Dressage Letters June 2020

June 2020 ~ Dressage Letters ~ Page 4 CDS Annual Meeting Freestyle Symposium sponsored by Jennifer Nuckton Reports from the Chapters in the CDS Northern Region Each year all the chapters are asked to report on their previous year’s activities in hopes that sharing their successes and innovative ideas will help other chapters offer rewarding activities and informative events. Here is what the Chapters in the North Region did for 2019.. FOOTHILLS JUNIORS WITH KASEY PERRY GLASS AT THE EQUINESTA CELEBRATION Foothills Chapter 2019 Report Mari Naten ~ Chapter Chair 2019 was a wonderful year for the Foothills Chapter as we probably had one of our busiest, and most successful, years to date! We always kick off the year with a planning meeting, we bring together the board and our Committee Chairs for a retreat up in Tahoe. Between skiing (and the occasional bottle of wine) we spent many hours coming up with ideas for the Chapter that we felt would continue to grow membership and involvement in the Chapter as well as educate and provide fun for our members. As a Chapter, we always focus on education and new opportunities for riders and members to learn both in and out of the saddle. We worked in conjunction with Valley Oaks Chapter to produce a New Test Symposium, The View From C, with Sue Curry, that was incredibly well received. The event was organized by Michelle Ng and Michelle Dodge, and held at Starr Vaughn. The clinic was attended by over a hundred auditors who braved the cold and rain, to watch some of our best open level riders, riding all the new tests at each level. Our Chapter’s ridden clinics were held at Pacific Equestrian Center and included opportunities to ride with and audit Rachel Saavedra and Lilo Fore clinics. In August, we held an In-Hand Clinic with the knowledgeable Kevin Reinig, that saw people of all ages learn the skills necessary to show horses in hand. In the Fall, junior riders were treated to a very informative and welcoming clinic with Alejandro Salazar. Our Foothills Fall Classic Show took place in October at PEC, and despite being smaller than prior years, we still enjoyed seeing many members and friends come out and show, and were able to continue to make this a profitable show for our chapter. Our member events included the Annual April Awards Banquet, Summer BBQ and Pool Party both of which featured raffles to raise money for the Chapter. Our Foothills Holiday Party was so well attended we outgrew our venue, more than 60 came together to celebrate accomplishments from the year, enjoy delicious food and drinks and acknowledge the High Point Award recipients for Open, AA, Junior, and our newest award, Vintage High Point. Without a doubt, the biggest highlight of 2019 was the Equinesta Celebration, a special event held at the home of Diane & Bob Perry. This event was developed by Debbie Doss and her daughter Jouelle Kimura and included a meet and greet with Kasey Perry- Glass, the opportunity to watch her ride her Olympic horse Dublet, and an incredible silent auction! Food and wine was generously donated by the Perry’s and guests had the opportunity to tour through the beautiful grounds, stables and drool at the absolutely breathtaking arena! All in all, the event raised over $12,000 for the Foothills Junior Scholarship program. That leads to the final highlight of 2019 which was the ability to award several thousand dollars to some very deserving junior riders! Our scholarship committee worked tirelessly to develop a diverse group of scholarships that recognizes the hard work and dedication of the juniors, as well as accomplishments they have received during the year. From Volunteer of the Year, Academic awards, Medal Awards and Horse & Human Bond and Community Outreach, we were able to help support a number of juniors. We also increased the number of scholarships for our AA and Open riders and are looking forward to continuing to raise more funds to support our members more in the coming years. Foothills Chapter continues to be a collaboration of hardworking volunteers, who put countless hours into creating a Chapter we are all proud of. This was honored in 2019 with our Chapter Chair, Mari Naten, being awarded the CDS Chapter Chair of the Year! We are excited to see where 2020 ends, even with the challenges placed on us all with COVID-19, we continue to develop new ideas for education and outreach to support our members and encourage new members to join us. Lake County Chapter 2019 Report Liz Rohnstock ~ Chapter Chair The Lake County Chapter had a busy year! We had several lesson clinics with the outstanding clinicians Audrey Brennan, John Saint Ryan and Sandy Smyth. We were thrilled to have Jillian Kreinbring back in 2019 for her 3-day Relaxation Clinic, building on our successful 2018 Rhythm Clinic with Jillian. We expanded on what we learned in the 2018 clinic, and continued our education in the classroom as well as on horseback. The Lake County Chapter is carrying on with our commitment to continuing education. Our Chapter hosted a schooling show in May 2019 with very good attendance. Dressage tests, WDAA tests, and ADA driven dressage tests were available for participants. The judge was Patti Schofler and everyone benefited from her comments. It was a wonderful day, and many young riders participated. In June we had our first “Friends and Family” event together with the Hooves and Wheels Driving Club. We had an afternoon of performances, both ridden and driven, to music. We ended with a parade of breeds. It was well attended by friends and family and everyone enjoyed the day. Since we love to show off our horses and ride to music, this will be an annual event for the Lake County Chapter of CDS. In September we had the “Great Promenade,” a ride and drive