 Board of Directors Bandera, TX USA 210-393-3541 kelly@NFHR.com You can't serve an organization you don't love. When I first joined the Norwegian Fjord Horse Registry's board of directors, they'd struggled to get people to volunteer. It's a surprising amount of work and a significant commitment of time. My eight years of experience on the San Antonio Writers' Guild Board of Directors prepared me for that. I'd served that 100+ member non-profit organization for local writers in many roles - President, Treasurer, Vice-President, Contest coordinator, and Judge. The future of the fjord horse breed and the registry are important to me. They matter. So if the board and the membership will have me back, I'd like to help ensure the NFHR survives and grows. My journey with fjords started with a trip to Iowa's Waverly Draft Horse auction in 2002. I'd brought my trainer/mentor with me, and as we walked through the 2,000 horses in the sale barn looking for a draft or draft-cross dressage prospect, I saw a pair of cute yellow horses that constantly had people crowded around their stalls. I kept finding reasons to wander back by to see them again. I didn't buy one at that sale but I always remembered them. A few years later, needing a horse for my nieces to learn to ride on, I traveled to Michigan to meet TUF Annie and bring her home. She didn't stay a kid's pony for long (though she's given countless pony rides and first lessons), and I began my quest to let the people of Texas know about the horse world's best-kept secret. Since bringing Annie home, I've committed myself to the fjord breed and bought German-imported and NFHR-blue evaluated stallion Bastian Vom Oderhaff from Canada. I traveled to Trinity Farms in BC, Canada, and spent several days learning from Brian and Ursula Jensen and met many fjords and their people in the Pacific Northwest as we brought Bastian to the US. Over the past years, I've expanded my herd with horses from Canada, Oregon, Montana, Ohio, Wisconsin, Arkansas, and Florida. My goal is to breed fjords of exceptional quality and unsurpassed disposition, and I want to help other breeders of good fjords find them excellent homes. My fjords participate in the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo's Horse Discovery exhibit, an educational event where school tours and rodeo visitors can have hands-on experiences with horses. 1.5 Million people attend the San Antonio Stock Show annually, and many walk through the barn and meet fjords. Many have never touched a horse before, and most have never even heard of fjords. I've also taken horses to mounted Christmas caroling in my town, Bandera, which bills itself as the Cowboy Capital of the World, and participated in the annual Cowgirl Round-up and Show-deo with breed exhibits for the fjord. Bastian and I went to the Texas Viking Festival this past year, and my young stallion prospect Kennet attended Equine Affair. Regarding my horse qualifications, I've taught seminars about horses, helped Girl Scout troops earn horsemanship badges, competed in dressage shows, and volunteered at horse events in almost every capacity, including scribing for judges. I've been part of a drill team and have ridden in many parades. I've been part of a mounted archery team and tried my hand at mounted shooting. I've advised people on buying horses - fjords and non-fjords, and on selling horses. I assisted my mentor with many lessons at different barns throughout central Texas on my days off and weekends. I've ridden in numerous clinics with various instructors and judges. I've visited 15 fjord farms in the US and Canada and hope to travel to see more in Europe soon. I don't make my living from my breeding program or my horses. It's a labor of love that I take very seriously but which is funded by a day job as a software developer for a Fortune 500 company. I'm also a published author, a cancer survivor, and an idealist. |