Articles of the Finnish Icelandic Horse Association

This is a translation. In case of conflict, the Finnish version shall prevail.

 

1 § Name and location

The Association´s name is Suomen Islanninhevosyhdistys SIHY - Finlands Islandshästförening FIHF ry and in English Finnish Icelandic Horse Association. The location of the Association is the city of Helsinki.


 

2 § Language

The languages of the Association are Finnish and Swedish, but the language of minutes and registration is Finnish.


 

3 § Purpose

The Association is an ideological organisation whose purpose is to promote the recognition of the Icelandic Horse and its use in horse sport, promote and regulate Icelandic Horse breeding in Finland while maintaining the purity of the breed, that is to say according to the principles followed by the International Federation of Icelandic Horse Associations (herein after referred to as FEIF International), and to bring all interested Icelandic Horse people together for joint activities towards the benefit of the breed. The goal of the Association is to maintain and reinforce the special features of the Icelandic Horse in sports as well as breeding with particular respect to the special gates of the Icelandic Horse, its strength and wild spirit. The Association acts as the national organisation and sports club for the local Icelandic Horse clubs and their members in the different regions of Finland. The purpose of the Association is not to obtain direct or indirect financial benefit. It may however engage in economic activity according §5 of the Associations Act.


 

4 § Fields of activity

The fields of activity are

A. Breeding

B. Sport

C. Public relations

D. Youth

F. Education

The Association acts in cooperation with its local clubs. Breeding and sport activities conform with guidelines given by FEIF International and Icelandic principles.

5 § Membership

A member may be a natural person or a corporate body that is willing to support the Association, its goals and purposes and commits to its rules. Members are approved by the board. A person under the age of 18 is a junior member. The Association may regard a member as having resigned in case the payment for his/her membership fee has been outstanding for more than 6 months after due date. The Association has the right to expel a member, who has repeatedly shown gross negligence towards the rules and goals of the organisation, in which case the disqualification of the member is to be made subject to a vote of the general meeting in which at least two thirds (2/3) of the votes have to be in favour of exclusion.


 

6 § Membership fee

Members are obliged to pay a membership fee, the sum of which is determined by the annual general meeting. New members pay the fee for the entire year of accession. The membership fees for junior members may be set lower as for other members. Also, the Association may impose a special lower fee for family members, that is to say, two or more members living in the same household.


 

7 § Power of decision

The power of decision lies with the members of the Association who execute their power in the general meetings.


 

8 § Invitation to meetings

The general meeting is convened either by publishing a written invitation in the membership magazine published and posted by the Association to its members, or by sending a separate written invitation to the members by post. The magazine issues containing the invitation or, respectively, the separate invitations have to be posted no more than 30 nor less than 14 days prior to the meeting.


 

9 § General meetings

The Association has two ordinary meetings in a year. The annual general meeting is to be organised until the end of March, and the autumn meeting is to be held between September and December. An extraordinary meeting is to be convened if decided so by the general meeting, deemed necessary by the board or required by ten percent of the members entitled to vote. The meeting has to be held within 30 days from the articulation of the demand. All members aged 15 or older have the right to vote in the general meetings and every member has one vote. A member may appoint a proxy to act and vote on his/her behalf. The proxy has to be a member of the Association. A proxy may use a maximum of three member votes. Members may bring an item to the agenda of the general meeting by submitting a corresponding written motion to the chairman of the board at least 45 days prior to the meeting. Items submitted to the chairman at least 14 days before the meeting are included in the agenda under “Miscellaneous”.

