Following submission of its proposed slate to the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of the American Saddlebred Horse Association (ASHA) at their meetings on Wednesday, October 31, the list of nominees standing for election as directors of the association was released on November 5.

In February 2008, six directors are to be elected for terms ending in 2011 from these eight candidates: Phyllis Brookshire (North Carolina); Victoria Gillenwater (Tennessee); Carl Holden (Kentucky); Tim Lockard (Iowa); Margaret McNeese (Texas); Barbara Molland (California); Paul Treiber (Wisconsin); and Art Zubrod (Kentucky). Write-in votes for others are also accepted.

Four of the candidates on the slate (Gillenwater, Lockard, Treiber and Zubrod) are incumbent directors eligible for another term. The other four are also widely experienced and knowledgeable friends of the American Saddlebred. All meet the requirements in the Association’s bylaws for service as a director and were selected in an arduous process by the Nominating Committee from over 150 members who were considered in a series of detailed meetings.

Ballots (including biographical information on the candidates) will be mailed in early January and must be returned by eligible voting members of the Association on or before Friday, February 1, 2008. The successful candidates are then announced at the association’s convention and annual meeting, to be held from Thursday, February 14, through Saturday, February 16, at the Embassy Suites Hotel in Lexington, KY.

“The entire group of potential candidates was exceptionally well-qualified,” said Alan F. Balch, Executive Secretary of the ASHA, “and successive Nominating Committees over several years have refined the process to be certain that nominees on the ballot meet the detailed requirements in the bylaws. Except where we’re notified otherwise by those whose names are submitted by the membership for consideration, all names considered are forwarded each year to the next Nominating Committee so we can continue to expand the list of those who are available for this demanding volunteer service.”