January 2006

President's Message	SWVADA Minutes	VADA News
Dates to Remember	News in Brief	Pro Paddock
Classified Ads	Display Ads	Just for Fun

 

OFFICERS BOARD of DIRECTORS President -  Susan Dallas Vice-President - Laura Nelson   Secretary - Jeanette Shires  Treasurer -  Blanche Mahoney   Ellen Aiken Sue Cooper Sarah Denham Gary Goodale Gabi Hooten Annette Massey Shaw Beckie Mitchell Pat Nelson Rebecca Splan Nancy Stone Bob Whitehurst

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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Happy New Year to everyone. SWVADA has a lot planned for this year so keep an eye out for announcements in the newsletter and the website of upcoming events. I would like for you all to be involved and help us make this the best year for SWVADA yet. Please feel free to contact me or one of the board members with any ideas or suggestions that you have. As always we are in need of volunteers to help run some of our events. Without your help these events will have to be cancelled. We are looking for a manager and secretary for our April 22 Schooling Show at Green Hill Park. This is our first show of the season. If you are interested please contact me sgdallas@ntelos.net. This is a great way to learn how to run a show and we have lots of experienced people to help you. On Feb. 11 we are having  our Year End Celebration. Please come and join in the fun!  Educational Sunday is on Feb.19. Please mark this on your calendar. It is always  an informative and fun day. I'm going to take advantage of this break in the winter weather and ride Cole! I hope you have a chance to do the same with your horse. Have a safe and wonderful holiday. Susan Dallas - SWVADA President

 

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  SWVADA MINUTES
December 2005
Next Meeting: 7 PM, Monday, January 16, 2006
Hollywood's Restaurant at Hollins 

The regular monthly meeting of SWVADA was held on Monday, December 18. Meeting was called to order at 7pm by President Susan Dallas. Board members present: Gabi Hooten, Annette Massey-Shaw, Pat Nelson, Jeanette Shires, Ellen Aiken, Gary Goodale, Blanche Mahoney, Beckie Mitchell, Laura Nelson, Sue Cooper, Bob Whitehurst, Rebecca Splan, Sarah Denham. Members and Guests present: Hannah Carlson, Harriet Keys President’s Report: Susan Dallas It is an honor to be the Presisdent of SWVADA. Susan asked each board member to introduce themselves and mention their position in SWVADA. Secretary’s Report: Gary Goodale A motion was made to accept last month’s minutes as written. Made by Beckie Mitchell, seconded by Laura Nelson. All in favor. Motion passed. Treasurer’s Report: Blanche Mahoney Checking Account Balance $7376.32 Savings Account Balance $1059.91 CD $3,000.00 Motion was made and seconded to accept the treasurer’s report as reported. Adult Camp 2006: Gary Goodale,/Laura Nelson Waiting to hear back from one instructor about fees for teaching at camp. Fancy Hill facility will be available for October 6, 7, 8, 2005 Clinics/Education: Annette Massey-Shaw/Rebecca Splan Annette is still working on trying to get a facility confirmed to be able to try to retain a top clinician to come for a one time or series clinic (May be the first week of May) Looking into The Big Red Barn, Judy Gustafson’s place as all weather options: investigating costs and availability. Educational Sunday: Ellen Aiken/Jeanette Shires John Sanford has offered to be part of Educational Sunday. He is a ‘natural horseman’ type of horse centered trainer There was a problem concerning sales of food last year. A motion was made to obtain the needed permit from the health department to allow us or VA Tech Equestrian Club to sell food. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously. Hospitality: Blanche Mahoney Deposit has been paid for the DJ for the Banquet Banquet will be February 11, 2006 Equipment: Bob Whitehurst Is still trying to winterize the trailer Was in good shape the last time he was there to check Green Hill Park: Bob Whitehurst First barn (stalls) is up. Still trying work out details of who will be responsible for keeping clean, how to rent, etc. New road access is being held up due to the sale of some land, may be a part of the sale agreement. Waiting to hear more. Membership: Pat Nelson Memberships are trickling in - don’t forget SWVADA year expires November 30. Points/Awards: Ellen Aiken Jr/Young Rider was wondering if they could use a MFS score to help median score -- NO. Voted to announce the winners of the McDonald Farm Award, Young Rider and VA Horse Center Award before the banquet as had been done in the past. Barcelli Award will still be awarded at the banquet where voting is taking place.

