Greetings from the RS

Happy New Year! I hope 2015 brings each of you much joy and happiness.

2014 was a wonderful year for our clubs and we had many successes. Our membership numbers continue to be strong through the end of 2014, and we have money in our "coffers" to continue to provide outstanding rallies, clinics, preps, and opportunities for our members. We will miss our leaders that resigned at the end of 2014 including Vicki Fox, RIC, Leslie Pitcher, VRS Activities, and Valerie Page, Treasurer. I really appreciate the support that each provided to our region over the past few years and appreciate their willingness to work with their replacements to ensure an effective transition in 2015.

Our Pony Club year is starting off at "break-neck" speed with H-B Preps starting January 10th, a Horse Management Clinic for parents, friends and older Pony Club members on January 18th, and our USPC Annual Meeting in Crystal City running January 21-25. All that in just the first month of year!

 Thank you to our new RIC, Kris Gerald, for pulling together the H-B Preps, to our new VRS Activities, Erin White, and Brian Smith, our HMO, for pulling together a fantastic day of HM training, and to our VRS Administration, Dawn Bellinger for implementing our new VRPC website and admin database. Everyone has hit the ground "running" and I appreciate all the efforts.

This year brings much change for VRPC and the way we do things. We will continue to improve communication and information sharing, as well as improve the tools we use to get things done! Last year we started with "on-line" registrations and learned a lot about our processes, and what works and what doesn't. This year, as we implement the new Apricot software, we will iron out new bugs as we go. Please be patient with us - we are all learning together and trying to make it simple and effective. Thank you for cooperating with Dawn on getting your profiles loaded and responding to her requests for action. By being response to her requests, she can spend more time improving the tools and less time hounding people to take necessary actions.

If you haven't already registered for the Annual Meeting, please do so NOW! Registration is open through January 6, noon. After that, late registration and on-site registration is available but the cost goes up by $15. Don't forget, the VRPC will reimburse $20 to each youth member that attends. To be eligible, members must be members in good standing by 12/31/2014. Refunds will be issued after the Annual Meeting. The meeting is for everyone - DC/CA and jDCs/jCAs will benefit from the meetings on Thursday and Friday; leaders, parents and members will benefit from the workshops on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday; everyone will enjoy the trade fair, silent auction, and networking!

Please contribute to the Annual Meeting Silent Auction.  DCs/CAs, please reach out to Margaret Good (westerlyva@aol.com) and Vicki Fox (vfoxfamily@aol.com) as soon as possible to let them know what you are contributing to the Annual Meeting Silent Auction. Our region, your club, directly benefits from the sales of our auction items. We expect each club/riding center to contribute.  In order to support the Annual Meeting efforts we will not have a silent auction at the Quiz Rally! 

Looking forward to seeing you at the Annual Meeting!

Horse Management Training Clinic at Morven Park

• What is Horse Management?
  
• The roles and responsibilities of Assistant Horse Management Judges (AHMJs) at rallies.
• How to oversee and volunteer in different aspects of HM at rallies.
  
• Hands-on training in Required Equipment judging, First Set-up and Safety,
  Turnout Inspections, Horse Inspections (formerly known as Jog Outs).

National Candidates' Tips
Topic:  Testing Part 1
Submitted by Vicki Fox 

Pony Club members who wish to obtain a certification beyond C2 attend national ratings, organized by the USPC.  Candidates select a test date, register and submit payment through USPC. Test applications and payment are due 12 weeks prior to the test date.  Region fees are additional and paid directly to the host region. Check out USPC National Tests for details, FAQ's, schedule, etc.

Tip #1:  Always be responsive to any e-mails from the national examiners or the test organizer.  They are your main points of communication for all things regarding your testing.  Send any requested information, paperwork and fees promptly.

Tip #2:  If you are planning to be a candidate for your first national riding test this year, start preparing now.

• Have a clear understanding of the requirements for your level test.
  
• Review the Standards and the Test Sheet.
  
• If you’ve never taken a national test before, attend a testing and observe how the test is organized and run. This will give you a “leg up” when you go to your testing.

Tip #3:  Bandaging & Longeing - I cannot say enough about the need to continually practice bandaging and longeing for the national tests.  Many of the candidates have been extremely weak in these two areas with several candidates not meeting standards during the last couple of years. 

Besides poor technique on the bandaging, many times the material used is too thin.  Take some time this winter to make the bandage yourself.  This way you can make it as thick as you want and not have to rely on a store bought one being too thin.  Never, ever use No Bows at a testing for bandaging!!!  Yes, you can double up the padding but it’s even harder to manage two bandages and have a good wrapping technique that will meet standards.  

Tip #4:  PRACTICE!!  PRACTICE!!  PRACTICE!!

Watch for more information in the February issue!

Annual Meeting Volunteers Needed