Loudoun Horse Association Newsletter June/July 2008 Vol. 4 Board Members Mary Terpak, President Dru Roia, Vice President Linda Guild, Secretary Mary Jo Weier, Treasurer Holly Flannery Philipa Brunt Sunny Cummings Corey Childs Committee Chairs Education – Sunny Cummings Audit – Barbara Bramhall Fundraising/Auction - Dru Roia Infrastructure/Trail Development – Mary Terpak Membership – Mary Burger Newsletter – Marilyn Jarvis Nominations and Bylaws Review – John Flannery Publicity – Holly Flannery The Loudoun Horse Association was established in 2005 to serve as a resource for local horse owners, professionals and equine industry providers. The focus of the Association is to improve communication and cooperation among the many equestrian disciplines in Loudoun County, provide information about equestrian activities, offer educational programs and networking opportunities, and assist in the development of public infrastructure to meet the needs of the Loudoun equestrian community. PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE…… Dear Friends, The Loudoun Horse Association begins its fourth year on July 1. We have a great membership and an energetic and dedicated Board of Directors. At our Annual Meeting on June 10th we re-elected three Board members and officers, appointed the chairmen of our committees, established dues for the coming year, and adopted revisions to the Bylaws. The membership form shows dues for the four categories of membership of LHA. The full list of Board members, officers, and committee chairs is provided with this newsletter, as is a copy of the revised Bylaws as adopted. We established a calendar of meetings and events for the year and I hope you will make a note of all the dates and plan to attend as many as possible. More detail about some of the events will be added to the calendar as plans are finalized. All of this information will also be available on the LHA website www.loudounhorseassociation.org The Board has been looking for a permanent meeting place located centrally in western Loudoun to make it easier for more members to attend, and I'm happy to announce that we think we have found a home at the Hamilton Safety Center, 29071 E. Colonial Highway in Hamilton. Board meetings are held on the second Tuesday of the month; all members are welcome and I encourage you to attend. There will be exceptions to this location as noted below, but there will be ample notice of any change. The Board is planning four Educational Meetings this year. Some of these meetings will be classroom style; some will require an arena or wide aisle for demonstrations. We want to hold the arena/barn meetings at our members' facilities, so I'll be contacting you to ask if you would be willing to host a demonstration involving horses if you have appropriate space. This is a great way for you to showcase your facilities and to spread LHA's activities around the county. Your Board of Directors will continue to work hard this year to further the development of public equestrian facilities and trails in Loudoun County, improve communication and cooperation among all disciplines in the Loudoun equine community, provide activities and educational programs for horse enthusiasts, and create networking opportunities for professional and non-professional horse people. I hope you will be an active part of this effort. Sincerely, Mary Terpak CLUB NEWS…. Next Board Meeting - Our next meeting is July 8th at 7:00 p.m. at the Hamilton Safety Center located at 29071 E. Colonial Highway in Hamilton. Board members and committee members are encouraged to attend. Members are also welcome. Parelli Demonstration - The next Educational meeting will be held Friday August 15th at Lucia Farm. Members and guests will enjoy a Parelli Natural Horsemanship Presentation by Kelly Sigler, 2 star Parelli Professional from Aiken, South Carolina. LHA members and guests ($10.00 for non-members) are welcome! Sign-in and light refreshments at 7:00 p.m., Demonstration to begin at 7:20 p.m. COMMUNITY NEWS….. Volunteer with Special Olympics - Special Olympics Equestrians meet at a farm in Purcellville (south on 690) to work on their riding skills. Can you give a few hours for a few weeks to give some kids a chance to ride? The number of children that get this opportunity is directly related to the number of volunteers Special Olympics has. You may be that person that allows just one more child to ride. Sunday’s noon-4; if you can not stay the entire time one or 2 hours is appreciated too. We generally bring in the horses from the field, help the riders brush, tack and lead the