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UPDATED!!
April 14, 2006
Trever DeMaranville, President
Bryan Holen, Vice President
Stephanie Armstead, Youth Representative
Joy Steckly, Secretary/Treasurer
1256 280th Road
Seward, Nebraska 68434
(402) 643-9883
February 23. 2006 From the President
Hello,
The winter meeting went well; we had good food and good weather. I have
been super busy with the nice weather not keeping me indoors like most
winters. I'm sure it’s the same with everyone else. I'm looking
forward to this year. I'm sure it will be another busy one, and it sounds
like there will be no shortage of places to go and things to do. I hope
we can all make it to a few more events this year and help to make the
NDHMA more of a community every year. I know that is one of my goals.
I have never been disappointed going to a function no matter how far or
hot or how hard they made me pitch bundles.
Traver DeMaranville, president
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From
The Secretary
Dear Members:
Greetings from Seward, where lately if you don’t like the weather, wait
a few minutes. We’ve gone from extremely mild to very cold (actually
it’s probably seasonably cold), and now we’re repeating the same
pattern. I’ve got poppies pushing green leaves up, and you’ve probably
seen
crocuses and daffodils starting to peak through, as well. I’m sure
we’re in for some real winter weather yet, and I’m not sure how those
tender shoots are going to survive it. I’m just glad we didn’t get the 27
inches of snow they received in New England!
We had a good turnout for the winter meeting in Grand Island last
month. The minutes are found elsewhere in this newsletter. I want to
thank
Scot Hoover for his leadership in 2005. It was a pleasure working with
him as we planned events throughout the year. Even though he’s moved
to South Dakota, his heart his still in Nebraska, and so are his horses!
He’ll continue his membership and agreed to be on the clinic planning
committee this year. Thanks again, Scot!
Welcome to Traver DeMaranville as the 2006 president, and Bryan Holen
as vice president. I look forward to working with you this year.
Stephanie Armstead was voted in as youth representative for another year.
Please inform her in advance of any activities you’d like her to attend
this year.
You’ll also find a list of events scheduled across the state. The
first major event of the year is the Nebraska Horse Expo, held at the
Lancaster Event Center in Lincoln. This is a fun event that lets horse
enthusiasts showcase their animals and how they use them. Please check out
the other events and make plans to participate. Nebraska has the
pleasure of hosting the National Hand Cornhusking contest this year. It’s
being held a little later than usual to allow all the other states to
finish their state competitions. Many teams and wagons will be needed
during the two day event, so make plans to head to Columbus the end of
October.
The summer picnic/field day will be held on Sunday, June 25, 2006 at
the Vern and Sue Curtis farm near Seward. This is a change from what was
announced at the winter meeting. Please see the list of events for
more details. If you have any events you want published or placed on the
website, please let me know. I also welcome stories about your events
as well.
We want to welcome some new members to our association this year.
Buster and Judy Roberts of Ashland have roan work teams. Shelly Rowell is
from Firth and has Belgians and Clydes. Larry and Shelia Foreman are
from Blue Springs and have Percherons and mules. Jim and Leigh Ann
Freeman from Beatrice have saddle mules and coon hunting mules. Mike and
Lily Mousel of Red Cloud have a team of Percherons. Greg and Debbie
Banks of North Platte have a team of Belgians. We look forward to meeting
all of you this year!
Foaling has started for some of you, and is just around the corner for
others. Here’s hoping for good weather and healthy foals. We have
one
coming in March and two in April. Good luck, and hope to see you all
around at the various events this year!
Joy Steckly, secretary/treasurer
Sincerely,
Joy Steckly
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MINUTES OF THE WINTER MEETING
The winter meeting of the Nebraska Draft Horse and Mule Association
was held on January 14, 2006 at the Grand Island Holiday Inn. Outgoing
President Scot Hoover opened the meeting and asked members to introduce
themselves. Secretary/Treasurer Joy Steckly gave the secretary’s
report, indicating she’s enjoyed working with and getting to know members
over the past several years. The treasurer’s report was available on the
tables. We started out with $2,648.66 on 1/1/05, and ended the year
with $1,483.90 in checking and $227.00 in cash (for making change and
from sale of hats and t-shirts). Following is a summary of incoming and
outgoing funds for 2005.
