SHOW President Dr. Steve Mullins officially took the lead of the industry’s largest HIO on November 23, 2009.  Mullins had been the Co-Compliance Coordinator along with Dr. John Bennett since June for SHOW.  Bennett plans to stay on in a very similar role in 2010.

Mullins plans to form industry advisory groups that will be made up of a broad group of owners, trainers and industry stakeholders.  He also plans to form a judging advisory committee that will help newly hired Director of Judges Rollie Beard as he implements new judging standards for SHOW licensed judges. 

These advisory committee members will be announced in the near future, however, Mullins indicated he is in no rush.  “I want to make sure I take sufficient time to identify a cross-section of the industry to represent our entire industry and not just one segment or geographic area,” said Mullins.  Mullins plans to announce these new advisory committee members early in 2010.

The new advisory committees will mark the official end of the SHOW Task Forces.  These task forces were instrumental in the progress of SHOW in 2009 and will be dissolved after the first of the year.  “The SHOW HIO and Walking Horse industry would not be where it is today without the tireless efforts of the SHOW Task Force chairpersons and committees.  I have asked them to help with some final tasks through the end of the year and they have been cordial enough to accept those responsibilities,” said Mullins.

The Task Forces were formed upon the activation of SHOW and included Communications, Sound Horse, Finance, Personnel and Operating Plan task forces.  These were chaired by Janice Fostek, Frank Eichler, Bob Medina, Mike Davis and Mike McGartland, respectively.

“I can’t thank these individuals enough.  Dr. Bennett and I get a lot of credit but these owners have made significant sacrifices for the benefit of the industry and I applaud them for their efforts as well as their insights,” continued Mullins.  “I would also like to thank Dr. Meadows who was instrumental in forming the Task Forces and blending their suggestions with those of others to facilitate some of the giant steps SHOW has made this year.”

It was the initial intent of SHOW to use the task forces to help with the activation of the HIO and then turn over the operations of the HIO to full-time staff.  This will now happen after the first of the year.  “Our staff, including myself, is excited to move SHOW into its next phase in 2010.  There has been a lot of progress throughout the first eight months, but the work ahead of us is substantial and we plan to start right away,” concluded Mullins.