Jo Ellard, Addison, Texas, and Monty Johnson, Amarillo, Texas, have been announced as candidates in the National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA) Vice President race.
Ballots will be mailed to all NCHA members no later than April 30 and votes will be counted on June 11. The next NCHA vice president-elect will take office during June’s NCHA Convention in Fort Worth, Texas.
The elected candidate will serve as NCHA Vice President from June 2013 through June 2014, and is scheduled to become president-elect and president during two more single-year terms. Current NCHA President-Elect Barbara Brooks will take over as president in mid-June, when President Ernie Beutenmiller Jr.’s 2012-2013 term ends.
Ellard is a member of the NCHA Non-Pro Hall of Fame as a rider and the owner of EE Ranches, one of cutting’s all-time leading horse owners and breeders. EE Ranches, based in Whitesboro, Texas, has owned horses who earned a combined $2,958,445 through the end of the 2012, according to Equi-Stat records. Ellard had ridden cutting earners of $628,145 (through 2012) and currently serves on the NCHA Board of Directors, a position she has held since 1994.
Johnson is a longtime cutting horse owner and breeder, and served as NCHA Vice President during a mid-1990s term. Competing from 1983 through 1994 as a cutter, he earned $419,784, according to Equi-Stat records. Partly due to his schedule as a ranch owner and ranch properties investor, he has not competed as a cutter since 1994, but he has remained active as an owner and breeder. His horses had earned $591,340 heading into this year.
Subscribe now to Quarter Horse News to read more detailed articles about Ellard and Johnson, plus a Question & Answer feature regarding their views on various issues facing the NCHA and its members, in future issues.
