LFA Information

Illinois Lipizzan Symposium 2007
A time for listening, evaluating and compromise
Unification Timeline Established for 2008

Twelve years ago, representatives from the two Lipizzan registries (LANA1 and USLR2) and the breeder’s commission (“ALBA3”) met to discuss the formation of a unifi ed Lipizzan organization in North America. The 2020 Committee was formed as a result of this initial meeting (so named because the Committee members thought it would take until the year 2020 to get everything together). Discussions continued on and off among 2020 Committee members for a number of years to no avail.

Unification discussions were revitalized when old and new representatives from LANA, USLR and ALBA met in Las Vegas in 2001. At this meeting the Lipizzan Federation of America (“LFA”) was formed and attorney/ director John Gliege from LANA and attorney/president Al Saiz of USLR drafted and fi led the articles of incorporation in Arizona. The LFA represents all three groups to the USDF and the Lipizzan International Federation. As it presently exists, the LFA is an umbrella organization - an organization of organizations. The LFA is formed from designated representatives from each of ALBA, LANA and USLR, and is not a membership organization. This will change in 2008.

All four 2007 annual meetings (LANA, USLR, ALBA, LFA) were held at Tempel Lipizzans in Wadsworth, Illinois. The 2007 LFA meeting was opened by Ingun Littorin, acting as moderator. At last year’s Lipizzan Symposium held in Oregon, the message from the joint memberships indicated that they wanted the multiple organizations to work towards one single organization. At that time, three committees were formed to tackle the most difficult issues first: Finance, Registration and Bylaws. There were two major sticking points identified – professional office management and the non-revocable Lipizzan Pedigree Trust.

The Finance Committee consisted of the treasurers of ALBA, LANA and USLR – Rennie Squier, Melody Hull and Lyn Schaeffer, respectively. Their primary goal was to ascertain whether a combined membership would be fi scally prudent. After comparing one year of financial information, it was determined that by combining the existing budgets there would be a proposed gross income of $62,349 and a proposed gross expense of $60,296, leaving a net of $2,043. Where possible, duplicate memberships were taken into account, as well as differences in membership rates and categorization questions. It was agreed to circulate the draft proposed combined budget to the respective memberships of the three organizations for comments so that all members would have an opportunity to review what was presented in Illinois.

USLR currently operates its organization by utilizing a professional management company by the name of NELA. In additional to USLR, NELA manages a number of other companies, and USLR pays NELA $17,100 per year or $1,425 per month. NELA’s management fees are based upon the number of members, registrations and transfers processed. The Finance Committee indicated that the NELA fee schedule will increase incrementally, depending on the number of combined memberships and transfers it processes.

NELA answers incoming telephone requests, processes the general inquiries (sends out literature for events) and processes transfers. The NELA office does not produce pedigrees, manage the website or merchandise, nor does it produce the USLR newsletters (although it does mail out the fi nished newsletter). NELA’s contract is subject to review every three months which allows for other bids for services could be submitted for consideration with appropriate notice.

Among the comments following the presentation of the Finance Committee, several members indicated that they were not adverse to higher membership or registration fees because many belonged to both registries and were already paying duplicate fees. Other members spoke of the advantages of a combined advertising budget.

Ingun thanked the committee for its work and indicated that the next step was to have each organization circulate the Finance Committee data with a watermark “draft” and that any comments the organizations receive from their respective memberships should be then forwarded to the Finance Committee.

Following the first LFA session, the USLR held their annual meeting, followed by LANA’s annual meeting. Although not technically an LFA meeting, a majority of the LANA annual meeting consisted of a detailed question and answer period regarding the Lipizzan Pedigree Trust. For this reason, this segment of the LANA meeting will be presented here.

