SN DITS 2013 “Horse on the Label” wine and beer tasting is back! CDS President Kevin Reinig will be our guest as we host the “Horse on the Label” cocktail party at chapter board member’s Susan Ward’s home after the conclusion of the show, Saturday, July 20th. Official time to be announced once we get closer to the show. This is our opportunity to introduce ourselves to our CDS President in our back yard and let him know that while dressage is slowing down in northern CA, it is alive and well here in northern NV and we can we do to grow dressage in the CDS northern hemisphere. Refreshments will be provided by the chapter.

CDS AA clinic: The chapter currently has five members interested in attending the CDS AA clinic in September. The final selection will be made at the June chapter meeting.

CDS Jr clinic: The chapter currently has one member interested in attending the CDS Jr/Yr clinic in July. The final selection will be made at the June chapter meeting.

Jr/Yr clinic with “L” program graduate Sarah Silva: Chapter member Sarah Silva approached the chapter about hosting a clinic for the Jr riders in July. The board has asked Sarah to formalize a structured plan as to what the clinic would look like – with a suggestion to use her “L” program expertise as a clinic focus and possibly host such a clinic in the fall.

Other Business:

Dressage court for sale: The chapter is selling a dressage court for $1,000. It includes a complete set of pylons, poles, and a complete set of letters. Anyone interested in purchasing the dressage court should contact Hilari at 775.852.6616 or jmharrisreno@sbcglobal.net

The chapter’s remaining dressage court will be on loan to Jocelynn Hamann and the chapter’s judge’s stand will be on loan to Georges Benesch.

Next Chapter Board Meeting: The next chapter board meeting will take place during the Scandia Baby Shower on Monday, June 10th. It will be a fairly quick meeting to select the AA and Jr/Yr clinic participants and review preparations for the up coming DITS 2013 show.

July 8, 2013. Meeting came to order at 6:30

Board Members Present: Hilari Fleming, Kerin Rowe, Madora Daniels, Susan, Ward, Jennifer Smith, Carolyn, Graebner, Beth Coffey Curle

Other Chapter Members Present: Stacee Collier, Jocelyn Hamann, Cyd Curle

Treasurer Report: $5,572.82 in the bank before the debits and credits of DITS. USDF 2014 fees paid.

Freestyle Design Free Offer to Chapter Members: Chapter member Lesley Grove is generously offering to choreograph lower level freestyles for other chapter members for free. You just need to haul to her place and bring your own music. Contact Lesley for the details at lgrove@integritybsc.com

27th Annual Dressage in the Sierra, July 20-21, 2013 + other weekend activities:

Due to an early air flight, Sunday will start early and end early to accomodate the judge's travel schedule. Susan W will take the judge to the airport on Sunday.

The new GIANT letters are here! We had to purchase new letters due to negative TD comments about the visability of the old letters at the FTM court.

FTM has a limit of 49 spectators in the indoor at one time. We do not think this will effect the in-hand clinic with Kevin Reinig on July 20 during the lunch break. We have use of half of the indoor for this clinic. Handlers handle their own horses.

Consignment Sale: Set up will be at 3:00 on Friday. Anything left over at 3:00 PM on Sunday will be donated to the Marvin Picollo school. Beth will pick up a rack for the clothing to be hung and displayed. The consignment form is done and will be emailed out to let people to organize their donations before the show. SN will receive 20% of all sales.

Volunteers: Carolyn has most of the spots filled.

Evening Summer Party! at Susan W's: Everyone needs to RSVP. Do not assume we know you are coming. SN is paying for the food and soft drinks so this is a chapter hosted event. Parking will be tight. Everyone is asked to NOT park on the south side across from Susan's home near the across the street neighbor's gate. They need a big area to negotiate the gate.

Leslie A and Madora are in contact for awards. Leslie and Madora are again getting awards for our show and they did a GREAT job the last time! Jocelyn will ask Zib if she'll put Avon packages together that we can use as volunteer gifts for all show volunteers.

Prelim Year End Awards: Madora has complied a mid-season Year End Award standing spreadsheet. Thank you Madora! It is a HUGE list - shows that the new system works! It will be posted on the website soon.

