OMI Rule Books

Official Handbook
Of the OMI Quarter HorseAssociation  
2010
BylawsRules and Regulations  

Published

March 4, 2010

Contents 
             
Article I:          Name, Objective and Location   
Article II:         Membership                                                      
Article III:        Dues and Membership Application                   
Article IV:        Members                                                           
Article V:         Association Meetings                                        
Article VI:        Officers and Duties                                          
Article VII:      Board of Directors                                            
Article VIII:     Year End Awards                                             
Article IX:        Youth Teams                                                    
Article X:         Amendments  

Article I

Name, objective and location 
Section 1      The name of the organization shall be the OMI Quarter Horse Association. OMI represents Ohio, Michigan and Indiana. 
   
Section 2      The objective of this organization will be to promote, in all ways, the interest of OMI Quarter Horse owners and to increase the number of breeders and owners of the American Quarter Horse in the area. Specific emphasis of the organization will be to provide funds for charitable purposes, youth organizations, horsemanship programs, horse shows, sales, auctions, promotional contests, and other activities as established by the officers, directors and members. 
  
Section 3      The area encompassed by this Association shall be an area that includes Northwest Ohio, Southeast Michigan, and Northeast Indiana.     
      
The Ohio counties in OMI are as follows: Allen, Auglaize, Champaign, Clark, Crawford, Darke, Defiance, Delaware, Erie, Fulton, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Huron, Lucas, Logan, Marion, Mercer, Miami, Morrow, Ottawa, Paulding, Putman, Richland, Sandusky, Seneca, Shelby, Union, Williams, Wood, Wyandot, and Van Wert.
     
The Michigan counties included are: Barry, Branch, Calhoun, Eaton, Hillsdale, Ingham, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Lenawee, Livingston, McComb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Joseph, Washtenaw, and Wayne.    
     
The Indiana counties included are: Adams, Allen, Blackford, DeKalb, Delaware, Grant, Handcock, Henry, Huntington, Jay Lagrange, Madison, Noble, Randolph, Steuben, Wayne, Wells, and Whitley. 
  
Section 4      The address of OMI shall be that of the presiding secretary, Its officers must be permanent residents of OMI as defined in Section 3, and must be over 18 years of age as of January 1 of the current year. Members of the Association may be residents of any state, territory, or country. 
  
Section 5      Relationship of AQHA and OQHA
a) All proceedings of this Association shall conform with the policies and activities of the American Quarter Horse Association.                        
b) The OMI Quarter Horse Association shall endeavor to conform with the policies and activities of the Ohio Quarter Horse Association.

Article II  Membership

  
Section 1      Membership shall be of three categories: annual family membership, annual individual adult membership and charter members.     
    
Family membership shall include husband and /or wife and their children and/or wards age 18 (as of January 1 of the current year) and under, who are reliable people, interested in promoting Quarter Horses registered by the American Quarter Horse Association.      
    
A single individual adult member shall be any person, organization, firm, or corporation, resident of any state, interested in promoting the American Quarter Horse.      Charter members are those members who donated the up front moneys to establish this organization. Charter memberships were accepted until April 1, 1992. 
    
Section 2      Any person, firm or corporation having joined this Association shall become subject to the rules and by-laws in force or later adopted by the Association and may be subject to expulsion from the organization as provided in these by-laws. 
    
Section 3            When any person, firm or corporation as a member of this Association is accused of any acts or practices which may be deemed just cause for expulsion from this Association, the accused shall be entitled to a full, fair, and impartial public hearing before the Board of Directors of this Association. Any person, firm or corporation judged guilty of the act or practice as charged shall be expelled by a majority vote of the Directors, Any expelled member may be reinstated with the approval of the Board of Directors.

Article III  Dues and membership application 
       
Section 1      Each membership, family, or individual adult, shall pay dues as each is prescribed by the Board of Directors and published annually.       Dues, eligibility and membership in OMI is governed by the constitution and by-laws of OMI. 
     
Section 2      Applications for membership must have fees attached and be submitted to the OMI Treasurer. Applications for membership shall include county of residence. 
   
Section 3      Membership will start January 1 and be effective through December 31. After January 1, membership will start the day the application and fee are received at the address of the OMI secretary. 
  
Section 4      In cases of error in fees or application, the above membership starting date will remain in effect provide the error is corrected within 30 days.

