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BOD Meeting Minutes

February 2025 Minutes

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Feb 4, 2025 | NCDCTA Board Meeting @ Jennifer Swanson's Farm

Attendees: Helen Ingersoll, Amy Brumbach, Heather Turner, Jordan McKenzie-Solis, Ali LaTorre, Charlotte Meli, Heather Boyer, Ellie Balakrishnan, Lisa Chisholm, Todd Erickson, Katherine Thornton, Mandi Martyn, Will Barrus, Jennifer Swanson 

 

President, Helen Ingersoll, called the meeting to order at 6:08

 

Strategic Planning with Jennifer Swanson:

  • Jennifer started with highlighting that it’s important to integrate new team members

  • Introductions and outlining good teamwork principles:

    • Katherine Thornton: eventing chair, new to board, important teamwork elements are communication and understanding others perspectives 

    • Jordan Solis: secretary, new to board, important teamwork principles are  collaboration and remembering your roots

    • Lisa Chisholm: communication chair, new to board, emphasizes recognizing each others skills and values while letting them use those skills within the group 

    • Ali LaTorre: dressage chair, 3rd year on board, values checking in on each other to make the team stronger 

    • Mandi Martyn: Jr/YR chair, 2nd year on the board, “what is your superpower?”, recognize others superpowers and weaknesses (kryptonite)

    • Heather Turner: treasurer, 4th year on the board, engagement of the people in the seats (care about each other and the members)

    • Ellie Balakrishnan: gala chair, 2nd year on the board, develop meaningful relationships (fosters communication and trust)

    • Charlotte Meli: member at large with focus on volunteers, 2nd year on the board, positivity is important for fostering positive relationships

    • Will Barrus: involved with BOD for the past 20 years, values engagement/investment of board with focus on communication 

    • Todd Erickson: competition chair, new to board, successful boards focus on the mission (don’t get sidetracked)

    • Heather Boyer: member at large with focus on sponsorship, 2nd year on the board, important to respect the group and each others perspectives, guide without judgement 

    • Amy Brumbach: VP, 3rd year on the board, key to success is engagement and participation, “show up when it matters”

    • Helen Ingersoll: president, uses her periphery (vision) to keep the group moving forward, focused on team charter last year and used it as an anchor/guiding principle


 

Todd read the NCDCTA team charter:

NCDCTA Board Team Charter:

  • We the board of the NCDCTA hold the following values as guiding principles to carry out the mission of our organization.

  • To educate, promote camaraderie and recognize achievement in dressage and eventing.

  • Respect, Humility, Patience, Self Awareness, Supportiveness, Accountability, Listening, Generosity, and Helpfulness

  • Communication that is: Clear, Flexible, Ongoing, Supportive, Constructive and Safe while celebrating brave efforts to question and disagree.

  • Decision making that is shared. Roles that can be flexible and board members that are engaged, present, and share appreciation for and with one another, freely.

 

The current board elected not to make changes to the team charter at this time. 

 

Celebration of what’s been achieved over the past year!

  • Tough decisions were made for the betterment of the NCDCTA and it’s membership

  • Improved communication and ownership of roles within the organization 

  • Competition decisions (even last minute) were made that aligned with the mission, charter, values, and budget 

  • Adherence to zero based budgeting (specifically with the gala)

  • Accomplishments in education with Functional Anatomy clinic with Jillian Kreinbring, instructors workshop, Festival, etc

  • Gala was a success that ran smoothly and seamless with lots of awards, perfect venue, and attendance was excellent

  • Development of HOY self reporting 

 

What has been learned?

  • Quality of shows/events over quantity

  • Can’t make everyone happy  

 

For this next year, build on the framework that already exists starting with a SWOT analysis based on the membership survey. 

 

2025 SWOT and NCDCTA Priorities 

  • Communication with Lisa Chisholm: 

    • Priorities: newsletter reformat, more social media with subpages, website redesign

    • Social Media:

      • Goal is to keep the social media channels clear with rules around posting

        • The Facebook page is not for community posting, only for posting official NCDCTA information

      • It was noted that 2 Facebook pages exist (one is a page and one is a group); there was discussion around eliminating one and there was fear of losing members/followers. 

        • There is consideration for having 1 NCDCTA page with a separate eventing subpage 

      • Board members are encouraged to post regularly to show visibility and let members know what’s happening behind the scenes 

    • Newsletter: 

      • Planning to transition to an email style newsletter (that is inline with NCDCTA bylaws) that includes a link to a News page on the NCDCTA website for additional information and educational articles 

      • Helen is planning to appoint a communications cochair for the News page and emailed newsletter

      • Transitioning from a magazine style newsletter to an email newsletter will save $5400 per year (by not hiring newsletter staff)

    • Website:

      • Planning to redesign the NCDCTA website

      • Planning to maintain an up to date calendar of events and encourage organizers to submit their events to the calendar through the NCDCTA website: https://www.ncdcta.org/submit-your-event 

    • Webinars: tabled this for now due to concern for burnout

      • Lisa is happy to help develop once other priorities have been addressed

        • Plan to link with the festival and clinicians

        • Possibly includes continuing ed with USDF, recordings of prior educational events, classroom opportunities

        • Potential to create YouTube channel 

 

  • Festival and Harvest Moon Schooling Show with Amy Brumbach: 

    • Festival is September 12-14, 2025 at Carolina Horse Park

    • Harvest Moon Schooling Show is September 14, 2025 at Carolina Horse Park

    • Clinicians pending (potentially JJ Tate, Richard Malgrim, Tik Maynard, Daniel Stewart) 

      • Planning for dressage, eventing, and education clinicians

      • Hoping to have clinicians secured by mid-march along with budget 

    • The Carolina Horse Park is looking forward to hosting 

    • Festival ticket prices will increase this year 

 

  • L program with Ali LaTorre: 

    • November 22-23, 2025; February 28-March 1, 2026; May 16-17, 2026 at Averett University

    • Developed by the USDF Judges’ Committee, this educational training program teaches judges to evaluate the correct training of dressage horses.

    • Auditors can purchase one event or all 3 (discounted price for all 3)

    • Averett students will get a discount: $25 each to cover food



 

  • NCDCTA Winter Solstice Dressage Championships:

    • December 12-14, 2025 at Carolina Horse Park

    • Will be a level 2 recognized show

 

  • Shows:

    • Considering expanding to FENCE and Williamston for 2026

    • NCDCTA needs more show organizers that are in different locations

 

  • Eventing growth with Katherine Thornton:

    • Priority is is encouraging and developing members

      • Planning cross references USEA to discover NCDCTA membership opportunities 

    • Reconsidering eventing championships that are currently based on War Horse Eventing Series 

    • Considering developing an eventing committee focus group

    • Planning to send communication about who Katherine is as eventing face for NCDCTA

    • Planning to submit quarterly FAQ emails

    • Plan for sharing of dressage and event volunteers

    • Planning to evaluate alternative eventing venues 

    • Considering creating eventing scholarships 

 

Reports:

  • Presidents Report: Helen Ingersoll

    • ***

  • Vice Presidents Report: Amy Brumbach

    • Working on the overall budget for the festival, plan for communication with budget outline and discussion points for the March meeting. 

    • Daniel Stewart is secured for the clinic, Ali is working with JJ Tate and Richard Malgrim. Ongoing discussions with eventing clinician, Tik Maynard. 

    • Ongoing discussions with Carolina Horse Park around budgeting and facility needs. 

