The Spot News A publication of the ARIZONA APPALOOSA ASSOCIATION
AAA Spring Trail Ride at Spur Cross Ranch Exemplary Club ♦ Spring Classic ♦ SLR ♦ Spring Trail Ride ♦ Getting through the Gate
March 2013
The Spot News March 2013 A publication of the ARIZONA APPALOOSA ASSOCIATION
From The Desk Of The President Hello AAA Members, First, I want to thank LuAnn Bickford for serving as an AAA Board of Director. We were sad to receive her resignation, we will miss her guidance on the BOD. Thank you, LuAnn, for your service and helping our club grow! In her place, we welcome Mike Quick to the AAA Board and look forward to his enthusiasm and contributions. With a successful ANLS show and a beautiful Spring trail ride completed, the AAA has been busy planning for the year. Please mark your calendars for these up coming events:
April 14th - Our Spring one day, one judge show, will be at Western Saddle Club. We welcome judge Deanna Bjornson from Canada. June 24 - July 6th - The Appaloosa National & Youth World Show will be held in Fort Worth Texas. Aug 3rd and 4th, the AAA will be hosting a tow for three judge show at Ft. Tuthill County Park in Flagstaff, Az. Oct. 25 - Nov 2 - The Appaloosa World Show will be held in Ft. Worth, Texas. November (date TBD) - The AAA will host a one day, one judge show. November (date TBD) - The AAA Fall trail ride. Please contact Linda Gilgosch with ideas for out next trail ride.
Please watch for club activity updates on our Arizona Appaloosa Facebook page and on our AAA website.
Officer & Board Member Contact Information: Kelly Potter, President, Show Committee Lead, Youth Director 602-576-5881 Rob Pinckard, Vice-President 480-987-1894 Kathy Turner, Director, Treasurer 623-465-4948 Sonja Berry, Secretary & Newsletter Editor, Member Services 480-516-5655 Tori Broadbent, Director 480-510-5635 Mary Ann Page, Director 623-692-4579 Lisa Pope, Director 602-980-1286
Kelly Potter, AAA President
Mike Quick, Director & NonPro Coordinator 520-400-1285
2013 Board of Directors Meeting Schedule All club members and non-members are invited to attend board meetings. 2013 meeting schedule:
January 10th, 2013 (Banquet & General Membership Meeting at ANLS, WestWorld in Scottsdale)
Linda Gilgosch, Director, Trail Riding Committee Lead 602-549-7181 Sandy McNatt, Director 602-339-8887 Shannon Wilson, Director & Webmaster
March 7
May 9th
623-465-4948
July 11th
Denise Serro, Alternate Director
Sept 12th
November 14th
January 2014—Banquet & General Membership Meeting
th
(602) 505-1684
The location will be Carlos O’Brien’s in Scottsdale at 6:30 pm in the Private Room. The Spot News, March 2013
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ApHC Exemplary Club Submission Each year, the Appaloosa Horse Club holds a competition for the best overall regional club and the best regional club in each territory. The competition is judged on the amount and quality of events the regional club hosts that showcase the Appaloosa horse. Clubs are also judged on its support of Youth participates at local and national events. Mary Ann Page opened her home to volunteers that put together the Exemplary Club submission for the 2012 calendar year. The AAA events are captured in a scrapbook for submission to the ApHC. This year, the AAA scrapbook presentation focused on Sportsmanship. While we all love our Appaloosa horses, the very best way to present our club and our horses is for each member to value and embrace the true meaning of Sportsmanship. At the AAA banquet, members submitted their own definition on Sportsmanship. We have included their quotes in this newsletter. The Scrapbook cover
Sportsmanship quote:
Year End Banquet
Open Shows
“Being happy for every winner even if it is not yourself.” Sportsmanship quote: “Sharing the duties of our club to set it up for success.” Sportsmanship quote: “Being supportive of your competitors.”