Motion was made, by Ellen Aiken, to create an absentee ballot SWVADA members can request to be able to vote for the Barcelli Award nominees even if not attending the banquet. Motion was seconded by Laura Nelson and passed unanimously. Ellen Aiken will create and be the contact person for the ballot. Discussion was held about changing/adding awards to SWVADA’s current listing of awards. It was decided a committee should be formed to look into changes in awards offered. Members of the committee are Sue Cooper, Gabi Hooten, Rebecca Splan, and Jeanette Shires. Gabi and Sue will co-chair. Susan will contact Frances about adding to the website a request for members to send in accomplishments that they have achieved this year that may not be addressed by the current SWVADA awards. This will also be sent out to the membership via email. The freestyle award will remain unchanged for this year where all levels (1st - GP) are compared equally (no divisions based on levels). VADA: Susan Dallas Discussed and voted on the volunteer of the year to be recognized at the VADA Banquet on Jan. 11, 2006. Bob Whitehurst was chosen for this honor. Need new VADA reps for 2006. Susan Dallas will continue. Sarah Denham will be added as the second with Laura Nelson and Jeanette Shires agreeing to be the 3rd person and alternate if either of the main 2 people cannot attend a meeting. Motion was made to allow Susan to create the basket to give to VADA to auction at their banquet. Susan did last year’s and it was a big hit!!!! Thank you Susan. Videos: Gabi Hooten No report Recognized Show: Jeanette Shires Jeanette Shires agreed to manage if we find a secretary Decided to wait until January meeting to decide on which classes and divisions to offer to see if we are even having the show. Old Business/ Miscellaneous/ New Business Website - names and contact info for the board needs to be updated. Email address line needs to be added to on-line show form. Susan will contact Frances Omnibus: Rebecca would be happy to compose, Beckie will be the official proofreader. Rebecca will make it HTML ready for it will be available on-line this year. A motion was made by Sue cooper that the omnibus be mailed to all 2006 members of SWVADA. Seconded by Pat Nelson. 7 in favor, 3 opposed. Omnibus will be mailed to each SWVADA 2006 member. Barcelli Award Nominations Three people were nominated to be the candidates for the Barcelli Award for 2005. Those members are Pat Nelson, Linda Oberlander and Jeanette Shires. Bios will be created and posted on the website for each candidate. Meeting was adjourned at 9:05 pm. Respectfully submitted by Jeanette Shires

Committee Chairpersons Awards/Ribbons - Becky Cairns Education/Clinics - Laura Nelson / Annette Massey Shaw / Susan MacIsaac                                 Gary Goodale Educational Sunday - Jeanette Shires / Ellen Aiken Equipment - Bob Whitehurst Green Hill Park - Bob Whitehurst Horse Shows - Gary Maupin-Goodale / Pat Nelson / Annette Massey Shaw Hospitality - Blanche Mahoney Long Range Planning - Annette Massey-Shaw Membership - Pat Nelson Newsletter/Website - Frances Yeardley Omnibus -  Rebecca Span Points/Awards -Ellen Aiken Public Relations - Pat Bevan Video Library - Gabi Hooten Young Riders - Pat Bevan

  VADA

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NEWS & NOTES

 

SWVADA would like to acknowledge at our annual banquet individuals who have had outstanding accomplishments this year outside of SWVADA's award structure. Unfortunately we are not always aware of these accomplishments. If you or someone you know has achieved something special in dressage for the 2005 year please contact Sue Cooper suebcoop@aol.com so they can be applauded at the banquet.

SWVADA's 2006 Educational Sunday program is shaping up and will take place on Feb. 19 at VA Tech.  Veterinary Updates by VA Tech veterinary faculty, Equine  Dentistry, and a demonstration of Natural Horsemanship training methods are among the topics scheduled.  Others are being finalized.  For more information, updates, and directions, check the Educational Sunday link on our web page.

Congratulations to Pavan and Rebecca Splan, on her recent award of Legion of Honor from the Arabian Horse Association. Pavan has also been named the USEF Half-Arabian Horse of the Year for the Sport Horse Division in Region 15.

This year, any 2005 SWVADA member who cannot attend the Annual Banquet on Feb. 11 may vote for the Barcelli Award using an absentee ballot.  Please read about the nominees and the instructions on the absentee ballot below:

