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As you can imagine, after the months of preparations last Fall and Winter for the "State of the Horse" Convention held at the end of January, I’ve taken some time off to catch up on life and see my horses.
It was a difficult year with my mother’s illness and her passing away in October. I had to be on the east coast just when we would have liked to have reached out to more equestrians and groups to become involved in State of the Horse and to prepare for our annual meeting.
What a nice surprise it was in the middle of the holiday season and organizing State of Horse, when over 80% of our membership responded to the mail-in ballot within a week of the mailing. What a huge response at such a busy time of the year for everyone. It really gave me an emotional boost to enjoy your support with all the hard work we were doing at the time and working a full time job on top of it all.
Please take the time to attend our June 16th meeting. The history of the Valley Horse Owners Association is a rich one with many different people contributing to the preservation of horse keeping and equestrian land use over the decades. Come share a dinner with us at the Mandarin Terrace in Sun Valley on Saturday, June 16th at 6 PM and help us decide the future of the Valley Horse Owners Association. Thank you all.
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The new year is off and running and we are moving at a fast clip. The first quarterly meeting was held in January. There were a lot of contentious issues to be dealt with but we are all on the same page and working together for the best interest of horses and horsemen throughout the State of California.
Among the hot topics of discussion was the advent of possibility of publishing our own magazine. This is currently on hold as we get more information and cost factors and in the interim we will be putting out a CSHA newsletter with the assistance of Gini Richardson and others. Communication with our membership is a must and I am committed to improving that area.
We also discussed the need to make sure that the CSHA is in compliance between our Bylaws and the California Corporate code and our 501-C-3 non-profit status. I have appointed a special Ad-Hoc Committee for the purpose of studying this issue and reporting back at the April Quarterly.
Speaking of the Bylaws and Rulebook, it is currently getting ready to go the printers after some really dedicated hard work in editing, formatting and typing by two wonderful members, Greta De Graeve and Linda Quattlebaum. It should be ready very soon and when completed will be available in Book form (the new 8 ½ by 11 format) on the website and in CD form. The 2007 revised West Coast Horseshow Rule Book is also at the printers.
The Committee to put on the 2007 State Convention, led by Northern Area Vice President Bob Gage met at the quarterly and they are working hard to make that event a real success. It is tentatively being projected for the Sacramento area in November.
All of our 2007 Program Chairs are currently in place and you can get a listing on our CSHA website along with the Region Officers. I would encourage everyone to make use of our website. It is full of important information and we have had well over 800,000 "hits" by individuals seeking up-dates. Gini has done a really masterful job with this but she needs your input, articles and information constantly. Use it!
On the website I would call your attention to the Charitable Trust section. The Trustees, led by Paulette Webb, are working hard to bring every record up to date and they really need you assistance in letting everyone know about the Trust and the opportunities to make donations and contributions. Check it out!
When campaigning for State President, I promised that we, as an organization would be going "Back to the Basics" to return the CSHA to the position of being the leaders in the protection, promotion and preservation of the California equine community. That includes taking a pro-active leadership involvement in the area of equine legislative matters and Trails issues. Our Trails Chair, John Keyes, is being very attentive to trails issues throughout the State and it is up to each member to notify him of issues where we can assist.
Do our members really ride the trails?? YES !! Check out the latest TRAP Program listings and you will find that we are currently showing a whopping 78,070 hours in the saddle with Region 11 leading the way with 25,810 hours and Region 2 close behind with 20,480 hours. Everyone should be apart of this fantastic Program so contact chair Marie Grisham and get your hours logged. We use these figures to show legislators and council members just how much the trails are used and their condition.
That leads me to "Membership". Our First Vice President, Ron Jenkins, is working hard with every Region and Club to vastly increase our membership in 2007. Membership dues are the foundation of our financial structure and every member is a member of Ron's membership committee. You should all be carrying a CSHA membership application with you and invite your friends and colleagues to join. We had a terrific time at the Equine Affair and signed up several new members and potential clubs.
