ADVISORY COMMITTEE
The all-volunteer Advisory Committee provides expert advice to the Board of Directors in a variety of matters to ensure positive growth, mission success and continued development of the organization. The Advisory Committee is comprised of Members within the USA, Canada, and UK, who represent horses from each studbook, a myriad of equine disciplines, and breeding programs. Additionally, the Committee has Advisors appointed from Belgium, and The Netherlands to ensure the European Brabant Registry of America stays up-to-date on current breed standards, pedigrees, and policies.
MEET THE TEAM
Abi Rowlands
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Abi is a Software Analyst from Wales, UK. She holds a degree in Genetics & Biochemistry which she utilizes in her passion for the European Brabant. She is very knowledgeable in the area of horse genetics, has taken lessons in working draft horses, and is currently learning all she can regarding horse communication to better herself and her horsemanship. She currently sits on the European Brabant Registry of America’s Advisory Committee, and hopes to help expand the registry’s reach outside of North America.
Ann Muys
Ann comes from a family of farmers, both on her mother’s and father’s side, and she grew up working draft horses in the fields. That’s where her passion for draft horses blossomed. Today, Ann owns van 't Asschaut Studfarm in Belgium and even though she doesn’t own any draft horses herself, many of her friends are breeders of Brabants. “Brabant horses have calm characters, which stand in sharp contrast with riding horses,” says Ann. “But they aren’t lazy or slow either." Ann uses her practical breeding experience in her position as Secretary of the Flemish Breeders of the Belgian Draft Horse (V.F.B.T) Studbook to promote the use of the Brabant draft horses. “When there is no breeding goal, there is no reason to breed,” adds Ann. In addition to her position as Secretary of the V.F.B.T, she is also the editor-in-chief of the members' magazine, “V.F.B.T,” with more than 750 addresses in Belgium and beyond. She also sits on the European Brabant Registry of America’s Advisory Committee with the sole aim of providing current V.F.B.T. regulations guidance and pedigree data.
Hani Gasser
Hani, an Agriculture College graduate and trained saddle smith, started his career working border collies, logging with horses and milking sheep in Ireland and Wales. Upon meeting his wife and fellow dog trainer, Tessa, they married and moved to the Swiss Alps, where they continued working dogs and learned to make cow's cheese. After adding three children to their family, Hani and Tessa moved their family from Switzerland to British Columbia, Canada, where they started farming beef cattle and dairy sheep. After much success producing sheep dairy products over the years, Hani and his family moved once more onto a 535 acres farm where they became a certified organic cattle and sheep operation. In 2019, they imported there Ardennes draft horses and began their purebred Ardennes breeding program. In addition to working the farm and breeding, their Ardennes horses are being trained to participate in logging agility courses. Hani's knowledge of logging, importing, training, and breeding of Ardennes draft horses provides a unique perspective to the European Brabant Registry of America's Advisory Committee.
Maura Freshour
Maura holds a master’s degree in social work from the University of Minnesota with a dual concentration in clinical practice and families and children. She is a Licensed Graduate Social Worker, who is passionate about working with children, families, and adults through various challenges and developmental stages. When not at her Minnesota-based practice, she can be found astride one of her many European Brabants in the hunter jumper arena across the midwest. Maura is an active European Brabant Registry of America Ambassador where she shows and shares her horses at regional events. She currently sits on the Advisory Committee and supports her father, Tim Gunter's, purebred European Brabant breeding program at Jack Creek Farms in Georgia.
Melissa Beagle
New Mexico business woman, Melissa Beagle, attended Middle Tennessee State University before transferring and graduating from West Texas A&M University with a bachelors in Agriculture Education. Together with her family, Melissa owns and operates WASA Outfitters, which guides people on fair chase hunts throughout New Mexico and surrounding states. Many of the backcountry hunts require horse and mule power to carry hunters in and game out. This led to Melissa establishing a breeding program that now includes European Brabant draft horses. Her full drafts, draft crosses, and mules are level-headed, honest, hard working ranch hands when they're not trekking the backcountry during hunts. Melissa sits on the Advisory Committee and provides insights on the special needs of backcountry horsemen and draft cross breeders.