    • Working with Todd to develop budget for the Harvest Moon Schooling Show. 

 

Membership Numbers:

Current membership numbers for 2/3/2025

At this time last year we had:

294 total members

174 total horses

Adult Amateur: 218

Jr/YR: 66

Open: 79

Total Members: 363 (23% increase over last year)

Paid Horses: 185

Volunteer Card Horses: 41

Total Horses: 226 (30% increase over last year)

Other member information of interest

New Members: 52

Renewing Members: 272

Reactivated Members: 39

Dressage Only: 202

Western Dressage: 43

Dressage & Eventing: 117

Eventing Only: 34

Breeding: 18

Lifetime Members: 6

Trainers: 25

Officials: 9

E-News ONLY: 45

Female: 345

Male: 17

Gender Unknown: 1

Other Horse Information of Interest

New Horses: 67

Renewing Horses: 138

Reactivated Horses: 21

Volunteer Card Information

Outstanding Volunteer Cards: 2747

 

  • Treasurer Report: Heather Turner

    • 1099s were completed and filed electronically for 26 individuals/LLCs (paper copies were mailed to each person also)

    • Engagement letter in progress with our tax advisor for 2024 taxes; preparing final Quickbooks reporting for tax advisor

    • Working on insurance for L-program 

    • Account balances - 

      • TOTAL - $23,049.44

      • Checking - $16,287.16

      • Savings - $2,595.80

      • PayPal - $4,166.48

  • Communications Report: Lisa Chisholm 

    • Social media:

      • Created an editorial calendar for scheduled posts, promotions, reminders

      • Planning to establish group/posting rules and socialize them to our members

      • Planning to establish clear guidelines for show promotions to ensure consistency and avoid providing unpaid advertising

    • Email

      • Planning to create an updated distribution list based on 2025 membership

    • NCDCTA Brand

      • Plan to have a creative discussion about a unified brand kit that we can use for all designs across documents, presentations, newsletter, email, social, website. 

    • Sponsorship packet

      • Began design pass & editing on sponsorship packet, final product will depend on brand ideas above

    • Newsletter

      • Next edition due 3/15, planning for email style newsletter as above 

  • Competition Report: Todd Erickson

    • ***

  • Eventing Report: Katherine Thornton

    • Organizing Eventing Committee 

      • Reaching out to a group for input/feedback then developing that group into an actual “committee” as per the job description and in order to provide for succession planning and ongoing leadership to the NC eventing community

    • Execute USEA Affiliate Membership (Partnership) and NC eventer mailing list sharing

    • Develop and share NCDCTA eventing-specific calendar and promulgate

      • Send out w “Got Eventing” sticker or fridge magnet

    • Work with USEA Area 2

      • Get Area 2 eventing championships at CHP

      • Identify scholarship opportunities, and clinic support

    • Work with CHP

      • Clarify what, exactly, we are asking for 

        • Yes, Nov “championships” at Nov War Horse

        • Yes or No re: the monthly overlap with War Horse…..

    • Begin process for “Organizer Standards” program based on USEA Organizer Committee work

    • Clarifications/Approval Required:

      • Medal Program (like dressage with different levels of achievement)

      • Eventing Championship

        • Hold Championship at Nov War Horse

        • Gather Points at May, Jun, July, Aug War Horse –

        • Mail 1-3 ribbons out, Points collected (by Katherine) from results

          • (less $ on ribbons)

        • Points accrued for 1-5 to qualify for Championship,

        • Only one result required to qualify

        • Post standings somewhere on the website as we go along (excel spreadsheet)

      • Jr/YR Volunteer program (same as Dressage)

        • Possibility for eventing Jr/YR chair 

      • Eventing Clinic –  in 2025, in coordination with Fall Festival

    • Upcoming Communications:

      • Introduction to Organizers - email

      • Introduction to NC eventers (Include FAQ) - email

      • Ongoing quarterly FAQ emails to stimulate membership

        • Explain USEA benefits (credit of $35 toward USEA membership as well as list the other benefits – access to discounts, etc)

        • Explain HOY self-reporting

  • Dressage Report: Ali LaTorre 

  • Jr/Yr Report: Mandi Martyn

    • D4K clinic planning is in the works. Dates are April 12-13. Looking for a sponsor for lunches. Looking for 3-4 guest lectures, and would love to focus on local talent.

    • Developing email correspondence to all current Jr riders who have not yet registered a horse

    • Planning ahead for our Winter Solstice & NCDCTA championships. Reaching out to our same sponsor for the costume class, who communicated after the show that they would consider sponsoring it again this year.

    • Scholarship announcements for our two shows were on hold until we had the calendar finalized. Considering offering the same Jr/YR scholarships for our Harvest Moon schooling show or the festival to get younger riders involved

  • Volunteer Report: Charlotte Meli

    • ***

  • Sponsorship Report: Heather Boyer 

    • Defining 3 categories of sponsors.

      • 1) Monetary

      • 2) In-Kind Donation

      • 3) Vendor

    • Developing rough draft of the 2025 Sponsorship packet

      • Once packet is made, reach out to 2024 sponsors re: continuing in their specific roles given the new budget of tiers that are created

    • Connecting with multiple Equine professionals interested in sponsoring 

  • Gala Report: Ellie Balakrishnan

    • Continuing to ship prizes out

    • Working on rebooking the Grandover for 2026 with a later date - January 24th, 2026

  • Membership Secretary Report: Will Barrus

    • Volunteer cards were cataloged and members were advised of their active cards, still available for use.

    • 475 reminder emails were sent to inactive 2024 members.

    • Surge in membership and horse renewals. Ahead of 2023 & 2024 numbers.

    • Actively working on Horse of the Year using new self-reporting.

    • Preparing HOY Self-Reporting Email to 2020-2025 members.



 

The next meeting will be via Google Meet on March 4, 2025 

 

Helen adjourned the meeting at 9:01. 

 

Minutes respectfully submitted by Jordan McKenzie-Solis, Recording Secretary.

Minutes passed by majority Board vote.

January 2025 Minutes

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Jan 7, 2025 | NCDCTA Board Meeting REMOTE

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Attendees:Helen Ingersoll, Amy Brumbach, Heather Turner, Tonya Bruno, Charlotte Meli, Ellie Balakrishnan, Ali LaTorre, Mandi Martyn, Alex Martini, Erica Pawlak, Melanie Harper, Sarah Bookner and Heather Boyer. 


 

  1. 7pm Call meeting to order, Helen Ingersoll read the NCDCTA Charter

  2. Membership secretary report, Will Barrus, Membership sign up so far is ahead of where we have been in the past. Will is also working on Volunteer Card details and HOY self reporting. 

Current membership numbers for 1/6/2025

Adult Amateur: 139

Jr/YR: 37

Open: 48

Total Members: 224

Paid Horses: 109

Volunteer Card Horses: 17

Total Horses: 126

Other member information of interest

New Members: 27

Renewing Members: 173

Reactivated Members: 24

Dressage Only: 127

Western Dressage: 25

Dressage & Eventing: 74

Eventing Only: 18

Breeding: 11

Lifetime Members: 6

Trainers: 18

Officials: 6

Other Horse Information of Interest

New Horses: 31

Renewing Horses: 87

 

  1. Presidents report, Helen Ingersoll Helen has been working to fill all Board positions for 2025. She is pleased with the progress and caliber of new Board members. 