horse to the ring. At the ring we assist them in mounting and there is one person who leads the horse and at least another who coaches and walks alongside. Some of the riders can use 2 side walkers, especially if we trot. We help them to hold the reins correctly, assume good posture, heels down, back straight, etc. Some of the more advanced riders will walk through cones and caveletti. After about 30 min, we have them ride the horse back to the barn and brush and put away. One difficult part of the program is finding volunteers. High school/ early college age people are welcome. It would be great to find a couple of adults who would be willing to give a couple of hours on Sunday afternoons, for 8 weeks. If they were to be people who are comfortable around horses, it would be even better, but not required. Our first set of lessons will be Sunday 8/24, we will skip Labor Day weekend and Columbus Day weekend. There are some forms to fill out and maybe a background check so if you could commit now we could get all of that started. To volunteer a few hours of your time contact Richard rlewis@accessbio.com or Aggie’s aggie@advanceconcepts.com) An Opportunity for you – Blue Ridge Trailer had a bad hail storm last week - every aluminum trailer on the lot has cosmetic damage. This may be a great time to buy a trailer as they are planning to "scratch and dent" a lot of this inventory- rather than spend the money to ship the trailers back to the manufacturer. For more information please contact Donna Martin, Owner/Manager, 434.985.4151 http://www.blueridgetrailer.com Poker Trail Ride for Horses and Riders of all disciplines - When: July 12, 2008– 9 AM registration begins, ride out 9:30-11:30, trail closes at 1:30 Where: Franklin Park 17501 Franklin Park Drive, Purcellville, VA Cost: $20 per individual, $30 per family Come and support local riders Laura Roberts (DRPC) and Kaitlin Spurlock (LHPC) competing at the National Junior Young Rider Championships in Colorado. Come ride your horse through well marked trails while playing a fun game of 7-card draw poker. Each rider will receive 1 card at registration and will draw 6 additional cards from dealers along the trail. Riders may “go as they please” Don’t forget current Coggins and approved helmet. To pre-register or for more information e- mail spurlockeq@aol.com or call 540-882- 4170. Prizes for highest placed hands and many other fun categories! Refreshments provided An Evening at the MARE Center - VT College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Alumni Organization invites all alumni and friends of the MARE Center to attend Dinner and a Program at the facility in Middleburg on July 24th. The evening starts at 6:00 p.m. with Wine and Networking time. Wine has been donated by Hillsborough Vineyards. Dinner starts at 6:30 p.m. Mill Valley Barbeque will be cooking rib eye steak, grilled chicken and home cooked vegetables, salads and desserts. At 7:15 there will be a short program discussing the current research being conducted at the facility and information on other Agricultural Research Centers around the state. The evening will conclude with Tours of the facility at 7:45 p.m. The cost for the event is $20. For more information contact Marilyn Jarvis at 703-209-1362 or mjarvis@agfirst.com. Loudoun Hunt West Trail Rides – Bring a friend and meet new ones while riding through some of the most picturesque and historic countryside in Northern Virginia. Curious about foxhunting? We’re a friendly hunt. Come ride with us! * July 12 – Yellow Wood * July 26 – Windswept * August 9 – Morvern Park (to be confirmed) * August 23 Hillbrook (starts at 5 p.m. followed by BBQ to kick off the season RSVP 202-364-8670) Hit the trail at 9 a.m. sharp. In by 11 a.m. for a light tailgate. Jump, non-jump, walk-trot, canter options. Confirm the time and place for each ride on the Hunt Monitor (540-338- 6562). Directions on Hunt website at www.loudounhuntwest.org. Call Sue or Martin at 540-338-2095 with questions. Riders must provide a negative coggins. $25 rider fee. Riders must wear a helmet. Each rider must sign waiver before parking. CLASSIFIEDS Send us your classifieds and they will be printed in the next issue – August. Ads are for our members pertaining to horses for sale, barn help wanted, barn help needed, board available, board needed, equipment for sale, etc….Cost of ad $25 (membership fee) for non-members. In order to get your event, ad or article in the Newsletter please submits it to me at mjarvis@agfirst.com no later than July 19th for publication on August 1. Kick On! Maj June/July 2008 Vol. 4 Page 2