I can’t argue with the premise. This is a very important meeting for the NRHA, the sport, the judging program and the membership. It definitely is the responsibility of all elected board members to attend. They must objectively and without bias listen to the findings of the independent firm retained by the NRHA to investigate the allegations outlined in the first anonymous letter. It is then their responsibility to assess the facts and act accordingly – one way or the other.

What’s your spin?

January 18, 2012

National Reining Horse Association

Board of Directors

3000 NW 10^th Street

Oklahoma City, OK 73107

Dear Board of Directors:

You will be soon called to voice your opinion on a crucial and historic moment for the NRHA. As you are aware, the NRHA Executive Committee has initiated an investigation into the alleged improper action of the NRHA President Mr. Allen Mitchels. The membership of the association, and really the entire equestrian sporting industry, has been waiting and watching to see what you as an elected board will decide on this topic at your next board meeting.  All eyes are on us and your decision will be the benchmark in the next chapter of the NRHA. You, as an elected representative, have the opportunity to either chart the course of success or a path of mediocrity for the NRHA for a decade to come.

While Mr. Mitchels has been suspended from his role as NRHA President during this investigation, it is possible that some amount of effort has been made to curb the extent of which his actions might be viewed as punishable. For this reason, you as a Board of Directors must ask yourself only one question: Did Allen Mitchels circumvent the association rules and gain access to officials in a way that other owners of futurity horses could not? It is widely known and highly witnessed that the answer is yes, he did break the NRHA rules.

With the potential finding of guilt (should there be such a finding) several actions can then be considered, such as:

*  How can the association send a clear message that they are working to correct the mistakes that have been made in order to gain back the trust of the membership and potential members?

*  Is there a precedent for the removal of a license for an NRHA licensed judge when such a rule is broken?

*  Can the daily business operations and leadership structure of the NRHA be effectively conducted with the current public opinion as related to this issue? Can this public relations problem for the NRHA be managed or mitigated so that the NRHA can set about on the path to rebuilding?

Those are the considerations that the membership is expecting you to act upon. A soft vote, a vote in favor of leniency or an absence or abstention of vote, will be considered unacceptable by the membership and look highly unfavorable for our association in the eyes of our peers and potential sponsors in the equestrian community.

Some of you may have been following the Quarter Horse News blog related to this topic. If you have not, you should take the time to read the comments and responses among members and interested parties. They are a window into the feeling among your constituents. The blog can be found at:  www.QuarterHorseNews.com and then click on “Pat’s Blog” then choose the headline “Controversy”.

The purpose of this letter is to ensure NRHA EC and BOD members fulfill their fiduciary duties to the organization and its members. We realize that you may already have strong opinions about the question at hand.  That said, we challenge you to think and really examine what is the best thing to do for the members, the association, the sport and most especially the horses we all love.

The fact that so much of the attention to this matter has come from anonymous correspondence is a sign of a deeper, much more sinister line of corruption in our industry.  Since when have the outspoken people in our industry been afraid to talk? Is it because in this environment, the voicing of your opinion equates to direct negative retaliation? People are concerned about the impact this retaliation has on their livelihoods and remain anonymous because they’ve lost confidence that the board of directors will protect them in such a case. "No action" by the BOD and EC is a punishment sentence to anyone who stands up on the issue. A reading of the comments on the blog listed above makes this case very well.

Our group's intent is to provide information that can be substantiated without any one person or persons being named.  We also only selected to outline issues that could easily be substantiated without an inference of subjectivity. The actions of the NRHA President places into question NRHA's judging system, the rules put in place to preserve the integrity of the sport, and most importantly the perception that NRHA has simply become an "Insiders Club."

The allegation that NRHA has become an "Insiders Club" is easily shown by the fact that ONLY Mr. Mitchels was permitted and apparently not questioned about having contact with the judges during the NRHA Futurity.  His actions, (whether his intentions were to influence the judges or not), were accepted ONLY because of his position with NRHA.  Rules, regulations, and protocols have simply been broken by Mr. Mitchels with no apparent corrective action from NRHA – until now.  You as a Board of Directors get your chance to set the path straight once again.

You may hear from the opposing view that…

* Mr. Mitchels’ actions should be dealt with leniency because of his time involved in the industry. To be clear, no elected official, no matter their status should be allowed to act outside of the rules of the association. As a matter of fact, our top leaders should be held to a stricter standard. Even with that said, Mr. Mitchels spent the majority of his career in the reining industry (and prior to ever being elected to leadership) as a well-paid position as NRHA Director of Judges, thus verifying his complete knowledge of the rules.

* Mr. Mitchels did not have influence over the judges although he was in the judge’s room. While even members of the NRHA Executive Committee are aware of traceable leads to witnesses of fraternization between Mr. Mitchels, other easily researched and substantiated leads that will likely lead to witnesses include:  Michelle Wrigley, director of judges and any of the contracted staff that reports to her – will know that Mr. Mitchels was in the judges room and had influence over the judges.  Melanie Rinehart – show manager for the event will know that Mr. Mitchels required the staff to house him at the sequestered hotel that is used for judges and that judges traveled to and from the event with Mr. Mitchels.

That said, we as members are counting on the Executive Committee, and therefore you to conduct a complete inquiry with Mr. Mitchels himself and the judges to see at what level there was fraternization. Once it is confirmed he is in the room, the rule was broken. From there, it will be up to you to determine how deeply rooted the fraternization might be.  In addition to breaking this rule, Mr. Mitchels’ actions as an owner of a Futurity horse jeopardized the integrity of the judges at the event and the whole judging program.