  2. VP Report, Amy Brumbach Amy read through Membership numbers and will discuss other details later in the Agenda. 

  3. Treasurer Report, Heather Turner, Heather reports that Memberships and Gala payments are coming into the account. There are payments going out to the Gala expenses. Heather is also working on the taxes as well as putting together year end financials for the Gala Board meeting.

  4. Competition Report, Erica Pawlak Erica is working on wrapping up all the details from this year's shows. She will also work with the incoming Competition Chair.

  5. Communications Report, Sarah Bookner Sarah has been focusing on sending out information about the Gala. Sarah will also work with the incoming Communications Chair.

  6. Education Report, Ali LaTorre 

  7. Jr/Yr Report, Mandi Martyn Mandi has sent possible Dressage 4Kids clinic dates. 

  8. Eventing Report,  Alex Martini and Melanie Harper Alex and Mel presented their recommended changes for the Eventing Medals program. There was discussion and they will make the changes and send out for an email Board vote. 

  9. Gala Report, Ellie Balakrishnan Ellie discussed the tables for our Gala Sponsors. The Gala attendance is very high at over 380 attendees. Ellie asked for additional photos for the slideshow. 

 

Old Business:

Launch of the Self reporting HOY, Helen Ingersoll has a document prepared to send to the Members regarding the self reporting.. Will discussed the details of the self reporting as well as any issues that the Board had. It was agreed that a letter should go out to all Members before the Gala.  Sarah Bookner will send out January 8, 2025

Website Helen got additional information from a second website company  and we are awaiting a quote. Sarah discussed her meeting after she and WIll talked with the first website supplier. There was discussion by Will and Sarah about goals and issues in the website with Board discussion.

 

New Business:

New committee members 

    Todd Erikson - Competition Chair

    Katherine Thornton - Eventing Chair

    Lisa Chisolm - Communications Chair

 

Both DAL positions will be charged with overseeing positional duties  Volunteer Coordination and Sponsorship Coordinator

 

2025 Competitions dates and locations discussion

 

    Move Autumn Leaves date from Oct 31- Nov 2 to December 12-14. Due to the change in the USDF Finals to our chosen weekend of Autumn Leaves and subsequent moving up or Regionals  it is recommended that we change the date. Sarah Bookner made a motion to move the Autumn Leaves show to December 12-14. The motion was seconded by Erica Pawlak and the motion passed.
 

Harvest Moon Show and Equine Festival

    Discussion was had about the Harvest Moon Show in reference to the movement of USDF Finals and Regionals. There was Board discussion on the impact of these issues on a rated Show. 

 

Amy talked about the opportunities with the Carolina Horse Park for the Equine Festival coordinated with a Harvest Moon schooling show. 

 

Erica Pawlak made a motion to put our recognized Harvest Moon Show on hiatus for 2025 and make it to a Schooling Show and combine with our Equine Festival. It was seconded by Sarah Bookner and the motion passed.

​

The next meeting will be held at 4:00 PM January 11, 2025 at the Grandover Resort. All Members are invited to attend. 

Helen ingersoll adjourned the meeting at 9:03

 

Minutes approved by majority Board Vote and respectfully submitted by Tonya Bruno, Recording Secretary

December 2024 Minutes

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NCDCTA Board Meeting December 3, 2024

 

Helen Ingersoll called the meeting to order at 7:05. In attendance were Helen Ingersoll, Amy Brumbach, Mandi Martyn, Charlotte Meli, Heather Turner, Heather Boyer, Ellie Balakrishnan and Tonya Bruno. Joining via Google Meet were Melanie Harper, Ali Perkins LaTorre and Alex Martini. Also in attendance was Will Barrus, Membership Secretary. Absent from the meeting was Erica Pawlak. 

 

Membership Secretary, Will Barrus- Horse of the Year is updated and most major questions are answered, The Calendar is updated. Annual Scholarships had no submissions. Will discussed the 2025 HOY Score submission form and made recommendations for the process. Will recommended we explain  the self submission requirements at the Gala. Will made a recommendation to have our Show Series members/organizers of show to get people who are participating in their Shows who are not NCDCTA Members to join. 

 

President’s report, Helen Ingersoll. Helen and Will met to discuss the HOY Self reporting. She also met with a Show Manager who will likely run our 2025 Shows.Helen discussed the Annual Report and that she has asked all Board members to lay out what it is that they have done for each Committee to be included in the Annual Report.

 

Vice President’s report, Amy Brumbach- Amy is working on Breed numbers for HOY.

 

Treasurer’s report, Heather Turner The NCDCTA balance is low as people are rejoining for 2025, the Show expenses from the Fall and Gala expenses. 

 

Dressage Training report, Ali Perkins LaTorre, The Trainer’s Conference was a great success and Mandi Martyn is taking over the Dressage 4 Kids Program.

 

Eventing report, Alex Martini and Mel Harper- Mel and Alex presented the Eventing Medal totals. Alex and Mel have put together a proposal to revise the Medal program. There was discussion about if the medals can be earned with multiple horses. 

 

Jr/YR report- Mandi Martyn- The Scholarship submissions were very successful this year and all of the Scholarship winners have done their write ups about their experiences. Mandi is taking over the Dressage 4 Kids Program. 

 

Gala report, Ellie Balakrishnan- Ellie has ordered ribbons for Gala and is contacting people who checked the box on their Membership application that they are willing to volunteer for HOY. Ellie asked everyone to make sure they are getting Gala raffle sponsors. There was discussion about ticket pricing. Ellie proposed a Table cost for the gala of $575 per table, Tonya seconded it and it passed unanimously. 

 

Communication report, Sarah Bookner- Sarah shared the proposal from Mythic Landing Enterprises who manages websites and specialize in GMO’s. There was discussion about different aspects of the proposal and it was decided that Will Barrus will schedule a call with Mythic Landing to answer some questions. In addition, Helen is talking to another website Company.

 

Membership Numbers:

Final 2024 membership numbers as of 11/15/2024

Adult Amateur: 391

Jr/YR: 117

Open: 137

Total Members: 645

Paid Horses: 388

Volunteer Card Horses: 106

Total Horses: 494

Other member information of interest

New Members: 156

Renewing Members: 394

Reactivated Members: 95

Dressage Only: 390

Western Dressage: 71

Dressage & Eventing: 179

Eventing Only: 55

Breeding: 27

Lifetime Members: 6

Trainers: 81

Officials: 23

E-News ONLY: 99

Female: 612

Male: 30

Gender Unknown: 3

Other Horse Information of Interest

New Horses: 200

Renewing Horses: 247

Reactivated Horses: 47

Volunteer Card Information

Outstanding Volunteer Cards: 2553

 

The meeting was adjourned at 9:05. 


The next meeting will be via Google Meet on Tuesday, January 7, 2025


Minutes respectfully submitted by Tonya Bruno, Recording Secretary.

Minutes passed by majority Board vote.

November 2024 Minutes

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NCDCTA (remote) BOARD MEETING 11/5/24

 

Helen Ingersoll called the meeting to order at 7:01. In attendance at the meeting were Helen Ingersoll, Amy Brumbach, Heather Turner, Charlotte Meli, Ali Perkins LaTorre, Melanie Harper, Alex Martini, Erica Pawlak, Mandi Martyn, Ellie Balakrishnan, Sarah Bookner and Tonya Bruno. Absent from the meeting was Heather Boyer. 

