March 2007 Hoofprints

• 4-Her's,
  Sorry this is so late getting to you all. Busy, busy! Anyway….
  
• At our March meeting we welcomed one new member, David… Congratulations!!
  
• Happy Birthday to Michelle, Sheri, Jessica & Julia!!
  
• The historians requested pics of the NE trip to be brought in for the album and any other events.
  
• County Council made a report and is getting back to us on County Camp costs.
  
• Community leaders reported other shows that are coming up include: Beef (Apr. 20 weigh-in if you’re only doing Fair or you can weigh in on Apr. 21 if you’re doing the show that day), Sheep (May 5), Goat (May 5), Dog Show (May 26), Swine (Jun. 2).
  
• Community Leaders also announced Arena Clean-up dates of Mar. 28 at 6pm before dog training, Thurs, Apr. 12 at 6pm, Wed, Apr. 18 at 6pm, Sun, Apr. 29 at 1pm before Alyssa’s Halter Clinic (2-4pm). Be sure to bring magnets, wear gloves and bring a bucket. Let’s get that arena in shape so we can have Level Testing and other open arenas before show season begins.
  
• Lauren V. made a presentation on Helmet Safety, which included an excellent DVD (provided by the Ptak’s) and a reference to her own head injury and the importance of her helmet that day 2 years ago.
  
• Training/Schooling:
  Alyssa will be putting on a Halter Clinic from 2-4pm on Sunday, April 29th in the beef barn at the fairgrounds. Everyone is welcome to come and learn something new or just to support Alyssa.
  
• A Show Clothing presentation will be put on by Jo from Roy Frey’s Western Wear from Topeka immediately before our April meeting…Wed, April 4th at 6pm. Please come support our Training/Schooling Committee and learn what the hot new fashions are for this season in Showing your horse.
  
• A Horsemanship/Trail Clinic is being put on by the ladies at Fow Eye Ranch for free from 2-4pm on Sat., Apr. 14th, immediately following the Dog Training Graduation. Come support the Training/Schooling Committee and learn something new for this show season. Remember that you don’t need to bring your horse or any tack. You’ll be using their horses, so bring your helmet and wear your boots and be ready for some great fun and learning.
  
• 2-Day Horse Show/Fun Show: July 14th and 15th are the dates for a fabulous time showing the first day, sleeping overnight at the fairgrounds with your horse and a Fun Show the next day with low stress and only fun classes. The committee is looking into swimming the first night after the show. We’ll have pizza, games and lots of fun. More info to come.
  
• The club attended the Nebraska Horse Expo on Mar. 10-11 and had a great time, learned some things and did a little shopping. A report will be made at the April meeting.
  
• See Abbie Grossnicklaus, county agent, and the latest Clover Clips if you’re interested in being on the Equine Team.
  
• Regarding Club Days, County Agents, Abbie and Sarah, are getting some new judges for next year. If you have any comments or suggestions or ideas for judges please call them at the extension office. The seniors and juniors did a great job with their dances. Both teams received purples at Club Days and the seniors received purple/juniors-blue at Regionals. All participants were awarded their ribbons and judge comments were read at our March meeting. If you didn’t get yours please see Alyssa or Clarissa.
  
• The club had their first trail ride scheduled for March 24th, but was rained out. I believe the rainout date will be April 21st at Kill Creek park. More info to come at the April meeting.
  
• Michelle announced that they are doing Jump Judging again this year on May 12th/13th. It’s a fun-filled and exciting day. You get a t-shirt, water, lunch and a lot of excitement in helping to judge all the jumpers. No training is necessary, they’ll do it when you arrive. It’s held over by Grandview off Hwy. 71. Lauren and I did it last year for a half day and had a great time. If you’re interested, see Michelle Ptak.
  
• Nancy V. spoke about our BIG upcoming Circuit Show on the 26th of May. THIS IS OUR ONLY FUNDRAISER AND WE NEED EVERYONE TO STEP UP TO THE PLATE AND HELP OUT!!!! All 4-Hers are needed and all parents are needed. A sign-up sheet was sent around to sign up to help in the many different areas. All the people that signed up are greatly appreciated. Please consider signing up in more than one area. The biggest need that wasn’t filled yet is 1-3 adults to organize and head up the Concession Stand. We also need adults to supervise throughout the day in the Concession Stand. Noone wants to be in there all day long, so if lots of people sign up no ONE person will bear the load. Please consider taking this on and working with a more experienced member or a newer member. We still need lots of help at Registration, Announcers, Awards, Grounds Crew and 4-Hers to be runners and Grounds Crew. Below is a brief description of the many different areas we need help with. Please read through these and get back to me by phone or email where you’d like to sign up. Remember we need EVERYONE’S help with our ONLY FUNDRAISER of the year. This is one of your requirements for our club.
  
