporating that into the Rules. Will raised the question about recognizing the “Starter” level at the Schooling Show Level. USEA doesn’t recognize “Starter” in their awards program so we do not but Will asked if we will recognize “Starter’ for schooling shows (but not at recognized.) Will went through the Membership numbers and how they relate to the prior year. Will is working on Horse of the Year database.
President’s Report, Lynn Kerin Again, Lynn thanked the people who attended and volunteered at the Show.
Vice President’s Report, Helen Ingersoll
On 6/3/22 our membership numbers were: Total members - 616. Total horses - 381.
Adult Amateur: 377
Jr/YR: 93
Open: 134
Total Members: 604
Paid Horses: 326
Volunteer Card Horses: 103
Total Horses: 429
Other member information of interest
New Members: 101
Renewing Members: 422
Reactivated Members: 81
Dressage Only: 360
Western Dressage: 49
Dressage & Eventing: 190
Eventing Only: 38
Breeding: 22
Lifetime Members: 6
Trainers: 84
Officials: 27
Other Horse Information of Interest
New Horses: 138
Renewing Horses: 235
Treasurer’s Report, Heather Turner, Our balance is up in our account because of the initial deposit of Show Fees but we are still waiting for checks (Judges, Secretary, etc) to clear. Heather is starting to get Stripe payments as well. There was discussion about having a QR Code to connect to Zelle for competitors to pay at the actual Show. There was also discussion about using PayPal for this same source.
Communication Report, Shannon Hoffman needs specific written articles along with pictures in a timely manner for the Newsletter.
Gala Report, Sarah Bookner (DAL) 2022 Gala prizes have been mostly given out and were available again at the CDC.. The 2023 HOY Gala is January 20, 2024
Education/Dressage, Senior, Ali Perkins LaTorre She is working on an unmounted Instructors Conference in September or October, 2023 and hopes this will parlay into a mounted Instructors conference in the future..
Education/Dressage, Jr/YR, Jennifer Flowers, Jennifer has received feedback that the clinic she had planned the Friday before Labor of Love is problematic as school is back in session. She plans to have a separate clinic from the Labor of Love Show.
Education/Eventing, Senior, Becca Swann
Education/Eventing, Jr/YR, Amy Brumbach Amy and Becca have been discussing an Eventing “Pep Rally” probably at WAR Horse that will bring Jr, Amateurs and Professionals together to discuss what NCDCTA has to offer.
Competition Report, Erica Pawlak thanked the Board Members who helped with the Capital Dressage Classic. Erica needs more help with Volunteers for running the shows (before, during and breakdown) as well as with Sponsorships which predominantly came from the Board Members. Royal Equine has agreed to populate our “swag” table. For Sponsorships she is going to work with Will to make it easier for Sponsors to sign up. She is also using feedback from sponsors to tweak our sponsorship package. Amy Brumbach is going to forward the Festival sponsors to Erica as she and Ali have had good response.
Old Business
New Business Lynn Kerin brought up creating a fund to help Trainers in need, specifically mentioning two NCDCTA Trainers injured in horse accidents. Will brought adding an option so Members to do a charitable contribution to this Fund when renewing Memberships. There was Board discussion about ways to develop and fund the program as well as understanding tax implications.
Festival Update (Amy Brumbach and Ali LaTorre)
There were 43 rider applications submitted for riding spots for the Festival. Ali and Amy have chosen the riders from the applications. Amy is sending out Facebook “advertising” for the one Eventing and two Daniel Stewart attendees. The riding participants must pay for their spots by June 15.
Overnight Stabling requirements were less than expected (a good thing)
Ticket purchases have been very slow so far.
Sponsorships and vendors have come through very well.
Jen Heiskell is the Hospitality Chair and has done a great job getting a contract with a local Hotel for a room block at a discounted rate. She has secured a sandwich truck for Friday and a taco truck for Saturday and Sunday. Lynn Kerin is doing Saturday and Sunday breakfast.
For lectures we have a judging panel, a horse nutritionist, horse showing 101, pre-purchase vetting, Freestyles and Western Dressage.