 

7pm open meeting with Team Charter

 

1. Dressage Education Report- Ali Perkins LaTorre, The Instructors Workshop is scheduled for November 23, 2024 at Elon. We received a Scholarship Grant from the Dressage Foundation for $1500 to cover the costs. Lendon Gray is interested in presenting as well and will be sponsoring breakfast.

 

2. Membership Secretary Report- WIll Barrus, Membership/Horse Registration prices have been increased to reflect changes made board. Membership/Horse Registration forms are being simplified.2024 membership is complete. New members who submitted applications, but were not working toward 2024 HOY/Championships, will be processed in November as 2025 members.Competition organizers are being informed of 2025 dates and given information regarding NCDCTA requirements for compliance with USEF/USDF/USEA rules, reporting requirements and how to renew/request show dates. HOY will be updated by this weekend.An updated ribbon count will be provided by this weekend as well.

 

3. Newsletter Report, Shannon Hoffman- she feels comfortable with information for the Newsletter but can always use more. 

 

4. VP Report- Amy Brumbach

Current membership numbers for 11/4/2024

Adult Amateur: 390

Jr/YR: 117

Open: 137

Total Members: 644

Paid Horses: 387

Volunteer Card Horses: 106

Total Horses: 493

Other member information of interest

New Members: 155

Renewing Members: 394

Reactivated Members: 95

Dressage Only: 390

Western Dressage: 71

Dressage & Eventing: 178

Eventing Only: 55

Breeding: 27

Lifetime Members: 6

Trainers: 81

Officials: 23

E-News ONLY: 99

Female: 612

Male: 30

Other Horse Information of Interest

New Horses: 199

Renewing Horses: 247

Reactivated Horses: 47

  • Portofino responded about the cost to use their facility for the Equine Festival. Amy is going to also ask for costs from Carolina Horse Park as well.

  • Scholarships are due Nov 30, 2024

 

5. Presidents Report- Helen Ingersoll talked about filling Board positions as well as possibly changing roles within existing positions.

 

6. Treasurer Report- Heather Turner, Heather read the balance. The Autumn Leaves bills have been written but not cashed which is reflected in our balance numbers. Heather is sending out prize money checks for Autumn Leaves. Heather put the zero based budget form on the shared Drive. 

 

7. Competition Chair- Erica Pawlak, Autumn Leaves had a great turnout and was a larger turnout than last year.  There were organizational challenges at the Show and Erica expressed appreciation for all the people who stepped up to help the Show be a success.

 

8. Eventing Report- Mel Harper and Alex Martini, The Tim Bourke Eventing clinic was postponed due to an accident Tim Bourke had. Mel and Alex are working to find a replacement dates. WAR Horse Eventing Championships are this weekend and they are looking for Awards ideas which were discussed.

 

9. Jr/Yr Report- Mandi Martyn, Mandi had a great turnout for the costume class at Autumn Leaves. Foundation Equine provided sponsorship for the costume class. Helen Ingersoll thought of the idea to have a Junior/YR volunteer challenge for the weekend which had great participation. Mandi will submit the write up for the Newsletter. Mandi has given the scholarship recipients a deadline to write up their Scholarship experiences.

 

10. Communication Chair Report- Sarah Bookner shared analytics for Facebook (10,000 accounts reached with over 50% open rate which is higher than the industry average.) Sarah asked for texts when requesting her to post information on Social media.

 

11. Gala Report- Ellie Balakrishnan has put together a Budget for the Gala that she has been working on as she has been planning. She is going to put the budget into the zero based budget and requests feedback from the Board Members.

 

Old Business

● Job Descriptions, Tonya is working on creating role descriptions for all positions and asks that each person review as they have time before year end.

● Strategic Planning - Final date- Helen and Jennifer Swanson have set the dates for the last Strategic Planning on February 4, 2025 at Jen Swanson’s Farm in Durham, NC.

 

New Business

● December meeting dinner celebration- in Raleigh 

● Executive committee meeting date - Website discussion will be November 19, 2025.

  • Helen asked the Board to consider NCDCTA members who have made contributions. 

Helen Ingersoll adjourned the meeting at 8:24 PM. 

The Next meeting will be held in person on December 3, 2024. 

 

Minutes respectfully submitted by Tonya Bruno, Recording secretary

Minutes approved by majority Board vote. 

October 2024 Minutes

​

NCDCTA Board Call, October 1, 2024

 

Helen Ingersoll read the NCDCTA charter and called the meeting to order at 7:03.  Present on the call were Helen Ingersoll, Amy Brumbach, Heather Turner, Heather Boyer, Mandi Martyn, Mel Harper, Alex Martini, Charlotte Meli, Ellie Balakrishnan and Tonya Bruno. Absent from the call were Sarah Bookner, Ali Perkins LaTorre and Ericka Pawlak.

 

Membership Secretary report, Will Barrus: Will has moved the NCDCTA database and HOY data to a secure location within Google Drive and ensured the files are automatically updated. HOY results have been published and teams eligible for Championships classes at Autumn Leaves identified. Will is working with riders who delayed renewing memberships & horse registrations to ensure they can ride in the championships without negatively impacting HOY. 2024 is coming to a close at the end of November and membership renewals/registrations will begin for 2025 early in October.

 

Newsletter report, Shannon Hoffman: The Newsletter is out and the next quarterly newsletter deadline is November 15 for the December newsletter. 

 

President’s report, Helen Ingersoll- Helen and Amy Brumbach were Award presenters at Autumn Leaves/BLM’s. Helen has been working with Charlotte related to Volunteer coordination. Helen coordinated with the necessary Board members related to shows. Helen discussed website and other information management tools. 

 

Vice President’s report, Amy Brumbach- Amy is working on the details of the 2025 NCDCTA Equine Festival.  

 

Current membership numbers for 10/1/2024

Adult Amateur: 387

Jr/YR: 116

Open: 135

Total Members: 638

Paid Horses: 380

Volunteer Card Horses: 105

Total Horses: 485

Other member information of interest

New Members: 153

Renewing Members: 390

Reactivated Members: 95

Dressage Only: 388

Western Dressage: 71

Dressage & Eventing: 175

Eventing Only: 54

Breeding: 27

Lifetime Members: 6

Trainers: 80

Officials: 23

E-News ONLY: 98

Female: 606

Male: 30


 

Treasurer’s report, Heather Turner- Heather presented current numbers for the accounts. She is finalizing Labor of Love financials as well as working on the totals for Autumn Leaves. Heather will put a “zero based budget” template to show the Board how it works for cost submissions. 

 

Dressage education chair, Ali Perkins LaTorre- The Trainer’s conference is scheduled for November 23, 2024 and will be held at Elon. The grant proposal is sent into the dressage foundation.They have reviewed it but she has not heard if we received the grant or not yet. 

 

Competition report, Ericka Pawlak- Ericka is finalizing the high score awards for Harvest Moon and working on finalizing Autumn Leaves. She also is working on 2025 planning of Show dates. 

 

Jr/YR report, Mandi Martyn- Mandi is doing a costume class and a stall decorating contest for the Autumn Leaves show.

 

Gala report, Ellie Balakrishnan- Ellie has put together her Budget for the Gala and will incorporate the zero based budget that Heather Turner is sending out to the board. She is working on prizes as well as dining options to stay within budget goals. 

 

Eventing report, Alex Martini and Mel Harper- Alex and Mel have 5 open spots for the Tim Bourke eventing clinic that they will be working to fill those spots at War Horse. They are getting all of the items together for the War Horse Championships. 