• Registration: Joyce will be heading this up (Thanks, Joyce!) and she will train you when you arrive. This job is for adults only. We need people who have neat handwriting/print who can hang out at the registration table for about 3 hours. There is one spot left at the 8-11am shift; there are 2 spots left at the 11-3pm shift; there are 2 spots left at the 3-7pm shift; and there are 2 spots left at the 7pm to close shift which includes closing out people’s tabs and packing up.
• Ring Steward: We have one adult spot left for this job. Michelle and Brandy are the other 2 Ring Stewards signed up. You will be in the ring for 1/3 of the judged classes which could be 1-3 hours. You’ll be hanging out by the judge and relaying, by walkie/talkie, her commands to the Announcer’s stand. Then the announcer will announce over loud speaker what the class participants are suppose to do with their horses. You’ll also be working with the 4-Her runner who’ll be running the results up to the Announcer Stand. We need a steward for classes 1-13; 14-29; 30-44.
• Concession Stand: We usually have lots of 4-Hers that sign up to run the concession stand. As an adult you’ll be responsible for making sure that everything is running smoothly and overseeing the 4-Hers working at that time. This may include making sure we have enough drinks in the coolers, making sure we have enough food ready to serve at busy times, making sure we have enough change to operate, etc. The actual order taking and serving and money exchange is mostly handled by the 4-Hers. We need about 5 adults to sign up to work the concession stand for 2-3 hour shifts. (8-11am; 11-1pm; 1-3pm; 3-6pm; 6-8pm. And we need the three “In-Charge” adults that will organize, buy food and do the planning.
• Announcers: We need 3 announcers to work in the crow’s nest. This job means you’ll be speaking over the loudspeaker throughout the classes you sign up for. You’ll have a radio which you’ll communicate with the ring steward on. They’ll tell you what the judge wants the competitors to do and you’ll relay that info over the loudspeaker. You’ll also announce placings and write those down in the record book. You’ll work with the people at registration when there is a last minute addition to a class. Good record-keeping skills is a must and singing is not allowed over the microphone (although very tempting). We need 3 adult volunteers for each of the following: Classes 1-24; Classes 25-44; and Classes 45-59 racing events. During the racing events portion of the day, we always allow an experienced 4-her to help out with the announcing and Clarissa has volunteered for this position. No little children that are not 4-Hers are allowed in the crows nest. The volunteers must be focused as this is an important position.
• Grounds Crew: We need strong volunteers for setting up the Trail portion and the racing portion. This job of Grounds Crew involves helping the judge set up cones and patterns and equipment for racing events and trail class. Generally anyone that’s available can help with this, we just need to have someone responsible for certain classes so the show is not held up waiting. Classes 10-15(showmanship); classes 23-24 & 33-41; Class 44 (trail); and Classes 45-59 (racing) need volunteers.
• Awards: Throughout the day, competitors will come out of the exit gate and that is where they will pick up their award plaquettes. It will be the responsibility of the adult Awards person to write down the competitor number and which placing they received. The 4-Hers that will be working with the adult can hand the plaquette to the competitor. These are all color coded and sorted for you ahead of time. It will be a class by class activity. Each adult will have one or more 4-Her working with him/her. We need volunteers for classes 1-24; classes 25-44; classes 45-59.
• Gates: We have the 3 adult positions taken care of on this and just need 3 older 4-Hers to work the exit gate for classes 1-24; classes 25-44; classes 45-59. If you are a younger 4-Her and want to work the gate, you’ll need a parent working with you at all times during your shift. This job means you’ll be opening and closing the gates during classes and working with the announcer on complying with what’s going on in the arena.
• Runners: We need four 4-Hers to act as runners throughout the day. This job can be for any age 4-Her. You’ll need to sit on the bleachers below the announcer stand and run the class results to the announcer so he/she can announce the placings. You’ll be working with the Ring Stewards and the Announcer. We need runners for classes 1-13; classes 14-24; classes 25-33; and classes 34-44. No runners are needed for the racing events.
  
• Thanks to the Knutsen’s for snacks and the drinks from the Hodgdon’s. For April snacks will be provided by the Rief’s and drinks by the Morrison’s.
  
• Other important dates to be sure to put on your calendars:
  May 6th is a Back to Basics Clinic and open arena at the fairgrounds.
  June 5-8 is County Camp.
  June 6 is a Back to Basics Clinic and Open Arena at the fairgrounds.
  June 9-11 is Rodeo Bible Camp for juniors
  June 12-16 is Rodeo Bible Camp for seniors
  
  Thanks,
  Garrett and Nancy