To all our Victorian members, the thoughts and prayers of all RPSBS Ltd. members are with you in these most trying of times.

Deepest sympathy: The sympathy of RPSBS Ltd. members to the families of the following members who have recently passed away:

Alison Chipperfield of the very successful Wingana Stud that she ran with her daughter Karen.  Alsison stood the well known stallion Owendale Percival and bred, amongst many others, the well performed show hunter pony “Wingana  Loving Cup”.  The society sends condolences to Scott and the family.

Lorraine Beard whose husband, Geoff passed away only six weeks earlier. Our condolences to Marcia and the family.

Judges’ Audit:  All RPSBS Ltd. Panel Judges are required to complete a Judges’ Audit form and return to the National Office before the end of August, 2020.  This form can be found at https://www.rpsbs.com.au/judges/judges-scheme-forms/

2020 Riding Pony Annuals are on their way.  Many thanks from the Board to Despina Mitrakas of Show Pony Graphics for the editorial and production design work, to the advertisers, sponsors, article writers, state publicity officers and members who submitted material for the 2020 Annual.

Member Renewals All membership renewal notices were sent to members in June.  Members are still able to use the online facility to renew their memberships this month. This is available by logging onto the Studbook at https://www.sammsonline.com/rpsb/login/login.cfm?calledby=/rpsb/studbook.cfm using your membership number.  Once logged on press the Home key at the top left corner to take you to the Renew Membership option.

Please contact the office if you did not receive a membership renewal notice.

Paperwork:  With the contract for registration and secretarial services with the Arabian Horse Society due for renewal in October, the office has been monitoring the time spent on RPSBS Ltd. tasks.  The Board has been informed that  a significant amount of time is spent on incomplete or incorrect paperwork.

Some of problems with registration paperwork that have been identified are:

1. Not signing the declaration on the 2^nd page.
2. Not advising there are no markings, page just left blank.
3. Not including the service certificate.

Receipting of monies: Issues raised with the receipting of monies include:

Direct Debit: In a number of instances, funds have been transferred into the Riding Pony account with nothing to identify the member transferring the funds and no paperwork being received by the office to assist in identifying the source of the funds.

Credit card payments: A very common error is leaving the expiry date blank. When a card payment keeps declining it is necessary to contact the member. It becomes a problem when members are requested to contact the office via phone or email and there is no response. The office then has to wait until the member rings the office inquiring why their paperwork hasn’t been processed.

Often there is a small discrepancy between the amount owed for a transaction and the amount authorised to be deducted from the member’s credit card.  The sentence in italics is being added to the credit card payment form to enable the office to proceed with the transaction is there is a small discrepency:

I authorise the RPSBS Ltd to debit the credit card noted for the amount listed. Additional fees to the value of $25 may be debited without referral where my calculation of fees required is incorrect in order to finalise the transaction applied for.

Member Information:  It is imperative for the efficient management of the Society that members keep their contact details up to date.  I urge all members to check their details at https://www.sammsonline.com/rpsb/studbook.cfm

Unfortunately, due to the ongoing restrictions and uncertainty created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the next Board Meeting will again have to be via videoconference. The meeting will be held on Wednesday 23^rd September 2020 commencing 9.30am EST. Deadline for submissions to the Board and all reports are due by 4.00pm Monday 31st August 2020.