| By-Laws | Official Rules |
| ARTICLE I - Name, Object and Boundaries |
| Section 1 | The name of this organization shall be the National Association of Competitive Mounted Orienteering, hereinafter referred to as the Association. |
| Section 2 | The object shall be to promote the sport of mounted orienteering, to promote good horsemanship, and to work for trails that will be open to all. |
| Section 3 | The Association, covering all of the United States and member countries, is open to all regardless of race, color or creed. |
| Section 4 | The Association shall not be conducted or operated for profit and no part of any profits or remainder of residue from dues, fees or donations to the Association shall be used to the benefit of any member or individual. |
| Section 5 | The Association may be dissolved at any time by a vote in favor of dissolution, of not less than 2/3 of the members in good standing. In the event of the dissolution of the club other than for purposes of reorganization whether voluntary or involuntary or by action or law, none of the property of the Association, not any proceeds thereof, nor any assets of the Association shall be distributed to any members of the Association. After payment of the debts of the Association, its property and assets shall be given to a non-profit organization involved with equestrian trail development selected by the Board. |
| ARTICLE II - Membership |
| Section 1 | Membership is open to all persons who are interested in promoting the sport of mounted orienteering as defined by the Association's by-laws and rules. |
| Section 2 | All participants must be members to ride. Memberships are of 3 types: annual, lifetime and day. |
| a. | An annual individual or family membership can be purchased at any time, and is renewable on January 1st. |
| b. | A member who serves as Ride Manager or Assistant Ride Manager for at least 20 rides is awarded a lifetime membership which is renewed annually without cost to the member. |
| c. | Day membership may be purchased on the day of the ride, and is in effect for that day only. |
| Section 3 | Only paid up annual or lifetime members of the Association have voting privileges. An individual member has one vote; a family has two votes. |
| Section 4 | Upon written request and after investigation, the Board may revoke or deny the Association membership of any individual or family if the Board feels that membership is not in the best interest of the Association. |
| ARTICLE III - Directors, Officers, and Duties |
| Section 1 | All directors of the Association must be annual or lifetime members in good standing. |
| Section 2 | Each state with active ride season status shall have a director, who shall represent the state's membership in all affairs of the Association by serving on the Association's Board of Directors, hereinafter referred to as the Board. |
| a. | States with a ride season of five or more sanctioned NACMO rides per year will have active status. Other states may petition the Board for consideration based on membership numbers, rides managed or ridden in neighboring states, or other evidence of activity in the sport. |
| b. | A State Director shall be elected by that state's members or appointed by the Executive Director. |
| c. | A State Representative may be appointed by the Executive Director for those states not yet compliant with active status. |
| d. | An interested person from a state with no CMO activity may be appointed the Official Contact Person for that state by the Executive Director. |
| Section 3 | The term of office for State Directors and Officers is two years, with consecutive terms available. |
| Section 4 | The National Board of Directors shall be comprised of State Directors, the Executive Director, and other members as may be elected by the rest of the Board to fill needed offices. |
| Section 5 | The board shall elect an Executive Director, President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, National Pointskeeper, and others as they deem necessary. |
| a. | Executive Director: The Executive Director shall work actively toward accomplishing the purposes and objectives of this Association. The Executive Director shall keep the members informed of all proposals and issues that directly affect the membership. The Executive Director shall be the official spokesperson for the Association on all matters and may delegate such authority to any board member. The Executive Director may appoint an assistant if necessary. The Executive Director shall be responsible for the quarterly newsletter. |
| b. | President: shall conduct all meetings. |
| c. | Vice President: shall perform the duties of President in the President's absence. |
| d. | Secretary: shall conduct the correspondence of the Association and take minutes of the meetings. |
| e. | Treasurer: shall sign all checks and account for all monies of the Association. The Treasurer shall receive all dues, sanction fees and ride requests, approve ride dates, and receive all post-ride information from the managers to submit to the National Pointskeeper for posting the information for reference. |
