treasurer ’ s report by Heather Ward
I
’ m pleased to be able to say that we do have some positive signs in the financial statements for the first four months of the current year . We are on budget so far and our loss to date is less than the same period last year by about $ 7,500 which although modest , is a good step in the right direction .
Your Board and Committee members are working very hard to keep the costs down and to improve revenues including introducing some new income generating items that hopefully will grow over the next several months . Our key financial impact items have been and continue to be registrations , membership , and our Miniature Horse World magazine . Registrations are showing an improvement of over 4 % from last year and we are pleased by that financial indication . The Board is looking at other ways to increase registrations and we have brought back the Amnesty Program which is effective immediately and will be in place until the end of 2016 . It allows horses that have had their registration revoked to be brought from Temporary to Permanent without the owner being penalized . Look on the website for the Amnesty Program coupon and please pass this information on others so that we can get horses back in good standing , which is obviously good for our organization as well as for the future of some of these horses .
The Hardship program for AMHR permanent registered 60 month and older horses is starting to be utilized and the required
measuring and inspections will be available at the Regional shows as well as at the World show . It can also be arranged for at an AMHA approved show by contacting the show manager in order that the required officials can be there . If your show manager is having difficulty making the arrangements , please contact the registration department and / or your regional Director as there are many people out there who are more than willing to help facilitate the process . The application form is on our website and if you are wanting to hardship your horse this is the first step in the process . Complete the application form and attach a copy of the AMHR registration papers as well as 4 current photos and send it with the required funds to the registration department .
Our Miniature Horse World magazine is a beautiful magazine , a keepsake in many cases , and has a great editor in Melissa Powell , but it like other publications has declined in net revenues over the past several years . We would like to turn that trend around this year and are looking for more advertisers so please consider advertising your farm and horses . As well , we also have launched the new digital version of Miniature Horse World that is very affordable and I would encourage you to contact Melissa at the office to discuss the options .
We hope to launch a new membership benefit package soon and will let you know as soon as possible . In the meantime get out and enjoy your horses and do support your local shows by showing or volunteering .
8 Miniature Horse World JUNE / JULY 2016