News

June was a great month for many Clairvaux riders. Upperville was great! Casey Schmitz and Texas Hold Em were Reserve Champion in the Local Large Pony Hunter. All horses and riders placed in their respective classes and/ or divisions. Aimee Baldillo’s Perfect Alibi placed second in the Back From The Track Hack and Shannon DeWit’s Basking By The Bay placed seventh in the Thoroughbred Hunter Development Class, both ridden by Terri Young. Elizabeth Parent on Rock Star and Morgan Busey on Quest placed well in the Local Small Pony Hunter and the Older Children’s Hunter, respectively.

What a great weekend! We had really nice weather and the horses and riders were super. Glendon, Annie and Alaina won good ribbons in the 3′ hunters and equitation. Casey won two equitation classes. Elizabeth and Shadow won ribbons in the Children’s Pony Hunter and other classes.

This past weekend was a resounding success at two different VHSA shows. At Foxchase Farm, Alaina Rhee won the VHSA Children’s Medal on Mandalay Bay. Annie Thompson rode Cheers to some excellent ribbons in the Benefit and Working Hunters. Catherine Messerly and Carolyn Campbell rode Heart and Doc respectively to success in the Student, Low, Unrestricted and Children’s/Adult Hunters. At Red Gate Farm, Aimee Baldillo and Perfect Alibi had a clean sweep of the Children’s/Adult Hunters. Sydney Hess and Close Kin swept the Pony Pleasure division (they were also Reserve Champion in the Young Entry Equitation). Emma Hess and Blackberry Storm were Champion in the Young Entry Equitation. Emma Cummings was Champion in the Short-Stirrup Equitation Division with Heart. Karl Nobert and Cartel were Reserve Champion in the Green Hunter division. Casey Schmitz won the VHSA Pony Equitation and won good ribbons in the Pony Hunter. Ali Anderson and Top Gun and Sarah Rexroad and Anything Goes placed well in the Children’s/Adult Hunters. Kate Murphy showed Doc to second place in the VHSA Children’s/Adult Equitation (with some good ribbons in the hunter classes, too). Cameron Schmitz won a Young Entry Equitation class with her new pony, Catch My Kisses. What a great weekend! Congratulations to all our riders!

Congratulations to Cameron Schmitz on the purchase of her new pony, Catch My Kisses (aka Foxy). Good luck at the shows!

Congratulations to our riders who participated in the HITS Culpeper horse show. Morgan Busey was champion in the Modified Jr/Am Hunter. Casey Schmitz was reserve champion in the Pony Equitation, and Madison Busey was reserve champion in the Large Children’s Pony Hunter. In addition, Alaina Rhee won two Equitation classes and Elizabeth Parent won some great ribbons in the Small/Medium Children’s Pony Hunter. A great time was had by all.

We survived the Snowpocalypse. It’s been quite a week, first a new baby (welcome, Veronica), and then a huge amount of snow into the weekend. I think we got 32″, with more expected tonight and tomorrow. Here are some pictures that one of our clients took. Hope you all fared well. We’ll be out to the barn soon to visit and show off our new arrival!

In this meeting (Thursday morning), Ron Danta and Geoff Teal asked for suggestions regarding a trainers guide that will be created. It’s a resource for new and young trainers that will include information on longeing, schooling ring etiquette, marketing, finding liablity insurance, etc. There was a suggestion to include a listing of horse related legal assistance (which could also include immigration advice for stable/groom help), as well as tax accountants who know agricultural tax laws. It was a positive meeting that included a lot of interaction with the audience.

At yesterday’s Equitation Task Force meeting, there was a collective sigh of relief. On Monday, a rule change proposal was brought forward that would entirely change the USEF Medal Final qualifications. A regional finals format was proposed (like the Maclay format), with the goal being to limit the number of entries at the Medal Final, as well as decrease the number of underqualified riders who can’t get around a national finals-type course. Fortunately, after much open debate, ranting and under-one’s-breath muttering, the Task Force came back with a proposal that was acceptable to the masses.

The biggest protest came from those who believe that the USEF Medal Final shouldn be open to all. If riders who qualify come underprepared, then that’s their problem, but everyone should be allowed to compete. Trying to cull the numbers beforehand makes it too similar to the Maclay, which many riders don’t try to qualify for, due to the regional format.

There were others who felt that the new qualifying point cutoffs catered to a small percentage of riders who can campaign on the winter circuits and throughout the year.

Instead, the proposal being voted upon will change the saturday warm-up to an elimination round, during which riders will jump a simplified course (easier than sunday’s course, but tougher than the original warm-up courses) and everyone who does not have a major fault (a refusal, a trot on course, a stirrup loss, etc.)will move on to Sunday’s rounds. Riders who move on will start with a clean slate. This change will make sunday’s class run faster, will eliminate those who had little chance of getting around on Sunday and will still enable them to have the chance to compete at Harrisburg. I think this is a great way to streamline the class and will still enable to cream to rise to the top at one of our country’s most famed championships.

Yesterday I sat in on my new committee’s meeting, the Youth Council. I had been on the marketing and communications committee, but since the USHJA’s inception, the marketing staff at the USHJA’s headquarters has grown to six. So the powers-that-be decided it would be best to reassign those of us on the M&C Committee to various other committees that could make use of our marketing skills.

The feedback from the meeting was that it was an active, lively discussion. Having never attended a Youth Council meeting before, I had nothing to compare it to. It was great to meet everyone face-to-face, and I volunteered to write an article regarding the youth scholarship. I’ll keep you posted when that comes out.

Overall, the group is made up of enthusiastic supporters of youth in our organization, understanding they are the future of our sport. I look forward to working with them!

Well almost. At today’s showcase luncheon, I received recognition for my work for the Marketing and Communications Committee. What a surprise! I am very honored. It’s been a fun year working within the organization and I look forward to working on my new committee, the Youth Council.