Savvy Equestrian - Equestrian News

Greetings All,

The summer has flown by so fast and I realize that it has been 2 months since our last newsletter. So we have a little catching up to do. As I look back I am amazed at the amount of activities we can crunch into a summer. Between clinics, camps, ratings and rallies our kids keep us pretty busy. At the end of the day, as I finally put my feet up, I look back at the wonderful kids that this organization has the pleasure to help mold and I am willing to get up the next day and do it all again. I know you all feel the same way because the same crazy routine goes on all over our region, in your clubs. We meet only twice a year and plan the whole year out and somehow manage to pull it off. That would not be possible if it were not for all the people that volunteer during the year. Without you we could never pull it off.

Since our last newsletter, we have had upper level camp. We had great instruction there thanks to our RIC Jackie Smith. Eric and Sarah Derik were excellent and Susan Harris gave the kids some very helpful advice to take to their ratings. Our assistant RIC Kerrie Matesich also come to do some teaching and did a good job at making the kids more aware of the positions. The food was fantastic thanks to all the parents that donated items from drinks to deserts. Special Thanks to Sarah and Chris at South Farm, the facility was really nice, as usual.

Next we had our C’3 and B ratings. The rating was held at Stonegate Farm in mid July. We had a nice group of C’3 candidates this year and we had 4 pass. Ellen Palloto, Emily Yslas, Ashley Rand and Whitney Lewicki who is with Brush Run in the summer. Good Job! We had 2 go for there B and unfortunately neither passed but they receive great feedback and I hope they will try again. They were so close.

Championships were in Lexington Virginia this year. We had a small group, but boy they were ready to go. We sent 7 kids to Tetrathlon and they won a lot of hardware. In Novice Girls, Jessica Morrow was first, Mackenzie Golden was second and Meredith Pinkerton was third. The team with Sarah Laux, Emily Robinson and Mikayla Morrow got first in HM. In Eventing out team of Anna Beckman, Alice Beckman, Kristen Wilkins, Hollen Zimmerman and Mary Wray received 4th in HM and 6th over all. Tri-State also sent 3 stable managers for the dressage competition. All three were from the Bath Pony Club and they all three step forward at the last minute so that teams did not have SM’s could compete. They were Sydney Pinkerton, Ariel Wyatt and Andy Wyatt. Ariel’s team received 2nd in HM, Sydney’s 4th and Andy’s team was 9th. This is a perfect example of Pony Clubbers helping each other. Great Job! We also had teams in Quiz our Sr D team did very well ending up in 6th. Our Jr. D’s got 22. For all results check out the USPC Site. Champs are great experience and I hope that next year more of you will choose to go.

In the beginning of Aug. we had out D event rally. It was hosted by Western Reserve Pony Club at Buckeye Horse Park. We had a good turn out and the kids all had a good time. I think that it was nice to have just the D’s to work with and be able to spend more time teaching then we do at a regular rally format. Thanks to all that help put that competition together.

A week later we had Qualifying Event Rally. This was put together by the people at Little Creek and was held in conjunction with the Erie Hunt and Saddle Club Horse Trials. We had a good turn out and the kids all did well. The facility was very nice and the XC was fun for the kids. I want to thank Cheryl and Suzette for all they did. I also want to the Thank Liz and the people at Lost Hounds for their help and letting us invade their Horse Trial. We have a very promising group of kids that want to go to Champs, so we will keep an eye on them for next year.

On the 13th of Sept. we are holding our first regional C’2 rating at Bath. We have 6 members that are taking the test. Our examiner is Linda Konst from Lexington, Kentucky. We wish all the kids the best of luck and hope they have a little fun as well.

Reminder we have a Regional Council Meeting Oct. 24th and 25th in Canfield, Ohio. Annual Meeting will be Jan. 22 to the 27th in Greenville SC. I hope that we can get more of our DC’s there this year. It is a great experience and you can really learn a lot. The kids have a lot of fun too, so bring the whole family!

We have come full circle now and starting to plan for next year. So for now rest and before long we will be up and running again.

Connie