Beginning Balance 1/01/05 2648.66
Incoming 2005 Dues, Ads, and Meals +2756.00
Advertising in Draft Horse Journal -1030.00
Holiday Inn Meals (Winter Meeting) -643.34
Sale of Shirts & Hats +350.00
NDHMA Shirts & Hats -954.98
Spring & Fall Draft Horse Clinic Fees +415.00
Meals for Clinics -182.93
Mileage for Phil Calahan (Spring Clinic) -405.00
Pizza Party Fund for 2005 (carried over $265 from 2004) +165.00
Pizza, Pop and Ice for Pizza Party -412.69
Nebraska Horse Expo Booth 2006 -33.75
Youth Representative Expense (sash, tiara) -50.29
Postage -137.85
Printing & Supplies -386.69
Bank Service Charge -2.00
Jerry Lewis Memorial -25.00
Youth Showmanship Trophies 2005 -251.24
State Fair Sponsorships 2004 -130.00
State Fair Sponsorships 2005 -130.00
Ending Balance 12/31/05 1483.90
Cash on
hand 277.00
Grand
Total 1710.90
A motion was made, seconded, and approved to accept the treasurer’s
report as presented.
Stephanie Armstead reported on her activities in 2005, which included
the Horse Expo, the parade at Nebraskaland Days in North Platte,
several county fairs, and the highlight for her was the Nebraska State Fair.
A motion was made, seconded, and passed to install Traver DeMaranville
as the incoming president. Traver then opened up nominations for vice
president, secretary/treasurer, and youth representative. Bryan Holen
was elected vice president, Joy Steckly was re-elected as
secretary/treasurer, and Stephanie Armstead was re-elected as youth
representative
for 2006.
OLD BUSINESS
Darrel Eberspacher reported that the Belgian Futurity has been moved to
the Iowa State Fair for 2006. Frank Steckly said he’s enjoyed being
superintendent of the draft horse show at the Nebraska State Fair, that
the shows have been good, and that he’s resigning as superintendent.
His new employment will make it impossible for him to be there all four
days. Joy reported that the State Fair pizza party continues to be well
received, and expenses were covered for 2005 from donations. After
some discussion, it was voted to keep the pizza fund on a donation basis.
A hat was passed around and almost $400 was collected.
Richard Armstead and Vernon and Sue Curtis reported on the clinics
held on their farms. Phil Calahan demonstrated hitching a six-up at Cozad
last spring, and Clark Jenson expounded on the breeding program he uses
with his Shires last fall at Seward.
Heidi Trautman indicated she has switched web managers and is now
working with someone from Kearney. She hopes to get the Association’s
website updated soon. She’s also looking at another e-mail group other
than Yahoo. If you have anything to put on the website, please contact
her. Joy also suggested that if dates or locations should change on
activities, such as the picnic, they should be posted on the website.
Members can then check the website or call the hosts, rather than having
the executive committee and hosts calling everyone.
Hats with the association name and shirts with the association logo
were available for sale. There are only a few hats left at $10 each.
There are many shirts still available in gray and khaki for $7 each, in
sizes large and extra large. We may consider ordering more mediums and
2XL’s if there’s enough interest.
NEW BUSINESS
Originally at the meeting Merlyn Berg offered to host the 2006 Summer
Picnic at his place near Pleasant Dale on June 11. That has since been
changed. Vernon and Sue Curtis of Seward will be hosting the 2006
Summer Picnic on Sunday, June 25, with a rain date of Sunday, July 2. Please
note the change of date and place.
