It has been a year of changes, but some of those have been positive. That’s the case with the 2021 NRHyA Officer elections. According to NRHA Youth and Professional Programs Manager Sara Honegger, this year’s election process will be two-tier, comprised of a popular vote as well as an interview process.
“This will be a fantastic learning opportunity for our youth candidates because for some, it will be their first time to do an interview,” Honegger said “Participating in this process is a great way for them to build life skills, and it shows us they are dedicated to doing the job being an NRHyA Officer entails.”
Eleven NRHyA members will be participating in the process. Although the race for the President and Vice President will be uncontested, those candidates will have to interview and be voted on as well.
Interviews will take place at the NRHA Futurity and Adequan® North American Affiliate Championships. “The panelists for the interview will be Leslie Baker representing the Reining Horse Foundation, Tim Anderson representing the NRHA Board of Directors, and Kalicia Walters of our newest NRHA Corporate Partner Diamond Dub Quarter Horses,” Honegger said. “I appreciate Leslie, Tim, and Kalicia taking time to join us for these interviews.”
The interview scores will be weighted against the popular vote. “Voting is open now, and anyone with a valid NRHyA membership can go online to vote. The vote and the interview score are equally weighted, which is a nice way to balance the process,” she said. “I encourage all who are voting to go read the candidate bios and learn more about everyone who is running before casting their vote.”
Voting is already open, and NRHyA members simply go to vote.nrhya.com. Bios for each candidate can be found here. Voting closes at 11:59 p.m. (CDT) Friday evening, and the 2021 NRHyA Officer Team will be announced during the MS Diamonds Texas L4 Open Futurity Finals on Saturday, December 5.
“I’m very excited. We will have a couple of returning officers, and the 2020 team has been stellar this year,” Honegger said. “I commend the current team for their efforts, and am looking forward to working with the newly-elected youth leaders.”