Sarah Bookner brought up the possibility of a Young Rider mentoring program with a Pathway where Young riders (aged 12-21) sign up for the Program and are connected with a Trainer in a mentoring relationship for guidance during competitions as well as general coaching. Sarah is going to forward more information for Board Discussion at the July Meeting.
Lynn Kerin adjourned the meeting at 8:23. The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday July 11 via video call and the August Board meeting will be held in person at M&M Tack on August 1.
Minutes respectfully submitted by Tonya Bruno, Recording Secretary.
MInutes approved by majority Board vote.
May 2, 2023 (via Google Meet)
Lynn Kerin, President, called the meeting to order at 7:04. In attendance were Lynn Kerin, Helen Ingersoll, Heather Turner, Jessica Brown, Charlotte Meli, Ali LaTorre, Jennifer Flowers, Amy Brumbach, Erica Pawlak and Tonya Bruno. Non Board Members in attendance were Will Barrus and Shannon Hoffman. Absent were Sarah Bookner and Becca Swann.
Will Barrus Report. Membership numbers are even to what they were at the same time of 2022. Will is working on updating HOY numbers. He has had some issues with the reporting and is working through them. Will is waiting for Prize Lists for Labor of Love, Autumn Leaves.
President’s Report, Lynn Kerin. NCDCTA sent Carolina Horse Park the $1000 sponsorship the Board agreed upon at the March Board Meeting.
Vice President’s Report, Helen Ingersoll
Current membership numbers for 5/2/2023
At this time last year we had 573 members and 355 horses.
Adult Amateur: 358
Jr/YR: 86
Open: 126
Total Members: 570
Paid Horses: 296
Volunteer Card Horses: 93
Total Horses: 389
Other member information of interest
New Members: 87
Renewing Members: 412
Reactivated Members: 71
Dressage Only: 334
Western Dressage: 46
Dressage & Eventing: 182
Eventing Only: 38
Breeding: 22
Treasurer’s Report, Heather Turner. It is another quiet month of income with no Shows yet. Erica ordered ribbons for the year (but not Championship neck ribbons.) Stripe has been implemented for the Summer Equine Festival and Will has asked that it be incorporated for the website as an alternative to PayPal.Heather echoed that it would also simplify our bookkeeping because it is more direct than PayPal.
Communication Report, Shannon Hoffman has been busy posting to Facebook about Shows and the Festival. She asked that Newsletter content continue to be submitted.
Gala Report, Sarah Bookner (DAL) No updates
Education/Dressage, Senior, Ali Perkins LaTorre. NCDCTA received USDF accreditation for the NCDCTA Equine Festival for both Auditors and participants.
Education/Dressage, Jr/YR, Jennifer Flowers. There were 8 applications for the Capital Dressage Classic and 4 were selected and the congratulations letters were sent as well as letters to the people not chosen. In talking with Janine Malone, Jennifer is changing the clinic focus for the Friday before the Capital Dressage Classic Show to be a general clinc rather than a “Fix-A-Test” due to logistics. Jennifer is hoping to add a Sports Psychologist to help the Jr/YR’s with dealing with Show nerves.
Education/Eventing, Senior, Becca Swann. Becca wants to have an Eventing “Pep Rally” to educate Eventers on what NCDCTA can offer. She wants to schedule it after the Equine Festival and will work with Amy Brumbach to organize and find Sponsors.
Education/Eventing, Jr/YR, Amy Brumbach Amy Brumbach is hoping to get to War Horse on May 13 and do a pizza party style event. For future War Horse events she is planning to organize a gathering of Jr/YR with an educational focus. Jessica Brown had heard from Members that there was a question if War Horse would count towards Horse of the Year points. Will Barrus clarified that all of the Horse Trials count toward HOY points but the May, June and August Dressage Test of Choice classes will not count as there was already another show scheduled within 50 miles.
Competition Report, Erica Pawlak Erica is working to find a Sponsor for the CDC competitor dinner for $500. She needs all of the Sponsorship information by Friday, May 12 for the printer. Erica will be working with Janine on coordinating Volunteers for Capital Dressage Classic. She is looking for more giveaways for the Show. Erica is organizing a Shed clean out date for Memorial Day Weekend.
Old Business- Jessica is working on a rubric having to do with Scholarships. Amy asked that we also form a Scholarship Committee to clarify who votes on what as for Scholarships.
