Dressage Letters April 2020

April 2020 ~ Dressage Letters ~ Page 4 Reports from the Chapters in the CDS Southern 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 South Region did for 2019.. CDS Annual Meeting Freestyle Symposium sponsored by Jennifer Nuckton Los Angeles Chapter 2019 Report Glenda McElroy ~ Chapter Chair 2019 was another successful year for LAChapter. The Chapter’s primary geographical area served by our Chapter is the county of Los Angeles. We were steady in our membership from 2018. We have a number of LA Chapter members who live out of our geographic area and even outside of California. We also have a large number of exhibitors who support our shows, coming from Ventura County, Orange County and Pomona. The LA Chapter has four regular meeting and a year-end dinner meeting in December. All LA Chapter members are welcome to any of our general membership meeting except the December meeting which is only for our board members. We held our LA Chapter Double Point show July 6-7, 2019 at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank, CA. Our show is meeting lots of challenges because of our date. With the date so close to July 4 it is always a challenge to get a good turnout. The board is moving the show to late June. Our Chapter, like everyone, struggles to get volunteers but our Chapter members always seem to comes through in the end. The LA Chapter hosts a very successful year-end awards program. As a LA Chapter member you may earn points toward our year-end awards at any CDS recognized show in the LA area and earn “Double Points” at LA Chapter recognized shows. The awards program is the most successful program the Chapter oversees. We did announce this year’s winners in December and will have a brunch at the end of January to present the awards The Chapter is happy to support the CDS Adult Amateur Clinic with Lilo Fore and sent two riders to the 2019 clinic. The clinic was held at Shadow Ridge in Highland, CA. Lilo Fore was a most popular clinician and all the riders were excited about the opportunity to ride with her. Several of the riders asked to have her back as soon as possible. LA Chapter is a big supporter for the AA clinic and would encourage all the LA Chapter amateurs to consider apply to ride in the clinics. The CDS/USDF Region 7 Annual Show will be in Burbank this coming year and the Chapter will support the show with volunteers and sponsorship. We will participate in the Adult Amateur Clinics & the CDS Junior Clinic, sponsoring the riders, with a stall and a small stipend for expenses. The Chapter Awards are being expanded this year to include a Junior Award and a Special Service/Volunteer Award to honor members for outstanding or long-term service to the Chapter. Las Vegas Chapter 2019 Report Kristine Buist ~ Chapter Chair What can I say about 2019 for Las Vegas Dressage- other than it was great! Our Chapter has grown so much over the last few years, and we are offering more shows, activities and educational opportunities than ever before. Some of the highlights from 2019 were: Shows – There were seven USDF/USEF recognized shows offered at two different local facilities in 2019. This allowed our members to get all the scores they needed for local and regional qualifying, all breeds awards, and medals. Since Las Vegas is an island, so to speak, it makes it very convenient for our members to have all their qualifying shows locally. We are working with our show secretaries to continue to provide this quality and number of shows for our members in the coming years. In addition to the recognized shows, there were 3 schooling shows offered. All of our shows were well attended and provided a fun and relaxed atmosphere for horses and riders. Added to our October show was a club sponsored Pro/Am competition, where the rider’s pair up with their trainers for a combined score for prizes. Education- With the growth of our club, educational opportunities have increased as well in our local area. Some of the clinicians offered by our local barns included Craig Stanley, Stephen Hayes, Silke Rembacz, Sue Curry, Conrad Schumacher and Kristi Wysocki, among others. LVCCDS sponsored a freestyle clinic in June with Nina Thompson Dressage Freestyle Design. The clinic attendees have been riding their freestyles in all the fall shows! In addition to our traditional dressage clinicians, a western dressage clinic and a Train the Trainer workshop were offered for our members who are interested in expanding their knowledge in that area. Western dressage classes have been offered at our local schooling shows and have been well received. Desert Pines Equine, our local veterinarian, offers Chapter members as well as the general public equine nutrition, equine ophthalmology, bio-security information and other equine educational sessions. Also offered was a Schleese saddle fitting clinic, a fitting with N2 Saddlery, and regular fittings with Custom Saddlery. Awards Banquet- Our 2019 awards banquet took place January 19th, 2020. Numerous champion and reserve champion awards were given out. Awards were presented to riders in the schooling and recognized divisions. We also awarded several perpetual trophies: the Janine Karas memorial for the highest scoring rider in FEI classes, The Donna Enerson good sportsmanship award, and our volunteer award. We also held a silent auction to benefit the club, where many wonderful items were donated. The board is looking forward to the coming year, and we are excited for the showing and educational opportunities. SARA MOSQUEDA, CDS SOUTHERN DIRECTOR