Foothills Chapter CDS 

That’s it.  The show season is officially over for the Foothills Chapter!

And I have to say, I think it was pretty darn successful, thanks to great teachers, judges and most of all the incredible participation of the Foothill Chapter membership.  I should point out that in every case the judges and teachers were vocal in how impressed they were by the number of attendees that our clinics pulled in.  At the biomechanics lecture by Tracy Lert, she said she had never had more than a handful of people show up for the lecture and we had almost 30.

We held four clinics and three schooling shows, and each was better attended than the one before.

Our four clinicians, Barbi Breen Gurley, Renee Johnson, Tracy Lert and Peggy Klump all got rave reviews from the people who rode under their direction.  If you were one of these riders and had a particular “ah-ha” moment, please take a minute and email it off to us so we can share it with the membership.

Using “S” ranked judges for our schooling shows was a bit of a risk, but we had great response from the schooling show riders who told us how much they appreciated the comments and scores that accurately reflected what they would be receiving at a three star show.  A perfect example occurred at the last schooling show under Peggy Klump:  Mari Naten rode her stallion Williams, Grand Prix for the first time, and received a 60+%.  She then went out the next weekend, at the three star show out at Starr Vaughn Equestrian and received, you got it, a 60+%.  Congratulations Mari, only one more score to get the USDF GOLD Medal Rider’s Award.

Next season we are again using the Competition Clinic/Schooling Show format.  Our judges are: Natalie Lamping “S”, Trenna Atkins “S” Judge and member of the “L” Program Faculty, and we are bringing back Barbi Breen Gurley “S”,  because so many people who rode and schooled under her begged us to do so.

So, sign up early and be prepared to work hard but to also learn A LOT.

On the subject of medals, if you earned your bronze, silver or gold this season, let us know.  We would like to print a congratulations list of our members who are moving up the ranks.

The Annual Christmas Party is just around the corner on December 10^th, mark your calendars and be sure to plan to be there.  We will be drawing for the winner of the HINKEY TEAM RAAC CONTEST.  Those eligible are riders who took part in at least two Foothills Chapter events, and either earned 60% or better or rode in one of the three clinics earned a chance in the drawing to be held at the Christmas Party.  Every score of 60% or better earned yet another chance at the drawing.  The Prize put up by the HINKEY TEAM is a paid trip to next year’s Northern California RAAC, sponsored by the Foothills Chapter.  The winner gets up to 3 classes, one stall, all drug and office fees, a RAAC jacket, folding chair and show pad.  I am finishing up the final tabulations now on those that are qualified for the drawing and will put the list up on the website as soon as I have it done.  Be sure and check and make sure your name is on it if it should be, and as for the rest of you…  well, there is always next year.  It is just one more reason to support the Foothills Chapter activities!

We will also be talking about the RAAC and our plans for it at the Christmas Party, but just for a few minutes, so you can get back to the socializing which we all know is the real reason we go to the Christmas Party.  Aside from the food, and the gift exchange, and the raffle………

I know you are all very busy out there right now, but if you have a minute, how about sending us a bit of news about what’s happening.  A new horse, a new house, a new baby….  Let us know so we can let the rest of the membership know.

That’s pretty much it, I will see you all at the Christmas Party.  Thanks for a great year!  - Colleen

H ello, Foothills Chapter;

I just received an email from our esteemed newsletter

editor and webmaster, seems it’s time to write another

Chapter Chair message for the newsletter. I promise I

will try and keep this a bit shorter than my previous epistles.

Things that have been happening:

• Foothills Chapter, teamed with Golden State Dressage,

has applied to host next year’s RAAC

(Regional Adult Amateur Championship, sorry, Competition)

in our area. If we get the nod, then we will

hold it in conjunction with the Warm-up and Cooldown

show that takes

place in late July or early

August, 2010. It is a terrific

fundraising opportunity

for the chapter. We

will need some volunteers,

needless to say. Some

scribes, runners, people to

man the hospitality booth,

things like that. Connie

Davenport will be running

the show, of course, so we don’t have to worry about

the actually putting on of the show. We will find out

if we get it within the next couple weeks.

• Another new thing is that we now have an official

Sponsorship Brochure. You can see it on the website

and can email me for the PDF to download if you

would like to approach some businesses near you to

see if they would like to sponsor classes, shows or

events.

