Virginia Appaloosa Horse Club

Spring is finally here and the fields are turning green. Hope you all are enjoying some time in the saddle in between rain drops. Thank you to all of you who came out and participated in the clinic – it was a great day and everyone seem to learn and enjoy the Bakers. They were interesting, knowledgable and fun! You can see the pictures under the Photo tab – scroll down to “online photo album”
Thanks to the Virginia Horse Industry Board and their grant to VaApHC, we have a new Virginia Bred Appaloosa Horse Program. We should soon be getting all the forms and rules on this site so any of you with Virginia Bred Appaloosas can join and earn CASH awards for showing and promoting your Va-App!
We will be meeting up with Tom Seay at his farm to get ready for our Judged Trail ride, which will be on June 26th this year. Mark your calendars – we have fun day planned. Also for April there will be a board meeting, if you have any agenda items for your board with newsletter to follow, for any newsletter additions you’d like to see.
Don’t forget our new FACEBOOK page. Become a fan and you can keep up with happenings with members and other Appaloosa enthusiasts from all over.

The weather is looking better and the clinic is just around the corner! What are those Judges really thinking?? Find out – There is still time to sign up to ride, or you may watch and learn and pay-at-the-door. The clinic begins at 9 am on March 13th. The address for Rose Haven Equestrian Center is 8736 Lawyers Road in Spotsylvania, VA. Bring your own chair. There will be hot dogs and snacks provided by the 4-H club for lunch. If you’d like to ride and get the most out of the clinic, please contact Sharon at 540-972-8568, there will be stalls available for the day, if needed, at an additional $10 for the day. Don’t miss this great learning opportunity. More information in the previous post

The VaApHC is sponsoring a Clinic “From the Judges Perspective” to be given by Baker Performance Horses of Salem Virginia. Mike and Shannon Baker are carded judges with ApHC and Mike judged at the World show in 2009. He holds judging cards in several breeds – APHC, AHA, USEF, AQHA (reining) to name a few and has judged the world or National shows for all cards held. The clinic will be held at Rose Haven Equestrian Center in Spotsylvania on March 13th. Let Mike and Shannon help you get ready for the upcoming show season by giving you the tools to give a winning performance in Western Pleasure, Hunter under Saddle or Equitation/horsemanship. Cost is $85 (VaApHC members $75). Auditors are also welcome at $35. Call 540-972-8568 for more information or email dobermom11@msn.com.

We will be attending the Kelly’s Ford Equestrian Center’s Community and Tack Swap on Saturday February 27th. If you are able to donate items or help at our table, or just want to shop, come on down! We will have membership registration forms, flyers for our upcoming events and Tack. The equestrian Center’s indoor ring is heated and there will be carriage rides, refreshments and face painting. We look forward to seeing you there. More information by following the link: http://www.innatkellysford.com/pdfs/TACK%20SWAP%20FEB%2027.pdf

It was a very successful and fun banquet! The Lodge was very cozy, the food was great and all the appetizers and desserts had us grazing until we were stuffed! We got to meet some new members and visit with familiar faces. The election results will be updated on the Board page soon. Most officers stayed in their positions with the addition of Deb and Kathy replacing end of term board positions. For our Awards: For Regional Awards: High point Speed Events went to John Gillies, Reserve was Brenda Gillies. High Point in Pleasure Events went to Sharon Fiel. Open Show Award High Point went to Sharon Fiel and “Tripn to Paradise”. In our Saddle Log Program: Kathy Coviello and Sharon Fiel went over 100 hours for Top Hours Awards.
See the pictures under the Photo tab. Our FACEBOOK page also has photos.

We are now on facebook! For those of you that do facebook, become a Fan. Find us at “Virginia Appaloosa Horse Club” and join in.

The VaApHC Awards Banquet will be held on January 16th at Charity Hill Hunting Preserve in Ruther Glen Virginia. Just a hop off of I95-S. The upcoming newsletter will have the details and directions. Also in your newsletter will be the voting ballots for next years officers and Board of Directors. You can bring your ballots with you to the banquet or mail them back along with your 2010 membership form. It will be an exciting year for us, we’ve been approved to received a grant for our new Va Bred Program and will have alot of money to be awarded to promote the Virginia Born Appaloosa! Unlike a futurity, these cash awards will go to any age Appaloosa, as long it has been born in Virginia and signed up to participate in our program. So watch for your newsletter, get your membership’s in and we’ll see you at the Banquet!

Its that time of year again. No, not just the Holidays, but the VaApHC
elections! We’d love to hear from all you eager volunteers that would like to be part of the success of 2010 at the Virginia App club. If you’d like to nominate someone to go on the ballot, or would like to volunteer for a position, you may send your request to Sharon at dobermom11@msn.com who will forward your information to the elections committee. Elections will be decided at the Jan 16th Banquet.

The last board meeting of 2009 will be held this saturday, Nov 7th, at Cheesburger in Paradise in Central Park, Fredericksburg, at 7pm. Some will be there early to visit and wait for a table if you’d like to join them. The board will be reviewing the final draft for the VA Bred Awards Program; making some plans for the awards and awards banquet; and choosing the election committee. Members are welcome to come out and join us for dinner and listen in on the meeting. Any agenda items or to RSVP, please contact Sharon at dobermom11@msn.com.

Just a reminder that the Trail Ride at Morven Park Equestrian Center is this Saturday October 31 at 11am. In case of inclement weather the ride co-ordinator will be making a decision thursday evening if a rain delay is warranted. (The ride will be moved to Sunday Nov 1 if needed.) Please contact Kathy at baylady7@aol.com to RSVP so she can contact you in case of any changes. A Tailgate party is planned for after the ride so pack your goodies!