The Welsh Pony and Cob Society
Cymdeithas y Merlod a'r Cobiau Cymreig

Council Meetings

REPORT OF THE YOUNG PEOPLE’S COMMITTEE HELD ON 24TH OCTOBER, 2006

Mrs. J. Price submitted a Report, as printed.

MATTERS ARISING FROM THE REPORT

6951                (i)         Present

Miss B Simons present at the meeting should be shown as Young Ambassador-Elect.

                        (ii)        Award of Bursaries (Ref.min. 6931)

Mr. W.G. Jones declared an interest in an applicant forward for a bursary, Miss C. Davies.

Mrs. M.E. Mansfield referred to the President’s Dinner/Dance and confirmed that she would have no objection to the proceeds from that event going towards the bursaries.  Mr. M.C. Johnston, the current President, agreed.  Members thanked both for their generosity.

IT WAS RESOLVED

That those awarded Bursaries be invited to attend the Annual General Meeting in recognition of the award and that photos be made available to various magazines such as Horse & Hound, etc.

Discussion took place with regard to the make-up of the Young People’s Committee and also the fact that the co-opted members on that Committee, following a decision of Council, did not have voting powers.

IT WAS FURTHER RESOLVED

That during the re-structure of Committees, consideration should be given to encouraging young people on to the Committee.

ADOPTION OF THE REPORT OF THE YOUNG PEOPLE’S COMMITTEE MEETING

6952                Subject to the Resolutions referred to above

IT WAS RESOLVED

That the Report be adopted.

REPORT OF A MEETING OF THE MEDAL AND SIRE RATING WORKING PARTY HELD ON 24TH OCTOBER, 2006

The Chairman submitted a Report, as printed.

MATTERS ARISING

6953                (i)         Prohibitive Substances (Ref.Min. 6936(iii)

Mr. M.C. Johnston stated that he would like an opportunity to review, and if necessary, up date the procedure relating to prohibitive substances.

The Chairman invited members of Council to bring forward their concerns to the Chief Officer/Secretary so that these could be considered and taken into account during Mr. Johnstons’ review.

IT WAS RESOLVED

That Mr. M.C. Johnston review the current regulations regarding Prohibitive Substances and Report back to Council on the 11th December, 2006.

                        (ii)        Bronze Medal Scheme (Ref.Min. 6938)

Members discussed at length the Bronze Medal Scheme and Mr. Prosser explained how he had submitted a detailed map of the medals awarded, based on the same map he had produced to Council with regard to the ratio of Judges across the UK.  On the proposal of Miss R. Philipson-Stow and seconded by Miss J. Sheil

IT WAS RESOLVED

That Mr. E. Prosser’s name be added to that with Mrs. Price and Mrs. James to make recommendations with regard to an “Affiliation Pack”.

IT WAS FURTHER RESOLVED

That the Working Party review the situation with regard to retaining the value of the award of Silver Medals and report back to Council.

ADOPTION OF THE REPORT OF THE MEDAL AND SIRE RATING WORKING PARTY

6954                Subject to the Resolutions referred to above

IT WAS RESOLVED

That the Report, as submitted, be adopted.

Confidential Item

REPORT OF A MEETING OF THE JUDGES ADMINISTRATION BOARD HELD ON 25th OCTOBER, 2006

Mrs. J. Price submitted a Report as printed.

MATTERS ARISING FROM THE REPORT

6956                (i)         Title

Before proceeding with the business of the Report Mr. E.T.E. Davies referred to the fact that the Judges Administration Board had been made a standing Committee during the Meeting in April and was therefore of the opinion that the title should be Judges Administration Committee.

IT WAS RESOLVED

That in future the Judges Administration Board would be known as the Judges Administration Committee.

                        (ii)        Judges Conference (Ref.Min. 6941(iv))

Members considered the Timetable put forward and some expressed concern with regard to the dates of the Conference to be held in January/February.  The timetable had stipulated “Spring 2007”.

[NOTE:                        Since the Meeting it had been confirmed that the NFU Building would be available for 27th January, 2007 and this date had been reserved for the Conference.]

IT WAS RESOLVED

That for item 3 in the In-Hand session, Conducting a Class, this should also include Marking System for Judges.