Breed Shows—ANLS
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Breed Shows—Flagstaff
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AAA Exemplary Club - (cont.) Sportsmanship quote: “Sportsmanship goes way beyond the show ring! It is the people who say hi! The people who ask what help do you need? And the friendly chatter between competitors before and after the classes.” Stallion Auction Clinics
Publicity BOD Meetings
Trail Rides
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Trail Rides
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AAA Exemplary Club - (cont.) Sportsmanship quote: “Helping each other to learn and excel at showing and working as a team.” Sportsmanship quote: “The ability to smile as you leave the show ring whether you win or lose.” Appaloosa Journal
Appaloosa Journal
Website Newsletters
ACAAP Breeders Trust
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AAA Exemplary Club - (cont.) Sportsmanship quote: “Doing your best, having fun, whether you win or lose.” Sportsmanship quote: “Keeping your priorities in order! Even if you don’t win - think about it: were you and/or your horse better than the time before? Did you have fun? Congratulate the winner & see what you can learn from them :) If you did well, reward yourself AND your horse!” Non-Pro Members
Endurance
Parades
Facebook—other Media Exposure
New ApHC members added! The Spot News, March 2013
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AAA Exemplary Club - (cont.) Sportsmanship quote: “Sportsmanship means to me a chance to compete, win or lose, with other that are passionate about their sport. Win or lose, we cheer each others’ accomplishments and we are there for each other during disappointments. Competing is more than winning of losing, it is being together, trying and sharing.” AZ & NM Youth World Show team Youth Scholarship
Other club Activities Previous application for regional club
Charity The End
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AAA Spring Classic! The Arizona Appaloosa Association will be hosting a one day, one judge ApHC show complete with All Breed classes. Judge: Deana Bjornson, Alberta, Canada Sunday – April 14, 2013 - 8:00 AM Western Saddle Club 12425 N. 7th Street – Phoenix, AZ 85020 Show Manager—Mary Ann Page 623-692-4579 or maryann.page12@gmail.com
A portion of the proceeds from this show will go towards the Silver Lining’s Therapeutic Riding Program’s Special Olympic Equestrian Team Team members will participate at the AAA Spring Classic in preparation for the Arizona Special Olympics Horse Show in June.
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Spring Classic Premium
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Spring Classic Premium - (cont.)
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Spring Classic Premium - (cont.)
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Spring Classic Premium - (cont.)
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Silver Lining Riding Helping people overcome life's obstacles through equine interaction. Silver Lining Riding (SLR) was founded in 2011 by Amanda Adams, and a dedicated group of volunteers, who felt the west Phoenix area needed a therapeutic riding program. They offer therapeutic horseback riding, equine assisted activities and educational opportunities in a safe, fun environment for people of all ages and disabilities. I have been volunteering at SLR since September 2012 and every week I am honored to work with some of the brightest, shining rays of light; children and adults with disabilities are transformed as they connect with the amazing horses. We are putting on the First Annual Benefit Open Horse Show to raise money to help support our Special Olympics team. The show will be held on Sunday April 28 at Dale Creek Equestrian Center on west Camelback. It is open to all breeds and has classes for every age and level of rider. We are also having a great silent auction‌ with some amazing items too numerous to list. We are in need of some items for our Special Olympians – mainly show clothing (two young ladies and one young man), a western saddle and bridles. If you or someone you know might want to donate items to the team or for our silent auction please contact myself, Mary Ann Page at 623-692-4579 or Amanda Adams at 623-262-1307. All items can be tax deductible. Please go to www.silverliningriding.org to view information on the horse show, silent auction or maybe you would like to volunteer! SLR is a not-for-profit, exempt organization under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and a public charity. Mary Ann Page
WHAT IS THERAPEUTIC RIDING? Therapeutic horseback riding, (an equine assisted activities (EAA) ) is a specially designed adaptive riding program for people with a variety of physical and or mental disabilities. It is appropriate for people with ADHD, Autism, CP, Developmental Delays, Down Syndrome, Anxiety, Depression, Dyslexia, Dysfunction of Sensory Integration, Muscular Dystrophy and PTSD, just to name a few. The Spot News, March 2013
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2013 AAA Spring Trail Ride - Spur Cross The Arizona Appaloosa Association held its first trail ride of 2013 at Spur Cross Ranch near Cave Creek, Arizona, in the beautiful Tonto National Forest. Recent rains blanketed the desert in a vibrant green; wildflowers were just beginning to bloom. Creeks were plentiful and the riders enjoyed learning new skills crossing shallow water numerous times on the trail ride. AAA trail rides are always open to all riders and all breeds of horses. Look for our announcements on the AAA website, the AAA Facebook page or in “Bridle and Bit” magazine. Kathy Turner once again provided a fabulous lunch for the famished riders after the ride. Katie on “Cowboy” and Lisa Hefner on “She’s All Dolled Up”, photo by Marilyn Van De Graaf
The first water crossing The Spot News, March 2013
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AAA Spur Cross Spring Trail Ride - (cont.)
The Arizona desert's scarcity of water is legendary. On this ride, participants were enthralled with the abundance of water left by the winter rains. The effect of the water on the desert was resplendent.
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AAA Spur Cross Spring Trail Ride - (cont.)
Right photo By now, the horses were getting used to the water crossings and were able to cross with few refusals. Riders were proud of their capable mounts.
Along every part of the ride the flowers were blooming adding a jubilee of color to the landscape. This particular section over looks a defunct Gold Mine.
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AAA Spur Cross Spring Trail Ride - (cont.)
Right, our only youth rider, Katie Hefner, was astride her capable quarter horse, “Cowboy�. Katie did a fantastic job on this ride, participating fully and enjoying the experience.
