Look, am not here to bash him, but I can tell you things at IAHA did not improve under his tenure. Yes, he spent money trying to uphold the rules. However, the end result was a new batch of judges who are no better educated, do not judge classes by the written rules, and regularly curry favor with each other because they take turns judging each other. This does not happen in all cases but it does in a great majority.
Many of the older, very well respected horsemen who had judges cards turned them in in disgust over what was occurring because they did not want to participate.
Yes, he also successfully proscecuted one of the biggest name trainers in the business for a rules infraction. It spent millions of dollars and caused the association to literally go begging to it's members for more money in order to continue the legal case. While I do not condone what the trainer did, there are more than a few others out there who have done the same thing whom he did not go after.
As I stated in my original post...Mr. Brown's time at IAHA was fairly dismal. However, the job put before him and FEMA is monumental and they are doing a good job.
>> Look, am not here to bash him, but I can tell you things at IAHA did not improve under his tenure. <<
Hidden amid the blizzard of left-wing mags and blogs agreeing with you, there is this little line: "... a friend and lawyer of Brown's said he negotiated a settlement after withstanding numerous lawsuits against his enforcement of rules for judges and stewards."
The following is one of the causes for Brown's dismissal (one of the lawsuits):
"District Court, Arapahoe County, State of Colorado: In October, 1999, David Boggs, an IAHA member and judge who had been suspended for five (5) years for unethical conduct, sued IAHA seeking to overturn the EPRB decision and sanction by IAHA as arbitrary and capricious. Shortly after the case was filed in October, 1999, Judge Leopold denied Boggs' motion for a temporary restraining order on the grounds, among others, that IAHA had acted reasonably in its hearing of the charges against Boggs."
As usual those stinking trial lawyers were the only winners.
Read more of the reasons for Brown's dismissal (which, in a nutshell, was his enforcement of the rules) here:
http://www.bridleandbit.com/story048.htm
Maybe the president should fire Mike Brown and bring in someone more experienced in disaster relief organization. Do you know anyone more experienced? Do you know anyone who has the handled relief efforts for more than 164 federally declared disasters and five hurricanes (not counting this one)?