Congrats on the EWW apricot!! She's gorgeous!! 😍

My RO was less than great, but I did get this fun EWW Red Dun boy with some hidden pearl from my side Chestnut/ Apricot project: https://horseeden.com/horse.php?id=33324165

Announcement:

Hello lovely SSBC members! I am so excited to have taken over the running of this incredible club, and am also so excited for all the things in store. Sunstone did such an amazing job with it, and I feel honoured to be taking the reins. However, this club would be nothing without its members which is why I would like to hear your guys' thoughts on a couple things.

1.SSBC was originally founded upon having different breed tiers (AA, WB, TB, and X) you could pay into which was 25K per tier with discounts if you were in more than one tier. However, due to changes in the game, especially with how dues are now collected, I am thinking we move towards a system of having a general tier (the 1K a month in dues tier) and a 2nd larger tier, which members would pay into that encompasses all 4 breeds. Having a larger monthly due that tier members paid into would allow for bigger and better prizes on a more regular basis etc. Svens, larger amounts of ebs, etc. So that leads to the question: how much do I make the pay-in tier? Other clubs have it set around 50K/month. I want to hear from you guys: what amount do you think is reasonable considering that being in this higher tier would provide you with the chance to win Svens, high amounts of ebs, straws to top LB stallions and high quality colour broods. Previously, it was 25K per breed tier so maybe we do something like an automatic 35K a month and this would give you access to all breed tiers? I want this club to be accessible, and have great prizes even for those that are just in the general tier. I will set up a poll for this.

Reminder that you would not HAVE to pay to be in the larger tier every month. You could also choose to just pay the 1K one month and be in the general tier, and then pay for the 2nd tier the next month.

*EDIT* (based on FirstLightFarms feedback): I will make sure that high quality colour broods and straws will be available for ALL breeds encompassed under SSBC. So do not fear, one breed will not be favoured over another.

2.To try and make this club more accessible, and provide more opportunity to newer stables, I am playing around with the idea of having 2-3 "sponsored" slots a month where stables under a certain age (maybe under a year old?) could put their name in to be sponsored for the month and I will randomly select stables to essentially have their tier paid for so that they have a change to win things like a Sven, straws/better broods, etc. What are people's thoughts on this?

3.What sort of contest are people interested in? I'm not sure I can get one together in time for this month but I can definitely do one for next month eg. Show off your best match and the winner has the match paid for, simple raffle for ebs/items, show off your best foal and the foal with the highest ratings/pattern wins, etc. Remember, the more people that pay their dues, the more quality and quantity the prizes will have.

4.Part of SSBC's success is the contributions of the amazing studs/straws & broods available to us. If anyone has straws or broods they would like to donate for a contest please let me know!!

I will add to this post as I think of more. Again, I am so excited to take on the club. I ask for patience and grace from all of you as I navigate this new responsibility and try to figure out the ins/outs of running the club.

FirstLightFarms said:

Congrats on taking over! I'm super excited to watch this club grow 💙

As for changing the tiers, I don't mind the idea except in times of contests- part of what makes SSBC so helpful is that when we enter contests, we can choose what breeds we're competing for. AA Broods would be useless to me, and WB breeders don't want TB Straws. So that's something to think about.

50k's a good start for tiers I think!