202104-dressage-letters

April 2021 ~ Dressage Letters ~ Page 4 will last a lifetime. Our first show of the year was scheduled for March and as you can all guess was cancelled because of COVID 19. In fact this was the start of the cancelation for all of our shows for the year. We are hoping to get back in the show ring at our beautiful venue Shadow Ridge in May or 2021. Another highlight of 2020 for one of our lucky AA members, Lena Persson, was being able to ride in theAAclinic with Kathleen Raine at the Hinnemann’s amazing farm in Murrieta. Lena had great rides both days and Kathleen was fabulous to work with. So although 2020 may not have been ideal, our chapter still had a lot of positive experiences and are looking forward to 2021. Los Angeles Chapter Report 2020 Glenda McElroy ~ Chapter Chair Like many of the CDS Chapters, 2020 was a most challenging year for LA Chapter. Especially here in Los Angeles county. With the high number of Covid-19 cases in the population both the City of Los Angeles and LA County have had strict protocols on any type of gathering that could be held. With that in mind the Chapter had to be very limited in what we could host. After March 12 no horses shows could be held at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center which is the home base for LA chapter horse shows. We did look into other facilities to hold our LA Chapter shows. There were not many shows being held anywhere in our area. With that in mind we turned to programs we could be involved with. The Chapter was happy to support the riders for both the CDSAdult Amateur Clinic with Kathleen Raine and the CDS Southern Junior Clinic sponsoring their lessons and a small stipend for expenses. LA chapter has always been a strong supporter of the Amateur and Junior Clinics and will continue to encourage all the LA Chapter members to consider applying to be the Chapter representative. 2020 CDS Championship Show was originally scheduled for Los Angeles but because of the virus the show was moved to ShowPark in Del Mar. A number of LA Chapter members went to Del Mar and volunteered to work at the Championship Show. The Chapter was very proud of their efforts. LA Chapter was also named the High Scoring Chapter in the Chapter Challenge at the CDS Championship Show. A new award that was started last year at the Championship Show in Northern California. This program was started to recognize the Chapter with the highest scoring riders. Congratulations to all the LA Chapter riders who competed at the Championship Show. The Chapter would like to congratulate LA Chapter Board Member, Kristine Harrison-Antell and her 10 year old KWPN gelding Finley on being a recipient of the Dressage Foundation (TDF) $25,000 Carol Lavell Advanced Dressage Prize. Kristina currently competes Finley at Intermediaire 1. Kristina plans to travel with Finley to Wellington, Florida for the 2021 season. While there, she will train with Debbie McDonald and Button Baker as well as compete in CDI competitions. The Chapter is looking forward to a New day in 2021 where we can return to the activities and programs that our member have come to expect. Las Vegas Chapter Report 2020  Kristine Buist Chapter Chair The year 2020 started out like any other year. The LVCCDS had our 2019 awards banquet at Reasons Banquet Hall on January 19, 2020. Our members had a very successful show year and we were able to give out great ribbons and prizes recognizing their achievements. We also recognized our top volunteer through our volunteer award and awarded the Donna Enerson Good Sportsmanship Award. Our annual silent auction was a huge success, as always. We were gearing up for a great year of recognized and schooling shows in 2020. Our local barns hosted a schooling show in January and a recognized show in February and March, which were all well attended. Then Covid-19 truly hit Las Vegas, bringing with it massive shutdowns, to include every casino and gaming establishment, and all non essential business. Shows in April and May were canceled.  We were placed in unprecedented circumstances as a club. We were able to focus on member involvement through hosting an online schooling show during the shutdown. As restrictions eased leading into summer, we were able to offer an in-person schooling show- with pandemic precautions taken. Several clinics were also offered during Covid restrictions, to include Silke Rembacz, Jane Weatherwax and Sue Curry. Our members who attended these events paid close attention to safety precautions, wearing masks and distancing.  Several of our LVCCDS members attended the CDS/Region 7 championship show in Del Mar in September, bringing home numerous ribbons representing Las Vegas.  Restrictions eased enough for shows to resume in the fall, with an October and November recognized show and a December Schooling show.At theNovember show, anLVCCDSchampionship show was offered to our members, since so many members plans were derailed by the difficult year 2020 proved to be. We had great enthusiasm and participation from our membership for this show, and are considering offering this again in 2021. Our club has decided to forego an awards banquet for the 2020 show year, due to gathering restrictions, although we will still be recognizing our members’ accomplishments through year end awards and our social media account. We have a full schedule of shows planned for the 2021 show year, and we are looking forward to a great show year!  Pomona Chapter Report 2020 Janet Shanks ~ Chapter Chair Well, 2020 will go down in history! As we close the books and look back on the year, we have to think about how COVID-19 and wild fires affected our lives. We as a Chapter made it through the year but how many of our friends and family did not. This year has shown us our resolve to rebuild and rebound. I think we are all looking forward to 2021. This year our show season was cut short. We were able to have one single rated show in 2020 and it was a success. The show was made up of approximately 50% Traditional Dressage riders and 50% Western Dressage riders. We have found that by including our Western Dressage riders we have more rides which makes the show more profitable. At the show we provided high point ribbons and special awards for each division (Junior/Young Rider, Adult Amateur, Open and Western). We continue to encourage volunteers by holding a drawing of participants who help set up and take down the dressage courts. We have found that this task has the least interest from volunteers. The drawing winner is given voucher good toward a class at another show. All of the other shows were cancelled due to COVID restrictions. Education remains one of our Chapters top priorities. Our Chapter provides our members with the opportunity to apply