John Gliege explained that the Lipizzan Pedigree Trust is a separate legal entity. The Trust has a separate board of Trustees and is not owned by LANA, although there are several LANA directors who are also trustees of the Lipizzan Pedigree Trust (“LPT”). The purpose of the Trust is to preserve and protect the records of registered Lipizzan horses. The Trust is an Irrevocable Trust, designed to last into perpetuity, and was originally established because of problems that had occurred concerning ownership of Lipizzan records which resulted in litigation. The Trust provides protection so that no single individual can claim ownership of all the records pertaining to the Lipizzan horse that are in the possession of the Trust. John Gliege explained that the Trust is nontransferable and can exist independently of any other organization. Likewise, the purpose of the Trust was not to hide the data but rather secured it for everyone as indicated by the availability of the data on CDs which were also forwarded to the Lipizzan International Federation in Europe. There is no fi nancial maintenance involved in the Trust.

A lengthy discussion of the Trust ensued during the LANA meeting, and once everyone in attendance was assured of its purpose and the fact that the Trust was merely a secondary protective device, someone in attendance equated it to a “fi ling cabinet wrapped in duck tape.” Attendees came to realize that the Trust was just another vehicle to safeguard all the information for the Lipizzan community and that the Trust, as a separate entity, would work in conjunction with the LFA.

Since there were an insufficient number of LPT trustees attending the meeting, it was reaffirmed that Rennie Squier, Melinda Suydam and Jeff Kelly would be added as trustees to the Lipizzan Pedigree Trust following a telephonic meeting of the Trustees which would occur, depending on schedules, within the next month.

By the end of the day on Saturday, it was the consensus that the newly reorganized LFA would have a professional management office as well as the Lipizzan Pedigree Trust safeguarding the pedigree records. The biggest stumbling blocks toward unifi cation had been resolved.

On Sunday, the Registration Committee report was given. Consisting of Melinda Suydam, USLR; Tom Hull, LANA; Rennie Squier, ALBA and Jeff Kelly, the Registration Committee’s purpose was to look into the differences in registering horses and problem horses. An exchange of registration information has been shared between USLR and LANA for several years. This year USLR was delayed in submitting its information to LANA due to transfer of registry data to a new program; however the data transfer did take place during the Illinois meeting. The Registration Committee put together a report but indicated that if the general registration requirements of both organizations were compared word for word, they were surprised and pleased to discover that there were very few differences between the registries. The document prepared by the Registration Committee varies very little from each of the current registries’ Rules and Regulations. This report will also be circulated to the respective memberships, marked “draft.”

Next came the Articles & Bylaws Committee report (“ABC Committee”). The ABC Committee as set up in Oregon 2006, consisted of John Gliege and Carolyn Proeber from LANA; Ingun Littorin and June Boardman from ALBA; and Tim Foley and Muffi n Smith from USLR. The ABC Committee met Sunday morning, and John Gliege spoke for the Committee and provided the following timeline for proceeding.

As explained above, the LFA, presently, is an organization of organizations. The LFA’s current Articles of Incorporation provide that its Board consists of representatives from LANA, ALBA, USLR. The fi rst step is to amend the Articles so that the LFA will become a membership organization. Those amendments will be prepared and circulated among the Bylaws committee by October 15. Once approved by the ABC Committee, the Articles will be submitted to each of the respective Board members of USLR, LANA and ALBA. Again, there will be a 30-day approval period.

In addition to the Articles, the Bylaws will be drafted and circulated to the ABC Committee and the respective ALBA, LANA and USLR Boards by the middle of November. The proposed Bylaws will be submitted to the joint memberships by December 15 by mail. The membership will have 30 days to reply.

Once the Bylaws are approved by the existing the Board of the LFA – which will the current Boards of LANA, USLR, ALBA – the transition plan will be started. Once the amended LFA Articles and Bylaws are fi led with the State of Arizona, a new 501(c) will be set up for the LFA.

There are many details to be worked out on the transition plan since LANA and USLR have different fi scal years and the unifi cation of memberships will affect membership, as well as advertising, newsletters, websites, merchandise, and so on. Continuity of people qualifi ed to make the transition to a single entity as seamless as possible was discussed and more details will be provided in each organization’s magazines in the next year.