| f. | National Pointskeeper: shall receive post-ride information from the Treasurer and/or Ride Managers, maintain a record of all rider and horse points, and reconcile points at year's end with state directors. |
| ARTICLE IV - Meetings |
| Section 1 | The Board shall conduct regularly scheduled business meetings. Special Board meetings may be called at any time by any Board member, appointed position, or any group of members with 72 hour advance notice. Request for a special Board meeting shall be submitted to the President, or the Vice President in the President's absence. |
| Section 2 | A quorum, which is a simple majority of the board members, is required for official business to be conducted at any meeting. |
| Section 3 | The Association operates on a January 1st through December 31st year for all purposes. |
| Section 4 | The annual business meeting of the National Board of Directors shall be held during the first week of March. States shall hold annual meetings and elect directors prior to that time. |
| ARTICLE V - Finances |
| Section 1 | Revenue for the Association shall be secured from dues, sanctioned ride and rider fees, and other sources. Revenue shall be placed in the general fund for awards, insurance and other expenditures necessary to operate the Association. |
| Section 2 | At the end of each fiscal year, the President shall assign a committee to audit the Treasurer's books. The committee shall assist in preparing the budget which will then be submitted to the board for approval. |
| Section 3 | Ride managers will submit to the Association the following fees: rider fees, ride sanction fees, annual and day membership fees collected at sanctioned CMO rides. These fees, along with the annual membership fees will cover operating expenses of the Association. |
| ARTICLE VI - Parliamentary Authority |
| Section 1 | The rules contained in Robert's Rules of Order shall guide all proceedings of the organization. |
| Section 2 | These by-laws may be amended by 2/3 vote of the responding general membership, and results shall be announced at the annual meeting. |
| Section 3 | Proposed by-law changes shall be presented to the Board of Directors in written form, on or before November 1. The board will review the proposed amendment for clarity of language and eligibility. |
| Section 4 | Ballots for proposed by-law changes will be mailed to eligible members at least 60 days prior to the annual meeting. To be counted, ballots must be returned by the due date listed. |
| Section 5 | Rule changes: Members may propose changes to the rules through their State Director for consideration by the Board of Directors. |
| Points and Awards |
| Section 1 | To be eligible for awards, a person must be a current paid up member of the Association and participate in sanctioned rides. |
| Section 2 | High Point awards will be given annually at the State and National level in the following categories for both the Long Course and Short Course rides:
- High Point Individual Female
- High Point Individual Male
- High Point Team
- Junior Rider
High Point Individual will be determined by the five (5) highest scoring rides, ridden alone. Team High Point will be determined by the five (5) highest scoring rides as a team. At least two (2) members of a team must go out on the ride for points to count for top five ride awards. If you are a member of the annual high point team you are not eligible for individual rider awards. Ties will be broken by the highest number of competitors totaled on the top five scoring rides. If a tie still remains duplicated awards will be awarded. Junior rider award will go to the junior who accumulates the most points during the ride season on long or short course rides. There will be a first and second place. |
| Section 3 | Lifetime awards are awarded to members as they reach each incentive level for both the Long Course and Short Course rides. Awards will be issued for lifetime cumulative rider points at point levels of 50, 150, 300, 500, 750, 1000, 1500, 2000, continuing in increments of 1000 for the lifetime of the person's membership. Riders accumulate objective station points and time placing points. Ten (10) objective station points are available at each ride if all of the objective stations are found. Six (6) time points are earned by placing 1st at a sanctioned ride, five (5) time points are earned by placing 2nd, and so on, down to sixth place which earns one (1) time point for the rider. |
| Section 4 | Ride Manager and one (1) Assistant Ride Manger may also earn lifetime awards as they reach each incentive level. Awards will be issued for ride managers and assistant ride managers cumulative points at point levels of 5, 10, 15, and a life membership will be awarded when the ride manager or assistant ride manager points level reaches 20. Each ride managed or assisted will earn one (1) point. |
| Section 5 | Horses also earn awards based on a lifetime of accumulated points (no matter who rides the horse or if the horse is sold to another NACMO member). Horses only accumulate objective station points. They do not accumulate time placing points. Awards will be issued for cumulative horse points at the levels of 200,400, 600, 800, 1000, continuing in increments of 500 for the lifetime of the horse. |
