June 2014
President’s Message
Welcome to the first electronic version of the Tip! By Kathy McHugh
Amazingly, only a very few you asked to continue to receive it in paper form. Please bear with us as we experiment with the best way to format and deliver it, and let us know what you think. We believe that it has the potential to offer you a great deal more than paper form, but we need to learn how to realize that potential. It’s a work in progress. If you missed the chance to ask for it in paper form, you can make that happen by writing me at president@ neda.org or at 64 Pearl Street in Charlestown, MA 02129. Finally . . . Summer and the show season are upon us. I don’t know about you but I lost a LOT of flowers, plants and shrubs to winter kill this year, and it nearly killed me too. I have no doubt it was hard on your horses too, and a very slow start getting them back into shape with a spring that was no less forgiving
than the winter. But all that is behind us now, the sun is shining as I write, and I’m told that la Nina will bring us a sweltering summer. I say “bring it on!” . . . Famous last words. Our members have been asking us for years to bring back a summer show, and, finally, we have identified a great team to make this a reality. Veteran show secretary Sue McKeown Lendon Gray on horse will be working with new manager Helen Cast and Twisdenwood Farm for a one-day show on July 13. Entries close on July 1. It’s a beautiful facility and a great new opportunity to show off what you’re working on. Longtime NEDA board members and Fall Show manager remembers the genesis of the summer show back in the late 1970’s as a show for the novice rider – a WhatU-Canner, for riders to do What You Can – as an alternative to the larger recognized shows that were all that was available at the time. Her idea was sparked, as she was riding an off-the-track Continued on page 3 Beth Jenkins