Annual meeting is time for Connemara society to embrace USEF mission

The American Connemara Pony Society will gather once again on Sept. 6, 2013, for its annual meeting.

It is time for the ACPS to lead USEF’s mission to make the world a better place for horses rather than being dragged kicking and screaming on this journey.

Bullying in the form of inspections has been the main activity of the ACPS for almost a decade. Horses that are genetically Connemaras have been told they don’t measure up to the bullies’ fake standard and then cast aside like trash.

This is the public face of the ACPS. Inspectors are telling Connemaras: “We control this playground, and we will decide if we will allow your kind in.”

In the time since the ACPS’s last annual meeting in 2012:

1) USEF has asked its affiliates to put the horse’s welfare first.

2) USEF has asked its affiliates to examine their practices to ensure they are in line with a world in which there is no hiding from public scrutiny; affiliates should proceed as if their actions are being recorded by an NBC camera crew 24/7 with no editing.

3) A federal court has ruled that a breeding rule that excludes some horses from having the same status as other horses in the AQHA is unconstitional based on the Sherman antitrust act. According to the court, some breeders should not be allowed to devalue the horses of fellow breeders.

4) The United States has become an ever more open place for people of all races and colors. It is not OK, nor has it been legal for decades, to exclude individuals based on appearance.

5) Bullying has become public enemy No. 1.

New ACPS members have described some inspectors as cold, elite, cliquish and close-minded.

“I didn’t feel welcome at all,” new members have told me.

From a business aspect, a society with this attitude will not be able to survive, unless the few members promoting this attitude are willing to foot all the bills. If this society wants enough members to thrive and grow, it must reflect the attitudes of society as a whole to attract new members and their pocketbooks.

In the 21st century, the ACPS needs a new focus.

Its activities must:

1) Celebrate Connemaras. That is the whole point of a breed society. The focus should never have been allowed to turn so negative. Embrace all Connemaras. Cherish each one for its uniqueness. There is a place for every Connemara, no matter what the make and model.

2) Encourage owners to love their Connemaras despite their flaws. Flaws are not a reason to throw out the horse. These horses’ humans have flaws. Why wouldn’t the horse be allowed to have flaws?

3) Design activities that allow more to take part and move some of those activities online, including the annual meeting. Promote inclusion, not exclusion. The idea that only those owners who can attend meetings should be allowed to have a say in the breed eliminates many of the breeders. That may be intentional, but it’s a bad idea in today’s economic climate. If USEF can stream its activities, so can other horse groups.

4) Be in step with USEF’s mission to put the welfare of the horse first. If a proposed activity doesn’t actively promote good health for the horse, it should be eliminated. For example, breed standards force breeders to alter the genetic evolution of a line of horses. This is not in the best interest of the horse. Breed standards continue to get bad press in the dog world. It’s only a matter of time until this issue blows up in the horse world. Again, the Connemara society should lead, not follow.

5) Pass USEF’s test as promoting something that could be broadcast around the world without raising brows. As I’ve mentioned in the past, inspections would look particularly mean if paired onscreen next to an airing of “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.” This is not good behavior. It’s not how we teach our kids to act.

6) Embrace the evolved mindset of the 21st century that shuns bullying and celebrates openness and diversity. One person’s definition of a beautiful horse is not another’s. Get over it.

7) Welcome new members and new views with open arms.

8) Encourage good horse handling, riding, feeding and other horsemanship practices. This aspect of the ACPS has been thrown under the bus by inspections. Inspections have taken over the calendar as well as the budget. What good has come of these inspections? Seriously, I can’t think of one thing.

9) Purge those officials in the ACPS who cling to the hope that the ACPS can be the last bastion of rich, white people who hold all the cards and flee to Ireland every summer to hang out with more rich, white people. It’s a failed business model in today’s world. Resources are scarce. Keeping the rift-raft out will leave this breed society with no one to foster it once the current leaders age out of their roles. So far there has been no plan to turn around this train wreck.

It’s time for the ACPS to grow mentally and emotionally.

Join the 21st century.

Join USEF in its mission to help the very breed that this society is supposed to celebrate.

Stay on the right side of US antitrust law.

And, quite frankly, act like adults.