• We postponed our July schooling show. There just

weren’t enough entries, due to it being on the same

weekend as the Warm up Cool down out at Starr

Vaughn, just around the corner. We moved it to the

first weekend in November - so instead of praying it’s

not too hot, we will be praying it’s not too cool.

Peggy Klump will be the clinician on Saturday at the

Competition Clinic and the judge on Sunday at the

schooling show. She

has a highly enthusiastic

style of teaching and

what with being a gold

medal rider herself as

well an “R” judge,

(trying for her “S” now)

she is well suited to the

competition style of

clinic. We will send out

flyers and emails to remind everyone so they have

plenty of time to sign up.

• Our first competition clinic/show was such a successthat I guess the judges have been talking to

• We held our summer BBQ last night up at Deb

Moore’s house in Placerville. My gosh, what an

amazing setting. We ate wonderful BBQ tri-tip

and chicken, dipped our toes in her beautiful pool

and gazed out over the valley, all in the pleasant

company of our fellow chapter members. To

those of you who could come, thanks for making

it such an enjoyable evening. A special thanks to

Deb and Bob Moore for opening up their house

and yard to our group. AND if Bob is thinking

about a new career, I am thinking he could make

a pretty good living as a BBQ chef.

• We send out invitations and notices by email and

I have been hearing that some of our membership

are not getting their notices in a timely manner. I

apologize for that. I have been told that EVITE

has been having problems with their getting

emails delivered. (Evite is blaming the spam filters

on your computers kicking their messages

back as spam.) So, if you didn’t get the Evite to

the BBQ, let me know so I can make sure we

send a different format to you next time around.

• Last thing I needed to talk to everyone about is

email addresses. We do most of our communication

with the membership by email, so please

make sure we have your current email address.

After all, you don’t want to miss out on any of the

fun, right?

That’s it for this time. See you all soon…

- Colleen

Foothill Show and Clinic Series

The first of the Show and Clinic Series went off the weekend of the 25 and 26^th of April with bright comfortable weather, great horses, a really incredible instructor and riders who came prepared to work and learn.

Barbi Breen Gurley was our first teacher, and she hit the ground running, literally.  It was fortunate that we had her hooked up to the remote sound system because there was no way we could have kept her tied to a microphone.

The clinic was run as a Fix-a-Test.  Each horse began by riding the test of their choice.  Auditors were able to follow along, as they could hear her scores and comments over the speakers set behind them.  It really made a big difference to hear real time scores and comments as the test was going on and the movement was right in front of you. When the test was over, Barbi quickly abandoned the judge’s booth and got to work with the horse and rider.  With the rider hooked up by remote earpiece and the auditors near the speakers, everyone was able to take advantage of all the information imparted to each rider.  Posture, position, timing of aids, half-halts correctly given and responded to, driving aids…. Barbi covered it all.  As one in charge of keeping things running on time, I can assure you I had to pull her away from each and every rider.  Her enthusiasm for teaching really came across to all who were there, rider or auditor.  To finish, each rider rode their test again and tried to use the information and instruction that they were given during the lesson time.  Grace Trayser won the prize for most improvement from the “before” test to the “after” test, riding at First Level the TB that she won the Silver Spur award with at Training Level last year.  Every rider came out excited and eager to put the information to work for themselves and their horses.  In addition to the gift bags that each auditor and rider received, lunch was also sponsored by Erika Lewis of The Hinkey Team, and riders as well as auditors both had a chance to sit down and chat with Barbi along with their fellow chapter members.

We finished the day with a quiet question and answer time over Pizza and Salad, again donated by The Hinkey Team, in Mari Naten's backyard that she generously allowed us to use for the dinner.  Barbi had time to discuss her Enlightened Riding theories that she covers so well in her book by the same name and also to talk about some CD’s that she recommends for riders.

Riders and Auditors alike expressed that they really enjoyed and got a lot out of the format of the Fix-a-Test Clinic.  Barbi expressed her pleasure in working with good horses and committed riders and when asked when she could come again, said she would very much like to come back and work with us in the future.

