From the desk of
Jim Pottter
President of the NWHA
So, in my thinking about my letter
for this issue I have been reminded
of an old proverb, “May you live in
interesting times.”
I think the word “interesting” is
a huge understatement for what we
have all been experiencing, but those
are the times we are definitely living
in at the moment. I can say that in
my 30+ years in this industry, I have
certainly never seen anything like
this!!! I know it has been hard for
everyone, and I want to thank you
for your patience and understanding
during this crazy and unexpected
situation. Thankfully, we have (for
now) all been given permission to
move forward with our horse shows.
Despite the fact that we have had
only one actual horse show so far
this year, we have been surprisingly
busy and things are moving forward.
Peggy Moore has graciously
stayed on as our DQP Director and
has (in spite of the lack of horse
shows) stayed right on top of things
as she always does. She assisted the
newly formed Virtual Show
Committee in exploring some online
options for the organization to look
at. And now has had her hands full
reviewing and implementing new
guidelines for the DQPs that will
be necessary as we start back to
showing. We all owe Peggy a BIG
“Thank You” for the fantastic job
she has always done and continues
to do for NWHA.
I would like to welcome and
thank Tracy Weier who has agreed
to take on the task of being our
new Director of Judges. Tracy has
served many roles over the years,
including Show Manager, Judge,
NWHA Board Member, and DQP
for our organization. We
appreciate his willingness to step
into this new role. He, along with
the great team on the Judges
Committee, went through the
process of Judge selection for the
2020 National and made their
recommendation to the Board of
Directors who approved the
recommendation unanimously.
There is more on that later in this
issue.
I’d like to personally thank Ruth
Ann Spinelli for serving as our
Director of Judges for so many
years. I believe her leadership and
integrity helped set a new standard
for our NWHA judges, who are a
shining example in our industry.
As we look to the future, we
will be seeing some changes in
the way horse shows are
conducted, and we all need to
be aware of the guidelines for
each and every state we are
showing our horses in. I
understand that some folks will
not like some of the
requirements we are given, but
I think we can all agree that we
want to show our horses.
So I will ask this: Please be
mindful of the requirements of
the state and location you are
showing in. We all need to be
respectful and do our best to
keep all of our friends safe and
healthy. Also, our show
managers and their staffs are all
working diligently to figure out
how to operate while following
these new guidelines.
This is new territory for
everyone, and there may be
bumps along the way. Please
be both patient and kind with
them and each other as we all
make our way though this
“interesting” season.
~ Jim
NWHA NATIONAL NEWS | June issue 2