2014 Judges: Kerin is still trying to find a judge for the April 2014 show. Melissa Creswick is all set for July. It can take many, many calls to secure a judge (and then they can still bail on us as is the case here) so please thank Kerin when you see her for all of her diligence to find the chapter a judge.

August 12th Meeting Minutes:

October Show: Madora will check to see if we have enough ribbons and awards for the October show. If we need awards, she will connect with Leslie Ayers and see what our options are.

Beth Coffey Curle agreed to be the on-site day manager for the show.

Kerin will finalize the prize list and get it to Michele to post onto the chapter website.

We discussed re-naming the show the Stacey Berry Memorial Show. Holly McGee agreed to connect with Stacey's family to ask if this is something that they are comfortable with.

Susan has Renown on board to have an educational table at the dressage show as part of October being "Breast Cancer Awareness Month".

Stacey Berry Memorial Scholarship: Ellen Bjorkman and Holly McGee approached the chapter to create a scholarship in Stacey's name. The initial thoughts are that it would be specifically for a SN Chapter AA member. Hilari agreed to find out more information specifically as how CDS manages other chapter-specific scholarships. Holly agreed that she and Ellen would ask the family if there were specific aspects of the scholarship that were important to Stacey's family that they would want included. Susan has been contacted by persons that work for Renown and were close to Stacey while she was battling cancer that would like to donate to help establish the scholarship.

The Saturday night Horse on the Label party, the consignment sale and the in-hand clinic with CDS President Kevin Reinig were very, very well received. Thank you to everyone that worked to make those activities possible. The consignment sale made enough money to pay for the party! The TD and judge (Hilda Gurney) were very concerned about the footing around the outside of the dressage court (USEF requires that it be the same as inside the competition arena) and the height between the top of the dressage court fence and the outside of the ring as the fence is not constructed of "break away" materials.

End of the Year Awards: The new point system has many more chapter members eligible for awards than the past program system. We discussed having End of Year Award ribbons made which would allows for more persons to receive recognition at less expense to the chapter. This idea was well received. We would still have awards to the first place winners.

Meeting Minutes 09/09/013

SN Chapter Attendees: Hilari Fleming, Emilee Anderson, Kerin Rowe, Beth Coffey Curle

Chapter Member Attendees: Holly McGee

Shows: The October meeting will be MONDAY, OCTOBER 7TH. THIS IS TECHNICALLY THE FIRST MONDAY IN OCTOBER. LOCATION TO BE ANNOUNCED. We are inviting Sherry from Wild Tree Foods and Susan from Susan's Salsa to attend our NOVEMBER meeting, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11TH. We all really enjoyed their food and spices last year and all agreed it would be fun to have them back!

Good luck to our chapter members participating in the Dutch Keuring at DG Bar this week. Reno Chapter member Faith Fessenden will be one of the judges!

Good luck to our chapter members competing at the CDS Annual and USDF Championships next week!

The October show will be renamed the Stacey Berry Memorial Dressage Show. The show will be held at FTM on Saturday, October 12th, Creeky Routson "S" is the judge, and it will be recognized by CDS only.

The prize list will be available on-line at www.snc-cds.com soon. Beth Coffey Curle volunteered to be the on-site manager. Kerin will take care of the early morning day-of set up.

We need a count of ribbons and prizes from Madora to determine if we need more for this show.

Beth will follow up with Carolyn G to find out if she is able to recruit volunteers for the show. Kerin will hire the scribes for the day.

It has been strongly recommended by Hilda Gurney that due to the un-level footing around the outside of the dressage court at FTM that we no longer trot around the outside of the dressage court. We are recommending that all competitors enter the ring, school around the inside of the court until the bell is rung and then start their test either from inside or outside of the court. Recent TD's and Hilda Gurney also wrote in their reports their concern over the height of the dressage court fencing and that it is not constructed to "break away" if a horse were to hit it.

As part of celebrating Breast Cancer Awareness month, Renown will have an information table set up at the dressage show. Beth will ask FTM to set up their EZ up near the warm up if the weather is suitable for Renown to be set up outside. If the weather is tricky, Renown will be set up inside near the scores.

