Thanks to all of you for coming out to our second run of the Luck N Love buckles series this weekend.  Despite a few raindrops, the day turned out to be a huge success.  We ran a total of 114 entries in the Open, Youth & Senior classes and paid out just under $3,000.  We reduced our entry fees in the Youth & Senior classes to $25.00 - much to the delight of our members!

Special thanks to Liz Greenslitt for helping us get the ground prepped the night before the race.  Liz was extremely helpful in bridging the communication gap.  Liz, Ron at the Park District and Tractor Dean made a great team and we all enjoyed some really nice footing as a result. 

Our volunteers on Saturday included Liz Greenslitt who single-handedly worked the sign up window, Tractor Dean who worked the ground, Debra Zavatto in the Show Office, Chris Schmitt who set the pattern, and many of you who jumped in to set barrels throughout the day.  A BIG THANK YOU goes to all of you who helped us out!

We recovered a beautiful hackamore after the race - if it belongs to you, please contact susan@nbhaca.com and give me a description of it.  If you can tell me what it looks like, you can have it back!!!

Many of you have asked how we are tallying the results for the buckle series.  The results will be tallied just like District year end points - we will not drop any times or runs - and each time you place in the top five in your division, you will receive points.  Points are awarded to individual horse/rider combination. 

 Again, thanks to all of you who came out to our second run of the series. 

Our series opener couldn't have been better!  Great ground, great weather, and a great time was had by all at the first run of the Love N Luck Buckle Series.  Many new members signed up at the show and we are very happy to welcome them to the NBHA.  Some were first time barrel racers and we thank all the members who helped them out during the course of the day.

We ran 78 riders in the Open and paid out $3000 over the course of the day!  Many volunteers helped make the show very successful.  Thanks go to Mariah Greenslitt who helped us with some pre-race coordinating, Debra Zavatto who worked our Show Office (and had the checks out within three minutes of each race ending and AUDITED race results posted every 25 riders), John Tabak who announced and was our on-site paramedic, Tractor Dean Hendrickson who worked our ground, June Verseput and Jennifer Duke who worked the gates, Annie Sanchez for working our show sign ups, Eddie Conradson for working the ground and thanks go to William for keeping Eddie company!  We would also like to thank Chris Schmitt for getting us Diesel, working the ground, and setting the pattern.  Julie Lane and Paula Coffman-Johs, I thank you both for always being there and lending hand where needed.

District 17 member, Lauren Crivier, has started a new business venture making freshly baked horse treats.  Lauren is recent graduate of the Cordon Bleu Culinary School and she is an amazing pastry chef, so I'm more than a bit jealous of my horse right now!  We are looking forward to seeing more of Lauren's delicious creations at future races!

We are pleased to let everyone know that Sabina Pariser is expected to make a full recovery from her injuries sustained at yesterday's race.  She broke her leg in two places and underwent surgery.  We wish Sabina a quick and speedy recovery.  Sabina was the winner of our "hard luck" award, an 8x10 photograph donated by our show photographer, Julie Dobin.  If you'd like to send Sabina a card, you can send it to NBHA California and we will forward it along to her.

Lastly, one of the greatest joys of being involved with the NBHA as a Director is watching our youth grow and learn as they strive to be their best and ride their best.  I know I wasn't the only one who watched with pride (and even cheered and yelled a bit) as we watched Caitlyn Loomis and Coco win the Open and Youth races by smoking a 17.373 on a full standard pattern.  Many of us can still remember back in the early days of District 17 when we first started the Pee Wee program - Caitlyn was our very first District 17 Pee Wee Champion.  Who knew she'd go on to accomplish so much, in so little time, in her barrel racing career?  We are all very proud of her. 

The New Year is off to a GREAT start!  The Western Region's show at City of Industry this month was a huge success and LOTS of fun.  Great ground and lots of happy faces.  The facility was super secure, they even checked the trailers to make sure the horses were leaving with the right people!!!

We are looking forward to a great 2008 season - we are kicking it off with the Love & Luck Buckle Series in Simi Valley.  More details are available at www.nbhaca.com . 

We have THREE new District Directors this year.  CA03 welcomes April Hickey as their new Director, CA14 welcomes Colleen Brock and CA18 welcomes Wanda Walterscheid.  I know that they will do a great job with the new race season.

Lastly, our State Qualification requirements have changed this year.  You will be required to make SIX runs at your local District to qualify for State.  If you have questions about qualification, please contact your District Director.