New Business
Festival Update (Amy Brumbach and Ali LaTorre)
There are 25 Applicants so far.
The FB postings are generating an uptick in Applicants as well as ticket sales.
Ticket sales have been slow so far but Amy noted it is early.
Charlotte Meli is working with Amy and Ali on getting Sponsorships, Vendors and Presenters.
Amy asked that we as individual Board Members continue to share and promote the Equine Festival.
Amy asked what we are doing for our Volunteers who are helping ahead of the Festival are we giving them complimentary tickets.
The next two meetings will be held remotely and will be June 6 2023 and Jul 11, 2023. The August meeting will be held in person on August 1 at M&M Tack
Lynn Kerin adjourned the meeting at 7:52.
Minutes approved by unanimous Board Vote May 3, 2023 and respectfully submitted by Tonya Bruno, Recording Secretary
April 4, 2023
The meeting was called to order by Lynn Kerin at 7:07. In attendance were Lynn Kerin, Heather Turner, Ali LaTorre, Erica Pawlak, Helen Ingersoll, Amy Brumbach, Charlotte Meli, Sarah Bookner, Jessica Brown, Jennifer Flowers. Absent was Becca Swann.
Will Barrus Report- Membership is more than what we have had in previous years. The database is being updated. The Website needs additional content. Scholarship area in particular is lacking.
President’s Report, Lynn Kerin, We are changing the Communication Chair position. Lynn will work with communicating with the new position.
Vice President’s Report, Helen Ingersoll
Current membership numbers for 4/4/2023.
Membership/horse registrations continue to be ahead of where we were at this time in 2022.
Adult Amateur: 328
Jr/YR: 78
Open: 115
Total Members: 521 (482 in 2022)
Paid Horses: 267
Volunteer Card Horses: 87
Total Horses: 354 (308 in 2022)
Other member information of interest
New Members: 75
Renewing Members: 386
Reactivated Members: 60
Dressage Only: 302
Western Dressage: 40
Dressage & Eventing: 169
Eventing Only: 35
Breeding: 21
Other Horse Information of Interest
New Horses: 108
Renewing Horses: 204
Treasurer’s Report, Heather Turner We have paid the Gala deposit for 2024,some of the Summer Festival and the Spring Eventing Grants. Heather is watching our main account closely as we are paying deposits for future events where we have not yet received income.
Communication Report, Shannon Hoffman, Shannon needs Constant Contact information for emails and also information for the next quarterly Newsletter where the Festival will be highlighted.
Gala Report, Sarah Bookner (DAL) The date has been set for the 2024 Gala is January 20, 2024.
Education/Dressage, Senior, Ali Perkins LaTorre, Ali and Amy are working hard on the Festival. Ali will talk to possible clinicians about the Festival for 2024.
Education/Dressage, Jr/YR, Jennifer Flowers, Elena Sokolovskaia (previous Olympic Rider for the Russian/Soviet Team) will be doing a clinic for the Jr/YR for the June CDC and will do a Fix-A-Test clinic on the Friday before the Show. She may also do a presentation at the end of the Fix-A-Tests. For Labor of Love Jennifer is working with Janine Malone to do a group competition. There was discussion about whether the fix-a-test should be for NCDCTA Jr/YR Members to encourage additional Members. Jennifer is working on a Dartmoor sponsored Award. Jennifer asked for clarification about the webpage for Eventing.
Education/Eventing, Senior, Becca Swann, Education/Eventing, Jr/YR, Amy Brumbach Amy is working on the Festival. Amy and Sarah are going to try to do a pizza party/NCDCTA at the May War Horse.
Competition Report, Erica Pawlak We are 60 days out from CDC and paid the deposit for the Hunt horse Park, all the insurance has been submitted. Erica put together the sponsorship packages and shared them with the Board. For the CDC Erica has our first Gold Sponsor with Canter Culture Candles. Erica has ordered ribbons for Shows throughout the year.
Old Business- Shed cleaning will be rescheduled but Lynn, Erica, Sarah and Will have made some good progress.
New Business
Festival Update (Amy Brumbach and Ali LaTorre) Amy and Ali will be using Event Create to handle the purchasing of tickets and information through a website. They are going to open the ticket sales as well as the rider applications as there is already interest. Amy asked that people repost any information to social media. They are also looking into getting educational credits from USEA and USDF.