Hilari was able to find out information about creating a chapter scholarship which will be managed for us by CDS. There are two directions the scholarship can take: 1) a $20K-$25K endowment which will create $500 in interest revenue each year to be distributed as a scholarship to a SN chapter AA (over 22 years) member; or, 2) funds are collected and the money is dispersed each year as a scholarship to a SN chapter AA (over 22 years) member until it is all gone. CDS is a 501c organization and all checks are tax deductible. Checks need to made payable to CDS with Stacey Berry Memorial in the memo line. There will be a line added to the Stacey Berry Memorial Dressage Show prize list so donations maybe made directly through the show. The chapter will then send a check to CDS at the conclusion of the show.

• 2014 Judges: Anita Owens - April; Melissa Creswick - July.
• 2015 Judges: Janet Foy - July
• 2014 USEF, CDS, and USDF licenses have been renewed.

Thank you Kerin for doing all of this leg work. Hiring judges takes an enormous amount of time on the phone and emailing back and forth and stick-to-it-ness. Please thank Kerin the next time you see her.

Kerin suggests that we rent a golf cart for shows so the judges do not have to walk back and forth to the office/restrooms. The distance between the ring and office is a constant complaint we hear from our judges.

Treasure Report: $7459 is in the bank.

Education: The chapter members that attended the Pacific Coast auction were all impressed with an equine nutritionist and we will ask her to come to a future chapter meeting. It will be a free event for chapter members.

2014 SN Chapter Board Slate: Current board members willing to stay on for 2014: Susan Ward, Jennifer Smith, Beth Coffey Curle, Hilari Fleming (not as Director), possible Madora Daniels

Monday, October 7th, 6:30 PM

Board Member Attendees: Susan Ward, Hilari Fleming, Madora Daniels, Kerin Rowe, Beth Coffey Curle

Non-board member Attendees: Cyd Curle, Holly McGee

Treasurer Report: For 2014, Madora is willing to continue to reconcile the chapter check book but she no longer wants to be on the chapter board. CDS does not require the chapter treasurer to be a member of the chapter board.

SN Stacey Berry Memorial Dressage Show: October 12th, at FTM - Get Your PINK ON!

In celebration of October being "Breast Cancer Awareness Month" the Renown Breast Center will have a representative at the show to answer any questions about breast cancer.

Please take a moment and visit the table either at the warm up (weather permitting) or near the awards table inside the barn. Breast Cancer Awareness pins will be available for all show competitors and volunteers and everyone is encouraged to wear their pin during the show and at future shows.

Anyone with a camera is encouraged to take pictures at the show and share them with the chapter through the Yahoo email or Facebook page. Renown would like to use photos of the event and we would like to send photos of the event to CDS. Coats have been waived for any competitor wishing to wear a pink shirt, vest, or coat in place of your show coat. All other USEF saddlery rules remain in place. Pink saddle pads will be allowed. All horses and volunteers are encouraged to wear their best pink attire.

There will be an award for the best "Pink Horse and Rider" combination and the best "Pink Volunteer"!

Volunteers are in place for the show. Thank you to everyone that is willing to help put on what will be a very fun event.

The chapter will be accepting donations for the "Stacey Berry Memorial Scholarship Fund". An equestrian all of her life, Stacey loved to ride. A scholarship in her name is being created and it will be managed on the chapter's behelf by the Scholarship Committee of CDS. A scholarship will be made available each year for a SN Chapter AA member to be used for an educaitonal purpose. Additional scholarship information will be annonced at a later date. A scholarship committee of Ellen Bjorkman, Holly McGee, Susan Ward, and Hilari Fleming has been formed to finalize the scholarship details and create a method to get the word out that the scholarship is in place and able to accept donations.

Please make your checks payable to CDS and write "Stacey Berry Memorial Fund" in the memo line. Donations are tax deductible. Receipts for your donation will be available at the show on Saturday.

Next Chapter Meeting! Don't miss this meeting if you LOVE great food! Monday, November 11th at Susan Ward's home. Local Reno Salsa maker Susan Hahn and Reno's Wild Tree Representative Shari Walsh will be on hand to sample and sell their wonderful food! (there is going to be a line to order the Wild Tree cranberry jalapeno spread, it is amazing!)

