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For over 60 years, the Delta Riding Club has been hosting shows and events for area horse owners and riders. With strong ties to its agricultural roots and with the generous support of the Delta Agricultural Society, Delta Riding Club and its volunteers continue to foster family participation at all its functions. Our community shows -- open to all -- are run with breed show precisions

and provide a competitive atmosphere for

novice and seasoned exhibitors alike;

new members and exhibitors are

welcome.

Wednesday, February 8

Regular monthly meeting, 7 pm

April 29 English/Western
May 6 Hunter
May 13 Percent Day
May 27 English/Western
June 10 Percent
June 17 Hunter
June 24 English/Western
August 11/12 Summer Classic
August 19 Percent
September 9 English/Western
September 16 Hunter

For me, the new year begins when the days get noticeably longer – right about third week of January! Have you noticed? It’s light past 5! This is the time when I think about blanketing and waiting for those first weeks of a shedding winter coat. While waiting for the water buckets to thaw …

Time to do your paperwork

It’s also the time of year when all our memberships become due – and Delta Riding Club is no exception! Pay your DRC membership in by February 28 and you will get $10 in DRC bucks to use any way you like on any of the services (like entry and concession fees) DRC offers! You can download our 2012 membership application from the website: click on “Members” on the navigation bar at the top and then the running horse in the lower right hand corner. Be sure to let us know how you would like to help this year, too!

Show dates confirmed

If you follow DRC on Facebook, you’ll know that we confirmed our 2012 show dates a while back. For those of you planning your year, here’s the dates you won’t want to overlook:

You’ll see we’ve added an extra English/Western show (wheee!) and in consultation with our Hunter exhibitors, we’ve added a Hunter show in the fall schedule! We’ve also moved our fall Percentage Day to August! It turns out that for 2012, we were about the last to declare dates which made it very easy to avoid most conflicts! The show program will be up on the website at the end of February.

We aren’t planning to fix what isn’t broken (and our shows have been pretty much glitchless the last couple of years, I’m happy to say), but we are considering a few changes. We’re dropping Pleasure Driving in favour of a Discipline Rail class in the English division. (Discipline Rail is a BC Heritage class.) There seems to be some interest in an “Ideal” class (where horses are ridden then untacked partway through for conformation judging). I think that would be very fun (and spectator-friendly) but it is time-consuming and we’re not looking for our EW shows to run any longer than they already do. Something else may have to go! And then, there’s been some excellent feedback on our Western division, and we’re adding a class or two more for walk/joggers (of any age of horse or rider). And we’re juggling some classes around to be more exhibitor-friendly because that is what this is really all about! It is all still a work in progress …

Our shows will be BC Heritage and APHA PAC approved. (See [www.bcphc.com] for more information if you own a registered Paint Horse.)

We are determined to keep our shows safe, friendly and welcoming to all skill sets of exhibitors – for those experiencing their very first time in the show ring to seasoned exhibitors who need to get some miles on their horses (and hopefully mentor others along the way). We’re looking forward to another great season starting April 29th.

Leveling the playing field

Your directors met for the first time this past week! We are thrilled to have newcomers Louise Douglas, Diane Prosser, Megan Schiewe and Leslie Dowler (who was awol – something about the commute from Hawaii!!) on board, and we want to say thank you and best wishes to retiring directors Alicia Harper and Julie Crouch. Alicia has moved (and her horses are about to follow) to her own digs in Mission and she is now up to her knickers in alligators volunteering with the Mission Horse Club! She has a big trailer, though, so we hope she will continue to bring her crew (and baby Ayden) down for our shows!

Topping our agenda right now is securing sponsors for the new year! We have fixed operating costs that can’t be covered by memberships and show entries alone so this is a big and important task. We want to once again thank all our 2011 sponsors for their support, and hope we can count on all of them again in 2012!

Aside from our fundraising efforts, our biggest objective between now and April 29 is to improve the footing in the main ring. Bruce and Don are putting their heads together on this one and we hope to have some good news soon. Keep your fingers crossed!

And not knowing how and when work on the ring is going to take place, it’s hard to consider spring clinics – although we are open-minded, if anyone has suggestions! Please let us know!

That’s it for now!

Please send in your memberships as soon as possible to be eligible for your first DRC bucks of the year! There were so many exhibitors last year who weren’t DRC members (and yet otherwise would have qualified for year ends) or who were doing well but didn’t make the minimum show requirements – and they lost out on year end awards! SUCH a shame!! We offer class awards ($10 gift cards to our favourite tack stores) in addition to the big stuff! You’d be surprised at how easily you can be taking home year ends!! (And how nice they are!) And if you’re not showing or riding at DRC, a social membership means a lot to your tireless directors who appreciate your support!!

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Patiently waiting for placings during an English class, June 2011

Directors & Committees