Happy Holidays, everyone! I hope this finds all of you well this month!
First off, our annual banquet & High Point Award presentations will be here before you know it!
January 14th, 2024 – Noon – Cooper’s Hawk – Springfield, IL
If you plan to attend, please RSVP to John Simpson at jsnrhorse@prodigy.net by January 9th!
We have set the date for a new club venture! On March 23rd, we will be holding a microchipping clinic at the Illinois State Fairgrounds. We will have the use of the Livestock Center and one of the barns in the 25 series. Stay tuned for more details (including activities beyond that!), but mark the date on your calendar now so you don’t forget! All horses showing at USEF events will need to be microchipped starting on December 1, 2024.
If you’re interested in helping at all with this clinic, please let me know. We’d like to make this an educational and useful day. A couple ideas are in the works, and I will keep everyone informed once we get closer.
On a similar line of thought, please remember that for all USEF shows going forward, your horse must have a USEF ID number. Basics on that can be found at https://www.usef.org/compete/resources-forms/horse-services
We are still busy at work planning our shows for 2024. The Springfield AVS will be first up on April 20-21 in Springfield, IL. It will be a similar format including the CenterLine Dressage IceBreaker Schooling Show, but the structure has been slightly adjusted to accommodate more rides over the weekend. The prize list will likely be released in January.
The Region XI Sport Horse Championship & Pre-Show will be held May 23-26, and plans are going well for it, too. Please note for both of our shows this year that we highly recommend getting your entries in to guarantee your ride times. This schedule has also been adjusted for 2024. The pre-show will remain the same, but the Regional portion will be different. One day will be devoted to sport horse in hand and under saddle, and the other two will be focused on dressage and western dressage. We hope this new schedule makes the facility work a little better for everyone!
I’ll also give a reminder for a few shows not hosted by our club but supported by us. The Region 11 Championship (non sport horse) will be held May 30 through June 2, the Midwest Charity show is scheduled for June 11 through 15th, and the Centerline Dressage Classic I & II is set for June 22 & 23. All will be held at the Illinois State Fairgrounds, and we encourage everyone to consider these shows!
Thank you to everyone who helped make 2023 another great year for ARAB, Inc. I chat with members of other clubs and Regions quite often, and I am so appreciative of the group we have here! I hope to keep things moving forward in 2024!
As always, if there is anything you’d like me to share with the club or to share to a wider audience on our Facebook page, please let me know!
Chelsea
ARAB, Inc. 