The Area VI Adult Rider Program’s goals are to continue building the program, add new members, provide clinics, partner with other organizations to provide educational opportunities and to honor and otherwise bring attention to our many hard-working and skilled adult riders. In 2011, we made significant strides toward these goals:
We increased our membership to 170 from approximately 100 (a growth of 70%).
We offered four Adult Rider Show Championships throughout the year, allowing adult riders to compete with each other for the best score and then to receive great prizes (embroidered sheets and bridles) for their efforts. We started out with 30 participants in the first Show Championship at Galway and had over 50 in the competition at Twin Rivers.
We offered several successful clinics and camps. These included Clayton Fredericks at Galway and Yves Sauvignon/Valerie Owen at Camelot Equestrian Park. Fall clinics included partnering with Debbie Rosen at Galway and Marjorie Molloy at 3 Day Ranch (Jim Wofford clinic).
We partnered with The Event Derby® to provide significantly discounted clinic and derby entry fees for adult rider program members. The five clinics/derbies were held throughout southern California.
We participated in the West Coast Adult Team Challenge held at Coconino Horse Trials in July. Area VI sent eight individuals and supported them with team gear and partial travel expenses. Numerous awards were won in various divisions.
We honored our adult riders with special awards at the Galway International Horse Trials Training Three Day held in November of 2010 (Best Conditioned and Best Turnout). Galway was also the site of our final Adult Rider Show Championship for 2011.
We held several Adult Rider seminars at events. Frankie Thieriot spoke at Twin Rivers in the spring about her road to Rolex, and Debbie Rosen spoke at Woodside in the late summer about horse and rider conditioning. Food and drinks were provided.
We continued to build our email database (now over 300 adult riders and trainers) and sent out newsletters throughout the year.
Planned for 2012
Goal for membership – 200! We should be able to reach this goal in 2012 by increasing the quantity and quality of our activities, and by ensuring these activities are well publicized. Membership provides a good base of funding for the program – with 200 members we will have a base of funding of $5000 plus the annual Le Samurai grant will add another $1000. This is a great start.
CLINICS\CAMPS:
Clayton Fredericks will again teach our early season clinic at Galway, thanks to support from Robert Kellerhouse. The date for this clinic is February 11 and 12, with Friday the 10th being open for private dressage lessons. This date follows the first horse trials at Galway, so the footing should be quite good.
Our northern Adult Camp will be held at Camelot Equestrian Park near Oroville, CA – and our clinicians will be identified shortly. The date of the Adult Camp is June 15-17 (not confirmed). This year, we may plan for several days of cross-country practice at the request of our adult riders.
A second Adult Camp is being added for 2012, this one in Southern CA, perhaps in the late Summer. Suz Roehl has volunteered to organize this camp and she is currently looking at Cottonwood Ranch (Wendy Wergeles) or Shepherd Ranch (Bunnie Sexton).
We plan to continue to partner with The Event Derby ® to offer reduced rates at these schooling shows and clinics. There are normally five Event Derby ® shows planned for the year, and all are listed on the calendar at www.theeventderby.com.
SHOWS and PRIZES:
We want to bring as many teams as possible to the ATC (Adult Team Challenge), fund transportation costs if possible, provide coaching, provide polo shirts or other gifts for team members and, of course, provide spirited competition. The location of the ATC has not been selected, so we will wait to hear on this. Last year, we were able to spend only funds raised at the Silent Auction ($2000) on this event, and eight riders received funding. We would also like to encourage local shows to host the ATC when possible.
Area VI Adult Rider Show Championship Series! I would like to continue offering the overall show championship prizes (best scores, regardless of division). It would be nice to offer sportsmanship awards or something else that would allow honoring newer or less competitive riders so that they feel included in the program. I will solicit ideas.
Investigate the possibility of a Novice Three Day somewhere in Area VI and work with organizers. This has been tough for me, as it takes so much time. If I can find a volunteer to take it on, Adult Riders will support it. This year Robert K. opened of the Training 3 Day educational events to novice riders and I know that several riders happily took part in the proceedings.
End of year prizes? Any ideas?
We also want to continue to build our growing email database and to compile newsletters with the latest information for adult riders.
Funding program:
We are planning a silent auction at the February 4th Annual Meeting, held in conjunction with the Galway Winter Horse Trials. Anyone interested in donating should fill out the donation form The money earned in the silent auction will go toward funding our clinics and this year’s ATC team. Auction Donation Form |