There was discussion about the rules related to the  NCDCTA Eventing Championships (outside of HOY.)


Email vote between meetings:

The Executive Committee discussed and presented a proposal to the Board to increase dues by $10 for each division (Professional, Amateur, JrYR and Family) as well as horse registrations. The vote passed via email. 

 

New Business: 

 

Old Business: Heather Boyer and Ellie Balakrishnan put together a proposal for the Volunteer Card and usages. It was decided to utilize Volunteer Cards for additional gala raffle tickets. 

 

Tonya Bruno asked that members of the Board who plan to step down after this year to please let her or Helen know so she can get those Board Role descriptions done first. 

 

Meeting was adjourned at 8:55 by Helen Ingersoll.

Minutes respectfully submitted by Tonya Bruno, recording Secretary

Minutes passed by majority Board vote

September 2024 Minutes

​

NCDCTA Board Call September 3, 2024

 

Amy Brumbach called the meeting to order at 7:03. On the call were Amy Brumbach, Heather Turner, Charlotte Meli, Heather Boyer, Ellie Balakrishnan, Sarah Bookner, Ali LaTorre, Alex Martini, Melanie Harper, Tonya Bruno, Mandi Martyn and Erica Pawlak. Helen Ingersoll was absent. 

 

7pm Open Meeting with Team Charter

​

 Membership Secretary Report

​

 Newsletter Report, Shannon Hoffman has the Newsletter almost done and is waiting for a couple more promised articles. 

​

President Report

​

Vice President Report, Amy Brumbach- Amy is working on getting the Festival details finalized. 

Current membership numbers for 9/3/2024

Adult Amateur: 382

Jr/YR: 114

Open: 129

Total Members: 625

Paid Horses: 369

Volunteer Card Horses: 103

Total Horses: 472

Other member information of interest

New Members: 150

Renewing Members: 383

Reactivated Members: 92

Dressage Only: 379

Western Dressage: 70

Dressage & Eventing: 173

Eventing Only: 52

Breeding: 27

Lifetime Members: 6

Trainers: 78

Officials: 22

E-News ONLY: 95

Female: 595

Male: 28

Other Horse Information of Interest

New Horses: 189

Renewing Horses: 240

Reactivated Horses: 43

 

Treasurer Report, Heather Turner- Heather reported on the current balance which is elevated but we have not paid any Labor of Love invoices yet. We have a Merchant account that is up and running for taking fees. 

​

Competition Report, Erica Pawlak- Labor of Love entries were down and unfortunately there were some internet connectivity issues on Saturday which delayed scoring. CBLM’s/Harvest Moon is in a week and Erica has been reaching out to all involved for the Show. 

​

Eventing Report, Alex Martini and Melanie Harper- Alex and Melanie discussed the WAR Horse ribbons decisions. Melanie talked about the Tim Bourke clinic signups  which has not yet filled and options for fees were discussed and agreed upon by the Board. 

​

Communication Report, Sarah Bookner- Sarah has looked into the website and has determined we will need to update our Website provider for next year as the plan we are on with the current Website has expired. She is going to look for providers including those within NCDCTA Members.

​

Gala Report, Ellie Balakrishnan, is working on sourcing prizes and determining costs and will bring to the Board for decisions when she has firmer numbers. 

​

Jr/Yr Report, Mandi Martyn- There was a Scholarship for a Jr/YR for Labor of Love and three Scholarships for Harvest Moon. 

Dressage Education Report, Ali LaTorre- Ali is working on the Trainer’s Conference instructors as well as the Grant writing for the Dressage Foundation.

 

Volunteer Program Update, Heather Boyer- The Volunteer Card crew has updated the Volunteer Card proposals. All Board members should review these by October 1, 2024 meeting and be prepared to discuss and vote. 

 

Old Business- None discussed

 

New Business- Sarah Bookner made a motion to approve the “not to exceed” Budget for Eventing ribbons and Heather Turner seconded the motion which unanimously passed. 

 

 Amy Brumbach adjourned the meeting at 8:08 PM. The next meeting is scheduled for a remote call on October 2, 2024 at 7:00PM

 

Minutes respectfully submitted by Tonya Bruno, Recording Secretary and approved by majority vote.

July 2024 Minutes

July 2024 NCDCTA Board Meeting, Via Google Meet

 

Helen Ingersoll called the meeting to order at 7:03. Present for the meeting were Helen Ingersoll, Amy Brumbach, Sarah Bookner, Erica Pawlak, Tonya Bruno, Heather Turner, Heather Boyer, Ellie Balakrishnan, Alex Martini, Ali LaTorre and Charlotte Meli. Absent from the meeting were Melanie Harper and Mandi Martyn.  Also attending was Shannon Hoffman, Newsletter. 

 

Helen read the NCDCTA Charter. 

​

NCDCTA BOARD TEAM CHARTER

We the board of the NCDCTA hold the following values as guiding principles to carry out the mission of our organization.

To educate, promote camaraderie and recognize achievement in dressage and eventing.

Respect, Humility, Patience, Self Awareness, Supportiveness, Accountability, Listening, Generosity, and Helpfulness

Communication that is: Clear, Flexible, Ongoing, Supportive, Constructive and Safe while celebrating brave efforts to question and disagree.

Decision making that is shared. Roles that can be flexible and board members that are engaged, present, and share appreciation for and with one another, freely.

 

Will Barrus, Membership Secretary

  1. Met with Amberly Rowles-Lawson to go over HOY Database data and reporting requirements. Amberly is looking at FileMaker Pro and will provide more input on streamlining the procedure. The complexity of the project "broke her brain", but she is looking forward to the challenge.

  2. Developing work/flow procedure for HOY to help Amberly understand the requirements and make sure her input meets NCDCTA needs.

  3. In future will develop additional work/flow procedures for  Membership/Horse Registration processing and Competition Recognition.

  4. Continue to work on changes to website to improve user experience.

  5. IMPORTANT - Dressage in Lexington has not sought competition recognition. If any board members are attending, please contact the organizer and encourage her to seek recognition. 

  6. Shannon Hoffman, Newsletter- Deadline for Newsletter is August 1st with a send out date is after the Capital Dressage Classic in early September. 

 

President’s Report, Helen Ingersoll has gotten Amberly Rowles-Lawson who is a coder and is evaluating our HOY tallying which is an ongoing issue. As noted in Will Barrus’ report, Amberly is evaluating how she might be able to put a custom program together. 

​

Vice President’s Report, Amy Brumbach, Amy is working on continuing to promote the NCDCTA Small Horse and Pony Awards Program.

 Current membership numbers for 7/2/2024

Adult Amateur: 358

Jr/YR: 104

Open: 116

Total Members: 578

Paid Horses: 319

Volunteer Card Horses: 94

Total Horses: 413

Other member information of interest

New Members: 138

Renewing Members: 356

Reactivated Members: 84

Dressage Only: 344

Western Dressage: 68

Dressage & Eventing: 165

Eventing Only: 49

Breeding: 26

Lifetime Members: 6

Trainers: 69

Officials: 21

E-News ONLY: 85

Female: 550

Male: 28

Gender Unknown: 0

Other Horse Information of Interest

New Horses: 169

Renewing Horses: 209

Reactivated Horses: 35

 

Treasurer Report, Heather Turner, Heather is working on finalizing the Capital Dressage profit and loss statement. 

