Hope you all at our next membership meeting on Sept 11th!
George Koons
Monday, September 11th 6pm
Membership Meeting
&
Pot Luck Dinner
This month's Pot Luck theme will be
"Memory Lane"
A Comfort Food Potluck with its own unique style!
Invoke feelings of nostalgia and warmth this month with home style favorites like macaroni and cheese, chicken & dumplings, chili, mashed potatoes, pork chops & gravy, meatloaf, apple pie and chocolate chip cookies!
The Natrc ride went really well, weather was
fabulous. Not a drop of rain, couldn't have asked for better. We
started 41 riders from 6 states. All loved our gorgeous valley and
views. Our saddle club members showed up at the crack of dawn (6 AM)
start to help with pulse and respiration checks and to help with gates.
Friday we had great help with getting riders parked and organized.
3 of our members, Connie DeCamp, Barb
Beckner and Laura Varone were secretaries. This was a huge job starting
Friday at 1 and running to 6 each night through Sunday. Both of our
Judges, vet Carri, from Atlanta, and horsemanship judge Sarah from
Nebraska raved about what a great job they did.
Barb's Ron and Connie's Dave, road safety and drove judges and just did what ever was needed.
George and Jim where all over the ride
helping riders set up on Thursday and checking on things on the trail
and ferrying riders from the hill top camp down to meals and briefings
and most importantly back up the hill. The boys and their 4 wheelers
where loved by all.
Elin was a wonderful host, catering Saturday's dinner to the pleasure of all.
We had hoped for a few more riders, but
still cleared over $900 for the club. Will have the final accounting
after returning from our current trip....riding in Tennessee!
Thank you for your interest in upholding our promise to the community, our youth, and our members in the struggle to maintain common interests and goals!
ROYALTY UPDATE
2017 Westcliffe Stampede Queen
Miss Katlyn Freeburg
2017 Westcliffe Stampede Queen's Attendant
Miss Megan Frahm
2017 Westcliffe Miss Stampede
Miss Brooke Flynn
2017 Westcliffe Stampede Princess
Miss Skyler Rose Smith
2018 ROYALTY PAGEANT RESULTS ANNOUNCED ON JULY 16TH
Cyn Williams has stepped up to coordinate our Saddle Club Day Rides.
This
year, the Saddle Club plans to organize day rides for members who want
to hit the trails. We also are considering adding horse camping
opportunities to this riding season. We would appreciate if you
could fill out the survey so that we can better plan the day rides and
horse camping.
When you find yourself riding a hot, nervous horse, what should you do in response? One thing not to do: attempt to hold him in.
* Hush your voice.
If you use your voice, keep it low and slow. "I drop mine an octave or
two and slow it down to match my body language," says Paula.
"Ultimately, calm in the rider equals calm in the horse."
She
adds that if your horse is excited because he's herd bound (reluctant
to leave or be left by a group of horses), then "that needs to be dealt
with specifically and in a safe environment" (see links below).
But if you can remember these key strategies, you can learn to calm an excited horse in most situations.
There's not a better or faster way to gaining respect and
building a stronger relationship with your horse than doing these 3
things:
1. Have confidence in yourself as a rider.
When you present an idea to your horse - ask him to go forward,
back up, turn - whether on the ground or under saddle, do it with
confidence and leadership.
Know what you are going to ask before you ask it.
If you are unsure, your horse will be unsure.
Your horse is looking for a leader he can follow.
Be that leader.
"The horse knows when you know and he knows when you don't know." - Ray Hunt
2. Earn your horse's respect.
Look for even small signs of disrespect.
You can do less correction sooner or you will have to do more correction later.
There are some Respect exercises you can do with your horse, but
the way you interact with your horse on a daily basis is what really
builds the trust and respect.
Being afraid to get firm hinders communication and clarity with the horse.
But always be fair.
Don't ask him to do IT better until he knows what IT is.
3. Time your pressure and release.
Develop a feel for learning when to use more or less pressure.
The horse learns by when the pressure is released.
What you make uncomfortable is what the horse drifts away from. What you make comfortable is what the horse gravitates to.
If you ever want to achieve the lightness that everybody's
searching for with their horse, it may require being heavy now, so you
can be light later.
The way to get a horse light is to be really good at WHEN to get firm.
You have to be able to regulate the amount of pressure according to
what the horse is doing and his level of understanding to get him to
where he will be consistently light.
You can shape personality, habits, turn a lazy horse into an
energetic one, and turn an energetic horse into a lazy one, all by the
timing of your pressure and release.
It's never the horse that needs to make the adjustment - it's always the human.
Hope this helps,
Carson James
How to have confidence in the Saddle, By Carson James
This year the Saddle Club
would like to reach out to our members for your feedback. The
Saddle Club Board of Directors will address specific concerns that you
may have as a member.
Below you will find a survey for you to complete and return either via email to anniekerns@centurylink.net, or if you wish to remain anonymous, please return at the next membership meeting.
As we move forward together
as a club, an important goal for success is increased involvement from
our membership. Current studies show an average of 40 members out
of over 100 attending monthly meetings. The average number of
volunteers is 10%.
We value our members and realize that your talents and ideas are vital to the growth of the Saddle Club.
