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 President's Message -
Winter, 2009
You can’t get rid of me that easily… In reflecting back on 2008, SMCHA has had quite a year! From our first General Meeting last February - the wildly successful Spaghetti Feed & Bunco Tournament – to our always popular Western Riding Clinic, adding more group trail rides, our well-attended horse shows during the summer months, our SOLD OUT Jack Brook Horse Camp in July, our continued support of NCEFT and Day of the Horse. If you recall, last January I had promised to add 100 new memberships by the end of 2008. During our wildly successful membership drive last Spring, we had nearly 200 people (154 new memberships) join our SMCHA family – bringing our membership to nearly 600!! We’ve been up to some wonderful stuff throughout 2008. You can be proud of the events we’ve produced, the training we’ve provided, the riding trails we’ve protected and preserved, and the many donations we’ve made to fine equestrian organizations throughout San Mateo County. How have we accomplished all of this, you ask? Through your membership, your participation, your support, your sharing our organization with friends and family. YOU have made this happen. For all of this, I THANK YOU. Your fellow equestrians THANK YOU. I have loved every minute – well, almost every minute – of being your President this past year. As I stated in my opening phrase… you can’t get rid of me that easily. I have been fortunate enough to be elected President of SMCHA again in 2009. I am grateful for this opportunity. As I told the Board of Directors, I feel there is more for me to accomplish as President. I have taken the training wheels off and I’m ready to fly! Look out – here comes 2009!! Bigger & Better… We are starting the year off with a bang… Our annual Kick-Off Dinner & Installation Gala is looking like it will be quite a blowout affair. We anticipate record attendance – with a nice cross-section of our equestrian community including members from Mounted Patrol, Folger Barn project, Day of the Horse committee. We will be honored with many of our beloved past Presidents in attendance. If not for their work, we wouldn’t have the organization and trails that we enjoy today. Hats off to our past Presidents. By the time you read this, you will have enjoyed a wonderful evening among your fellow equestrians celebrating our accomplishments in 2008 and honoring the much-deserving HorseWoman of the Year, Joan McLaren. And if you didn’t attend – by now you will have heard about the fantastic event and will be kicking yourself for not being there. To insure that you don’t miss any of our upcoming fantastic events, be sure to check out the 2009 calendar in the back of this magazine and mark your calendars now. Because you asked, we will be adding more group trails rides – in fact, one each month from April thru October. We’re adding more clinics – some with guest trainers, some sorting and penning – and none to be missed. Back by popular demand, our first General Meeting will be the Spaghetti Feed & Bunco Tournament on Saturday, February 28th, at the Mounted Patrol grounds. It will start at 5pm. This is a fantastically fun for the entire family! Last year, Guido Nannini won $100! Who will win this year? Maybe YOU! Check for more details elsewhere in this issue. 1000… That’s my new declaration for SMCHA. To be 1000 members strong! You’ve heard the age-old adage – there’s strength in numbers. That statement is completely applicable to our organization. I have had many opportunities to speak before the San Mateo County Parks & Recreation Department, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors and both the Town of Woodside and the Town of Portola Valley on behalf of the Mounted Patrol of San Mateo County, The Horse Park at Woodside, Springdown Equestrian Center, preserving and protecting our trails to name a few. With our growing membership, it affords me a louder voice in speaking on behalf of our equestrian concerns. With our membership expanding from 450 members to nearly 600 members to a whopping 1000 members, it will make the voice of SMCHA even louder and stronger. If we can show that SMCHA is a growing organization then our County Parks & Rec Dept and our County Board of Supervisors MUST hear what we have to say and MUST take into consideration the need to preserve and protect our cherished trails and parks. Having 1000 members is not out of our reach. With 600 members, all it would take is each person having 1 new person become a member. That would have us blow by 1000. But let’s say only half our members have 1 new member join SMCHA – that would still put us at 900 members. That’s just a short leap to 1000. In my travels throughout our county during this past year as President, it was blatantly apparent that there are a lot of riders who still are NOT members of SMCHA. That’s incredible to me since we all want the same thing: to preserve this equestrian community, keep our boarding facilities open and protect our trails from bicycles and potential closure. I can’t have us reach 1000 members on my own – it will take all of us working together. That means YOU. Talk to the people at your barn, I know there’s a rider there who isn’t a member yet. Know members of the Mounted Patrol? Ask them to join SMCHA – I know there are many Mounted Patrol members who are not yet SMCHA members. Board at Webb Ranch? There are riders there who still haven’t joined SMCHA. That’s right, Joan McLaren didn’t reach all of them. Know English riders? There are lots of English riders and dressage riders that are not SMCHA members. Invite them to become members. Lucky enough to keep your horse at home? Some of your neighbors might not be members. Invite them to support our efforts by becoming a member of SMCHA. The people wanting to join SMCHA are out there – all they need is to be invited. You can make a difference in keeping horses alive and well in our parks and on our trails for generations to come. Be sure and renew your membership for 2009 and invite someone to become a new member of San Mateo County Horsemen’s Association. Here’s to a fantastic 2009 having fun with our horses and each other! Happy Trails, Barbara Stogner
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