The show went off smoothly, mostly due to the combined efforts of all the various volunteers as well as Michelle Scott, our show secretary, and Ron & Mari Naten, PEC’s owners.  Michelle had everything completely in order and every rider’s information ready and waiting for them. Mari Naten allowed us to use not only the dressage court for the show but also the other court as an on-deck area, AND the covered arena for warm-up. We were able to present horses so quickly that we had to be careful not to shove them in the arena before it was their turn.  Joan Shewbridge, as usual, had the volunteers lined up and waiting, from stewards to scribes.  Erika Pilimai-Lewis of the The Hinkey Team sponsored the lunch and refreshments which were gobbled with surprise and enjoyment by the various riders and their entourages.  Peggy McGaw was standing by to take care of all the financial issues, and Jim Shewbridge did everything from ring steward to lunch delivery.  Christine Hendricks set up a beautiful display of the ribbons and prizes that she had from all the sponsors that she had organized.  Erika Lewis had put together beautiful prizes for the high score winner in each division.  Deb Moore and Patt Matlock made sure we had coffee and snacks for first thing in the morning, as well as acting as check-in persons for the clinic auditors.  Marie McCrink delivered the judge and took her to her own home for the night, and I did whatever I was told to do.  It was great working with a team that could bring this off with such cheerful efficiency.

Thanks again to everyone who made this a success and we will see you all next time.  - Colleen

The Awards Dinner

The Award Dinner was great.  Deb Moore and Pat Matlock had picked a super place for the meeting, The Old Spaghetti Factory.  Food was tasty, service was quick, the room was a touch noisy but then, to be fair, so were we.  Due to my being technologically challenged we didn’t have the chapter loudspeaker system.  (After Jim explained to me what the problem was, I DID feel a bit silly.  Seems you are supposed to open the back panel on the system to find all the cables.  Who knew?  Oh, right, Jim knew.)  Christine Hendricks gave a great catch-up to us all on our sponsorship program.  I was able to add to her list that Erika Pilimai Lewis, of The Hinkey Team, had just told me she would sponsor ALL the food and drinks for the show/clinic series.  Big round of applause for that one from everyone.  Then Kim Frederick, who has recently received her insurance license, gave a talk about what types of insurance are needed in the horse industry.  Megan Soske gave us an example of what she teaches in her Pilates for Riders classes.  She used one of the Trilogy Saddles that Peggy McGaw (our treasurer) sells.  Good fun information and a VERY comfortable saddle.  Liz Lewis from the CDS Board of Directors gave us all an update and education on the RAAC shows.  (Regional Adult Amateur Competition)  A very interesting program for both riders and the chapter.  What do all of you think of the idea of putting on the RAAC show for Northern California?

We also gave out some awards, yes, that’s right, an AWARDS dinner, right?  I was referring to awards other than the yearly show awards though.  First off we gave the 2009 Citizenship Award to Mari Naten in thanks to her for unbelievable generosity to the chapter in letting us use her facility all of 2008 without the chapter paying her a dime.  That’s known as supporting your community.  Another 2009 Citizenship Award went to Kim Frederick for her unending generosity in sponsoring our annual Christmas Dinner.  And yes, she has volunteered to do it yet again this year.  We also gave out two Leadership Awards in grateful thanks to Blythe Lehmann and Kim Frederick for taking on the chair position and keeping our chapter on track and in the black for TWO years.  I assure you, I have been doing this for 5 months and I stand in absolute awe of them.

Otherwise, we ate, we chatted, we laughed at each other and we generally had a pretty good time.  If you made it, thanks for coming, I also had a really good time.  If you didn’t make it, send me a self-addressed stamped envelope and I will send you your plaques.  Or give me a call if you aren’t sure whether you won a plaque.   - Colleen

Since last I wrote, we have had the Annual Awards Dinner (see Awards Dinner article) and the first of the Foothills Clinic/Show Series.  (See Foothill Clinic/Show article)

Both seemed to go off with great comments from participants.  As members you should all be grateful for the experienced board you have, they managed to guide your very inexperienced chair through both events without a single nervous breakdown.  Seriously, my suggestion to anyone who is looking to take on this position is to make sure you have a board as competent and experienced as I inherited.

I particularly want to thank the competitors who brought horses to our show when it looked like we weren’t going to have enough rides.  You all helped make the weekend a big success.

The next event on the calendar will be the Tracy Lert Biomechanics Clinic June 11 and 12.  That’s a Friday and Saturday, not always the most convenient format for most of our riders and auditors but I think we have it designed for the best use for all concerned.

