KWPN-NA

Member Committee

Roles and Responsibilities of the Members’ Committee:

To act as the nomination committee for the positions on the Board of Directors. To seek, to accept members’ nominations and to interview prospective Board members.
To make appropriate recommendations to the Board for taking corporate action.
To represent the wishes of the membership and to communicate this with the Board.
To assist the Board in special committee work.
To assist in the coordination and organization of annual keuringen and meetings.
To identify marketing and advertising needs across the membership base.
To identify education needs and topics for the membership.
To assist in the awards program and identify shows across the U.S. and Canada that should be recognized in the awards program.
To act as a liaison between the membership and the Board.
To assist and act upon member grievances and suggestions.

Anna Beal, Chair

Anna has been a dressage show chairperson for several USEF/USDF rated shows in California. She has owned an assortment of horses for 43 years, been a member of CDS, USDF and USEF. By profession Anna is a land surveyor and currently works in Long Beach.

Anna has a strong interest in the direction that the KWPN is heading. She has had good success with her Dutch horses in the dressage ring and is a proponent of producing a good athlete - a jumper that can move and a dressage horse that can hop over an obstacle. She is a small breeder and appreciates the strong breeding values set by the KWPN and would like this organization to continue with these strong values. Anna wants to see the organization support the American breeders by educating the public, i.e. horses from Europe are not necessarily better.

Anna has competed in dressage, hunter/jumper, three-Day Eventing and racing. She has owned race horses and was licensed to exercise horses at major California tracks. She generally purchases horses before they have been started and then trains and competes her own horses, several of which have made it to FEI levels. She also has a broodmare that competed through 4th level and a few young horses that she is bringing along.

Janice Kissel, Secretary

Janice lives in San Luis Obispo, CA, and has been involved with Dutch horses since 1992. She has attended the DG Bar keuring since 1993, both as a spectator and as a participant.

Janice also has a strong background in marketing and merchandising. She has worked in corporate advertising and has owned her own business. She is focused and organized and is taking her educational and on-the-job experience and applying it to her work on the Committee.

She is a small breeder, but has produced a keur mare - Thea (Idocus x Wanroij) - who is now starting her sport career. Thea also produced a first premium foal. Janice is passionate about the qualities of the Dutch horse and wants to promote the great qualities these horses possess.

Barbara Funk

After studying Art and Business Barb studied animal science at Cal Poly and later was one of only two per year accepted into the Equine Reproduction/Animal Science post graduate program at UC Davis. She attended her first KWPN Stallion Show in 1995, and has also attended stallion offspring inspections. From 1996-1998 she shadow-judged in Holland under the guidance of Gert van der Veen.

Barb has been a Technical Delegate, show manager and secretary of a USEF/USDF recognized dressage show, riding director at a summer camp and a member of the San Luis Obispo Sheriff's Search and Rescue. As an owner and breeder she has been involved with the KWPN in North America since 1987. She has been involved with Oregon Dressage since 1981, and with USDF since 1978, becoming USDF Treasurer in 1999. A tax accountant by profession, she and husband Russell have a breeding farm called Dove Creek Farm and have specialized in selling Dutch horses for dressage, hunters and jumpers since 1991.

Through her duties as show manager and TD Barb is in contact with many NAWPN members and the target market of future owners and members. Barb previously served on the NAWPN Advisory Board from 1997-2000.

Julie Ballard Haralson

Occupation: Internal and Emergency Board Certified Physician. Practices Emergency Medicine and is a member of the Board of Directors of Peachtree Emergency Physicians.

Julie has been a member since 1992. Has participated in annual meetings and hosted keuringen since then. She has bred four Inspection Site top foals with the KWPN NA and has had multiple First Premiums. She participates in keuring, sponsors awards, and promotes the KWPN with her own horses.

Julie breeds, rides dressage and has shown hunters, jumpers, event horses, and dressage sport horse breeding (USDF Bronze and Silver medalist). She was the Chief Medical Officer of the Equestrian Venue at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. Member of the American Medical Equestrian Association which set standard for medical care at equestrian events. Chairman for the US Eventing Association Safety Committee, and USEF Safety Committee.

She and her husband own Haralson Farms in Newnan Georgia and breeds Dutch and German Warmblood horses for dressage, show jumping and the hunter ring. Haralson Farms has been ranked as one of the top ten breeders in the US for both Hunter and Dressage Breeding. In 2007 she was the 4th ranked USDF Sport Horse Breeder, with the top ranked weanling colt and filly. She is currently working toward obtaining her Hunter Breeding Judge license with USEF.

Ken Mellish

Ken is the Canadian representative on the MC and is currently serving his second term on the Committee.

Ken is involved in the breeding and development of the Dutch horse. His and his family/farm imported 18 KWPN horses from Holland to establish their breeding program. They have participated in keuringen and consistently have had horses in the Top Ten. Their mare Veganieta (Jazz x Zeoliet) has been particularly successful. Ken has hosted 'open farm' days to promote Dutch horses and has co-hosted a keuring in Nova Scotia.

Ken's education and much of his work experience is in livestock production and marketing and is using that experience to aid the organization in to better being able to assist breeders to develop breeding of Warmblood horses so the industry in North America will attain the same importance as that in Europe. This will require giving breeders the tools they need to produce and market the quality and number of horses so that sport horse owners and breeders will look first to buy horses here rather than importing from Europe.

Ken is an experienced dressage rider, having competed at shows in the Maritime Provinces, Quebec and New England. He assisted daughter Martha to compete up to FEI YR dressage.