August 2008 Paddock Paper

Northern New Mexico Horsemen's Association

President’s Message
We are making plans for the 60th celebration of the Club. We will have a BBQ dinner at the Club Grounds on September 27. The food will be catered. We are working on plans to have a fun day starting around 2:00 with your horses. Games and some trail course obstacles to have fun with. Stalls will be open to hold the horses while we eat. Come with or without your horse. Fun and games from 2:00 to 5:00 PM with the meal starting around 5:00. We need to have reservations so we can tell the caterer how much food to bring. Contact Betsy Walker by September 10 (505) 466-1038 or betwalk@hotmail.com and leave a message. Bring your friends even if they are not yet members. We will let you know what the cost will be when we have a caterer. The club will cover a portion of the meal so it will not break you! We are looking for a good turn out to make it work out. If you would like to help with the planning let me know and we will welcome you participation. We may rent a tent with tables etc. so will need help getting the grounds ready. Just give me a call.

The next event is another Stall Rental September 5–7. We will be renting to the High School Rodeo group starting around 5:00 PM on Friday the 5th and again on Saturday the 6th around 8:00 am. We should not be renting beyond noon on Saturday but do not know at this time. We can use some help opening stalls and getting the young people settled into the stalls. Call me and come help out for an hour or so. See you at the horse show on Sunday, August 24th. Come have some fun and see what a great job Susan and her gang are doing. Top notch show! Also see you at the Wednesday meeting on the 30th.

Eldon

Meeting Minutes and Announcements

  • Eldon reported that our income from the Rodeo stall rentals was way up this year due to the increase in Rodeo participants. There are around 300 contestants but this year there were 787. We had a waiting list for stalls and 1/3 of the stalls were rented by Rodeo de Santa Fe. Eldon thanked all of the volunteers who came out to help make this a very successful year.

  • In the next month or two Eldon will be having a meeting of the volunteers who helped with the Rodeo stall rental to discuss improvements we can make for next year. One thing that will be needed is overnight help to rent stalls to contestants who arrive late (or very early). This year we didn’t have anyone there and some of the locks were broken and horses put in the stalls without paying rental ahead of time. This created the expense of replacing the locks as well as the time to find the contestant and collect the fee.

  • Thanks to Ron Dykes for finding a 4 wheeler we could rent from his neighbor to use the week of the Rodeo. This was extremely helpful and it will be a priority to find one to purchase before next year’s Rodeo.

  • 4H used our show arena for a horse show in July. We received a certificate of thanks signed by all of the kids. Eldon said “that’s what it’s all about...helping kids to develop a love of horses.”

  • Our first NNMHA Horse show of the season was June 15th. We had a small turnout because there were several other activities going on around the area but everyone who competed enjoyed the day. Eldon commented that horse shows all over the country are down in participation due to the price of gas. Our next show will be Sunday, August 24th. Volunteers are needed. Contact Susan Stanke Suemome@aol.com 699-6335

  • The 4H Rodeo is coming up in September. We will be renting stalls to them. More info to come about volunteers, times, etc.

  • Our September meeting will be a play date and BBQ to celebrate our 60th year. Part of the cost will be paid by NNMHA. All members welcome! Watch the website for more information.

  • There will be a mule and donkey ride in Raton. It is a 3 day event on August 14-17 open to all equine animals. Camp sites will be available. Sign-up not required, just show up and ride. For more information call or e-mail Bob Larison at 466-9616, boblarison5@aol.com.

  • Board Meetings are open to the general membership and are the second Wednesday of the month at the Plaza Southside Cafe.

 

July Speaker
Our speaker was Ruth Bourgeois from the Equine Spirit Sanctuary in Taos. Ruth gave a very interesting presentation about the horse rescue and sanctuary that she has been developing since 2005. She works to find new homes for horses whose owners can’t keep them and to provide a haven for unwanted horses. This has been her life-long dream and it is finally coming true. Equine Spirit is not just a rescue and sanctuary but also provides education and therapy to people who want to learn about horses and those who just enjoy being with horses. Ruth and her staff and volunteers offer animal therapy to the handicapped clients of ARC. They don’t have an arena yet where they can offer therapeutic riding, but they’re working on it, so the clients get a lot of enjoyment from just petting and grooming the 5 horses and the miniature donkey. An open house will be held on September 20 & 21 when you can tour the facility. Activities will include a T-Touch clinic, tack swap, art class and music. See the Equine Spirit website for more information: http://www.equinespiritsanctuary.org. Ruth’s assistant, Jessica Howard also spoke about the impact that Ruth and working at Equine Sprit have had on her. Although she is going away to college in the fall, Jessica will always be grateful for Ruth’s guidance. Equine Spirit is located in Ranchos de Taos. You can find directions on the website.

 

Ridge Riders
Following is the list of upcoming rides:
8/16 — Tesuque Area
9/13 — Rio Grande Gorge
10/18 — Aspen Vista
We usually leave the NNMHA grounds at 9:00 a.m. and caravan to our destination. For more information, contact Matt Guenther at guenthmn@yahoo.com 424-0148


Calendar of Events
Monthly meetings are held the last Wednesday of the month (excluding September and December) at the Plaza South Side Café, 3011 Cerrillos Rd. at 7 p.m. Speaker begins at 7:30 p.m. Good idea to get there by 6:30 if having dinner. For more info contact Eldon or Betsy.

August 27 – Lynn Clifford (MA, EAGALA II ) is a 3rd generation equestrian professional, former therapist and a pioneer in the field of Equine Assisted Psychotherapy. Her holistic approach to mental and physical soundness for both horse and human supports optimal horse-human relationships. Join us for this educational talk on Emotional Centering in the Saddle™ and learn how you can improve your riding, from the inside out and the ground up!

September 24 – No meeting, instead Play Day on Saturday, September 27

October 29 – Doug Thal, DVM – Conformation basics as they relate to function – Dr. Thal will discuss the basics of conformation as it relates to lameness and performance. Many breed characteristics have deviated from what is most functional and compatible with soundness. It is important to recognize the basics of sound conformation.

November 26 – Speaker TBA

 

NNMHA Open Show
Check out the photos from our June 15 Open Show

Other Equine Activities
Be sure to check out the Other Activities Around Town webpage for more fun events to attend.

Classifieds
Check out our Classifieds page for boarding opportunities, tack, horses and services.