In keeping with past precedent, NAPHA has always elected new officers annually. During their recent board meeting, NAPHA directors elected the following officers for 2008-2009:

D. Joy Gould President
Edie Gandy 1st Vice President
Luis Dapelo 2nd Vice President
Alice Wolf Secretary
Treasurer Don Taylor
Julia Meek Director
Linda Virgin President Emeritus

For those of you who don’t know me, I would like to introduce myself. My name is D. Joy Gould. I have more than 35 years experience in both for-profit and nonprofit management. I hold a Bachelors Degree in Psychology and a Masters Degree in Public Administration, and have been an Executive Director of several nonprofit, county-wide organizations for the past 25 years. I purchased my first Peruvian Horse in 1986 and have been a devoted advocate of our breed ever since.

I am honored to have been selected as President of NAPHA. One of the main challenges facing all organizations is that of communication. My first priority will be to improve communication with our members.

I am putting into place several vehicles of communication. Instead of a printed Newsletter, NAPHA will depend heavily on electronic news dissemination such as the NAPHA NewsWire which will carry general information about our breed and what is happening with our members. I have initiated this UpDate format in order to communicate with you quickly about important things that are happening in our breed association.

Our Executive Director has almost completed our new website. I believe you will find it easy to navigate and find any information you are looking for to transact the day to day business of NAPHA. We anticipate that the new website will be up no later than October 1, 2008. Designing this site is a huge undertaking. All the links must be correct and all of our information current.

Our goal will be to keep our members informed and to have each of you feel a part of what is happening in our breed.

I want to thank Linda Virgin for the outstanding job she has done the past two years during NAPHA’s difficult formation period. Linda will continue to serve on the Board of NAPHA until her term expires in 2011. It is important that we retain experienced directors on the Board who have a sense of the history and are focused on the future direction of our breed. We need the stability of that experience for both the Board and this young organization.

For the past six months, Linda has been working to arrange an audit of NAPHA’s books. We would like this accomplished so that every member will feel assured, as we are, that the funds are being managed properly. We believe that NAPHA should conduct an audit once every three years. Working with Dick Sisson, she has found an accounting firm licensed to do audits and is getting a quote for this work. Now Linda is working to raise funds to cover this cost.

NAPHA is a very young organization, only two and a half years old. We have merged two organizations that were financially in poor shape and had aspirations of making one organization that was solvent. Very generous members helped NAPHA in the beginning and as you know asking for this kind of help cannot be a constant. In 2007, NAPHA was very close to meeting its budget. It ended the year with a very small deficit. This year, legal fees and slow registrations have adversely affected the association’s bottom line and therefore we have had to make some adjustments to our staffing so that we can handle the ups and downs of cash flow. These adjustments should be enough for us to continue to provide the same level of service regarding registrations and we are especially looking forward to our National show in Texas.

For NAPHA to succeed, we must all work together. It takes all of us encouraging membership renewal, registering our horses, supporting the National show, and telling people about the great things NAPHA has going for the Peruvian Horse.

There is an old saying that if you look successful then you will draw interest to become successful. One of the things that NAPHA staff has tried to present is a professional looking organization. To do that NAPHA has a nice, professional looking office space thanks to the generosity of Kathy Chiles. When the founding Directors of NAPHA decided to move the NAPHA operations to Texas, Donna arranged for NAPHA to have our offices for a year rent free. It was donated by owner Kathy Chiles. Even now NAPHA pays only a fraction of what the offices would rent for. Kathy rents space in her six-suite office

building for $1.25 per square ft., but only charges NAPHA fifty cents per square ft. With the large number of file cabinets and records from the AAOBPPH and the PPHRNA, NAPHA takes up 3,000 square feet and only pays $1,500 per month for rent. We couldn’t even rent a storage building for that cost. Thank you, Kathy, for keeping our expenses down.

Reducing Expenses

NAPHA has tightened its belt to reduce expenses. Carolyn Wills is now working only part-time for NAPHA. Carolyn will be handling special projects such as the National Show, Annual Meeting, Membership Directory, etc. Carolyn’s contacts in the world of equine publications are a real plus for us. She has arranged for many interviews and special features over the past two years and will continue to represent NAPHA in media matters. We are fortunate to be affiliated with Carolyn.

We have opted to use electronic communications instead of publishing a newsletter. We have not received the advertising support we need to underwrite the cost of publishing a newsletter. With the electronic communications, we will be able to reach our members quickly and cost effectively.

The Governing Council submitted a new district map dividing the U.S. into 18 districts. The board approved it unanimously.

The Governing Council also requested that the name of their committee be changed to Regional Advisory Council (RAC). The board approved the recommendation.

The Regional Advisory Council has evolved into an extremely valuable asset for our breed. Under the guidance of Chairman Bill Chase they are working together and presenting the Board with excellent ideas.

NAPHA welcomes two new clubs into our organization. The International Peruvian Horse Club in Miami, FL and the Southern States Peruvian Horse Club in Cochran, GA.

The International Peruvian Horse Club is being organized by NAPHA members Juvenal Pina and Carol Borden. Anyone interested in joining the new club may contact Carol at bordenjc@msn.com

The Southern States Peruvian Horse Club is being organized by Angel and Andrea Rodriguez. You may contact Andrea at andrea@rancholomalinda.com

NAPHA has come a long way in a short time and I believe that we have not yet taken a breath to see what we have accomplished. NAPHA is not either of our former breed associations. It is a mixture of many of the successful ideas that worked from those organizations with compromises made in drafting NAPHA’s charter to forge this new association. I believe that the intentions of those who started NAPHA were honorable with the concern for the future of our horse at the forefront. With that said it is my hope that our members will take a breath and make an effort toward a more harmonious organization. Our horse deserves it and I would hope that our focus would be on securing a strong position for this horse in the equine world.

It has taken time to establish working committees, a working Regional Advisory Council, and a strong Registration Committee. It has taken us time to establish routines in the office and to learn how to handle situations that arise. It has taken time for the staff to establish a customer service orientation. Our staff is dedicated to providing our members good service and answers to your questions. There is still a lot of work to be done and a very small staff to do it.

We now have beautiful, professional brochures for members to hand out at their shows or other places they go. Our on-line studbook has been a developing work in progress and now has so many features that were not available earlier. Check it out: www.horsestudbook.com.

Everyone who has worked hard must be thanked for their generosity of time, funds, and expertise. We could not have done it without each and every one of you. We ask that you continue to support NAPHA, your national association to reach its fullest potential and the potential envisioned by the founding Directors. I look forward to our growing this organization together.