Annual General Meeting Via Videoconference

The Annual General Meeting of any business or entity is the culmination of a year’s work, and given prominence in the annual calendar of business activity. When the word came that our province would no longer allow meetings of more than 10 people, and our Sport Manitoba meeting rooms would be closed (as well as our office), it meant that Manitoba Horse Council’s Annual General Meeting on April 16, 2020, usually a good get-together with pizza and dessert, was in jeopardy. However, for almost a year MHC had planned to set up Zoom videoconferencing, to give us the ability to contact more directly with members across the province. In January, we took the leap and signed up. We are so glad we did! After some practice runs our AGM via videoconference went off without a hitch. There is a difference between attending a meeting and setting up and managing a large group of (novice) online attendees.

With 40-plus registrants attending, the committee chairs submitted their reports for the past year, and representatives from our 23 member clubs summarised their club’s competitions, clinics, and other activities of a very busy 2019. There followed a lengthy discussion, focussed on the coming months and how to prepare and plan in the face of such uncertainty. Points raised gave us all serious food for thought. Members were assured that that the MHC has the resources to meet immediate challenges and maintain our assets, including our extraordinary competition facility. As a relatively small and lean organisation, we have the capacity to adjust to circumstances as they arise and not lose sight of our plans for the future.

We welcomed new board member Tamara Hupalo as Chair of Recreation, and Lana Stevenson returned for a second term as Director-at-Large with responsibilities for Human Resources and Strategic Planning.

The big highlight was the announcement of our 2019 Annual Awards to stellar members of our community. In good time, we will get together to celebrate them and devote an article to their achievements.

President’s Award - Carolyn Lintott

Senior Athlete of the Year - Harry Crawley

Competition Horse - Sam the Man

Non-competition Horse - Henry

Volunteer of the Year - Kris Bhattacharya

Volunteer of the Year - Tannis Walc

Non-Competition Coach - Carly Norris

Equestrian Business of the Year - EcoLicious Equestrian (Petra McGowan) 

Congratulations to our deserving award winners.

Photo: Canstock/Scigelova