Article IV  Members 
   
Section 1       Members of the Association shall be admitted, retained and expelled in accordance with these bylaws
       
Section 2       In all matters governed by the vote of the members, each individual adult member in good standing shall be entitled to vote. 

Article V    Association Meetings

    

Section 1      The regular annual meeting of the members shall be held at such time and place as fixed by resolution of the Board of Directors. Notice of the annual meeting shall be communicated a notice to each voting member in good standing in OMI. The notice shall be communicated not less than 20 days and not more than 60 days prior to the date of such meeting. 

    

Section 2      Special meetings of the members may be held at such time and place designated in notice whenever called in writing by the president or, in his/her absence, the vice president. 

    

Section 3      At the regular annual meeting, the qualified members of the Association shall elect the president, vice president, secretary/news reporter, treasurer, and eight members of the Board of Directors. 

    

Section 4       In the matter of election for directors and officers, any member in good standing may cast an absentee ballot by requesting an official ballot and returning it to the membership committee (the presiding membership committee shall not be running for office at the time of appointment). 

    

Section 5      Unless otherwise stated in the by-laws, all meetings of the members and Board of Directors shall be conducted in accordance with Robert’s Rules of Order. 

Article VI    Officers and duties

    

Section 1      The elected officers shall consist of a president, vice president, secretary/news reporter, treasurer, point secretary, and youth advisor(s). The elected officers shall hold office for one year and until their successors are elected and qualified.  +

    

Section 2      The president shall be the chief executive officer of the Association and shall preside at all meetings. In his/her absence the vice president shall have the powers and duties of the president and other duties prescribed by the Board of Directors. Both the presidents and vice presidents term of office shall be one year.

     

Section 3      The secretary/news reporter elected for one year shall keep minutes of all membership and director meetings. A record shall be made of all the membership and director meetings. Reports of all news, activities and actions of OMI as prescribed by the officers, directors and membership shall be made to advertise and promote all activities of the OMI Association.

    

Section 4      The treasurer shall receive and disburse funds of the Association and maintain adequate records thereof and prepare the necessary reports of such funds and disbursement for presentation to the Board of Directors and membership. 

     

Section 5      The point secretary will keep totals for year end awards and youth team candidates. 

     

Section 6      The youth advisor will be an elected position and must be 21 years of age as of January 1. The advisor is responsible for keeping total of points earned for each youth candidate and will audit those points with the point secretary.  

Article VII      Board of Directors 

 

Section 1      The Board of Directors shall be elected by the OMI membership.      The business and property of the organization shall be managed and controlled by the Board of Directors.      Five (5) at large Board of Directors were elected at the organizational meeting in 1992, with (4) more elected in 1993. There should be, if available, one (1) director elected from each of the OMI states(Ohio, Michigan and Indiana) and one (1) at large. All directors will serve two (2) years or until his/her successor has been duly elected and qualified.      The outgoing President automatically becomes a Director at Large if he/she chooses, until the current President leaves office and replaces the preceding past President as Director at Large.

       

 Section 2        In the case of any vacancy in the Board of Directors, for any reason, the remaining directors by affirmative vote of the majority thereof, may elect/appoint a successor.

    

Section 3      Special meetings of the Board of Directors shall be held whenever called by the president or by two-thirds of the directors.      The secretary shall give notice of each special meeting by mail, email, or telephone to each director at least five (5) days before the meeting. 

     

Section 4      A majority of the number of directors shall constitute a quorum present; a majority of those present may adjourn the meeting until a quorum shall be present.

     

Section 5      At meetings of the Board of Directors, business shall be transacted in such order as the Board may determine.

    

Section 6      The written contracts of the Association shall be executed in the behalf of the Association by the president or vice-president and attested to by the secretary.

     

Section 7      Each and/or any director who fails to attend two (2) regular meetings of the organization without notification may be replaced by the remaining members of the Board of Directors.

Article VIII    Year End Awards 

   

Section 1      Membership must be paid in full before any points can be earned toward year end awards, no retroactive points can be counted. Year end awards can be awarded to any paid up member of OMI regardless of where they live. 

      

Section 2      Point calculations for year end awards to be nine points for the first place horse when nine or more horses are shown or one point for each horse if under nine shown. Points issued to horses placing first through ninth at OMI sanctioned shows. (deleted permit rule) 

        

Section 3      Ownership clarification rule will follow AQHA rule, which is stated in AQHA rulebook. Owner and exhibitor must be current year members of OMI.

