RACKING HORSE BREEDERS

Note: LETTER WAS MAILED TO ED MONROE AND A COPY WAS FAXED TO TOM CADDELL THE ATTORNEY FOR PRODUCTS MART ON AUG 8TH. WE HAVE HAD NO RESPONSE FROM THEM YET. WE HAVE HAD INDICATIONS OF INTEREST FROM TWO OTHER PARTIES. WE WILL CONTINUE TO KEEP EVERYONE UPDATED. Ed Hiers

Several years ago, Products Mart and the RHBAA spoke about the possibility of either a buyout of the RHBAA facility, Celebration Arena, or some form of partnership.

The leadership at that time was not interested in selling and was not sure that would even be an option in the near future. No further dialogue transpired which was unfortunate, since a lot of the RHBAA general membership did not share that same opinion.

More recently, within the past 18 months, again the Products Mart showed some interest in the Celebration Arena. We were all excited about the potential alliance and looked forward to working with Products Mart. In the end, discussions failed to happen once again and the RHBAA was very disappointed. I am still confused as to the reason, and continue to hear conflicting explanations.

In April of this year, negotiations led to an offer from a buyer that, even though reached only minimal expectations, the membership agreed to sell the Celebration Arena. We also had some reservations about selling to an out of state investor, since the RHBAA has been in Morgan County for the past thirty seven (37) years and we still have a strong desire to remain in Morgan County for the next 37 years. With that said, RHBAA signed a sales contract in early May with this interested party.

Recent circumstances have led the RHBAA Board of Directors to terminate that sales contract effective August 1, 2008. Our attorney notified the buyers’ legal representation of such. The buyer has responded by acknowledging and accepting our decision to terminate the contract.

We are still resolved that the RHBAA is, in fact, a horse breed registry and we would be better served spending our resources promoting our breed rather than trying to manage an arena. With that mindset, we are still interested in selling the facility and actively moving forward to accomplish that goal.

As word has quickly traveled, we are already getting other inquiries about our facility being on the market again.

Many of our members believe that a synergistic union could be formed between the Products Mart and the RHBAA. We believe that the property at Celebration Arena would satisfy the needs of the Products Mart as well as the residents of Morgan County, while continuing to serve as host to the RHBAA for years to come.

Please consider this letter as a formal open invitation for you and your Board Members, or your representative, to engage in dialogue should you share this interest. I believe it would be a win-win situation for all involved.

Thank you for your consideration of this matter. I look forward to a timely response.