PRESIDENT'S REPORT: May 2009

The National Finals have been successfully hosted by Dalby. The campdraft action was tremendous with all the cattle being supplied by NAPCO. Three full days of campdrafting was enjoyed with a high percentage of scores and plenty of big ones. The arena surface was a little on the heavy side however it was safe and the committee worked very hard to keep it in the best shape possible. Some of the titles changed hands during the course of the weekend, one of the most exciting was the Rookie Horse.  Again Pete Comiskey wrote his name into the history books with his fifteenth Champion Open Rider buckle, congratulations Peter. The Presentation Dinner was well attended with just over 300 people to see the Champions receive their awards. Plenty of celebrating was done by many members well into Sunday morning perhaps some may have even caught a glimpse of the Easter bunny.  

Long standing ACA member Evan Acton was inducted as a Life Member at Dalby, only the 8th person in the 37 year history of the association. Those who know Evan and many do, would realise how much he loves campdrafting but what many don’t see is his dedication to the council, he has been a councillor for over 15 years, 7 as Vice-President and currently the Chairman of the National Campdraft Council of Australia. When speaking about his nomination for Life membership one councillor very aptly said “if Evan doesn’t fit the bill to receive a Life Membership then no one will ever receive another one in the ACA” which sums up Evan’s entitlement to this prestigious award. Congratulations Evan - it couldn’t have happened to a more worthy and nicer person.

The newly formed Queensland Performance Horse Alliance had its inaugural meeting in Brisbane on the 22nd of May. This group has been formed separately to the Qld Horse Council and is looking towards fair representation for horse owners in Qld.   

Paradise Lagoons Campdraft described as ‘the greatest show on earth’ and ‘taking campdrafting to another level’ gives an idea to those who couldn’t make it an inkling of what it was like. Congratulations to the Acton family, committee and the many people behind the scenes who made the Campdraft action a spectacle, not to mention the Cutting and the Challenge.      

It was with sadness that we learned of Bob Campbell’s passing a couple of weeks ago, Bob well into his nineties was a name well respected in the campdraft circuit in Southern Queensland and Northern New South Wales. His efforts are well remembered in helping the ACA to get established in Northern New South Wales.

A very disturbing trend is continuing to get out of hand at many campdrafts which is the issue of large numbers of scratching’s i.e. whole truck loads of horses  are withdrawing at short notice. Many people have valid reasons for not being able to go to a draft after nominating however it is getting beyond a joke when there are in the order of 300 scratching at any one weekend. Unfortunately the minority make it hard for the majority with committees suffering large costs for cattle transport etc because of inconsiderate people generally who don’t bother to be on a campdraft committee themselves.

Two things will eventually happen, one they will have to forfeit their nomination money totally when scratching’s are made within an unreasonable time. Bad manners and bad planning by a minority of members is placing committees in a precarious financial position in some cases.

The concept of central nominations has been discussed by the ACA in the past, it was felt that committees should have the freedom of choice to conduct their own nomination process, however a better system is needed to deal with repeat offenders and perhaps their nominations won’t be accepted in the first place at any ACA campdraft. The nomination process for committees has to have consistency in the acceptance of nominations. Unfortunately committee secretaries are receiving abuse from competitors when they are missing out on being accepted at campdrafts. However frustrating this may be, this behaviour is not tolerated.  Some cases have come before the Code of Conduct committee and have been dealt with. If you want campdrafts to continue simply be considerate and do the right thing.

Happy and Safe Campdrafting to all.
Noel Chiconi
ACA President

PRESIDENT'S REPORTS:

May 2009
February 2009
November 2008
AGM 2008
May 2008
April 2008
September 2007
August 2007