NWHA National News June 2020 | Page 2

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