Autumn update

One of Suzi's cats decided to be a door prize

Our annual chapter picnic was held at Suzi Ronning's Thornhill Farm on September 30. Along with perfect weather, good food, fun and useful door prizes (thanks, Sharon!), and visiting with friends we elected officers. Even though everyone pleaded with Sharon to continue her reign as president-extraordinaire, she could not be swayed from her decision to step down. When Eric McKown agreed to serve as president for the coming year, he was enthusiastically voted in.  Eric will take over his new responsibilities starting tomorrow, November 1.

Our other officers agreed to continue serving for another year: Kris Brown as vice-president, Suzi Ronning as secretary, Jane Baer as treasurer, and Sylvia Kantas as our long-suffering show secretary. Patty Armstrong also agreed to stay on as our volunteer coordinator. Don't forget to thank these members for all they do.  They are giving up their personal time to work for all of us, and keep things running, so we need to let them know we appreciate what they're doing, and support them as much as possible.

Jennifer Stoffer was our speaker for the October 8 meeting at Clover Valley Equestrian Center.  Jennifer talked about traditional Chinese medicine and its equine medical applications. She covered the five types of horses defined by the five basic elements in Chinese theory (fire, earth, metal, water, wood), food therapy, herbal therapy, and acupuncture.

Pamela Smith will be our speaker at the November 12 meeting, 7 p.m. at Clover Valley Equestrian Center. Pamela will be talking about thrush and other foot ailments we deal with during our wet northwest winters.

The tentative date for our annual Christmas Party is December 2. More information will be coming soon, but save the date. And don't forget to send in your high scores for the year if you haven't already done so! Email them to Michelle at mmcmillen@macnet.com.

On a sad note, chapter member Debbie Cummings had to give her mare Sadie (Black Satin Aboo) the ultimate gift in October, and had her put down to end her suffering. Sadie was Debbie's first dressage horse and produced three stunning foals by Ideal. Sadie also introduced Debbie to Rick and Michelle McMillen, and I (Michelle) will be forever grateful to her for that.