IT WAS FURTHER RESOLVED

That the following charges, plus cost of Lunch, be implemented:

WPCS Members on Panel                    £10.00

Other Society Panel Judges                   £15.00

                        (iii)       Review Assessment Application Forms (Ref.Min. 6947)

Members considered the recommended amendments to the In-Hand and Ridden Assessment Application Forms.  The final approved applications forms would be attached to the Report of the Judges Administration Committee.

IT WAS RESOLVED

That subject to the amendments put forward by Council, that the Procedures and Application Forms for the In-Hand and Ridden Assessments be approved.

                        (iv)       Confidential Item

                        (v)        Booklet – Notes on the Responsibilities of Stewards and Judges (Ref.Min. 6948)

Mr. E.T.E. Davies queried a situation where stewards were related to the Judge.

IT WAS RESOLVED

That the matter be referred back to those members considering the introduction of an Affiliation Pack, namely, Mr. E. Prosser, Mrs. J. Price and Mrs. K. James.

                        (vi)       Performance Awards Competition (Ref.Min.  6949(iii))

Members considered the performance Award Competition run by Mrs. K.A. James.  Mrs. J.P. Price reported that Mrs. James felt that the Competition had grown too complex and wished to simplify the Rules.

IT WAS RESOLVED

That Mrs. K.A. James be authorised to liaise with a member of Council to review and amend the Performance Award Competition Rules and that the final draft be recommended for the consideration of Council.

                        (vii)      Next Meeting (Ref.Min. 6949(ii))

Mr. E.T.E. Davies referred to the lack of letters being circulated with the Minutes and the fact that this had been done in the past.

IT WAS RESOLVED

That in future, copies of Correspondence/information received by the Judges Administration Committee be circulated with the Report to Council members.

ADOPTION OF THE REPORT OF THE JUDGES ADMINISTRATION COMMITTEE MEETING

6957                            Subject to the Resolutions referred to above

IT WAS RESOLVED

That the Report, as submitted, be adopted.

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT       

6958                Confidential Item

CHIEF OFFICER/SECRETARY’S REPORT

6959                (i)         Stud Books

The Chief Officer/Secretary reported that Volume 83 had now been printed and all the other Volumes were at the printers waiting to be published.  Mrs. Kemp-Murphy was now working on the final Index (of two) and this would bring the Society completely up to date.

Mrs. Kemp-Murphy had also been asked to prepare proposals on how to improve the Stud Books and at the same time, reduce costs of publication.

                        (ii)        Sales

The Chief Officer/Secretary reported that the sales were a success and again the transfers were completed on the day.  There was a minor problem at Fayre Oaks but this was identified and resolved for the future.

There were apparently some issues at Hay on Wye sale with regard to Passports not being received.  This had been looked into and the Chief Officer/Secretary was satisfied that the applications had been processed in the proper way.  While the Office will endeavour to make sure that animals going to sales (non-official) receive their Passports this cannot be guaranteed if applications are received less than 4 weeks prior to the sale and payment has been received in full.  As a result the need to promote greater awareness of the need to register as early as possible through the Newsletter, via the website and generally.

                        (iii)       Confidential Item

                        (iv)       Confidential Item

(v)        Complaint re EGM Mailing

The Chief Officer/Secretary reported that she had received a complaint from a member that they had not received notification of the EGM and that a number of others in their postal area had not either.  The query was followed up and checked the information sent from the Society’s system to the printers and asked for the printing firm to confirm that the printing and posting had been completed by them without any errors.  The firm, Y Lolfa confirmed that the data they received included the individuals in question and that no error was made.  It can only be concluded that the Notices were not delivered by the Post Office.

                        (vi)       Foal Inspection

The Chief Officer/Secretary was pleased to confirm that Mrs. Libby Archer of the Horserace Betting Levy Board , would be attending the foal inspection at Brecon Market on Saturday, 2nd Decembmer, 2006.  This year would also see the return of the 4 year old mares for inspection and Mrs. Archer was particularly interested to see how this reflected the success of the Grant Scheme.  The Chief Officer/Secretary would be writing to all Hill Improvement Societies to inform them of Mrs. Archer’s visit.