The Barcelli Award The Barcelli Award is voted on by the membership. Criteria include outstanding dedication, cooperation, and enthusiasm for the sport of dressage and SWVADA. Will and Jean Barcelli were instrumental in developing dressage in Southwest Virginia and they created this award to honor outstanding members of SWVADA. From the names submitted, the Board of Directors has selected three members to be voted upon. It is indeed an honor to be nominated. Below are the nominees and a short explanation of how they have met the criteria. (See bottom for directions on voting.) Those nominated are: Pat Nelson: When first joining SWVADA, Pat came to meetings for 2 years to meet members and learn about our organization. She then became the Video Library Coordinator for 2 years. She organized and developed an efficient checkout/return system and obtained new videos. She then served on the Board and was Vice President for the past 2 years; her primary duty as VP was to hire judges for shows and clinics. This is her 9th year on the Board. She has been secretary for several shows and Ride a Tests and was Show Secretary for the 2004 Recognized Show. Her cheerful willingness to help and her enthusiasm have made her a popular volunteer. In addition, she has also been the VA Arabian Horse Association District 7 Treasurer for several years, having served on the Board this past year, and as District 7 Director. She has also run 2 day dressage shows for VAHA in Culpepper for 3 years. Her devotion to dressage has led her to serve as a scorer for the GAIG/BLM shows for the last 5 years. Pat and her husband have a farm in Long Island, VA (she travels MANY miles to attend SWVADA meetings and functions), and she is looking forward to working full time with horses and SWVADA when she retires. A measure of her devotion to dressage and her ongoing interest in learning were demonstrated this past show season when she decided to forego competing and focus on training her horse and improving her own skills. She has attended SWVADA’s Adult Camp for 2 years. She considers it a privilege and an honor to work with horses and expresses a sincere love for them. Linda Oberlender: Linda’s dedication to dressage is demonstrated in all aspects of her riding. She has brought along a number of horses who lack fancy pedigrees or big price tags, and she trains them at her own place. She has to hack down the road quite a way in order to have a ring in which to work. Even so, she has been a successful competitor. Her horses are versatile animals as comfortable on an overnight camping trip or a TREC competition as they are in the dressage arena. She is motivated by a desire to challenge herself rather than a need to win ribbons or awards; she often returns her ribbons at our schooling shows so they can be reused. Linda has demonstrated exceptional cooperation in her work with SWVADA, as well as with other local horse organizations. She is always happy to show up at the last minute to help set up arenas or assist at shows and other functions. She has offered her artistic talents on more than one occasion for many of our brochures, T-shirt designs, etc. Her service to other organizations, including BREA, Green Hill Park, and the Roanoke Valley Greenways shows a desire to reach out to other groups and disciplines which extend beyond the limits of our organization alone. If anyone saw Linda and daughter Shaina’s Indian Paint Freestyle demo at the SWVADA Recognized Show, it is clear that she is someone who pursues this sport because she loves it and finds it FUN! She enjoys equally a fast gallop through an open field, a quiet trail ride in the woods, or a solid performance in the dressage arena. Jeanette Shires: A member since the early 90’s, Jeanette has served on the Board on and off for the last 8 years and is now Secretary for the third time. She is willing to do whatever needs to be done, whenever it needs to be done, with whoever is willing to help do it. She has served as Manager of the Recognized Show for 3 years and has managed or secretaried numerous schooling shows. Though she started in dressage to ride and show, she found that training and riding and forming a partnership with the horse are time consuming, demanding, and ultimately more fulfilling than any test score achieved. She believes that “dressage is a way of life for both horses and humans,” and she has tried to live up to the idea that the endpoint is never as important as the journey there. In an effort to provide a resource for amateurs to find affordable, goodminded, safe horses to compete and enjoy, she began developing a breeding program. Her foals are now having success not only in dressage, but as hunters and eventers. Jeanette is a strong supporter of education, having served as a coordinator of SWVADA’s popular Educational Sunday for 5 years. In her ongoing quest to help create partnerships with horses, she organizes Centered Riding Clinics which reach out to all disciplines. She believes in supporting dressage not only as a volunteer, but also by promoting the spirit of the sport. Helping others with training issues, finding the right horse, going on a trail ride, supporting shows and clinics, indeed supporting all endeavors aimed at improving the mental and physical well being of the horse and human are areas to which she feels committed. HOW TO VOTE: Voting will take place at the Annual Banquet. HOWEVER, this year any 2005 SWVADA member who cannot attend the Annual Banquet on February 11, may vote for the Barcelli Award by using an absentee ballot. These will be sent upon request, then returned via U.S. mail (no emails or faxes), sealed and anonymous, to be opened at the banquet and counted with the other votes. To request an absentee ballot, please do so BEFORE FEBRUARY 1st by contacting: Ellen Aiken, 540-345-4761 or Huntaik@cox.net

 
Newsletter submissions to:  Frances Yeardley / email Frances/ 220 Tempi Dr. / Lexington, VA 24450 / 540-463-1964

N/J/M/M/J/S
SWVADA is a participant in S.H.O.W 'feed bags to money