Board Members Present: Hilari Fleming, Madora Daniels, Kerin Rowe, Jennifer Smith, Susan Ward, Beth Coffey Curle

Guests: Maria Hickey, Faith Fessenden, Jocelyn Hamann, Erica Ward, Carleen Rader, Sue & Glenn Traynor, Lori Ronkos

Special Guests: Shari Walsh - Wildtree Food; Susan Hahn - Susan Hahn Salsa

The meeting came to order at 6:30 PM and the minutes to the October meeting were approved.

Treasurer Report: $7,038 in the bank; the October show netted $427.32

2014 Show Update: April and July show judges are confirmed and Kerin has received contracts back. TD's still need to be hired for both shows. It was recommended by Connie that we hire a TD with Sport Horse Show experience for the July show.

Tamara with the Camera would like to come up and take photos at our shows in 2014.

There was discussion to add Breed Show classes to the Dressage in the Sierra Show in July 2014. Faith Fessenden has volunteered to be the sport horse judge which will allow the classes to be qualifiers for the CDS Champs and USDF awards. Beth will connect with Connie to add the classes. These classes will require additional volunteers in addition to the group already needed to host the regular dressage show in addition to a ring master for the Materiale classes. Faith suggested in addition to the awards for the regular classes, we offer award specific within the breeds that are present. There is positive energy to host this new-to-us portion of a dressage show and support the local breeders. We hope that the local breeders then in turn, bring their breed stock and enter the show. We will also host Materiale classes for the 3, 4, and 5 yr old young stock.

Year End Award Party: We would like to schedule the party for Saturday, Feb. 22nd. Is there a chapter member that would like to host this fun event? The CDS placques will be distributed at the party in addition to the chapter 2013 awards. We will be hosting a silent auction at the Year End Award Party with the proceeds to go to the Stacey Berry Scholarship Fund. Anyone with items to donate please contact Susan Ward at sw4horses@gmail.com, to arrange a pick up/delivery.

Stacey Berry Scholarhip Update: Susan Ward has generously donated two "Tie One On" quarter sheets to the silent auction with the money raised to go to the Stacey Berry Scholarship Fund.

2014 SN Chapter Board: Susan Ward, Beth Coffey Curle, and Jennifer Smith have agreed to stay on the board. Madora Daniels has agreed to continue to do the book keeping but not be a board member. Michele Ting will continue to be the chapter webmaster. We would like to encourage other chapter members to join the board. Beth currently takes care of chapter communication and Susan and Jen coordinate educational events for the chapter. All three would like to keep their current role. We would like other chapter members to come forward and help with the running of the chapter. We will need a chapter member to represent the chapter at the CDS meeting in January in Sacramento.

The time commitment varies depending upon the time of year. For those who say - well, I show, I can't help - all of us show or have shown and been on the board. It is entirely do-able plus a lot of running the chapter is done prior to the actual dates of our shows. We have one chapter meeting per month in Reno and the chapter board members are expected to attend as this is the only time we are able to meet face to face. We do communicate via email in between meetings if neccessary. Some roles require an hr a month - others require a few hrs of your time prior to a show or activitity. The heaviest demand is on the volunteer show managers. In addition to the actual show, judges and TD's need to hired and contracted, travel and accomodation arrangements made, licenses with CDS, USDF, USEF renewed, insurance arranged. This job can take a few hrs a month during the non-show season. Yes, it helps to find someone that isn't currently actively showing or who shows out of the area. We try to share this job so the manager is working half days or just one day of a two day show. All of us on the board see being active in the chapter as a way to contribute to our sport and we actually enjoy what we do. Obvioulsy the more hands, the less work. If we are to be honest, chapter board members get burned out. All efforts and contributions are appreciated. Whether you are an Open rider, an AA rider, or a Jr/Yr rider, your input, your ideas, and your efforts are appreciated. Please email Hilari Fleming at jmharrisreno@sbcglobal.net, if you would like to join the 2014 chapter board.

The meeting was adjourned so we could all sample the delicious food set out by Shari Walsh and Susan Hahn.