Heather also talked about “zero based budgeting” which the Board voted to adopt in the February 2024 Board meeting. This allows us to prioritize our spending based on what is most important to NCDCTA. The Budget will be separated into a must have and a “nice to have.” 

 

Competition Chair, Erica Pawlak presented her needs for Volunteering requirements for upcoming Shows as well as removing items out of the storage sheds at the Hunt Horse Complex. Erica presented her spreadsheet of costs and sponsorship monies. 

 

Communications Chair, Sarah Bookner, asked for details of Events and information germane to our members so she can send out social media notifications. 

 

Eventing Chair, Alex Martini asked for a vote for the proposed October 2024 eventing clinic with Tim Bourke. Alex made a motion to approve the Budget for the clinic so they can proceed with planning and it was seconded by Sarah Bookner and unanimously passed. 

 

Dressage Education Chair, Ali LaTorre The Jillian Kreinbring clinic sign ups are going well and the clinic is almost full. Ali went through the Volunteer sign ups and is going well with people still needed for set up.

 

Old Business:

Voting protocols were discussed and the importance of voting being held at Meetings unless there are emergency situations which need to be covered with an email vote which should be sent to the Secretary. 

 

Our next meeting will be at Jennifer Swanson’s Farm from 5:30-9:00 on Aug 2, 2024

 

Erica went through her ribbon purchasing needs and dates required for upcoming Shows with the Board. Sarah Bookner made a motion to order the ribbons we need for the remainder of the year as well as branded swag for the prize table and Alex Martini seconded the motion. It unanimously passed. 

 

New Business:

Amy discussed the date for the 2025 Equine Festival. Amy looked at the 2025 calendars (available to date) for dressage and eventing Spring events that may be a conflict for us. There was discussion about trying to hold it at a time other than Spring. Amy will evaluate some other dates and send them to the Board for evaluation prior to the August Board meeting. 

 

Helen Ingersoll adjourned the meeting at 9:20. 

Minutes respectfully submitted by Tonya Bruno, Recording Secretary

June 2024 Minutes

Call Meeting to order 7:03pm by Helen Ingersoll, President. Present at the meeting were Helen Ingersoll, Amy Brumbach, Heather Turner, Melanie Harper, Alex Martini, Sarah Bookner, Ali LaTorre, Mandi Martyn, Erica Pawlak, Ellie Balakrishnan, Charlotte Meli, Heather Boyer and Tonya Bruno. 

Read Team Charter, Helen Ingersoll, President

​

NCDCTA BOARD TEAM CHARTER

We the board of the NCDCTA hold the following values as guiding principles to carry out the mission of our organization.

To educate, promote camaraderie and recognize achievement in dressage and eventing.

Respect, Humility, Patience, Self Awareness, Supportiveness, Accountability, Listening, Generosity, and Helpfulness

Communication that is: Clear, Flexible, Ongoing, Supportive, Constructive and Safe while celebrating brave efforts to question and disagree.

Decision making that is shared. Roles that can be flexible and board members that are engaged, present, and share appreciation for and with one another, freely.

 

Will Barrus, Membership Secretary - Updated Membership and Horse Registration forms to include NCDCTA’s PayPal Merchant ID.

  1. Memberships and Horse Registrations are up-to-date.

  2. Analyzed National/Schooling participation in 2023 NCDCTA

  3.  Championship Classes and provided report to BOD.

  4. Updated HOY. Another update will occur in the next 3-7 days.

  5. Have identified riders/owners/horses who have not renewed for 2024 and am sending out individual notices.

  6. Have identified riders/owners/horses who attempted to renew/join, but payment failed and am sending out individual notices.

  7. Updated Competition Recognition requirements on the website.

 

Shannon Hoffman - News/Comms Report The Newsletter is being finalized and will include the Capital Dressage Classic Show. 

 

Presidents Report, Helen Ingersoll and Amy Brumbach had a meeting with the Carolina Horse Park that went well

 

Vice President Report, Amy Brumbach

Adult Amateur: 353

Jr/YR: 101

Open: 111

Total Members: 565

Paid Horses: 308

Volunteer Card Horses: 93

Total Horses: 401

Other member information of interest

New Members: 135

Renewing Members: 349

Reactivated Members: 81

Dressage Only: 336

Western Dressage: 66

Dressage & Eventing: 163

Eventing Only: 47

Breeding: 24

Lifetime Members: 6

Trainers: 68

Officials: 21

E-News ONLY: 82

Female: 538

Male: 27

Other Horse Information of Interest

New Horses: 161

Renewing Horses: 207

Reactivated Horses: 33

 

We had our first Small Horse/Pony NCDCTA sponsored prizes at the Capital Dressage Classic

 

Treasurer Report, Heather Turner, The Jillian Kreinbring clinic payments are coming into the account. Our Accountant filed an extension due to their scheduling so taxes will be filed November, 2024.

​

Competition Report, Erica Pawlak has to finalize prize lists for the three remaining Shows as well as order prizes. Erica discussed the cash prize money amounts for Championship classes for Autumn Leaves and CBLM and asked for discussion. Erica made a motion to adopt the $200 for first, $100 for second and $50 for third for CBLM Championship classes and $200 for first and $100 for second for Autumn Leaves NCDCTA Championships and Melanie seconded. The vote unanimously passed. There was additional discussion about prizes for upcoming shows for dressage, eventing and the Gala. Erica had discussion about the CBLM Competitor dinner amount and evaluating the options within the Budget. There was discussion about doing a Competitor dinner at Autumn Leaves and it was agreed we should hold the dinner. Erica asked for a person to commit to spearhead the organization of the dinners including tent/event set up.

 

Eventing Report, Melanie Harper and Alex Martini spoke about combining orders for the Eventing ribbons along with Erica’s ribbon ordering for the dressage shows. June WAR horse was a successful event for NCDCTA. There are sufficient ribbons for the July WAR horse and will be evaluated for August. The flights and facility are booked for the Tim Bourke Eventing clinic October 26 & 27 and they are putting final details together.  

​

Education Report, Ali LaTorre. The Jillian Kreinbring clinic has 38 tickets sold as of 6/4/2024. 

​

Communication Report, Sarah Bookner gave the analytics for emails and social media which are both above industry standards. Sarah discussed the NCDCTA brand standards and asked that the NCDCTA logo and the colors be used of navy, black and white. Heather asked about having an NCDCTA flyer that is available to promote NCDCTA. Sarah has something she has been working on for this.

​

JR/Yr Report, Mandi Martyn needs changes made on the Application to the website for the Jr/YR Scholarships. Mandi is going to work with Erica on Autumn Leaves Junior programs (Halloween themes as it is Halloween weekend.)

​

Gala Report, Ellie Balakrishnan is working with other Board members for ribbons and prizes for Gala.

 

Old Business: ​

  • Volunteer Card Program Update Heather  Boyer provided the  revised entry form for the Volunteer Card asking businesses if they are interested in participating in the NCDCTA “Volunteer Cards for cash."

  • Strategic Planning ~ August board meeting start at 6:00-9:00PM 

 

New Business:

 

The meeting was adjourned at 9:21

 

The next meeting will be remote on July 2, 2024. The August meeting will be in person on August 6, 2024 at Jennifer Swanson’s Farm for strategic planning. 

 

Minutes respectfully submitted by Tonya Bruno, Recording Secretary and passed by majority Board vote.