In closing, Ingun remarked that there is a lot of work to be done. While enthusiastic volunteers will be helpful and utilized as needed, the LFA, as it is transitioned into a professional organization, will require the services of professional people with the requisite skills and experience. These skills and experience will be necessary to help transform the LFA into a new organization that will not only register horses, but grow and promote the Lipizzan horse as a business.

(Footnotes)
1 Lipizzan Association of North America (formed in
1992 by merging the oldest – Lipizzan Association
of America, estab. 1969, out of New York – and
the newest Lipizzan Society of North America ,
est. 1985, out of Arizona )
2 United States Lipizzan Association, estab. 1971,
out of California.
3 American Lipizzan Breeders Association, estab.
1995, out of Washington.

To: All USLR Members
Fr: Tim Foley, USLR President

Greetings to all. Your USLR Board wants to remind you to return your ballots to the office ASAP. If we don’t get enough votes the election will be invalid. There is just a short time to get your ballots back in. PLEASE, be sure to observe the ballot protocol. Each ballot must be in the individual envelop provided or it will not be counted. Make sure your vote counts! Secondly, submit your Symposium registration and reservations now. This is going to be a very special meeting and your ideas will help shape the future of the Lipizzan breed. There will be a pleasing mix of fun and substance when we meet at Tempel Farms. The Information for registration is on the website and in the news magazine.
The Board spent a long time discussing the work that has gone into the committees on unification. Much of the basic work has been done but consensus has not been reached in the committees. I want to assure the membership that the Board is aware of our group’s expectations. In order to assuage any disappointment the Board is taking a very significant step forward.
We are releasing to the membership the volume of work that has been submitted to the committees. We intend to release this information electronically by August 1, 2007. It will also be on the website and will be mailed to those without email service. The Board recognizes that theMembers will come to Chicago expecting to do business. We submit this information as a starting place for our Members. Please review the documents with the following caveats in mind.

The USLR has made fantastic progress toward financial stability. The Stallion Auction brought in $4,000 and advertising revenue is increasing dramatically. It’s a great feeling to have over $11,000 in the account. The Finance Committee was charged with determining the financial feasibility of the merger. We contend that the data shows the merger is feasible. Other committee members want to work out the financial details even to the degree of the job description for professional management. We put forth that the LFA leadership will determine the financial details after unification. Please review the documents thoroughly to determine your own view as to the financial feasibility of merger.
This is an area of contention. The USLR submitted a bylaws draft as a starting point for discussion. I commend Muffin Smith for her hard work in putting this together. Other members of the committee wanted to hammer out the document item by item in committee. Gail Mackie has joined the effort as a USLR representative and has been instrumental in vetting and fleshing out the draft. Thank you Gail for bringing your judgment and fresh perspective to the task. This is a procedural issue. I understand that there can be a legitimate and honorable difference of opinion. USLR brought forth a draft so that a product could be brought before the membership at the Symposium. The Board perceives of a sense of urgency expressed by the membership to move the issue forward. Please review the bylaws draft with an eye as to whether or not this
reflects the direction that you want the LFA to go. Keep in mind that the bylaws will evolve as the organization grows and defines its own identity.
There are still issues to be resolved relating to governance and ownership of the registry. LANA says that their trust is inviolate and must remain so. USLR is determined that ownership must rest with the organization and membership. This is a difference of fundamental opinion. Between the good minds in all the organizations there must be grounds for resolution. The fleshing out of the Rules and Regulations was achieved through the great work of Jeff Kelly, Melinda Suydam and Tom Hull. You will receive the draft of that as well. But, the bigger issue of the governance of the information (i.e. ownership of the pedigrees) remains a significant hurdle.

I want to emphasize that the USLR is not releasing this information in an attempt to circumvent the committee process. We feel it is our duty to provide our Members with what we have available at this time so that they can arrive at the LFA meeting in September with as much information as possible. Committee work will continue between now and the Symposium. The information provided is where we stand at this point in time.

Tim Foley