What's up with the Spotted Saddle Horse Breeder's and Exhibitor's Association 'Tobiano Rule'?

SSHBEA Members- PLEASE READ!

The 'tobiano rule' was passed by SSHBEA in 2005. After it was passed, Golden Gaits Farm protested, withdrew our corporate sponsorship and our memberships and discontinued registering our foals with SSHBEA. We have advertised this fact on our web site and I get questions all the time from people wanting an explanation for the tobiano rule and it's inception.

The 'tobiano rule' states that to register a foal with SSHBEA now, one parent MUST be a registered tobiano. Offspring of sabinos, splash whites and overos bred to other sabinos, splash whites or overos, or solid color horses (such as a solid Tennessee Walking Horse) do not qualify for SSHBEA registry any more.

Non-tobiano spotted horses have been welcome and have made significant contributions to the Spotted Saddle Horse breed (both SSHBEA and NSSHA) for quite a while. Most SSH breeders have several sabino/overo horses in their herds.  SSHBEA and NSSHA shows are full of sabino colored horses. Sabino horses sometimes dominate the SSH shows. This seems to be the root of the problem. Apparently a small group of close-knit people that have been on the SSHBEA board for too long, and have essentially been 'controlling' the association, got tired of their horses being beat by sabino/overo colored horses (horses that have bloodlines incredibly similar to the tobiano colored horses in their own pastures and barns). The SSHBEA BOD decided to create the tobiano rule to try to edge the sabino horses out of the registry. Some of the board members insisted that such an important vote be made by SSHBEA members instead of just the Board. The handful of self-serving Board members that wanted to push the rule through apparently circumvented an attempt at an all-member vote. Although SSHBEA claims that ballots were sent out to all paying members that year, over half of the hundred or more SSHBEA members that I have talked to since the vote never received a ballot. The vote won by a narrow margin, out of a small number of ballots that were returned (I presume the small number was due to the fact that only a small number were distributed!). SSHBEA did not give members advance notice of this very important vote, nor an explanation for the desired change in the SSHBEA News or in the many bulletins the association mails out annually. The only mention of the vote was in the small, insignificant-looking, folded-over-and-stapled-with-no-envelope, crinkled ballot that a small number of members received in the mail. The ballot was to be returned directly to the SSHBEA office- no independent third party was hired to collect and count the ballots fairly, as is usually done in important association rule change votes. As a result of this vote, owners of non-tobiano spotted horses have suffered financially in the loss of breeding fees for sabino colored stallions, and foal value for foals out of non-tobiano colored parents. THE SSHBEA Organization has suffered greatly from the division and discontent this rule has caused. Still, the sabino colored horses have won TWO World Grand Champion titles, and numerous World Champion wins with SSHBEA since the rule went into effect (two years ago!!!)! How can a horse registry attempt to push out horses based on the color pattern they inherited, and yet reward these same horses for being the best examples of the breed standard year after year?

Shortly after the rule was passed and Golden Gaits Farm openly advertised our anger at, and the nonsense of the tobiano rule, the SSHBEA President phoned me (Wendy), perhaps in an attempt to quiet my public display against SSHBEA. He could not give me any satisfactory reason for the rule except that 'some board members' were tired of their horses being beat by sabino colored horses! He said that sabino colored horses were essentially just colorful Tennessee Walkers. Hello!!!!!! Most tobiano SSHBEA horses registered today are essentially just colorful TWHs!!! If SSHBEA wants to close the book on mostly-TWH-bred horses, then they need to do just that, and not discriminate based on color pattern. In today's SSHBEA world, a breeder can breed a sabino to a tobiano. If he/she gets a tobiano foal the first year out of the cross, that tobiano is good-to-go in terms of being a SSHBEA broodmare or stallion down the road. If the breeder gets a sabino colored foal the next year, out of the same cross, that sabino foal is devalued in SSHBEA's eyes, and is limited in its breeding future. Yet both foals have the same exact bloodlines! How can any association run by sane-minded, member-oriented leaders think that way? The answer is: sane minded, member-oriented leaders of any association CAN'T have this kind of mindset!