Till next month - ride safe and enjoy life. Jim Real - CSHA State President
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A family out for Sunday Drive in the Stonehurst community of Sun Valley. Stonehurst is a historic equestrian neighborhood preserving both horse keeping and stone houses built in the early 1920’s by Indian Stone Masons. |
The historical Stonehurst recreation center was not the scene of bucolic pastures and horse keeping during a February neighborhood watch meeting, but a seething and overflowing chamber of very upset homeowners waiting for their City Councilperson to arrive and explain newspaper accounts of possible eminent domain taking of their neighborhood for "redevelopment" and a new school.
Stone cottages like the one below are part of the Stonehurst historic equestrian community in Sun Valley that forms the beginning of a contiguous horse keeping community from Sun Valley through Shadow Hills up the Tujunga Wash around the Hansen Dam area to Lake View Terrace with trails opening into the Angeles Forest and big and little Tujunga wash.
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Lake View Terrace--The San Fernando Rangers and Sidekicks hosted the 38th Easter Service on Horseback sponsored by the Rangers, SideKicks, Valley Horse Owners Association, and the Improvement Association and Home Owner's Association of Lake View Terrace. The Winners of this year’s dress up for Easter: For best dressed horse--Rambo, Lakota, and Shanti--accompanied by Terry and Susan Kaiser (top right). For best dressed riders, Joanna Yortiss riding Joey (lower left) and Sarah Snook riding Moe (top right).
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Aseembly Bill AB 576 proposed purportedly to keep a dairy farm from close proximity to a state park in Tulare County and resolve a local dispute could have state wide impact on recreational equestrian use in state parks.
AB 576 may have been proposed to prohibit a particular dairy farm, but according to Beth Palmer from Malibu Farms, the term "Animal Feeding Operation" is a federally defined term that includes horses. Everyone knows that if this bill passes it will be applied to horse facilities. No animal facility, including horses, will be able to exist within 2.5 miles of a state park.
According to Palmer, "First, a court in Sonoma County issued a ruling that horses are not agriculture. In November, the Coastal Commission used that case to argue that Malibu Valley Farms was not exempt under the agricultural exemption of the Coastal Act because horses are not agriculture. We have all personally seen how one decision affects everyone in the state and how every agency will use one small item to back up its position and move its agenda forward."
The members of the Valley Horse Owners Association are your neighbors and fellow equestrians. We share common interests such as the agricultural zoning in our communities, preserving our semi-rural lifestyles and using our land for horse keeping.
Our membership keeps up to date on issues in the community, city and county government that effect horse keeping and land use. We attend public hearings and promote cooperation to preserve our quality of life and to ensure we are represented by our elected officials.
The Valley Horse Owners Association acts as a clearing house for information and a liaison between the horse community and officials and politicians.
Land Use: We promote cooperation between residents and organizations on equestrian issues, land use, planning and zoning matters. We realize that only by uniting can we have a strong voice in city government and prevail against the reckless development that threatens to eliminate horse keeping areas or changes in legislation affecting equestrians. We attend Land Use hearings, City Council hearings, etc., and act as advocates for the horse keeping community.
Trails: Our members report on trail conditions and usage. We cooperate with other organizations and Trails Councils to maintain and acquire dedicated multi-purpose trails.
EVAC Unit: Four teams stand by, equipped with trailers and two way radios to evacuate horses and other animals to designated 'safe areas' in case of flood or fire. In past years, we worked with the Santa Clarita Sheriffs Department and with the Wildlife Way Station in responding to fires.
The Hoof Beat: We publish a newsletter once a month called the The Hoof Beat. The newsletter covers issues related to horse keeping, land use, zoning, trails and public hearings as well as a calendar of events, reprints of equestrian articles and local news briefs.
VHOA.ORG:The web site offers us a place to provide more information, publish an electronic copy of The Hoof Beat, archive earlier issues of the newsletter, and a summary of on going issues.
Community Involvement: Many of our members are also involved in property owner associations and other community groups. This enables our membership to network across the San Fernando Valley sharing information and working as a united front to support the preservation of land use and zoning for horse keeping.
Copyright © 2002-2007 by the Valley Horse Owners Association. All rights reserved.