Melissa Mol-Pelton
Melissa is a graduate of the Yale University School of Medicine and is an orthopedic physician assistant with over 20 years of experience. She presently resides on a farm Connecticut with her husband, Geert, and two European Brabant mares, Adagio and Acadia. Her exceptional ability to collaborate with teams, communicate effectively with others and reach people on a personal level are assets she brings to the European Brabant Registry of America's Advisory Committee. Her family has a historic connection to the breed, which makes Melissa's love and advocacy for them all-the-more special.
Monique Beullens
Monique is the daughter of a renowned Brabant Draft breeder, the late Frans Beullens, of Ranst, Belgium. Given her heritage, Monique was born with a love for the breed. Professionally, she is a professor at the Faculty of Medicine at KUL and has been a valued official jury member of Flemish (Brabant) Horse in Belgium and The Netherlands for several years. Monique currently sits on the European Brabant Registry of America's Advisory and Breed Evaluation Committees.
Tim Gunter
Tim Gunter is the Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Core5, a commercial real estate company based in Atlanta, GA. He has been added to the “Who’s Who” list by the Atlanta Business Chronicle numerous times and chosen by Commercial Property News magazine as one of the top three executives in industrial real estate. In addition to Tim’s professional career, he’s committed to a number of worthy charitable organizations. He presently sits on the board of the Million Mile Greenway, a non-profit group that supports the building of trails for recreational purposes; he serves on the board of directors for the Georgia Prevention Project, a statewide prevention program aimed at reducing the use of dangerous drugs among teens and young adults; he is a member of the Rotary Club of Atlanta; and he is a former Director and current Advisor for the European Brabant Registry of America. Tim holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Forestry Resources from the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, and a Master in Business Administration degree in Finance from Georgia State University in Atlanta. When not running his business or volunteering his time, he retreats to his farm to relax with his herd of imported European Brabants.
Ton Van Der Weerden
Ton van der Weerden is a passionate painter and photographer who specializes in equine art, particularly the Dutch Trekpaarden. He is known for expressing the beauty and the power of the European Brabant. He says it’s an inexhaustible source of inspiration to continue photographing and painting. Ton is the co-author of Het Trekpaard and his horse art is sold around the globe.
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Many of the photos featured on the EBRA website and in the Handbook are Ton's. Take time to visit his website and see countless more incredible images.
Het Trekpaard: ISBN: 978-90-8740-000-2
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Will Beattie
Former ShopHQ television host, Will Beattie, has a passion for draft horses and is presently growing a herd of purebred Ardennes in Ellijay, Georgia. When not working his horses, Will manages his business, the Bear Creek Cattle Company, and handles every aspect of the operation from farm to table. Will attended The Citadel, graduated with a B.S. in Business Administration, then pursued a career in criminal justice before becoming an entrepreneur. He now spends his spare time with his family, enjoying his horses and other various outdoor activities. Will is a former Director and Founding Member of the European Brabant Registry of America.
Stacy Pearsall
Stacy Pearsall is the owner and manager of LowCountry Acres. She’s had horses most of her life. As a girl on her mom’s Arabian horse farm, she would help start young horses and assist during the breeding season. Upon graduating high school, she joined the service. During her 10-year career as a combat photojournalist, she documented stories in over 41 countries and always managed to stay connected to the horse world by assisting and volunteering her time at stables around the world. While stationed in Europe at the turn of the century (’00-’02), she encountered the European Brabant (Belgisch Trekpaard) at the barn which she worked part time. It was then she vowed to have one of these amazing creatures. After being wounded in Iraq and medically retired from service years later, she acquired her first Brabant, Leah. Today, she breeds European Brabants and trains draft horses of all varieties at her farm, LowCountry Acres, in Charleston, SC. Though combat disabled, she does not let her disabilities hold her back. With her service animal, Charlie by her side, she continues to work as a photographer, author, educator, speaker, television host, farm manager and horse trainer. Stacy served as the inaugural President of the European Brabant Registry of America.