Bears Above the Ground 2014

Dear Riders, 

Here are the provisional ride times for the Bears Show this coming weekend. Please double check times when you check in, as scratches, etc. can change things a little bit. If I have made any errors such as spelling of names, classes, etc. please let me know ASAP so I can fix it.

For those hauling in on Friday, I will be in the show office early afternoon. Note that the fair is under different management and rules are a bit different than in years past.

If you arrive before 5 pm on Friday, the fair charges $5 to ride in either/both arenas. There is a pay box by the main arena gate to the indoor. You also need to fill out the Rider's Release form for them. 

There is no lunging in the main arena. Lunging allowed in the warm up arena if no one is riding. Riders have priority. 

We have use of the main arena from 5 pm Friday, through the rest of the show. However, the Sheriff's Posse asked us for permission for them to do some photography at the concession end of the main arena about 7:30 Friday evening. We agreed to allow this. It should take 20-30 minutes.  We start setting up the dressage court as soon as possible after our 6 pm time, then allow our riders in to ride. You can ride in the end toward the judge while the Posse photos in the other end.

For those of you who are camping, the hook-ups are on the fence line nearest the dog pound. All other trailer parking is in the lot behind the show barns.

Stalls come with first shavings. If you would like additional shavings, best suggestion is to purchase bagged shavings from Wilco which is just across Hwy 99 on the north end of town. We can use any of the stalls in the Thompson or Evergreen barns. If you are coming with a group and want to all stall together, have the first one in get the stall cards for all of you and pick your stalls. Please don't move your horse around in different stalls. Once the pile of shavings in the stall has been disturbed, our show has to pay the fair for a used stall. If you have not reserved a stall but would like to have one, please let me know ASAP so I can print a stall card for you before I get to the show. 

We are starting at 8:00 am each day. The short court rides are in the morning, then we drag and re-set for full court during the lunch break. Due to the amount of activity going on during lunch we are not allowing riders in the arena during lunch or during other breaks. If time allows at the end of lunch, we will allow horses to hand-walk inside for a look at things.

Please check in at the show office when you arrive, get your bridle numbers, pay anything still owed for your entry, sign anything that got missed on your entry, etc. Exact change is SO nice for those who owe a few dollars.

Please let me know if you have any questions or need any help. We love our riders and want you to have a great time.

Cheers!

Sylvia Kantas

503-939-1603

Gearing up for a new show

Our May meeting was held the 11th at Clover Valley Equestrian Center with Vice-President Kris Brown presiding. She is a member of the "new show" committee, which brought us the latest on the new show our chapter voted to hold this fall. Our initial idea was to keep costs as low as possible in order to keep entry fees as low as possible and call it the "Bare Bones League Show." But the Yamhill County Fairgrounds arena was not available in the time frame we desired and no other nearby venues could be secured. So the show committee came up with a totally different show concept to be held the weekend of September 21-22 at Mt Hood Equestrian Center, which is available for a fall two-day show. Saturday schooling show will offer dressage trail, musical freestyle (with no scoring requirements), Prix Caprilli, Western Dressage, a costume class, and if time permits, USDF Test of Choice USDF classes (entry priority will be given for the “fun” classes). We discussed offering a lasagna or spaghetti feed that evening, catered by the concessionaire. The idea is to promote this day as a fun, social event. Sunday will be an ODS League show, and will include the Rider tests and Western Dressage as well as USDF classes. We realize recruiting volunteers may be a challenge due to the distance from our "home base," so we discussed requiring competitors to volunteer for at least two hours each.

  

We then brainstormed at length about a fitting name for our new show. Some of the names suggested:  Harvest Hash, Cornucopia of Dressage, Dancing Bears, Dressage before Hibernation, and Shoulder-in to Autumn. Dressage Do Si Do, with its nod to the Western classes, got the most votes. The show committee is moving forward with the approval process.

Karina introduced the idea of forming a standing committee within the Oregon Dressage Society to promote para-dressage and network between para-equestrians. We moved, voted and approved setting aside a percentage of the profits from our fall show to start a fund for the future needs of a para-dressage program in Oregon. The ODS office has since advised that as long as we are setting aside funds for education or raising awareness of dressage-related issues, we should be fine within the non-profit framework of our organization. This is not a committee that is directly related to our chapter, but is of interest to us all.

Many thanks to Connie for providing pizza and pop to fuel our discussions!

Our next chapter meeting is scheduled for June 10 at Clover Valley Equestrian Center.

The bears are coming, the bears are coming!

It's time for all the woolly (and non-woolly) bears to come to the Yamhill County Fairgrounds to show their stuff (but hopefully with no airs above the ground!) at the Chehalem Mt. Chapter Bears Above the Ground show. Ride times for both Saturday and Sunday are listed below; double-clicking on any of the pages should enlarge them for better viewing.

If you haven't yet volunteered, we encourage you to contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Patty Armstrong, to help fill the schedule with needed workers. As with most ODS shows, this one would not happen without the willing involvement of many hands. You can reach Patty at patty.darkhorsesolutions@gmail.com.