Canadian Cutting Horse Association

Letter from the President
Happy New Year to all my friends and CCHA members!!!
2020 was a year of many obstacles however we were vary fortunate to be able to cut at several events in Alberta and B.C. I really want to personally thank these affiliates for their strong efforts and the show producers that forged ahead and worked with the Provincial Health Authorities to ensure that we could put on shows while keeping all of us safe. Coreen and I enjoyed our show season in these areas.
On the other hand, our Saskatchewan and Manitoba Affiliates were not as fortunate and had no shows accept a small jackpot near the end of the season in Saskatchewan. My hat is off to these two affiliates for put their best efforts into trying during these tough times. Hopefully 2021 will allow us to get back to a more normal show situation.
I have been hearing a lot of rumbling through the rumor mill recently that some members are AGAIN questioning what the CCHA does for Cutters in Canada. Anyone that knows me will not be surprised by my reaction to this statement, WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then I simmered down and decided to tell you what your Board has been doing for you. I believe that is one of the mistakes that we have made for years. We just do things, get them done and move on and fail to report back to you the members. Well from this moment forward that is going to change.
So, let us start with 2020:
• At last years AGM there was an extensive discussion around some disciplinary issues that we had been having over the past few years regarding Rule 35 Zero Tolerance Policy and how the NCHA was not helping us solve this problem. So, it was agreed that the CCHA would take lead and investigate a possible Code of Ethic’s that we could require our members to sign, as well as set up a disciplinary process to handle these situations on our own without the aid of the NCHA. Connie Down-Cicoria and her committee spent a lot of time looking into the legal ramifications and existing precedence set by other associations. As a result, we now have a fully functioning Disciplinary Board with policies and procedures in place to handle these situations in the future.
• Our current Board has a great relationship with the NCHA Board and Executive Director and have spent numerous hours on Committee conference calls over the past year. I personally have worked with Steve Norris NCHA President and Kristen York our Executive REP for Region 1 on many issues this year with the primary one being COVID and our ability to put on shows and haul. In addition, Jay Winborn and I have had many discussions regarding the hurdles we have faced over the past year and how to over come them. In the past the dialogue has not been as free flowing with the NCHA. Which I see as a very positive step forward. In addition, I am currently serving on two (2) NCHA committees, The Limited Aged Event Committee, and the Financial Committee. I also know that Connie and several other Board members have been involved in several conference calls regarding the show season and the convention that did not occur. We believe the NCHA is a great organization but that they have little understanding about Cutting in Canada and the challenges that we face particularly now with the Border being closed. We have been working very hard to change this, particularly last year.
• When this COVID situation began to affect our show season your Executive Board had several meetings to discuss what could be done in the short term to help Cutting in Canada servive. We felt that because we had been shut down so quickly with no opportunity to prepare and with no real understanding of what might happen as the year progressed that it would be best for all Competitors to be able to carry their CCHA points over into 202, because at that time we did not think we would be able to afford yearend awards. Once the show season began and we realized that there was an actual trailer race happening a meeting was held at the Canadian Spectacular with approximately 30 active members and we realized that this decision had not been well received and that a number of members did not want to be able to roll there points over. It was indicated that they would prefer to have yearend awards instead. After much deliberation, the Executive Committee agreed to rescind this motion and a new motion was made to award 2020 Yearend awards to Champion and Reserve Champions in all classes for 2020. With the number of cuts and shows being down significantly and our reduced Income, it was decided only to give out these 2 awards and not trophies this year. We want to thank everyone for make their voice heard. Please understand that we were doing what we thought was best for our members at the time.
• The CCHA has proven itself to be flexible in these difficult times to help promote cutting in Canada. For example, the BCCHA final yearend show was a difficult one for the BCCHA and Bell Creek Arena to put together. Time of year was against them as well as their cattle supply. But when they finally did pull it together the CCHA waived their application deadline and approved this show on short notice. This was done because we recognized the effort that had been put in by the affiliate and felt that it was important for us to do this help Cutting in Canada. We hope that they will continue to put on quality shows for all of us to attend again this year.
• In addition, most of you are aware that we have been working with several show producers to try to put on a CCHA Finals Show, with a full slate of classes. Our intent was to have it with another big event such as CFR or Calgary Futurity to help attract new cutters and get more spectators out to watch our sport. This has proven to be more challenging than we thought especially now with the pandemic in full force in most of our provinces.
• In saying that, it brings me to another topic that could potentially help or hinder our ability to put on a Finals that we the CCHA have been involved in over the last several months. Tthat is the newly formed NCHA National Circuit Program which incudes NCHA Circuit Shows and an NCHA Circuit Championship Shows. This was brought about by a good friend to Canada Mr. Harland Radomski. We believe that it is the intentions of the NCHA to replace the now Eastern and Western National Finals with this Circuit. We have been working hard on your behalf to get the full information on this program and determine if this is a good thing for Canada. We have been successful in influencing their geographic boundaries to make it more applicable to Canadians. However, do have concerns with the money that will be charged. So over the next couple of months, we will be having several meetings with the NCHA, the CCHA Affiliate Presidents and V. P’s (members of the Aurora Circuit) and our Board to determine when, where and how this might work in Canada. So please stay tuned and we will provide you with the information as it becomes available.
• Finally, we want to Thank Robin Powell for her hard work in pulling together all our files, records and horse and rider earning after the loss of Connie Delorme. It was a really big job and we feel comfortable now that it is accurate. In addition, she has done a great job creating our Website
and handling all our Social media. She has also been instrumental in getting your standings out to you in a timely fashion. She is a true ambassador for the Sport, and we appreciate all that she does to help keep our focus directed on Canada.
So, in closing, I would like to thank all our volunteer Executives and Board members for their hard work this year and their continued efforts. So as a member please reach out and thank them yourself if given the opportunity. As I was told by a mentor of mine many years ago that “if you want something done, you need to ask someone that is busy if you want it done properly”.
So hears to another successful year, see you in the pen.
LES