May 2024 Minutes

​

7pm Call meeting to order by Helen Ingersoll, President at 7:03. Present at the meeting were Helen Ingersoll, Amy Brumbach, Heather Turner, Heather Boyer, Charlotte Meli, Ellie  Balakrishnan, Ali Perkins LaTorre, Melanie Harper, Alex Martini, Mandi Martyn, Sarah Bookner and Tonya Bruno. Absent from the meeting was Erica Pawlak.

 

Read Team Charter (Helen Ingersoll) 

Reports:

​

President, Helen Ingersoll, working on finishing the Team Charter and background support. Both partial arenas are sold. 

​

Vice President, Amy Brumbach

Current membership numbers for 5/7/2024

Adult Amateur: 329

Jr/YR: 92

Open: 104

Total Members: 525

Paid Horses: 280

Volunteer Card Horses: 86

Total Horses: 366

Other member information of interest

New Members: 115

Renewing Members: 335

Reactivated Members: 75

Dressage Only: 320

Western Dressage: 63

Dressage & Eventing: 147

Eventing Only: 39

Breeding: 21

Lifetime Members: 6

Trainers: 64

Officials: 21

 

Other Horse Information of Interest

New Horses: 136

Renewing Horses: 197

Reactivated Horses: 33

 

The new Pony Championship information has been sent out to Membership. 

Amy Brumbach put together a Committee to address Scholarships.

 

Treasurer, Heather Turner- taxes are going well and will be filed in May.  

 

Competition, Erica Pawlak

For CDC we still need a Welcome Wagon and Competitor Party sponsor.

Erica listed all of the spots she needs filled for the CDC Show. 

​

Education, Ali Perkins LaTorre NCDCTA sponsored the Lendon Gray dinner and Amy Brumbach did a talk. The Jillian Kreinbring clinic signups are going well. 

​

Eventing, Alex Martini and Melanie Harper- Alex and Melanie had a meeting with the Carolina Horse Park about NCDCTA doing WAR Horse Awards in conjunction with the Carolina Horse Park. The ribbons were ordered for the May and June WAR Horse series. The Carolina Horse Park has asked for 5 NCDCTA Volunteers to work each Event in addition to someone manning the NCDCTA tent and table and handling the scoring. 

Alex and Melanie are organizing an October Eventing Clinic with Tim Bourke to be held at Portofino Farms. 

They are evaluating holding a Bridle and Bit fitting clinic with Katie Cook with Synchrony Bit and Bridle fitting.

​

Gala, Ellie Balakrishnan The Gala will be on January 11, 2025 at The Grandover Resort in Greensboro. The initial deposit has been paid.

Jr/Yr, Mandi Martyn First application came in for Scholarships. Jr/YR can apply for any of the Shows throughout the year. 

​

Communication, Sarah Bookner Sarah is keeping social media updated. Constant Contact for emails and our “open rate” is 60% (industry average is 40%) which is very good and the “click through” rate to highlighted issues is 8% which a good result as well (industry average is 3%)

Sarah asked that everyone on the Board to “Like” a post and “reshare” posts as it helps with Newsfeed algorithms. 

Sarah is working on clarifying  NCDCTA Branding standards. 

 

Membership Secretary, Will Barrus

  • Memberships and Horse Registrations are up-to-date.

  • Volunteer Card Requests. NCDCTA will no longer issue blank volunteer cards to competition organizers.

  • Volunteer card information will be emailed to each recipient

  • HOY will be updated by Friday evening, May 10.

 

Newsletter, Shannon Hoffman

Shannon needs to know about everything that needs to be in the Newsletter by May 15th.  

The Newsletter will come out on June 1st.  

 

Old Business:

Volunteer Card Proposal by Heather Boyer and Ellie Balakrishnan- Presented Volunteer Card thoughts on value of Volunteer Cards and proposal as to how the Volunteer cards can be used by Show Sponsors, Trainers and Community Businesses in addition to using for HOY registrations. They are establishing ideas for how to track the Volunteer Cards. 

Helen Ingersoll summarized that there are three main things to consider:

The data collection, benefits of Volunteer cards for Members and how it is we sign up people.

 

The next meeting will be virtual on Jun 4, 2024 and July will be virtual meeting with August 6 being the next in person meeting held at Jen Swanson’s farm in Durham.

 

Helen Ingersoll adjourned the Meeting at 9:09

Minutes respectfully submitted by Tonya Bruno, Recording Secretary.

Approved by Majority Board Vote May 8, 2024

March 2024 Minutes

 

NCDCTA  Board Meeting March 5, 2024 held remotely via Google Meet


Meeting called to order at 7:02 by President, Helen Ingersoll

Attending the meeting were Helen Ingersoll, Amy Brumbach, Heather Turner, Tonya Bruno, Charlotte Meli, Heather Boyer, Ellie Balakrishnan, Sarah Bookner, Mandi Martyn, Alex Martini, Melanie Harper and Ali LaTorre. Absent from the meeting was Ericka Pawlak.

 

We started the meeting with a presentation from Stacy Quaranta and Ginger Henderson regarding the “L” Program Judge’s training being sponsored by Averett University for either 2025 or 2026. The plan would be to use Averett University’s Facilities as well as their horses and riders. Stacy presented the sample Budget that people have used at other “L” Program. There are other East Coast GMO’s hosting in 2025 so we may wait until 2026. 


Membership Secretary Report ~ Will Barrus- The Calendar is updated and included in the Newsletter. Will submitted an article about Horse of the Year and FAQ regarding Volunteer Cards. Will says HOY will be updated on Friday March 8.

​

Newsletter Report ~ Shannon Hoffman- The Newsletter is almost complete and will be sent out this week. The next Newsletter deadline is May 1. Shannon asked for additional Eventing and Western Dressage articles. Shannon is working with Sarah on the weekly Constant Contact mailer. 

​

Presidents Report ~ Helen Ingersoll- Helen met with Jennifer Swanson on Monday about the Strategic Planning Program. The first part will likely be Virtual with an in person ½ day meeting. 

​

Vice Presidents Report ~ Amy Brumbach 

Current membership numbers for 3/4/2024

Adult Amateur: 236

Jr/YR: 62

Open: 78

Total Members: 376

Paid Horses: 187

Volunteer Card Horses: 60

Total Horses: 247

Other member information of interest

New Members: 68

Renewing Members: 259

Reactivated Members: 49

Dressage Only: 228

Western Dressage: 39

Dressage & Eventing: 109

Eventing Only: 27

Breeding: 16

Trainers: 48

Officials: 19

Other Horse Information of Interest

New Horses: 83

Renewing Horses: 143

 

Amy is working with Will on Competition recognition and is creating a Rulebook that will go out to people hosting recognized  NCDCTA Competition. Amy will present it to the Board before it goes live with the goal of having it ready for 2025. 

The Scholarship Committee has been formed.

 

Treasurer Report ~ Heather Turner - It was a quiet month of Accounting. The 1099’s went out on time.

​

Gala Report ~ Sarah Bookner/Ellie Balakrishnan- Sarah gave her report for the February Gala specific to cost analysis moving forward. Sarah passed along all the information to Ellie who is taking over as Gala Chair. 

​

Competition Report ~ Erica Pawlak-  Erica continues to finalize all the Show Management and has submitted insurance renewal to Blue Bridle. The Sponsorship Brochure has been submitted and there is a Spreadsheet to keep track of possible Sponsors. Erica shared Competition expenses including the purchase of three dressage arenas as well as options for renting.. 

