I am very excited and pleased to take on the role of president of the society. We are in very good shape, thanks to the leadership of Duncan over the past term. In case you didn’t notice, here are things that happened:

1) We finalized and ratified our by-laws

2) We published our registration rules

3) We had two very successful inspection tours

4) We published two registers

5) We were invited and responded to the draft HSI Irish Draught Breed Policy (many of our recommendations have been reflected in the final policy)

Duncan, I am relieved you are staying on the Board and will count on your advice! This is also the first term for the Board without Anthea MacLauchlan as a member. Anthea, we thank you for all your incredibly hard work. The society would not be where it is now without you. Thanks for Nikko, Jennifer and Cheryl for staying on. We have one brand new member – welcome Brian Donegan – and after a short break, Christine Sweet is back as well; thanks for coming back!

The Board already has many exciting ideas for the next two years; stay tuned!

All the Best for the 2010 Year,

Janene VandenBorn

The IDHSC Board requests member participation in the following committees: Please let Janene or the committee lead know if you would like to participate in any of the following committees by MAY 31, 2010.

1. Website: Our website can be so much more! We need people to help with website design and we need people to contribute content. Contact:  Janene VandenBorn

2. Newsletter: Our main communication to our members is our newsletter. We need more ideas for articles and columns. Contact: Janene VandenBorn

3. Spruce Meadows: Every year we have sat with the Irish Horse Board / Horse Sport Ireland at Spruce Meadows Masters in September . This year, Ireland is not coming so we are on our own! We need to decide what we will do with the booth, create marketing materials and man the booth. Contact: Duncan Kerfoot

4. Membership: What are the things we should be doing for our membership to grow? How do we provide value to our members? Contact: Christine Sweet

5. Awards: It is time we started to recognize our fantastic Irish horses that are out there and competing! What awards for what competition, when to award, how to figure out who gets the awards are all questions we need to answer!
Contact: Nikko Konyk 

6. Registration: How to respond to the HSI breed policy’s call for harmonized stud books, how to improve inspections, how to make registration better... these are all questions we need to look at. Contact: Cheryl Anderson

We are always trying to make a great newsletter, so we need all the help we can get. If you have any news, photos, tidbits, recipes, farm info, etc that you would like to contribute we would love to hear from you. Contact Janene VandenBorn at info@idhs.ca Our next newsletter will be going out in the Spring / Summer 2010. So, please send us your photos and info. The deadline for submissions is May 31, 2010