NNMHA Paddock Paper

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Paddock Paper

Northern New Mexico Horsemen's Association

November 2004

 

 

Contents

Did you hear?

Minutes from October 27 Meeting

Calendar of Events

Introduction of New Officers

Horsing Around New Mexico

Other Upcoming Dates

Time to Renew!

NNMHA Membership

 

Did you hear....? (short quiz)
1. Who has been invited to lead a group of US Senators on a trail ride in NM?
2. Who won 3rd place at this years Ranch Horse Versatility Competition at the State Fair?
3. Who showed a winning pig (6th out of 200+) at the State Fair?

Welcome to the NNMHA Newsletter!

Following are the minutes from the NNMHA General Meeting, held October 27, 2004 at JB's Restaurant on Cerrillos Road:

The meeting was held at JB's restaurant.  Present were Eldon Reyer, Patricia Lappe, Tom Johnson, Sandra Benson, Connie-Sue Jessup, Susan Smith and Lorna Seebohm.

The slate of officers for 2005 was approved. 

Officers:

President: Eldon Reyer laespuela1@aol.com   466-6280
Vice President: Sandy Benson sandybenson@earthlink.net  424-7592
Secretary: Lorna Seebohm  leseebohm@juno.com 473-1253
Treasurer: Patricia Lappe bflappe@msn.com   473-0810
Grounds: Tom Johnson 471-6798
Ridge Riders: Tom Johnson  471-6798
Search and Rescue: Tom Johnson 471-6798
Newsletter: Susan Smith  983-2128 susith@aol.com
Photographer and Webmaster: Connie Sue Jessup  438-2063 trail@horse-talk.com


Eldon announced that the county fair board has gotten $180,000 to develop a master plan for the fairgrounds.  They plan to tie into city water.  If they cross the NNMHA property, Eldon would like to see if we may also tie in.

Tom Johnson volunteered to head the Ridge Riders trail group again which will meet the first Sunday of each month beginning in February at 9 a.m., at the trailer on Rodeo Road. 

The activities for the coming year were discussed at length and included shows, trail rides, clinics, and again supporting the endurance ride in the Caja.  Ideas from the membership are encouraged. As Vice President in charge of membership, Sandy will send out a membership invitation to over 300 local contacts by 11/15. She's also interested in hearing from members any ideas for guest speakers.

The annual Christmas party was scheduled for December 11th at the Reyer home. It is a good time and members are encouraged to attend. See Calendar of Events list for directions and details. RSVP by 12/5 to Eldon.

Tom announced that Search and Rescue has done about nine rescues this year.  Interested members contact Tom at 471-6798.

The meeting adjourned around 8:30.

 

Calendar of Events:

Nov 24           -Thanksgiving Day  Eve-Monthly Meeting at JB's Cancelled

Dec 6            -1st Show Committee Meeting, trailer on Rodeo Road, 6 p.m., Selecting judges, classes and a new chairman. Call  Sandy 424-7592
Dec 11            -Members Christmas  Party-5:30 Eldon Reyer's
on Spur Ranch Rd, call 466-6280 to RSVP by 12/5 at least. Directions: south on 285 past Eldorado. From the 2nd stop light (Chevron Gas station on left) go 3 miles on 285 toward Lamy.  At mile 3 Spur Ranch Road is on the right.  Turn and go 3 miles straight ahead. Do not make any turns. The first mile you cross the rail road tracks. At mile 2 you pass Spur Ranch gates on left. At mile 3 you are in Eldon's yard. There will be signs  reading  "NNMHA"  and "Reyer Ranch" to help direct you. Bring a gift with a suggested price of $15.00, wrapped, but not identified. Numbers will be drawn and gift selected. Once unwrapped the next person selects a gift. etc. Food: The club will provide meat and drinks. All others provide covered dish.

Jan 26             -Monthly NNMHA meeting -at JB's on Cerrillos Road & St. Mike's 6:30pm, Guest Speaker President Eldon Reyer on Back Country Adventures.
Jan 31             -Membership Drive deadline for reduced rate payment
Feb 6                -Ridge Riders Trail Ride - 1st Ride of the season. Meet at NNMHA arena 9am, call Tom Johnson for info  471-6798
Feb 25                 -Monthly NNMHA meeting - at JB's on Cerrillos and St.  Mike's 6:30pm, Speaker TBA
March 7          -Ridge Riders Trail Ride- Meet at NNMHA arena 9am, call Tom 471 6798

Introduction of New Officers

October saw the partial changing of the guard as new officers were elected to the NNMHA. Generally, the same folks have been doing all the work for a long time, and some of them will continue on in their positions, but the organization now has at least two new people on board: Sandy Benson, Vice President and Susan Smith, newsletter editor. Sandy is a Cranial-Sacral Therapist and Equine Bodyworker who schools horses in Santa Fe. She's put on a number of clinics in the past for NNMHA and is in charge of this years membership drive.

 

The other new person is myself, Susan Smith. I've been in publishing as editor and/or writer of books, magazines and newsletters for many years. I'm an endurance rider, own two horses, have two grandchildren who like to ride, and have written some articles for Western Horseman and TrailBlazer magazines on topics such as Ray Hunt, ski joring, and the Valles Caldera.

