April 2007 NEWSLETTER
Submitted by Carol Johnson
Spring WCAHA Class A Show
Robert Obermiller, WCAHA board member, helps prepare the course for Saturday morning’s
hunter hack classes. Judge Cathy Murphy-Wright looks on.
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Kelly Bennett waits her turn at the hunter hack classes on her 21-year-old *Bask/Spanish bred mare. Husband/groom Bob assists. |
All the stars were in alignment—both in the skies and in the arena! More than 139 horses showed (up overall from 116 last March) as new bright lights were being tried out by their trainers/riders. The weather cooperated, with cool mornings and warm afternoons, and as they say, “A good time was had by all!”
The March show traditionally sees quite a few trainers bringing out their show strings, and this year was no exception. Sunnybrae, Iron Horse, VHTC, Rick Gault, Mark Jamieson, Paradise Arabians, Chattooga Ridge (Chris Anckersen), Robin Ginn… and I’ve probably missed a couple more.. were in attendance.
The exhibitors’ party on Friday evening was delicious and welcome. New vendors participated this year, thanks to the efforts of club member and alternate Board member Bonnie Iversen, who took on the task of planning the party. Eddie Spaghetti, Fatz, Hooters, Bilo Stores in Easley, Pendleton and Clemson, and Golden Corral in Greenville, provided food, supplies and beverages for the first time. Another vendor who helped again at this show was Bloom Grocery in Anderson. And Bonnie’s husband, Bernie, bought the Subway sandwiches!
Sue Trimmier, Horse Videos owner, also was a show sponsor, so Thanks, Sue! And many of the trainers kicked in to make the party a success: thanks to Rick Gault, Vicki Humphrey, Rob McDougall, Paradise Arabians and Tom Thiesen.
On a strictly observational note, WCAHA President, Sarah Hendricks, who oversaw sport horse activities, mentioned to me that there were two young ladies who participated in their very first dressage classes at our show and did well. They were:
Eliza Ginn on Bouccos Flight Plan and
Sydney Woody on MJ Berry Prince.
Another young lady who participated on her horse, Le Bon, was Jennie Levesque, who recently moved to South Carolina from Arizona. She will be attending the next WCAHA Board Meeting to share her ideas for amateurs, based on her activities in Arizona.
A more detailed report on the show with more photos will be in the next newsletter.
November WCAHA Class A Show and Futurity Classes
I know it seems awfully soon to talk about the next WCAHA show, but dates are finalized, and the judge hired, so I thought everyone might want to know.
Mark your calendars for November 2-4, 2007. Brian Murch has returned his contract for main ring judge, and the show committee is working on hiring a sport horse judge. The host motel will again be the Comfort Inn, and this year there is NOT a Clemson home game, so the costs should not be too high to obtain rooms.
All-Star Stallion Futurity Auction
By the time you read this, the auction will be over and bids tallied. I can tell you that (as of today, March 15, 2007) the auction is going well, with two weeks left to go. I’ve taken lots of calls and referred a number of individuals to the stallion owners/managers, so I expect a flurry of bids on the last day. (I expect to be up late April first!)
Classified Advertising vailable on WCAHA website
An idea whose time has come! Many members have requested the opportunity to promote their farms and advertise their horses to other club members and anyone else who might be interested. Take a look at the boxed information elsewhere in this issue for the details. Some of the advertising possibilities are also available to the general public.
Costs are minimal, and exposure huge, with our internet server, www.arabhorse.com, maintaining a list of 33,000+ households. If you would like to advertise on www.wcaha.org, email your information (including appropriate photo) to johnsonfrederick@bellsouth.net. The ad will run upon payment being received and not before.
Now get out there and enjoy your horses! And if you have a little four-legged addition to your family, send me information and PHOTOS please! There is nothing so cute and endearing as a new little foal-face!
A BIG Thank You!