Tracy will teach on Friday, we are aware that most auditors can’t break away to see these rides, but Friday evening is when the real fun starts.  Friday evening at 6.30 the chapter is sponsoring a dinner lecture by Tracy featuring a DVD on Biomechanics.  We will have a further update on this in a separate email so keep an eye out for that information.  I am sorry but the rider section of the clinic is already full, but we are taking a waiting list if you want to give me a call.  Then Saturday you can come out and audit the clinic and observe the biomechanics in action as Tracy teaches various levels of riders in the clinic.

The next Clinic/Show will be held July 25-26 out at Pacific Equestrian Center; we are already taking sign-ups for that clinic and schooling show.  We filled up and had a waiting list for the first clinic so, sign up early.

Show season is upon us in earnest now and I know I will see many of you at the various events, I hope you will let me know any suggestions that you feel will advance the good of our organization or even just something that could make your life as a member easier.

To all of you, (you know who you are) who have helped me through these first months, a heartfelt thank-you.

 Colleen

First Quarter 2009:
This is the first official newsletter message that I am writing as Chapter Chair.  We have included the Foothills Chapter 2009 Chapter Report that was delivered to the CDS Annual Meeting in a separate section of the newsletter.

At our first Board meeting in December 2008, we brainstormed on what the chapter needs.  Shows?  Sure, but do we NEED rated shows?  No.  There are a plethora of rated shows all around us.  Schooling shows, yes, we need them, as they provide the income to fund other programs for the membership.  In addition, we considered how many of our members actually show.  Are we aiming all of our chapter activities around a small percentage of our membership?

Therefore, the Board decided that education should be an important focus in 2009.  We decided the chapter membership would benefit greatly by educational opportunities provided by the chapter.  The Board discussed what type of education we could provide, such as speakers, clinics, and activities.  Here is what we came up with:

At some point this year, probably in the fall, we are planning an Equilates Clinic with Betsy Steiner.  We will be able to include a larger number of riders than normal because we will be using the Riding Simulator instead of trying to coordinate demo riders.  Betsy has said she is very excited about the idea, is really looking forward to it, now we just have to pin her down to a date.

For the other clinics, we would like to hold competition clinics the day before the schooling shows, possibly using “S” level judges, or at least “R” judges so that all levels of competitors, not just lower levels, will be able to come and school their upcoming tests.  Whether a rider wants to move up a level, or just to polish their next performance, a competition clinic gives them hands-on advice on how to notch up the performance of that test.  The same rated judges will be judging the schooling show the following day.  This sequence will help to ensure that the comments and scores received in the clinic will more accurately predict the rider’s probable score in their next rated show.

With the economy in the state that it is, we felt that the clinic and show combination would give our riders a chance to receive experienced advice and practice their tests to perfection before presenting them to gain qualifying scores.  Everyone will likely be interested in getting qualified this year as economically as possible.  And, for our riders who don’t want to show but want to advance themselves and their horses, it will be a chance to demonstrate to themselves that you really don’t have to show to advance.

Please email me (eqsport@comcast.net) with any ideas you might have for other educational programs that the chapter could provide this year, or next year, as it sometimes takes a great deal of planning and time to organize such programs.

Recently, Marie McCrink, Chapter Co-Chair, and I attended the Annual Meeting in Burbank.  I was pleasantly surprised by the level of attention and cooperation the CDS Board gave to the chapter representatives, and by their efforts to make membership aware of the benefits and programs available.  Among the chapter reps, a spirit of cooperation and sharing info was strongly present.  Ideas included linking all our websites to advertise everyone’s programs, an email group among chapter chairs of the northern and nearby central CDS chapters, and possibly sharing video libraries.

A very informative presentation on the Regional Adult Amateur Competitions (RAAC) was made by Peggy Klump.  This year’s Northern Region competition will be at Woodside in Menlo Park on July 18-19^th, and entries close on July 4, 2009.  Please know that you don’t have to compete only in your region, though you can only show in one of the three RAACs.  The Central Region show will be held on Sept 5-6 in Paso Robles, and entries close on August 22, 2009.  All forms and instructions are on the CDS website, and the CDS office will send a representative to the chapter meetings to talk about the RAAC, if there is interest.  ALL NEW to the RAAC is the addition of PSG and I-1 for 2009.  Finally, all qualifying scores from September 1, 2008 through August 22, 2009 will be accepted to accommodate all three RAACs.  Not the scores from the CDS Finals though.

Please email me if you would like to have a RAAC presentation at the April Awards Dinner, in addition to the normal entertainment which we are preparing.

