President's Message - Winter 2010

Wow! I have been re-elected to be your President for an unprecedented 3rd year! I am looking forward to my third and final term as your President. I have thoroughly enjoyed every minute – well almost every minute – of representing SMCHA as your President. I love SMCHA! SMCHA is your organization and I truly realize that I am here for each and every one of you.

I am so proud of the wide variety of outstanding events we enjoyed in 2009. Nancy Kouchekey did a wonderful job organizing our regular group trail rides to new and terrific destinations. We had some wonderful social events like Bunco & Bingo. Cheryl Basin & Noel Moody put on top quality horse shows – including the Open English & Western Show at The Horse Park. We had outstanding new clinics with the local favorites like Rich Braun for our cattle sorting, Kathy Torres for Ranch Versatility, Cheryl Busick for the Trail Course Clinic to the Halloween Play Day organized by our very own Mike Raynor. We learned from the skilled horseman, Don Douglas, for the clinic on the 7 Basic Exercises Every Horse Should Know. We even rounded out the year with our first Caroling on Horseback – organized by Anne Whitten - which was complete with Santa Claus.

Another great year lies ahead in 2010… We are bringing back some of the popular events such as Cattle Sorting clinics and the Ranch Versatility clinic. We are looking to book a well-known name for a clinic as well. By popular demand, we will host another square dance. Of course, we will again be producing the always popular Western Riding Clinic in May, 3 terrific horse shows and hosting our weekend at Jack Brook Horse Camp in July. We are working on a Singles event and even a Men-Only event. The details of both are still being worked out. We have some other fantastic events in the works as well. Please be sure to take a look at the calendar in the back of this magazine or check out the calendar on our website: www.smcha.org for all the latest dates of our events.

We experienced the success of joining forces with our fellow equestrians and preserved our privilege of riding on the beaches of Half Moon Bay without restrictions. It proved to be a long drawn out effort however we were successful in the end. Thanks to all our members who showed up in force to have our united voice heard on behalf of this issue.

SMCHA has continued to expand through 2009. We have had so many new members join us this past year – which is always very exciting. It is also vitally important that we retain the current members that we have. So if you have not yet renewed your membership for 2010, please take a moment and do so now. You will find the membership renewal form on the back of this magazine. If you haven’t already, please renew no later than February 28. Now more than ever your membership matters. With issues such as restricting our use of the beach in Half Moon Bay to the closing of some of our beloved trails, it is vitally important that we can show that our numbers are growing. With an expanding membership the County Supervisors must take into consideration the needs of equestrians in their planning the future of our parks system, protecting our trails from the invasion of bicycles. Now more than ever your membership matters. My personal goal continues to be having our membership climb to 1000 members. Over the past years, our numbers had begun to dwindle. Continuing to let this happen is the beginning of the end for the future of horses in our community as we know it. I have seen our numbers grow by over 200 new and returning members over the past two years as President. With a membership of 1000, there will be no denying our needs. We will be able to show that the equestrian community in San Mateo County is growing. But this cannot be done without you. It is up to you to encourage the boarders at your barn, your friends that you ride with, people you meet at horse shows, trainers, the members of the Mounted Patrol and Los Viajeros – encourage all of these equestrian-minded people to become members of SMCHA. The future generations will thank you.

Also please come and have some fun with us. When you renew your membership, please note the area on the form where you can volunteer to help with some of the events. Just check the box of the event you are interested in helping with. It’s a lot of fun and you will meet many other members as well. Remember this is your equestrian organization.

By the time you read this magazine we will already have had the 70th Annual Kick-Off Gala & Installation Dinner. This is the time when we thank the outgoing Board members and welcome our incoming Board members. Last year we had a rip-roaring time and this year looks like it will be no different. We will be honoring the 2009 Horseman of the Year, Larry Pelzner, and the 2009 Horsewoman of the Year, Cheryl Basin. My theme this year is “Unsung Heroes” and both Cheryl and Larry have been such an important part of the success of SMCHA. I am proud that we can show our appreciation for all that they have contributed with the highest honor SMCHA has to offer.

I am always happy to hear your feedback. If you especially enjoyed some of our events in 2009 – let me know. If you have ideas as to how we can make SMCHA even better, again let me know. I really enjoy hearing from you.

Here’s to the best year with our horses yet!

Happy Trails,

Barbara Stogner
President 2010