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The International Arabian Horse Association was a full-service breed association that "seeks to meet the breeding, competitive and recreational interests of all Arabian Horse owners". The association appointed Michael Brown (former director of FEMA ) from 1989-2001 as the first Judges and Stewards Commissioner. CONTROVERSY OF BROWN He attempted to crack down on members of the association for artificial enhancements to horses. This resulted in many large lawsuits against the association and against Brown. Some members accused Brown of practicing favoritism. The site awhitehorse.com in an article by Karl Hart (4) took a particularly sharp aim at Brown. It claimed that Brown was doing double duty as IAHA commissioner while still appearing to be a lawyer at his old law firm in Oklahoma City. The evidence was in two parts. Firstly the Martindale-Hubbell listing of practicing lawyers in the US listed Brown as practicing at his OKC firm. Secondly several members of the IAHA board of directors called Brown's old OKC law firm asking for Mr Brown. The law firm told them 'call our Denver office' and then gave Browns IAHA phone number. The article also claimed that Brown was listed in the Denver yellow pages as a privately practicing lawyer. Brown also hired his old firm to help the IAHA defend against lawsuits. (4) The IAHA was eventually absorbed into the Arabian Horse Association after Brown left. RESIGNATION OF BROWN Brown volunteered to resign after controversy about his fundraising methods for defending against the lawsuits. Some of the lawsuits named him as a defendant, while others named the association, or both. Brown claimed to be getting a lot of money for a defense fund for the organization. However he was also getting a lot of money for his own personal legal defense fund at the same time. On top of that, the money for the organization's defense fund never actually came in. This caused a big ruckus amongst the board of directors and so at the meeting where this all came out, he volunteered to resign. This is all documented in an interview with members of the 'executive committee' of the association, in Arabian Horse World online (3). EXTERNAL LINKS
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