                        (vii)      RBST Semi Feral Category

The Chief Officer/Secretary also reported that a letter had been received from the Rare Breed Survival Trust last week and that following their annual review of category for Rare Breeds.  Welsh Mountain Ponies Section A, semi Feral were currently Category 3 (vulnerable) but had now been moved to Category 1 (critical).  It may be that Grant Schemes would have to be reviewed for the future with Hill Improvement Societies.

[NOTE:                        Since the Meeting further enquiries had been made with the RBST to confirm the correctness of the criteria by which the decision was arrived by the RBST to re-categorise to critical.]

                        (viii)      Confidential Item

                        (ix)       Cleveland Bays

The Chief Officer/Secretary reported a telephone conversation she had with Kate Telford who was involved with the Cleveland Bay Society and particularly interested in ensuring that there were facilities for BSJA Stallion grading for different Breeds, including Native Breeds.

The Chief Officer/Secretary read out an e-mail she had received from Ms. Telford which referred to proposed Stallion Grading System.

The Cleveland Bay Society had approached the BSJA with regard to their approval to the CBHS holding a BSJA stallion grading at the annual King George 5th Championship at Rodbaston on 22nd April, 2007.  The grading would be organised by the Cleveland Bay International Expo Committee of which Ms. Telford was the Chairman.  She had also been liaising with regard to the criterion for Native stallions coming forward for grading.  It currently allowed stallions of all breeds intending to pursue a showjumping career.  There were many Native bred stallions, not pursing a showjumping career but would be an asset as sires with their stock going to the top of the BSJA ladder, as had been proven in the past.  Since the introduction of the new rules by BSJA such stallions have had to go forward for grading if their owners wished to showcase them as potential jumping sires.  The alternative was to pay £1000 a year to jump them.  This had effectively precluded many stallions.

The criterion MS Telford would like to set down would be:

All stallions to be Licensed with the respective Breed Society and hold full vetting on file as at the time of Licensing

The stallion must be able to jump a round of jumps commensurate with his height and age so that ability could be fully assessed

Entry fee of £100 to cover additional cost of hosting BSJA Assessors, etc.

The BSJA were currently considering stopping assessments for small breed societies whereby they send inspectors to a show as there have been instances of two stallions forward.

Ms. Telford asked whether or not the Society would be in agreement with the concepts.

On the proposal of Miss S. Hardy and seconded by Miss R. Philipson-Stow

IT WAS RESOLVED

That the Society support the concept put forward by Ms. Telford and that this be advertised on the Society’s website, in the Newsletter, etc. when a system was finalised.

                        (x)        NPS Qualifiers

A letter had been received regarding the NPS Qualifiers for Olympia offered at Northleach Show.  The National Pony Society had withdrawn the Qualifiers from Northleach and required an alternative show.

Miss L. Hutchins, Miss R. Philipson-Stow (Committee members) and Mr. P. Wilding-Davies (past Chairman of Northleach) declared an interest.

Considerable discussion ensued with members of the opinion that no decision should be made until a full explanation was given as to why the Qualifiers were being withdrawn.

A proposal was put forward by Mrs. Edwards, and seconded, that if it was not possible for Northleach Show to retain the Olympia qualifiers the NPS should be recommended to offer these at Lampeter Stallion Show. 

Mr. E. Prosser put forward an amendment to the proposal that if it was not possible for the Qualifiers to be retained at Northleach the NPS should be recommended to offer these at The National Welsh Championship Show in Shrewsbury.  The amendment was seconded by Mr. J. Parry.

The Chairman of Council indicated that those members with interests in Lampeter Stallion Show and/or The National Welsh Championship Show were ineligible to vote.

On being put to the vote with 9 votes in favour of the amendment and 8 votes in favour of the proposal with 1 abstention and a declaration of interest from Mrs. Mills and Mrs. Price

IT WAS RESOLVED

That if it was not possible to retain the Olympia Qualifiers at Northleach Show for 2007 that the NPS be recommended to offer these to the National Welsh Championship Show to be held in August at Shrewsbury.

[NOTE:                        Since the Meeting a letter had been received from the NPS stating that they were not willing to go into details as to how they came by their decision to withdraw the Qualifiers from Northleach Show.]

