Crowne Plaza Malpensa, Milan
On January the 6th, the Ercha meeting took place at the Crowne Plaza Hotel meeting center, in Malpensa, Milan, Italy . The meeting started at 17.10
Markus Shopfer, President of the European Reined Cow Horse Association, opened the assembly, which was held in English language, due to the huge participation of members from all over Europe: Italy, France, Czech Republic, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, and Poland.
The first issue was the election of the new Ercha Board of directors. Only one list was presented, and therefore voted, and elected: Markus Schopfer, Augusto ‘Otto’ De Fazio, Maurizio Di Simone, Mauro Taccia, Maik Bartman, are the new Ercha council members. Schopfer has been confirmed as President of the Association.
The secon issue was the presentation and approval of the Ercha Balance Sheet for the year 2017: the association managed to realize a positive balance on all shows, and all the money saved will be used to organize the Ercha Show season 2018, granting good added money and prizes for all participants.
The top ten ranking for Open and Non Pro rider after show season 2017 was displayed, which will set the classes for the show season 2018.
The main issue during the meeting was the strong will to develop cow horse in Europe, thru through the research of new nice location for the Ercha Shows, and the increase in the number of riders and affectionate to the discipline. Ercha will assist the local and regional committee in the organization of shows, taking care of the bureaucratic aspects of the organization.
Another important issue was the attention of Ercha for the well-being and safety of animals during the shows, having a regulation for all riders to maintain shows safe and animals sound through the whole show season: those who won’t respect those rules could be suspended from single or all competitions.
The Board of Directors also introduced the show calendar for the year 2018, which will be available on the Ercha Web Site soon:
– Ercha Winter Classic – Roma Cavalli 15- 17 February 2018
– Ercha Spring Stakes in Travagliato, 24-25 March 2018
– Ercha Derby, Cremona, 20-21 May 2018
– Ercha Hackamore Classic, Karpacz, Poland 15-16 June 2018
– Ercha Prefuturity, travagliato, 4-5 August 2018
– Ercha Futurity + Nation Cup, Mooslargue, 6-8 September 2018
– Ercha Autumn, Travagliato, 27-28 October 2018
The meeting finished at 18.15, and the association continued the party with the Ercha Award presentation for the Champions of the Ercha Championship and Special Event 2017.
