Your Board of Directors have identified five By-Law changes for approval by the membership in the 2024 election. Priority for By-Law changes was given to those that increase revenue or reduce cost. Our by-laws specify that these changes must be approved by 2/3 of the votes cast on the matter. Ballots have gone out to all current NFHR members. We encourage you to review proposed changes and vote!

1. ARTICLE IV, B, 1: A change in the by-laws that allow non-members to register and transfer their Norwegian Fjord Horses.
This change was also proposed in 2023 but was only two votes short of the 2/3 majority required for passage. Thus, the Board voted to include it again for voting in the 2024 cycle.
EXPLANATION: Currently, our by-laws allow registrations and related activities only for members of the NFHR. This proposal would allow non-members to register and transfer their Norwegian Fjord Horses that qualify under our requirements for registration. The fee for this service would be established by the Board with the intention that the fees would be substantially higher for non-members than for members.
RATIONALE: Over the years, there have often been requests from non-members to register their NFHR qualified Fjords. There is no reason why the NFHR should restrict NFHR registration of qualified Fjords. The thought has often been that the services offered by the Registry require an additional contribution to the Registry’s economic health. Allowing non-members to register at a higher cost cannot hurt the Registry’s finances since if a person chose to do this, their costs are higher but they receive no other benefits of membership. There is no downside for this change, but there may be an upside if it results in additional registrations and transfers of qualified Fjords.

2. ARTICLE IV, B, 7: A change in the by-laws that clarifies that the membership year is January 1 – December 31 and removes the "grace period".
EXPLANATION: The current language in our by-laws allow members to participate fully until February 1 without renewal and paying dues. In the past, this was to allow members whose payment was delinquent to still receive the 1st quarter issue of the Fjord Herald. Since the Herald is now digital, this allowance is no longer necessary.
RATIONALE: This change clarifies that a membership year is the calendar year and that benefits of membership beyond the calendar year are lapsed until the membership is renewed and dues are paid at which time membership services will be renewed; however, a lapse will result in a loss of continuity for the member for the purposes of qualifying to run for the Board.

3. Article IX, C, 3, d: A change in the by-laws that removes the requirement for the minutes of the Board meetings to be published in the Herald.
EXPLANATION: Our by-laws have always required that minutes be published in our official publication. Unfortunately, our Board meetings are at least monthly but our official publication is published quarterly. Since 2008, we have shifted our emphasis on publishing minutes to our website (while still printing them in the Herald as well) as that provides a more -timely record to the membership of board actions. At present, the minutes are still recorded in the Herald every quarter at a high cost as it adds many additional pages to the Herald. This was presented to the membership in 2022 and received 56% of the votes in favor indicating a substantial member support for the measure even before the Herald was moved to a digital publication. However, our by-laws specify a 2/3 majority so the measure failed. Of course, since 2024, the Herald is a digital publication that is accessed by members only behind a paywall on our website, thus requiring members to access minutes online anyway. The Board believes this to be an important step to reduce administrative costs, budget flexibility, and ensure the economic viability of your Registry so are presenting this change once again to the membership.
RATIONALE: This change allows our website to be the primary source for members to find all Board actions in one location. Further, the digital publication contains live links so that readers can simply click through for their needed information. For members who do not have internet access, as always, our office will provide mailed minutes upon request. This will further reduce the operating costs of publishing our Fjord Herald and improve the timeliness of delivering minutes to the membership.

4. Article IX, C, 3, b: A change in the by-laws that removes the requirement that the Board meet in person once each year.
EXPLANATION: By-Laws now require that the Board meet in person once per year. This is very expensive even though many Board members donate some of their travel costs. Board members often have conflicts that prevent their attendance in person and during Covid, the meeting had to be held remotely. So the NFHR has already worked out methods to allow a face to face meeting with remote attendees.
RATIONALE: This change allows the Registry to use more efficient and cost-effective methods to conduct the annual Board planning meeting. It also accommodates Board members who would have conflicts with a meeting involving travel. Removing the requirement for an in-person meeting gives the NFHR more flexibility in planning essential meetings that will reduce costs and reduce impacts on Board members.

5. Article V, D, 4: A change in the by-laws that would prohibit first degree relatives from serving at the same time on the Board of Directors.
EXPLANATION: By-Laws currently do not address the possibility that multiple first degree relatives (spouses, children, parents, siblings etc.) could run for and be elected or appointed to the Board, constituting a potential conflict of interest. Allowing only one member of a family to serve at one time is a long-standing practice of the NFHR which, to date, has never been violated; but it is clear from recent actions, that there is intent to pack the Board.
RATIONALE: With a simple by-law change, the NFHR makes it clear that only one first degree family member may serve on the Board at one time. This prevents the possibility of multiple relations running for or getting appointed to the Board. Our membership is widespread and has widely varied pursuits with their Fjord horses so this policy prevents, to the degree possible, a single family group from dominating the Board and thus, the Registry. And encourages the continued participation of the breadth of our membership.