Hello Everyone,

I apologize for my lack of President's letters these past few months...as you all know the horse show tends to eclipse everything when it comes to our club, and all efforts head in that direction! But now that the show has past, many of us who were involved can let out a sigh of relief that another show has come and gone and our tradition here in the Inland Empire has carried on for another year. While I know that not everyone who wants to be involved in the club is a "horse show person", we would be kidding ourselves to say that this show is not the heart and soul of the IEAHC. There are so many people that I want to thank for helping make the 2010 show a success...for those of you who don't come to the meetings, you would be shocked at how many man-hours went in to re-formatting the schedule from two 2 day shows to one 3 day show. Our hope was to create a schedule that was a more relaxing one for people and their horses, with time to have some fun and enjoy themselves. We hope that we succeeded!

I would like to thank Greta Dority, for being a terrific show manager her very first time out; Marilyn Martin for decorating the center ring and always helping with anything I asked her to; Gayle Henjum, who helped me through the sometimes confusing quest to create the show prize list and program, as well as always updating and keeping our web page looking great; Marcelle Richmond, Marilyn Martin and my mom Laila Owen for their hard work putting together such a nice Legion Award party to compliment our exhibitor's party; Lois Rice for her office expertise and quick adaptation to scribe or assist the judges at a moment's notice; Jesse and Justin for hauling in and out all of that "darn" trail equipment and finding our lost poles; Sue Swanbeck for keeping everyone supplied with delicious lattes and snacks so we didn't get grumpy; everyone on the show committee, Carol Lippman and Crista Lambert and others I've already mentioned, and of course the ever helpful Shriners at the out gate...it wouldn't be our show without them! And a big thank you to Ken and Debra and  Dave Smith Motors for their generous corporate sponsorship of our show...how lucky we are to have such generous people in our midst!

I have to say that it's been a long time since I stood at the gate through an entire show, and it brought back so many memories. The people I spent my teen-age years with at these shows all showed up to help me out. Hanging on that dusty old in-gate hasn't changed much in the last 25 years, and a lot of us that were watching the classes then are still watching them now.

And on that note, it makes me a little sad to say that I will not be able to do this next year. This will be my last year as the club's President, as I feel I just do not have the time and enthusiasm to contribute in the way that I should. Although our club has gotten smaller over the years, it remains filled with people who truly love the Arabian horse. You are an inspirational group, and I just know that there is someone out there who would make a great Club President for the next year or two. We cannot put on the show without a club, and if there is no president, there will be no club.  I know you're out there!!  Please let me know if you are interested in having a hand in keeping this wonderful long running tradition going.

In the meantime, please congratulate the following award winners from our 2010 show:

High Point English Youth:  Hannah Myers and Haute Bey
High Point Western Youth: Chandra Magnuson and Sunwood Kahadah
High Point Amateur English: Sylvia Glover and Virginia On A Dare
High Point Amateur Western: Laila Owen and FS Izod +/
High Point Specialty Horse: Marcelle Richmond and LMD Celebest+


Recipient of the Rita Clausen Memorial Trophy for Amateur Purebred Western Pleasure:  Marilyn Martin and Khonclusion LA+
Recipient of the Jim Hicks Memorial Trophy for Champion Stallion: Dana Valenti
Recipient of the Art Davidson Memorial Trophy for Amateur Half Arabian Western Pleasure: Just Jax and Sharon Kramer

Check out everyone's photos at http://pixelduststudio.net/

Congratulations and thank you everyone...have a wonderful summer, and get out and ride!

All the best,
Kari

Kari Gondry
IEAHC President
karigondry@gmail.com
Home: 509-443-9199
Cell: 509-939-0151
6723 S. Shelby Ridge
Spokane, WA  99224