 

10 § Annual general meeting

Mandatory agenda items of the annual general meeting are

  1. Introduction of the financial statement concerning the previous financial year including profit and loss account and balance sheet, as well as the board´s annual report and auditor´s report

  2. Approval / Non-approval of the financial statement

  3. Release / Non-release of the board from its responsibilities

  4. Determination over amount and time of payment of the membership fee

  5. Election of one financial auditor and one alternate auditor

  6. Handling of the other items mentioned in the meeting invitation

  7. Handling of other possible items


 

11 § Autumn meeting

Mandatory agenda items of the autumn meeting are

  1. Determination over the amount of board members

  2. Election of successor board members for those to retire

  3. Approval of the action plans of the Association and its local clubs

  4. Other items mentioned in the meeting invitation

 

11 § Board

The executive power of the Association is exercised by a Board that consists of at least seven (7) and at the most twelve (12) members. The autumn meeting decides on the actual amount of Board members and elects responsible persons for at least the following permanent board positions:

1. Chairman

2. Vice-Chairman

3. Treasurer

4. Secretary

5. Chairman for Breeding Committee

6. Chairman for Sport Committee

7. Chairman for Public Relations Committee

8. Chairman for Education Committee

9. Chairman for Youth Committee
 

The term of office for the members elected into the above mentioned positions is two years and they retire by rotation as follows: Chairman, Treasurer and the Chairmen for Breeding, Public Relations and Education retire at the autumn meeting held in the odd years, whereas Vice-Chairman, Secretary and the Chairmen for Sport and Youth retire at the autumn meeting held in the even years. Their term of office starts with the election meeting and ends with the autumn meeting, at which the respective board member is retiring. The term of office for other members of the board starts with their election meeting and ends at the next autumn meeting.
 

Board meetings have a quorum when at least half of the board members are present, provided that either Chairman or Vice-Chairman is attendant. Decisions are made by a simple majority of votes. In the event of a tie, the vote of the Chairman decides. Meetings of the board shall be recorded in minutes which must be signed by Chairman and Secretary.

The board is responsible for the administrative tasks of the Association, implements the decisions made in the general meetings and represents the Association.
 

The tasks of the board are, especially, to

- set up the Committees for Breeding, Sport, Public Relations, Education and Youth

- keep active contact to the local clubs and deal with their proposals

- elect the Association´s representatives for FEIF International as well as for other relevant national and international organisations according to demand

- verify regulations required for the Association activities

- monitor the publishing of the membership magazine and appoint the chief editor

- appoint a suitable person responsible for the appropriate storing of all advertising, marketing and sales materials as well as other properties and possessions of the Association
 

A retiring member of the Board who has been in one of the named offices (Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary, Chairmen of the Committees for Breeding, Sport, Public Relations, Education and Youth) has to properly transfer his/her tasks to the elected successor.


 

12 § Committees

The Board has to its disposal the help of the Committees for Breeding, Sport, Public Relations, Education and Youth that all have a Chairman, Vice-Chairman and a necessary amount of members. The Chairmen of these Committees are those members of the Board that have been elected into the respective positions in the Association´s autumn meeting. Vice-Chairmen and other members of the Committees are elected by the Board upon proposal of the respective Committee Chairman. The board may set up other Committees on demand.
 

The Committees prepare matters within their competences to present to the Board for decision-making. They exercise the tasks mentioned in these rules or those separately awarded to them under supervision of the Board. Responsibilities of the Breeding Committee are e. g. training of breeding judges, maintenance of the herd book and evaluation of horses in co-operation with the relevant central organisation. Responsibilities of the Sport Committee are e. g. training of sport judges, riding education, maintenance of the register for competition horses and organisation of national and international competitions. Responsibilities of the Public Relations Committee are e. g. to spread information about the Association´s activities and Icelandic Horses in general, media contacts and organisation of public appearances. Responsibilities of the Education Committee are e. g. the education of Icelandic Horse riding instructors.

The Youth Committee is responsible for the activities offered to the junior members.


 

13 § Procuration

Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary are authorised to sign on behalf of the Association.


 

14 § Financial year and auditors

The financial year of the Association is the calendar year. The Association has one financial auditor and one alternate auditor that are both elected for a one year term of office.


 

15 § Amendment of articles

An amendment of these articles has to be voted for by a majority of at least two thirds (2/3) of the general meeting.


 

16 § Dissolution of the Association

The dissolution of the Association has to be voted for by a majority of at least three quarters (3/4) of votes in two successive ordinary annual meetings.

In case of dissolution of the Association, its capital is to be transferred to FEIF International.