You may hear that past presidents of the NRHA have been related to Futurity entries. While it may be true that past presidents of the association have been owners, closely related or even exhibitors of Futurity horses, none have gained access to the judges in such an unprecedented and unfair way as Mr. Mitchels. Now, the entire judging system which was once the envy of the horse industry is cast in doubt. For this reason, Mr. Mitchels should resign his post immediately.

We appreciate your consideration of this request and we know that you will do the right thing when asked to take action on this, the most important vote of your term as a member of the board of directors.

Respectfully Submitted,

Concerned NRHA Member

The following letter was sent anonymously to all NRHA Board members. While I hesitate to take anonymous criticism seriously, the NRHA took this one to heart. Yesterday the association posted a response to this letter on its website. (That response appears after the letter.) I applaud NRHA’s efforts at transparency – to address this issue openly.

I am a huge fan of the NRHA Judging System. To see it under a cloud of suspicion greatly saddens me. My hope is that the NRHA addresses the allegations quickly and with authority – one way or the other. That would be a “Happy New Year.”

What a thrill! Bob Loomis presenting Bob and Mui Bueno Wimpy the first NRHA Limited Non-Pro World Championship trophy at the 1981 Congress! (That’s Frank MacDonald on the right.)

The first NRHA Futurity was held at the Ohio State Fairgrounds in 1966 – one year before the start of the All American Quarter Horse Congress. The Futurity stayed in Ohio with Congress until the big move to Oklahoma City in 1986. From 1973 to 1985, Bob and I never missed a Futurity. And we have lots of good memories to show for it.

NRHA was young back then. (So were we.) The association was a small group of people who shared the passion – for horses – for reining. Everyone knew each other. NRHA reinings were few and far between, so Congress was like a big family reunion – every year. Everyone knew your name and gave you a big greeting – just like “Cheers.”

Everyone whooped and hollered when they saw something good – no matter who was in the show pen. It was all about the ride back then. Guess that’s because there wasn’t too much money to run for. NRHA didn’t guarantee the Futurity winner $100,000 until 1983.

In those days Bob and I lived on Long Island. We’d travel to Columbus caravan style – one truck and trailer following the other. Then of course all us New Yorkers would sit together in the stands. We were a rowdy bunch and we never missed a run.

We’d watch the show all day long, go watch the same runs on the video at the NRHA booth and then we would stay up all night to watch tune-ups. We didn’t want to miss anything – and we didn’t. We saw every great horse and rider of the day!

One of the highlights every year was the reining demonstration – given by the previous years Futurity champion. Those demos were so special. We learned a ton and we made a lot of new friends sitting in those stands.

We rode with Paul Horn, so you can imagine the thrill at our first Congress to see him win the Futurity on King Jay Bar. In 1974, Paul was second on Im Great Too, aka Grady. That set up the magic to be seen in 1975. That was the year Paul broke his leg and asked his brother, Bill, to ride Im Great Too in the NRHA Open. Bill also rode his wonderful Miss White Trash. He scored the same on both horses, tied for the win and had to runoff against himself. It was phenomenal.

Bill won the class on Im Great Too. When he walked out of the show pen and handed Grady over to my husband, Bill said, “I bet they thought I would chump him.” But Bill Horn could never give anything but 110 percent in the show pen – no matter who he was riding. How lucky are Bob and I to still call Bill Horn “friend?”

We showed in that old coliseum – there wasn’t much room – especially when you had people lunging their halter horses while we were trying to run across the pen. Many a reiner would yell “Clear” at the top of his lungs as he made his way from one end of the arena to the other. We thought about wearing cow bells around our necks.

I showed in the NRHA Non-Pro at Congress twice in the ‘70’s – and placed both times. In those days the Non-Pro Championship was two go-rounds and a finals. The winner was determined by cumulative score – of all three runs! Can you believe it? And I remember each ride like it was yesterday! Thank you Harlaquita Holly and Mr Sunsmoke!

Then there was that old race track. It was always packed with reiners riding and sliding – grinning and spinning. The Futurity was the last show of the season. Everyone was either looking to sell a horse or buy one. The track was the perfect place for a test drive.

Bob, who hasn’t been to Congress in better than 25 years, says he’s really going to miss that track. He has good reason. In 1980, Larry Rose told Bob and Paul Horn to go look at a horse by the name of Mui Bueno Wimpy trained by Rick Christy. They tooled around the track and we brought that bay gelding home. In 1981, Bob and Wimpy earned the first ever NRHA Limited Non-Pro World Championship. It was so new, NRHA called it the Novice class and we have the trophy to prove it. They didn’t have that new class at Congress in 1981, but Bob Loomis presented my husband with his trophy in the arena. What a thrill.

And speaking of “The Loom:” We saw Bob win his first Futurity in 1976 aboard Tom Fuller’s Benito Paprika – then we watched him win four more: 1978 (Lady Eldorado), 1979 (Cassandra Cody), 1980 (Topsail Cody) and 1984 (Miss Della Doc). The move to OKC in 1986 was truly huge, but some things never change. Bob Loomis won that Futurity on Sophie Oak!

Memories – this list could go on and on. We saw a lot of great horses and we met a lot of really great people. I expect more of the same on this trip to Columbus. Guess I still have “Congress Fever.”