It was suggested that a committee be formed to plan the clinic this
year. Richard Armstead, Scot Hoover, and Dawn Kucera volunteered to
serve on the committee. This year’s clinic will probably be held in the
spring, as we ran into harvest conflicts during the fall clinic.
Possible sites are the Rangely Farm at Cozad, the stable at Kearney, or the
living history farm at York.
Shelly Rowell has agreed to facilitate the draft exhibit at the 2006
Horse Expo. There will be 10 draft horses representing the association
at the event in March. The association will again have a hospitality
booth. It was decided to have the association join the Nebraska Horse
Council so members can pay member rates for stalls. As a member, we are
entitled to one voting representative on the council. Shelly Rowell
was nominated and voted in as our representative to the Nebraska Horse
Council. Those attending the Horse Expo are asked to bring food to share
for the meals.
Activities and events from across the state were mentioned, and are
found in the list of 2006 events. Vernon Curtis shared the story of
their barn moving experience this winter. For additional new business,
Darrel Eberspacher made us aware of a bill in committee in Washington that
could have an adverse effect on the horse industry. You’ll find the
information following in this newsletter.
A motion was made, seconded, and passed to adjourn the meeting.
Darrel spoke the blessing over the meal. Everyone enjoyed the food and
fellowship that followed.
Respectfully submitted,
Joy Steckly, secretary/treasurer
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***LEGISLATIVE UPDATE***
By Darrel Eberspacher
There is a strong move afoot to stop the slaughter of all horses in
the U.S. for meat. A concerted effort was made this last fall by
offering an amendment to the Agricultural Appropriations Bill making it
illegal to use federal funds to inspect horse meat. Luckily during
conference negotiations they allowed the meat plants to pay for the inspectors
on their own.
Then two bills were introduced in Congress to not only stop the
slaughter of horses, but also to stop the transportation of horses for
slaughter, or to ship them to Canada or Mexico. The Senate bill is S1915
and
the House bill is HR503. In previous years, the animal rights groups
tried to run their bills through the Agriculture Committee where they
were killed. This year they are trying the Commerce Committee because
they feel they will have a better chance of getting them out of the
committee.
You may ask why is the slaughter of horses important? First of all, I
don’t know of anyone who is raising horses for their meat. We do need
this market to have a place to go with older, undesirable, dangerous
horses, or horses that just aren’t usable. I am a horse breeder and my
hope is that my breed will be able to improve the horses we breed.
There has to be a market for those that don’t measure up, and one of those
options must be a slaughter market or else we will end up breeding
everything and it will give us more of a surplus as well as decreasing
quality.
The opponents of horse slaughter never talk about what we will do with
all the horses. I can tell you from watching the post that there will
be more starved, uncared for, and hurting horses than ever. Many will
just be turned loose (which is already happening now) to fend for
themselves. If you think hitting a deer on our roads is dangerous, wait
until you are confronted with a horse in the middle of the road.
Please contact your senator or representative. We do not have any of
our congressmen in either Commerce Committee, but they should still
hear from you. There is a lot of money from the animal rights people
being spent to shut us down.
Residents of Nebraska are represented in Congress by 2 Senators and 3
Representatives.
Member Name DC Phone DC FAX Email
Senator Chuck Hagel (R- NE)
202-224-4224 202-224-5213
http://hagel.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home
Senator Ben Nelson (D- NE)
202-224-6551 202-228-0012 http://bennelson.senate.gov/contact/email.cfm
Representative Jeff Fortenberry (R - 01)
202-225-4806 202-225-5686 http://fortenberry.house.gov/EmailJeff/
Representative Lee Terry (R - 02)
202-225-4155 202-226-5452
http://www.house.gov/formleeterry/IMA/issue.htm
Representative Thomas W. Osborne (R - 03)
202-225-6435 202-226-1385 http://www.house.gov/writerep/
The above contact information was gleaned from the following website:
http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/cgi-bin/newseek.cgi?site=ctc&state=ne