By-Laws, Helen would like to change the by-laws specifically as to Terms of Service.
Lynn Kerin adjourned the meeting at 8:31. Next meeting will be via Zoom May 2 2023 at 7:00PM.
Minutes passed by majority vote, April 6, 2023 and respectfully submitted by Tonya Bruno, Recording Secretary.
March 7, 2023 (via Google Meet)
Meeting called to order at by Lynn Kerin, President at 7:02
In attendance were Lynn Kerin, Helen Ingersoll, Heather Turner, Ali LaTorre, Amy Brumbach, Erica Pawlak, Sarah Bookner, Charlotte Meli and Tonya Bruno. Absent were Jessica Brown, Donna Orr, Becca Swann and Jennifer Flowers. Also in attendance, Will Barrus, Membership Secretary.
Will Barrus report: Membership is going well and Will attributes that to the Membership requirement at the time of earning Horse of the Year ( HOY) points to count toward year end numbers.. Website activity is down. Will is making the HOY reporting requirements that Show sponsors submit more streamlined. This will help with the updating of HOY standings.
President’s Report, Lynn Kerin- Lynn was at Janine Malone’s Raleigh Dressage Show and that Show went well. Erica Pawlak was also in attendance.
Vice President’s Report, Helen Ingersoll- Contracts are being finalized for our Vendors and those will be done by the end of March, 2023.
Current membership numbers for 3/7/2023
Adult Amateur: 297
Jr/YR: 66
Open: 103
Total Members: 466
17% Increase over 3/1/2022
Paid Horses: 225
Volunteer Card Horses: 76
Total Horses: 301
21% Increase over 3/1/2022
Treasurer’s Report, Heather Turner, The bills for the Gala have all been paid. Taxes are all prepared and on track for timely submission.
Gala Chair Report, Sarah Bookner- Most prizes have been picked up at M&M or shipped out (at winner’s cost.) The embroidered jackets are in. Sarah has made the tentative date for the Grandover in 2024 and once the contract is signed Will will add to the calendar.
Education (Dressage) Report, Ali LaTorre- The Lendon Gray Dressage clinic went very well. Helen Ingersoll spoke to the group about NCDCTA to the attendees. Ali has been working with Amy Brumbach in setting up the dressage Festival for July, 2023.
Education (Jr/YR) - Jennifer Flowers- Jennifer is having a clinic with a Russian Olympic rider for Jr and YR on the Friday before Labor of Love. She is talking about doing a Jr/YR clinic in August at her Farm near Charlotte.
Eventing Report (Junior) - Amy Brumbach The NCDCTA Festival is going to be July 21-23, 2023 at Portofino Farms. Amy and Ali are working on finding local stalls available as the stabling is primarily paddocks some with and some without shelters. There will be riding opportunities, auditing opportunities and also individual lectures. Amy presented a slide show to the Board related to fees and events and timing. Will Barrus made suggestions about ticketing as well as a media kit to get vendor presentations. Charlotte Meli is going to work with the Nutritionist at NC State (and possibly others) to conduct educational lectures.
Competition Report, Erica Pawlak Erica got signed contracts for Vendors to hold and manage our Shows. Erica has the insurance forms from our Insurance Agent for our Events. Erica put out a request for sub Committees for the Competition Report and has gotten some good response from people interested. Helen asked that all documents be put into the NCDCTA Master Google Account for NCDCTA.
Erica is also organizing a Shed Clean out date(S). The first date is for March 19.
Old Business- WIll discussed the Eventing grants. Discussion was had on the judging process for the grants.
New Business- USDF Region 1 meeting is held on March 13 and Regionals and BLM’s will be awarded.
Lynn Kerin adjourned the meeting at 8:27.
Next Meeting will be IN PERSON at M&M Tack in Raleigh on April 4, 2023.
Minutes respectfully submitted by Tonya Bruno, Recording Secretary.
Minutes passed by unanimous Board vote.