                        (xi)       Aberaeron Festival

The Chief Officer/Secretary reported that she had been invited to attend a Meeting with representatives of the Aberaeron Festival of the Horse.  The Exhibition Unit had not been able to attend the event in 2006 however the Festival Committee also expressed an interest that the Society and the Festival strive to work together.

Members discussed the matter and it was felt that the Festival needed to involve the Welsh breeds more, especially as they paid to have various displays from overseas, etc. with no connection to the Welsh Breeds.

The Chief Officer/Secretary stated that she needed to be able to report back with the feeling of the Council as outlined above.

CORRESPONDENCE

6960    (i)         Confidential Item

SERVICE QUERIES

6961                (i)         Confidential Item

                        (ii)        Confidential Item

                        (iii)       Confidential Item

(iv)       Retrospective Licensing

The Deputy Secretary requested permission to bring an item to the attention of Council.  The Core Department dealing with registration had queried whether or not an animal, registered in Section X could be transferred to the Home Register if the sire was issued with a retrospective Licence.

The Deputy Secretary added that in the case of animals entered in the Welsh Part-Bred Register that had been later established as being pure bred animals had, on being submitted for the consideration of Council, been transferred to the pure bred register subject to parentage typing.

With three abstentions being recorded

IT WAS RESOLVED

That subject to parentage testing, animals registered in Section X sired by stallions that are retrospectively Licensed can be transferred to the relevant Section within the Home Register, etc.

VOTING PAPERS

6962                            The Chief Officer/Secretary wished to clarify two points with regard to the Voting Papers and the Election of Council members:

                        (a)        CVs

The Chief Officer/Secretary reported that she had been approached by a number of people with regard to the current maximum of 100 words for the CVs relating to those members applying for the Council.

Mr. J. Kirk proposed that the maximum of 100 words per CV should remain and this was seconded by Mr. J.A. Russell.

Mrs. C. Fell put forward an amendment that the maximum number of words per CV be increased to 250 words and this was seconded by Mrs. P. Howells.

On being put to the vote with 15 in favour of the amendment, 9 against and 1 abstention

IT WAS RESOLVED

That the maximum number of words to be included in the election CVs be increased from 100 to 250.

                        (b)        Canvassing

There was no ruling against canvassing except that this was not encouraged.   Members considered this at great length and on the proposal of Miss J. Sheil and seconded by Mr. J.T. Kirk, with 1 abstention

IT WAS RESOLVED

That the question of canvassing during the Council Election be left to the individual/s concerned.

Confidential Item

6963                            REPORTS FROM DELEGATES

6964                            Members of Council were circulated with copies of Reports from the following:

                        (a)        Ponies Association UK – represented by Mrs. J. Price

                        (b)        Haymarket Land Events/Equine Breed Societies Meeting

Represented by Miss R. Philipson-Stow and L. Bigley.

Confidential Item

6965                            ANY OTHER BUSINESS

6966                (i)         Enrolment of Members

In accordance with the Companies Act 1959/67 the Chairman of Council submitted the names of 33 new members as circulated to Council.  Subject to a query relating to a joint membership on the listing

IT WAS RESOLVED

That the applicants, as listed, be accepted as members of the Society.

                        (ii)        Royal Welsh Sales

On the proposal of Mrs. D. Jones and seconded by Mr. J.T. Kirk

IT WAS RESOLVED

That identical letters be sent to Brightwells, the Auctioneers and the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society conveying the Society’s very serious concerns with regard to the condition of the stable area during the sale. 

                        (iii)       AGM Dinner

Mr. J.A. Russell felt that a Dinner should be held on the evening prior to the AGM for Council members and their partners.  The Chief Officer/Secretary replied that the President, Mr. Johnston, had raised a similar suggestion and this was being looked into.

The Meeting closed at 5.15 p.m.

This Report is prepared solely for the purposes of the Council Meeting.  It is private and confidential to members of the Council.  They must not be re-produced or disclosed to any other individual except by express authority of the Council.

The remarks made by any specific members of Council as reported in these Minutes are their personal views and opinions and not the views and opinions of the Society unless ratified by the Society.

Posted on 21/12/06

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