 

First of all, many thanks to Connie Sue for her years of wonderful, dedicated service to providing this newsletter and for creating the Horse-Talk website that is such a valuable resource for all horse people across the state. Thanks to her also for continuing on as webmaster, and take a look at her new upgraded site at http://www.horse-talk.com/nnmha. The new members only site login is: member and the password is: nnmha.

 

What I hope to bring to the newsletter and NNMHA is some widespread reporting on what is going on in the horse industry in Northern New Mexico, with the intention of bringing some of the more exciting horse activities to be hosted or sponsored by NNMHA. As usual I will include the meeting minutes each month. The newsletter is an opportunity to keep you up to date on some events that are coming up and coverage of ones that you might not have been able to get to.

 

Horsing Around Northern New Mexico

In this section of the newsletter we will generally cover horse activities that members have attended. This month I'm profiling a clinic I attended in Alcalde, NM, entitled Exploring the Traditions of Light Horsemanship Spanish Vaquero and the French Classical with trainers Ginger Gaffney and Ron Breines.

 

Ginger's background is in natural horsemanship and French classical dressage, while Ron's focus is on the Vaquero traditional approach. Riding in lightness, collection on a loose rein, are some of the characteristics of the Vaquero style of horsemanship. This was the style of the caballeros that came to the New World, and also the beginnings of the Spanish Riding School and other classical dressage schools of Europe. What marks this style is time taking the time to train a colt to a point where it is so light and responsive, it can save your life in battle. Although we don't fight horseback battles these days, excellent horsemanship is still highly valued. These two trainers took clinic attendees through a process of learning a light touch on the ground and in the saddle.

 

We are in the process of scheduling Ginger and Ron to come and do a clinic at the NNMHA arena in 2005.

 

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Newsflash! The U.S. Forest Service has cleared part of the Winsor Trail between the Chamisa Trail and Pacheco Canyon Forest Road. These are off the Ski Basin Road in Santa Fe. They reported they took out 8 trees! In addition, USFS cleared a very rocky section of the scenic Sagebrush Flats loop in the Caja del Rio--thanks to Miles Standish for helping to make that happen!

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Check out this article, "Ten Great Places to Romp with the Horsey Set" http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/10great/2004-11-04-getting-horsy_x.htm, in USA Today.

 

You can access this issue here: http://www.susith.com/nnmhapp

Be sure to click on Newsletter.

If you should have any trouble accessing this issue, please contact nnmha@horse-talk.com or call Susan Smith 983-2128.

 

Other upcoming dates....
Dec 4-5                       Roeliff Annon clinic to benefit Horse Shelter of Santa Fe, NM. He will start three rescued horses that have eluded training so far. 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. Cost:  $25.00 to audit per day. Where: Rancho Allegro, La Villita, NM, 25 minutes north of Santa Fe.(for directions: email straydogmedia8@aol.com)  The clinic is open to the public.
May  7-8          Horse Fair at the Horse Expo, Abq
May (dates tba) Art Grunig Clinic- 3 days riding, call Sandy 424-7592

May (dates tba) Caja del Rio Endurance Ride NNMHA sponsored, call Lisa Oberteuffer, 983-3814 or email volta@nets.com
June 22-25       Rodeo de Santa Fe--will need volunteers to do stall assignments for all those cute cowboys, call Eldon
July  16-17       NNMHA English/Western Open Show dates (other dates tba)

 

Time to Renew!

It's that time again--time to renew your NNMHA membership. $20 Individual, $25 Family before 1/31/05. $30 after 1/31/05. For the renewal application, please go to http://www.horse-talk.com/nnmha and click on membership, then click on membership application. Print it out, fill it in and send it with a check to NNMHA, PO Box 4124, Santa Fe, NM 87502.

 

NNMHA Membership

Your NNMHA membership card entitles you to receive the Paddock Paper, the NNMHA Newsletter, reduced class entry fees at NNMHA Horse Shows, and reduced fee or no fee for NNMHA clinics or other NNMHA sponsored activities. Your membership also allows you to use the NNMHA Horse Arena, as long as there are no conflicts with the NNMHA schedule. (There is a fee for events you may want to put on that is not part of a club activity). Individuals wishing to use the arena for schooling and practice purposes who are members of NNMHA are covered under our insurance policy. It is the member's responsibility to make sure that any individual (who is not a family member) they bring to the arena also is a member. 471-6654

To make it easier for all the members to use the arena at their convenience we have put combination locks on the arena gates. The combination is the post office box for the club. If you forget the combination look on your newsletter!

Remember that no one can use the arena unless they are a member. So feel free to use the facilities but if you want to bring your neighbors to join you, give them a membership form and invite them to join or leave them at home.

Northern New Mexico Horsemen's Association
Post Office Box 4124
Santa Fe, NM 87502

nnmha@horse-talk.com

 

 

Answers to Did you hear? quiz: 1.  Eldon Reyer, 2. Deborah Beneson, 3.
 Elizabeth Howard