For many years, the many 'little guys' in SSHBEA (the backyard breeders, the trail riding lovers-of-the-breed, the out-of-state members, the single-horse owners) and some of the 'big guys' (trainers, owners of large farms) have been ignored and/or pushed away by some board members and their friends that control the SSHBEA board. It's time for all SSHBEA members to take a stand and take back control of what was once a fun and not-so-divided horse association. Golden Gaits Farm only owns one sabino broodmare, and all three of our stallions are tobiano. We are not affected financially by the tobiano rule. We are, however, deeply disturbed by the principle of the voting process for this very important, member-affecting rule. We have been a small, out-of-state, ignored-by-SSHBEA, scowled-at-by-board-members-at-the-shows, farm. We are more than tired of watching a small group of self-serving board members ruin a great organization. We know many, many farms and owners that feel the same way. It's time for people like us to take back our association. We have joined as SSHBEA members again for the sole purpose of having a vote in the next Board of Director's elections, and for having a vote in important rule changes that affect all members. Changing some of the members and leaders on the Board is a big step in changing the negative mindset that has plagued SSHBEA for several years. (There are some really good people on the BOD now- they seem to be being silenced by the 'good old boys and girls'). We encourage all SSHBEA members to pay attention to the platform of those running for leadership in the next election (See the top of this web page if you'd like to know our picks) We encourage those that have left SSHBEA recently because of the conditions to re-join as members to vote. We hope that the next group of leaders will be more open and cordial to the sporthorse and pleasure horse members, and to the majority of the SSHBEA membership that doesn't show much, as well as to the competition that does spend the big money and continue to show despite the problems.

HOW CAN YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE NOW?

PLEASE help us convince SSHBEA to re-vote on the tobiano rule. The way this rule was passed has caused deep wounds in the SSHBEA body. Whether you got a ballot or not in 2005, whether you voted for or against the tobiano rule- let's set things right and give ALL the members a chance to have an educated vote again. Please go to this page, print out the ballot, and send it in.

SSHBEA Petition Page

It is extremely important that we get as many votes as possible. Please let any other SSHBEA members that you know be aware of this ballot and encourage them to sign the petition and send it in.

If you want more information...or if you want to know the story about the SSHBEA Director of Promotions (in a self-made decision) denying the (out-of-state sabino) 2006 SSHBEA World Grand Champion the chance to exhibit at the TWH National Celebration this year (as has been the custom and privilege for the SSHBEA WGC for years), please email or call me. I welcome contact from Board Members and SSHBEA leaders as well, because so far some of them seem to be unable to speak to the membership, defend their decisions or defend their lack of ability to stand up for what is right for the members. I will be more than happy to post what Board Members and Leaders have to say (and how they react to our attempt at a re-vote) on this web site and the SSH/TWH chat groups and forums.

It has been suggested that changing the tobiano rule as it is now with a re-vote might be more acceptable to members- a way to help 'purify the breed' without snapping the door shut on horses already registered. There are a few scenarios that we see possible as a partial closing of the books without stepping on so many toes.

Thanks to all of you that are trying to help bring SSHBEA out of the hole it has dug for itself lately. It's time for unity, more participation, attention to the 'little guys' of SSHBEA, and enjoyable shows again! Thanks also to NSSHA (National Spotted Saddle Horse Association) for continuing to welcome horses of all color patterns and for being cordial to breeders and out-of-staters! And thanks to the ladies that work in the SSHBEA office, doing their job well despite the discord currently present in the association.

Note: The top three horses in the 2007 SSHBEA World Grand Champion class were NON-TOBIANOS!!!! How much longer can the Board of Directors hold on to a ridiculous 'rule' that denies SSHBEA's BEST HORSES the ability to reproduce and contribute to the breed? If the designers of the rule don't think sabinos represent the breed well, then someone needs to talk to the judges! (Or, more logically...talk to the members and see what WE want!!!!)

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