At the start of the event, our riders were treated to this pretty view.
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AAA Spur Cross Spring Trail Ride - (cont.) As always, we wish to thank and applaud our many volunteers that enable us to enjoy our AAA events.
Kathy Turner
Linda Gilgosch plans our trail rides. This particular trail ride was the most beautiful we have had to date. Kathy Turner plans and prepares lunches for our hungry riders. The AAA thanks you both for your time! Linda Gilgosch
Riders were heading for home at this particular section, not one horse flinched at the water.
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Trail Class—Getting through the Gate As an avid trail rider, it has confounded me for years that I have not been able to participate in the Trail class at shows because I have never been able get through the gate without my mare getting wild-eyed about that rope. Let’s face it, no gate in real life is going to be made out of a rope. I have always thought that that particular class would be one I would just have to skip forever. Opening and closing arena gates at home have not been a problem, nor have opening and closing gates on the trail. Gates in the Arizona desert, where I do all my trail riding, consist of barb wire wrapped around whatever wood can be found lying about. A dismount is mandatory. My problem getting through a Trail class gate is that my mare would take a look at the rope, decide it was scary and wheel away like an Arab in a liberty class much to the amusement of spectators and the embarrassment of her rider. Recently, I attended a Working Equitation clinic in which, yet again, a confounded rope gate was one of the obstacles. I had decided I would just skip that obstacle. The Clinician, Amy Star, suggested I try it anyway. Low and behold, the answer to the Trail class gate was so incredibly simple, I thought about not writing about it as surely everyone else would already know how to get through a gate. However, several clinic attendees were having trouble getting through the gate, so I write this article in hope that it helps someone. Not having a rope gate at home, the only place I have attempted a rope gate is at the shows. The whole reason my mare was wild-eyed about that rope is that I forgot to break down the exercise for my mare into simple pieces. For this example, I approach the gate to open the gate away from me with my right hand (see photo of Amber). The gate can be broken down in to nine steps. The first step is to approach the standard holding the rope. My mare was definitely unsure of this, so I had to break this down into even smaller pieces. I started by just walking closely by the standard a few times. Then I walked to the standard, stopped, and petted my mare if she held her ground. We repeated this step until it was easy. Step three is picking up the rope. Rather than rushing my mare through the gate with that scary rope in my hand, I walked her to the standard, stopped her, petted her, and just lifted the rope off the standard and put it down. If my mare held her ground, I would pet her and then we would The Spot News, March 2013
Amber Hruska riding “Rozee O’Primo” at the 2009 AAA Fall show through a right hand push gate.
walk off. We did this a few times until it was simple. Now I was ready for step four, to ask my mare to move while I had that scary rope in my hand. By this time, she had both ears on me listening to what we were doing. I approached the gate, and stopped and paused a few seconds. I lifted the rope and asked my mare to back up one step with that rope in my hand. After one step back, we paused a few seconds. To get comfortable with this exercise, I asked my mare to walk forward and put the rope back. She gets petted while we are stopped then we walk on. We practiced this a few more times, gradually asking her to increase the number of steps backward until we were clear of the standard and we were setup to perform the next task. Step five consists of two side pass steps. As above, I approached this exercise one step at a time. Having backed my mare into position, I asked her to side pass over one step, then I stopped and paused a few seconds. I asked again until we are in position to spin around the rope, but before we spin, I stop and pause. Step six and seven was to ask her to move around the rope. First I ask my mare to cross over in the front (step six), then I ask her to move her hindquarters over one step, again I stopped and paused after the each step (step seven). We repeat until the mare was now 180 degrees from her starting point. At this point, my mare was not sure what I was going to ask. For every movement, I was teaching her to wait and listen for my next request, something I sorely needed to teach her. For step eight, we backed slowly, one step at a time until we were in position to put that rope down on the standard. Once I did put the rope on the standard (step nine), we sat there for a while, me just petting my mare. We had completed the gate. Probably more importantly, I had learned how to break down an obstacle into simple steps my mare could understand. - Sonja Berry Page 19
Dean Muetz poem, submitted by Donna Goodison
Cowboys Last Prayer Though my legs are badly bent From riding all that doggone fence. My pony’s lame, arthritic too From all the work he’s had to do. Now the cattle are scattered so thin on the plain You have to find them with aeroplanes. They round them up with motor bikes And that’s no job for us cowboy types. If I could have one wish before my Dean Muetz was time is through, an avid Appaloosa lover and long time I’d saddle that old roan of mine supporter of the ApHC and the and ride the mountains and valleys too, Arizona Appaloosa Association. Then turn us out on pastures green covered in morning dew.
Dean Meutz November 12, 1938—September 28, 2000 The Spot News, March 2013
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Tonto National Forest
The Spot News, January 2013
2013 AAA Spring Trail Ride
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