Most important, CDS Championships are back at Rancho Murieta this year on October 1-4.  If we want to keep Championships in our area every other year, we must have a good turnout.  So, get out there and get those scores.  Again, the qualifying scores for the CDS Finals have been changed.  They have been lowered for Training Level, and for First Level you can now qualify with any test, though you must show 1-3 and 1-4 at the Championships.

Don’t forget to get your names to me for the Amateur Clinic Drawing.  The deadline is February 12, at 5 PM.  We will draw the name and a couple of alternates at the Feb 12 board meeting to allow those who can go plenty of time to make the necessary arrangements.

I look forward to seeing you at the April Awards Dinner.

Colleen

Colleen

Some Thoughts on Filling Shoes

As I step up to take on the chair of the Foothills CDS Chapter I am looking back at the past few chairpersons and realizing I have some very large shoes to fill.

Though Leslie Jones undoubtedly has smaller feet, the footprint of bringing financial stability to our organization is reminiscent of one left by Sasquatch. I could jump up and down for week and not be able to leave such an impression. Fortunately for us all, I am lucky enough to consider Leslie a friend. When I told her what I was taking on and she managed to regain some control over her side-splitting laughter she agreed to give me such advice as I come to her begging for.

So then, Nancy Fisher comes on board and she picks up where Leslie left off and expands our activities; opens up group communications; brings our Foothill Chapter together in new and exciting ways that make the staid old organization hum with new life. Nancy, however inexplicably, decides she could ride her wonderful new horse or run the chapter, but not both. As it happens, Nancy too is a friend and once she stopped rolling around in the barn aisle in comical hysterics, (amazing the humor I seemed to be providing my friends) she too promised me such help as I might need.

Blythe Lehmann and Kim Frederick picked up the reins from Nancy, and for 2 years have kept us on track with activities and show and their sheer fun personalities. Watching them careen around the shows in their golf cart with their wine glasses in hand, the biggest impression trailing along behind them was of fun and laughter. Good times, people, good times. Now, it is fairly well known that nobody could consider me any sort of party animal but I am assured by Blythe that I can borrow her leopard print strappy sandals whenever I feel the need of a “happy times” fix.  Personally, I think I will just start up a new committee for parties and nominate Blythe and Kim as the committee in charge. Because seriously people, if we can’t have fun at this, what’s the point?

My own biggest advantage is that Marie McCrink has agreed to be my co-chair. Marie is very experienced in the chapter already, as she was the “L” Program Secretary for 3 years. She was also the Chapter Treasurer for 2 years as well as being the 2006 Jr Parent Volunteer Coordinator, helping enormously to put together the highly successful Jr training clinic that took several of our Jrs to train with Hilda Gurney. She is a dynamic person, highly organized and goal oriented. She should have her hands full keeping me in line.

These chapters exist for the purpose of education and dissemination of information. 
My own ideas are:

Trainers Symposiums and Chat Rooms:

We have lots of really good local trainers and I think we could put together a real asset for our members if our trainers draw straws or numbers or whatever and take turns answering questions sent in by the membership. We could even get a discussion board going between the trainers on various ideas. This will require some input from our members who actually know what to do with a computer other than swear at it.

Shows:

We have no rated shows this year but this is not necessarily a bad thing. There are plenty of shows out there to use to gain points, but what would be great for our members would be REAL schooling shows. Using highly rated judges so the score you get is really what you can expect at a rated show. Plus the comments are going to be from experienced judges who can judge all the way through Grand Prix. No more giving up on schooling shows after 1^st level. We can combine these with competition clinics. I have already spoken to two “S” level judges who are very excited about the idea. It would save our membership competition money and time in preparing to go out and make the big time.

With the current economy bidding fair to make our horses even more of a luxury than they are now, we need to come up with programs that will encourage our membership to advance themselves and/or their horses without having to rob the children’s college fund. (As near as I can figure this seems to be my only disadvantage in not having offspring, no college fund from which to borrow in order to buy more horses.)

I also have a sponsorship package that we can present to businesses to attract them to sponsor our clinics and shows. I can post this package (well, I can ask someone to post this package) on our website and any of the members can then take advantage of the material contained within.

Let’s see, what else needs said under the circumstances, ah yes, I will end our dependency on foreign oil, create jobs and I promise to get someone to edit my letters in the future.

I am looking forward to seeing you all this year. I am Colleen Reid and I approve this letter. Eqsport@comcast.net