February 7, 2023
The Board all was held remotely via Google Meet and was called to order by President, Lynn Kerin at . Present at the meeting were: Lynn Kerin, Jessica Brown, Erica Pawlak, Helen Ingersoll, Ali LaTorre, Heather Turner, Charlotte Meli and Tonya Bruno. Absent from the meeting were Sarah Bookner,Becca Swann, Amy Brumbach, Donna Orr and Jennifer Flowers
WIll Barrus, Membership Secretary, Will asked for ideas to promote USDF Schooling Shows with our Members. Will is working on our Membership policies as to refunds and Membership information. WIll let us know that he has set up a dedicated Board page through the NCDCTA website. He reiterated the importance of using our NCDCTA emails. He also recommended that we highlight the rule change in the HOY to Tests 2 & 3 at each Level.
President’s report, Lynn Kerin, The Gala was a terrific success and had 325 people (if not a record, very close.) Lynn is working with Erica Pawlak to get the Competition contracts and shows squared away for 2023.
Vice President’s Report, Helen Ingersoll
The numbers below represent an increase over last year at this time.
Membership - 10% increase
Horses - 15% increase
Current membership numbers for 2/6/2023
Adult Amateur: 250
Jr/YR: 47
Open: 78
Total Members: 375
Paid Horses: 172
Volunteer Card Horses: 55
Total Horses: 227
Helen is working on contracts and operational details.
Treasurer’s Report, Heather Turner, Heather got all of our 1099 tax documents and will have the taxes filed on time without the need of extension.
Communication Report, Donna Orr (absent)
Gala Report, Sarah Bookner, (absent but submitted report.) The Gala was a great success with 325 attendees. Sarah has tentatively scheduled it again at the Grandover in Greensboro on January 13, 2024. The Board compiled a list of recommendations that Sarah is planning to evaluate and implement as they make sense for improvement. Prizes and ribbons can be picked up at M&M Tack OR shipped (at the winner’s expense.)
Dressage Education, Ali LaTorre, Ali and Amy are working on getting clinicians for the Dressage Symposium. Ali presented options for the Board for Dressage and Eventing clinicians who are available. Budget was discussed and Lynn asked that Ali and Amy get a rough budget for the Event.
Ali made a motion that for USEF and USDF recognized competitions to reduce the number of HOY FEI Level Musical Freestyles from 7 to 3 (keeping the number of Judges and Competitions required at 3.) Helen Ingersoll seconded the motion and it unanimously passed.
Dressage Education (Jr/YR) Jennifer Flowers (absent)
Eventing (Senior), Becca Swann (absent but submitted report) has forwarded the Eventing Scholarship information through her personal and business Facebook page.
Eventing (Junior/YR), Amy Brumbach (absent)
Competition, Erica Pawlak is working with all Show contacts to get formal contracts to delineate what is the responsibility of the Show Management and NCDCTA. Erica is looking at some ways to streamline costs for different items for the shows as prices for everything related to Shows continue to rise. Erica is recruiting for volunteers to be on a Committee for the Competition for Hospitality. Erica is coordinating the Shed cleaning.
We are bidding on BLM’s for 2024 and we are not bidding for Regionals as we do not have a venue suitable for Regionals.
March 7 is next meeting and will be remote. The next in person meeting will be Apr 4, 2023 and will be held at M&M Tack.
Lynn Kerin adjourned the meeting at 8:05.
January 21, 2023 - Annual Meeting
Our yearly Open Board Meeting held in person January 21, 2023 at Grandover Resort in Greensboro, NC for the Annual Gala.
Lynn Kerin, President, called the meeting to order at 4:06. In attendance were Lynn Kerin, Helen Ingersoll, Jessica Brown, Emme Johnston, Heather Turner, Sarah Bookner, Ali Perkins LaTorre, Becca Swann, Stephanie Bristol, Charlotte Meli, Jennifer Flowers and Tonya Bruno.
President’s Report, Lynn Kerin thanked Will Barrus and Amy Brumbach for their hard work in revamping the Horse of The Year program. Lynn shared positive feedback from the changs.
Vice President Report, Helen Ingersoll went through the current Membership information.
