In my strategy paper, which I explained to the representatives at the Extraordinary General Meeting held in Brussels on May 5^th, I said that it would be very important that we basically checked out the statutes and all the legal constitutive frame of ECAHO or had them checked out. What many do not know is that ECAHO is a "Verein" according to Swiss law with its legal seat in Switzerland. I have asked since if this solution is still nowadays suitable for an international organization with the majority of its membership being from within the EU. Very soon, I came to the conclusion that the Swiss law and Swiss legal frame are still and always completely adequate for the seat of our ECAHO. The "Verein's" legal status provides suppleness and possibilities to individually set up its byelaws and is offering much more flexibility than any other legal form in Europe. The "Verein" status today can make sense for micro-associations as well as for the largest world ranging Organisations (FIFA, UEFA, FEI, the International Olympic Committee and many more). Moreover, the Swiss legal system is well known for its efficiency and legal stability. 

The current problems faced by our association are therefore not at all caused by the legal form of ECAHO. As far as I can appreciate, we shall submit to the next General Meeting (GM) only a proposal for minor changes and we shall take the opportunity to eradicate style and spelling mistakes.

Our problems originate to a much greater extent on the insufficient and faulty interaction between our Constitution with the right to sanction, and the regulation penalty system (Blue Book). Earlier, when showing was only a matter of pride and ribbons, practically no one had been irritated by our Rules. Since then, the environment of the Arab horse has undergone a strong commercialization trend. The situation is now such, that we cannot allow ourselves to operate with an insecure legal structure. ECAHO works now in cooperation with two lawyers, who will help us to identify and eliminate the weaknesses. I presume that by next spring we shall be in a position to submit sound proposals to the AGM. Before this can happen, I plan to carry through a round of consultations among the member countries, the judges, DCs and maybe exhibitors and handlers.

With the same sense of urgency, the Executive Committee is working on finding the solutions to the current legal cases or disputes inherited from the past administration. It must be said here that the present somewhat unhealthy situation originates, not least, from questionable decisions and procedural errors.

As I was breathing the heavy air left by the GM in Babolna, it became clear to me that no change for the better could come about in such an atmosphere. All the ECAHO officers and commission members work voluntarily and in honorary position. That is why it is completely without question for me that a super atmosphere must reign within the Executive Committee (EC). So far, the way we work together collegially, constructively and really efficiently is satisfying. Collaboration with the show commission has started very well. Thanks to its President, Dr. Francesco Santoro, we have very strongly improved the information flow. I believe that everyone who has worked for ECAHO has the same passionate wish to see wisdom and harmony reign for the sake of our members, of the breeders' community at large and of the Arabian horse.

We also want to improve the flow of information from within ECAHO to the member organisations. If ECAHO chooses to be more transparent, we feel that negative rumours will have little breeding ground. The EC meeting in Brussels at the beginning of May has voted for Guy de Fontaines to be our new executive secretary. Guy will be working full time for ECAHO and his command of five languages should make communicating with our office easy... These changes, after long years of very dedicated and professional work from Gudrun Waiditschka, are aimed at providing us with more service and better communication.

In order to make communication with our international societies and their members faster and more interesting, were have completely modified our homepage. We are leaving the old complicated system and will work from now on with the "JOOMLA" content management system, which is much cheaper to operate, because the information and data input does not require special IT (information technology) knowledge.  I hope that the information will draw a lot more interest and users than before.

The technical aspect of communication is one side; but still more important is the content of communication. If we want to discuss and work on equal terms with our members we must be aware of their specific needs and characteristics. From now on, the 23 full members and 6 associate members will be strongly harnessed together through rounds of consultation and questioning.

It is clear that a traditional association with thousands of breeders and owners such as the Arab Horse Society in England has other interests and needs than a smaller association with a dozen breeders and 200 registered horses. ECAHO must benefit from those different cultures and experiences. But of course, both the show scene and sport competitions require a lot of uniformity and standardization. That is just why ECAHO was founded and a forum for European breeders and their purebred Arabians set up.

Ever since our beginnings, twenty years back, the world of the purebred Arabian has grown much more international. Shows are run in other parts of the world under ECAHO rules, which obviously have other needs than a regional show held in a rural area in Europe. All this must be discussed and it is quite clear for me that there are common solutions to be found. Nevertheless, there are some people who would like to see the number of members brought back to its 1987 level. In our global world, this sort of isolationism clearly has no chance. We want to strive, not only for coexistence but also for an active collaborative partnership, between all the partners who wish to organise and manage shows and sport events under the application of ECAHO rules; this with the aim of the protection and well being of the Arabian horse. I firmly believe that such a line makes a lot of sense. We can only consolidate and expand the share of the Arabian horse in the international horse market by uniting our strengths.

As you can see, we have many assets and high placed objectives. Rome hasn't been built in one day. Please give us some time.

Willy Luder

June 12^th, 2007