​

Eventing Report ~ Alex Martini/Mel Harper- At the time of the call there weren’t any Spring Eventing Grant submissions. They asked if we could consider one Eventing Grant (rather than two) and do it later in the Year and increase the amount of the Grant. They are also working on a possible Eventing clinic.

​

Dressage Education ~ Ali Latorre- Lendon Gray clinic is scheduled with NCDCTA sponsoring a Pizza Party Saturday night with Amy Brumbach and Mandi Martin (and Ali) representing NCDCTA.. Ali has a website up for  the Functional Anatomy workshop with Jillian Kreinbring and will be determining the costs for participants. Ali is asking for sponsorship opportunities as well. 

​

Jr/Yr Report ~Mandi Martyn- Mandi is working on updating Website and promoting the Scholarships. 

​

Communications Report ~ Sarah Bookner- Sarah is taking on the Social Media postings and asked for information from the fellow Board Members so she can do the posts. Sarah asked for suggestions and changes that people would like to have made. Sarah has been working with Alex and Melanie about a Survey for Eventers to learn how we can better serve that community.

 

Old Business:

Strategic Planning Process with Jennifer Swanson ~ Pick a date for initial and schedule the year

for our virtual meetings

Website Audit/Review- Helen asked for more website feedback from the Board Members.

Sponsorship/Media Kit

Terms/conditions/HOY rules button on membership

​

New Business:

Pony Championships sponsored by NCDCTA.  Amy presented a proposal for an NCDCTA Pony and Small Horse series. She sent the Board the proposed levels and financial involvement. The classes will include Pony under saddle, small Horse under saddle and in hand.

The motion was made to sponsor a Pony and Small Horse Championships by Mandi Martyn and Sarah Bookner seconded it and the vote unanimously passed. 

 

Heather Boyer made a motion to amend the HOY rules to remove the requirement to ride the two of the highest tests of that level in the Intro Western Dressage Awards as they are all of similar requirement (no canter required as is Intro C with straight dressage.)  Sarah Bookner seconded it and it unanimously passed.

 

Heather Boyer also asked that in traditional dressage in the Intro classes Championship that the Intro C class must be ridden (even if it is a score that is thrown out.) It was determined that we needed more discussion on this before a Vote..

 

Our next meeting is on April 2 in person and will be at M&M Tack in Raleigh at 7:00 PM.

 

Helen adjourned the meeting at 9:28.

February 2024 Minutes

 

I. Call Meeting to Order at 7:04 for February 6, 2024 Board Meeting held remotely via Google Meet.

Present for the meeting were Helen Ingersoll,  Amy Brumbach, Erica Pawlak, Ali Perkins LaTorre, Heather Turner, Melanie Harper, Alex Martini, Ellie Balakrishnan, Charlotte Meli, Mandi Martyn, Tonya Bruno and Heather Boyer. Absent were Jennifer Flowers and Sarah Bookner

​

II. Will Barrus - Update Membership is significantly down from this time last year in both human and horse Members. Will has updated the Calendar. The Calendar will be included in the Newsletter. Will is also writing articles for the Newsletter for HOY Rules and Membership. Will is working on two tri-fold brochures on HOY Rules and Membership. The decision was made to rework and clean up our existing website rather than the significant investment a new website would require. Will is working on streamlining the Competition recognition process. Will reiterated that we have to address Volunteer Cards as to value and how they are used. Will mentioned after the USDF Convention it was recommended to place our Trainer’s Directory on hold due to liability issues. As this is one of the main benefits we offer Trainers WIll encouraged the Board to determine a resolution. 


III. Shannon Hoffman - Newsletter Update The beginning of each of the following months is the deadline for Newsletter content with the Newsletter going out at the end of the month. These months are February, May, August and November. Shannon and Erica are going to offer half page ads to Schooling Show Series sponsors in the Newsletter. 

At this point, Vendors Sign Off for Board Meeting

​

IV. President Report - Helen Ingersoll, Helen welcomed everyone to the 2024 Board. Helen laid out the 1Q goals for the Organization. She asked everyone on the Board to go through the webpage and say what is good and what can use improvement.


V. Vice President- Amy Brumbach - Membership Numbers

Current membership numbers for 2/5/2024

Adult Amateur: 180

Jr/YR: 46

Open: 68

Total Members: 294

Paid Horses: 131

Volunteer Card Horses: 43

Total Horses: 174

Other member information of interest

New Members: 50

Renewing Members: 210

Reactivated Members: 34

Dressage Only: 184

Western Dressage: 30

Dressage & Eventing: 85

Eventing Only: 19

Breeding: 13

 

Other Horse Information of Interest

New Horses: 57

Renewing Horses: 101

Reactivated Horses: 16

​

 VI. Treasurers Report- Heather Turner - Current Financials and Budget Proposal. Heather has filed the Contractor Workers 1099’s and has tax information to the Accountant so we don’t have to file an extension for tax filing. 

Heather and Helen are proposing we use “zero based budgeting.” Zero Based Budgeting is an approach that starts the budgeting at zero and does not necessarily take the history of spending in the past. The Budget would be determined by fixed costs and other costs and we determine in what way the money is spent to build in the priorities of the Organization. For next steps we need to be clear on our objectives and priorities. 

​

VII. Communication Chair- Sarah Bookner 


VIII. Competition Report – Erica Pawlak presented the information for last year’s shows and going into 2024. She had a slide presentation outlining expenses for 2023 Shows. Erica touched on Show Management contract processes. Erica presented a proposed Media Kit and Sponsorship opportunities which she will be forwarding to the Board for edits and recommendations. Erica asked for help organizing the Sheds at the Raleigh Fairgrounds. Erica went through the pricing of the 3 dressage arena purchases that the 2023 Board approved for  $15,141. Erica is working with Show Management to have Prize Lists for all the Shows in the next 6 weeks. Janine Malone has generously facilitated transferring relationships for Breed Award sponsorships at our Shows. 


IX. Gala – Sarah/Ellie BalakrishnanSarah was unable to attend due  to work travel. She presented written information on the costs of the Gala (which were higher than the previous year at the same venue) with information as to where the discrepancies occurred. The conversation is going to be included in the March 2024 meeting as Sarah 


X. Jr/Yr Committee Report – Jennifer Flowers/Mandi Martyn Mandi is starting the Scholarship process and is tweaking the Scholarship process.  Jennifer and Mandi are meeting next week to discuss opportunities for Show plans. 

​

XI . Education Chair- Ali Latorre Ali is working on details on finalizing the Jillian Kreinbring clinic in July as well as the Lendon Gray Youth clinic. Ali is working with Averett University about sponsoring the “L” Program. 

​

XII. Eventing Chair- Alex Martini/Mel Harper are new to the Board and are going to work with Amy Brumbach. 

​

Old Business- None

​

New Business
-Budget Vote Erica Pawlak made a motion to adopt zero based Budget, Heather Boyer seconded it and it unanimously passed.

 -Strategic Planning set up a date with Group. 


-L program for 2025 ~ Possible March agenda item

- Amy Brumbach is thinking about possibly doing a NCDCTA pony series.

The next Board Meeting will be on March 5, 2024 via Google Meet

The meeting was adjourned at 9:02 PM

Minutes Respectfully submitted by Tonya Bruno, Recording Secretary, and passed by majority Board Vote. 

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