Current membership numbers for 1/20/2023
Adult Amateur: 196
Jr/YR: 36
Open: 53
Total Members: 285
Paid Horses: 118
Volunteer Card Horses: 40
Total Horses: 158
Other member information of interest
New Members: 33
Renewing Members: 231
Reactivated Members: 21
Dressage Only: 172
Western Dressage: 20
Dressage & Eventing: 81
Eventing Only: 25
Breeding: 8
Lifetime Members: 6
Year End Numbers for 2022:
AA- 433
Jr/YR- 127
Open Members- 156
Total Members - 716
Horse Members- 480
Helen thanked Lynn Kerin for her service and leadership in guiding the Board.
Treasurer’s Report, Heather Turner went through the current numbers as of January 1, 2023. She went through the year end numbers of where the money was spent and this breakdown was available to the Membership who attended the Open Meeting.
2022 Summary
Beginning balance 1/1/22 Expenses
25,571.57 Main Dressage Clinic $5,405 8.03%
8,581.77 Savings Newsletter $18,700 27.77%
11,416.57 PayPal Website/Membership Sec $12,490 18.55%
45,569.91 USDF Member Fees/Convention $19,830 29.45%
Sponsorships/Scholarships $4,991 7.41%
Ending 12/31/22 Insurance/Tax Prep $3,961 5.88%
22,325.49 Main Postage/Checks/Admin/PO box $1,962 2.91%
7,583.76 Savings $67,339
8,474.24 PayPal Revenue
1,000.00 Show Account Show revenue $9,508
39,383.49 Memberships/Paid horses $51,645
$61,153
-6,186.42
Competition Report, Lynn Kerin (acting), we made money on all of our Shows during the year except for the NCDCTA Championships. We do not have 2023 Championships this year and we will bid for 2024.
Dressage Education, Emme Johnston talked about her Jaquie Brooks clinic in HIllsborough, NC which was well attended and well received by riders and Auditors.
Jr/YR Report, Jennifer Flowers, Jennifer is working with Dartmoor Pony Association for two Scholarships for children, One will be for anyone riding a Pony and one riding a Dartmoor pony. The Jr/YR Scholarship can be for non-Members.
Sarah Bookner, Gala Chair, arranged our wonderful Gala event January 21, 2023. She has enjoyed working with the Grandover Resort.
New Business, Amy Brumbach talked about the educational Summer Symposium that she and Ali Perkins LaTorre will be organizing.
Janine Malone also discussed that expenses and fees are substantially increasing. She also went through some Rules changes for USEF changes regarding USEF Membership requirements and Safe Sport Requirements.
Susan Bristol made a motion that the meeting was adjourned until the beginning of Awards Ceremony when New Members will be voted and Helen Ingersoll seconded.
January 3, 2023
The January 3, 2022 NCDCTA Board Call was held remotely and called to order by Lynn Kerin at 7:01. In attendance were:Lynn Kerin, Helen Ingersoll, Jessica Brown, Charlotte Meli, Alex Martini, Sarah Bookner, Stephanie Bristol, Heather Turner, Amy Brumbach, Emme Johnston and Tonya Bruno. Absent was Jennifer Flowers.
This call was specifically regarding the Gala Preparation.
Sarah Bookner, Gala Chair has had a good working relationship with the Grandover for the Event.
Sarah has asked for the Board Members to continue with getting baskets and gift certificates together for door prizes. Sarah also needs people to help set up before the Gala.
Sarah needs help getting the slide show prepared Power Point.
Sarah needs 6 Volunteers (they will get Volunteer cards) 3 people to check in tables, 2 helping with raffles and prizes and helping with lining people up to go onstage to collect ribbons.
Sarah needs someone to put together the certificates.
Call was adjourned at 7:26
Minutes Respectfully submitted by Tonya Bruno,NCDCTA Recording Secretary
About NCDCTA
The North Carolina Dressage & Combined Training Association (NCDCTA) is a 501(c)3 non-profit educational organization dedicated to promoting the equestrian sports of dressage and combined training (eventing). Run by volunteers, the association and its members regularly organize and sponsor various activities designed to heighten its members’ and the general public’s knowledge of and appreciation for dressage and combined training.
NCDCTA is a Region 1 Group Member Organization of the United States Dressage Federation (USDF). NCDCTA is one of the largest organizations of its kind in the United States, boasting over 700 members. NCDCTA members range from first-time riders to Olympians.