Article IX     Youth Team

        

 Section 1. Eligibility
      (a) Congress Youth Team qualifiers must live in one of the following counties:
            Ohio – Allen, Auglaize, Champaign, Clark, Crawford, Darke, Defiance, Delaware, Erie, Fulton, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Huron, Logan, Lucas, Marion, Miami, Mercer, Morrow, Ottawa, Paulding, Putnam, Richland, Sandusky, Seneca, Shelby, Union, Williams, Wood, Wyandot, and Van Wert.
            Michigan – Barry, Branch, Calhoun, Eaton, Hillsdale, Ingham, Jackson, Kalamazoo, Lenawee, Livingston, McComb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Joseph, Washtenaw, and Wayne.
            Indiana – Adams, Allen, Blackford, De Kalb, Delaware, Grant, Hancock, Henry, Huntington, Jay, Lagrange, Madison, Noble, Randolph, Steuben, Wayne, Wells,, and Whitley.
        (b)Each youth must be a member of OMIQHA in good standing belonging to a family membership.
        (c)Both owner and exhibitor must be members of OMIQHA in good standing.
        (d)Youth must attend at least THREE (3) meetings from January through and including the July meeting.  Youth will be given ONE (1) excused absence as long as they contact the Youth Advisor or Youth President prior to the meeting date.
        (e)Youth must attend the August and September meetings or have a representative present. 
        (f)All fundraiser requirements must be completed by “Supplement Rule” deadlines which are determined each year by the Board of Directors and Youth Advisor.  (Please refer to “Supplement Rules” which are available through the Youth Advisor)
        (g)All parents/guardians and OMIQHA youth members who would like to participate in the Congress Youth Team must sign off that they have read and have been provided a copy of, and understand all Rules for the OMIQHA Congress Youth Team, before they are eligible for points. 
       
Section 2. Points
        (a)The point system for the Congress Youth Team will be the same point system as used by the OMIQHA.
              (1) Membership must be paid in full before any points can be earned toward the youth team, no retroactive points can be counted.
              (2) Point calculations for the youth team will be nine points for the first place horse when nine or more horses are shown or one point for each horse if under nine shown. Points are issued to horses placing first through ninth at OMIQHA approved shows.
        (b)Points will be accumulated at all OMIQHA approved point shows.
        (c)Youth may try and qualify on more than one horse, but must choose only one to compete on the Congress Youth Team and must comply with the Congress Youth Team rules.

Section 3.  Selection of Youth Team 
        (a) The final decision, of the Congress Youth Team, will be made by the OMIQHA Youth Advisor on the following basis:

 (1) Youth has met all eligibility requirements as stated in Section 1.

              (2) Total points accumulated through OMIQHA approved shows based on the system stated in Section 2.
                    (i)In the case of a tie, the youth placing 1st in the greatest number of classes will be the winner.  In the event that a tie still occurs, the most 2nd placed will break the tie and so forth.
                    (ii)If a youth places first in more than one class they will have the choice to choose what class they would like to participate in.
                    (iii)In the even a youth is first or second in a class and declines the spot on the Congress Youth Team they will not be allowed to enter into a class in which they have placed lower in. i.e. A youth is 1st in Reining and 3rd in Hunter Under Saddle and declines Reining spot they are not eligible for the Hunter Under Saddle spot.
        (b) The selection of alternates will be picked after the top two (2) point earners in each class have been selected for the Congress Youth Team.  However, it is the responsibility of the potential alternate to have already entered a class, reserved a stall, and be present at the Congress if needed
       
 Section 4. If once the youth member commits to the Congress Youth Team and afterwards declines, the youth is required to reimburse OMIQHA any expenses that they have incurred for the Congress Youth Team. 

Article X     Amendments

       

Section 1      These by-laws can be changed only by a majority vote of the members present at a membership meeting. Thirty (30) days prior to the meeting a written notice and publication of the proposed changes shall be sent to the members by mail, email, or through the official OMI website. 

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OMIQHA
NYATT & Queen Rules

Youth and Queen Rules will be posted prior to the final Review and Vote to Accept the Bylaws.

Ohio-Michigan-Indiana Quarter Horse Association