To the wonderful businesses that helped make the Exhibitor’s Party a success at WCAHA’s Spring Class A show in Clemson.
- Eddie Spaghetti
- Fatz
- Hooters
- Bilo Stores in Easley, Pendleton, and Clemson
- Golden Corral, Greenville
- Bloom Grocery, Anderson
- Subway, courtesy of the generosity of Bernie Iversen
- Sue Trimmier, Horse Videos for sponsoring a portion of the show
Also, thanks once again, to many of the trainers who kicked in to make the party a success.
- Rick Gault
- Vicki Humphrey
- Rob McDougall
- Paradise Arabians
- Tom Thiesen
And a HUGE thank you to Bonnie Iversen, who made this party happen!
NEW MEMBER SPOTLIGHT—JENNIE LEVESQUE
Jennie Levesque with her gelding, Le Bon JGC
Western Carolinas Arabian Horse Club is one member stronger with the addition of a young lady and her horse, Le Bon JGC, both of whom moved all the way from Arizona to Seneca, SC, recently. And to hear her tell it, it was a good move all around!
Jennie Levesque followed her parents from Arizona to the East Coast where most of her extended family lives, and hasn’t regretted a moment since.
“The pasture is much better here,” Levesque laughs.
And the horse she rides? Lee, Le Bon’s “everyday” name, is a chestnut gelding by Mosco out of a bloody-shouldered grey named Brigy’s Zulieka. Lee has seven of eight ancestors that were grey, but as genetics would have it, he’s chestnut with a blaze, three and a half socks, and an odd belly-spot—giving credence to the fact that you really need to study the pedigree “way back.”
He came to be Jennie’s through the generosity of his former owner who recognized the bond Jennie and Lee were establishing as they trained for endurance and trail riding together during a lease situation.
“Christmas 1998 was the best day of my life,” says Jennie, in recognition of Lee’s former owners’ outright gift of the gelding. “At first, all we knew was ‘go forward,’” Levesque continues. “But Lee convinced me that Arabians were the breed to own.” (Levesque has done all the training with Lee on her own.)
“I used to dream as an eight-year-old of a chestnut Arab with a blaze and socks, “she remembers. “But many people told me ‘never to get an Arab.’ I had a quarterhorse, a paint, and an appaloosa before I got Lee. And none of them has what Lee has.”
What Lee has is a willingness to try almost anything Jennie asks him to do. They have done endurance riding, trail riding, jumping, parades, camping and showing. Both of them like the challenge of jumping, but Levesque thinks Lee’s favorite pursuit is trail riding.
“Lee has made my every dream come true,” Levesque says.
Levesque attended Western Carolinas’ recent class A show at Clemson, competing in Sport Horse events. She was impressed with the friendliness of the judges, other exhibitors and club management.
“Back in Region 7, you would never have seen the president of the club manning the gates,” she says. “Region 7 is so big, that one tends to feel lost.”
Her sport horse experiences in Arizona were quite different than here, Levesque explains.
“In Arizona, hunters dominated and we excelled; in one case, taking second at the big Scottsdale show beating two national champions,” says Levesque. “Here, it’s more dressage, but you change with the times and with the Region. I felt the judge was very nice, and for what he wanted to see, was very fair. We did very well in hunter hack,” she adds.
Levesque would like to see more amateur events in Western Carolinas’ line-up. She was instrumental in building such activities into the programs back in Arizona.
“We started all-breed fun shows that were all-volunteer; we created ‘pet-a-horse’ booths at the Arab shows, participated in parades, and we instituted high point programs that included non-riders such as the volunteers who participated,” Jennie explains.
As a result, Levesque says, no matter the event, there was a huge cheering section for the amateurs riding, regardless of how they placed.
“I’d love to share my ideas with the members of Western Carolinas,” Jennie continues. “Both amateurs and juniors are the backbones of the future—we need to encourage them.”
I’m told that Levesque has an open invitation to the next Board meeting…
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