We wish you a safe and prosperous 2008.

 Prayers for Becky and Brenda....

This was forwarded to me today by e-mail from Charleen Ornellas at ACBRA - it looks like it was originally written by the folks at Gold Coast -

I talked with Becky Ford just now.  She is back in the hospital.  Apparently, the lung she punctured has become infected and they are monitoring her very closely at this point.  (It's so sad - she sounds depressed and helpless.)

 

Brenda is making progress but she was told she needs to wait four more weeks before she can begin putting weight on her left leg.

 

So far, the planning for the 12/15 Fundraiser is going well.  There will definately be a lot offered for the riders and their family members attending.  I'll be sending an e-mail with more feature details soon.  In the meantime, I thought it might be helpful to get the word out that there has also been an account set up for the ladies at a local bank.  This would be especially helpful for people who know them out of state or those wish to donate during the Christmas Season.  If each barrel racer sent just $5, it would surely add up to a significant amount.  Would you mind passing this information on to through your mailing lists on line?

 

Donations can be sent to the following:

 

Becky Ford or Brenda Taber

c/o South Valley National Bank, Ms. Baker

500 Tennant Avenue

Morgan Hill, CA  9037

Account #01017111984

 

Thanks for your help with this.  Feel free to call us at the Gold Coast Office if you need more information.

(40 779-6621

 

Best Wishes,

Edie, Gayle, Judy

We hope that our members in Southern California are faring well during the fires.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of those who were affected by this terrible disaster.  For those of you who would like to help any of the displaced animals (or people), State Line Tack is matching all donations. 

http://www.statelinetack.com/firedonation.asp?srccode=donateCS

Use the link to make a donation today.  I made a $60 donation last week to the San Diego Humane Society at the urging of some posters on the Barrel Horse World Bulletin Board.  Since then, State Line has stepped up to the plate and offered to double all donations!

If any of you down South with horses need help, please don't hesitate to contact me so that I can help get the word out.  susan@nbhaca.com or 818-317-7852

We're back home and the dust is finally settling after our 2007 State Show.  WOW - was the ground AMAZING or what?  One pro rider actually said it was the best ground she'd ever ridden on in her life.  That was the highest compliment we could have been paid. Thanks to John Dienhart and West Coast Footings/Red Master Harrows for the great job!

The awards were to die for.  Buckles AND Saddles to first in the Open, Breast Collars AND Headstalls to second in the Open, and awards all the way down to 10th place.  We went six deep in the Youth & Senior & buckles all the way around in every class.

We tried some new things like running the late entries first on Sunday to help people with a long drive ahead of them get out of Tulare earlier in the day.  With the full backing of our National office, we followed the lead of our National Show Crew in doing this, and we are not sure if it was well received.  There are some who hated it, and some who loved it.  So let us know what YOU think by going to our Vote Caster on the www.nbhaca.com website.

We also implemented the chute system that National uses.  We know we need to "tighten" it up a little by making modifications to the layout.  More stopping room, longer alleyway, etc... but all in all, it went over very positively.  Again, let us know what you think on the vote caster.

We know the Pee Wee Awards went on longer than we had planned and we plan on doing this OUTSIDE the arena next year so that we do not hold up the race.

We have lots more to plan and think about until next year.  Our goal is to improve the quality of our shows for barrel racers and model ourselves in the image of our National Show Team.  Many of us will never go to the World Show in Georgia, and I think that creating a show for you that has a lot of the same elements incorporated into it is a good thing for all of us.  

So go to the vote caster and let us know what YOU think..... 

We are finally in the homestretch towards are State Show.  My husband is now officially the "NBHA Widower" because he hasn't seen his wife for the past month.  My seven year old daughter has learned how to cook and can nearly drive herself to school now - she's also gotten quite good at taking messages on the phone and screening my calls.  Needless to say, I've been a VERY busy person. 

It hasn't been for nothing, though.  Thanks to Jan Evanson's great taste and aplumb for working the best deals, we've got 16 saddles - 12 are by Cecil Phillips/Shiloh Saddlery and 4 are Pee Wee Saddles from LFS.  26 Dale Chavez buckles, and AMAZING custom tack by Danyelle Campbell, the awards line up is not only lavish, it is first class, all the way.

Our Grand Entry has been coordinated by Julie Lane.  Julie has worked hard to recruit riders to give us a mounted performance, and from what I hear, they did a great job.  Thanks to Mariah Greenslitt, Jennifer Duke, Alli Smith, Lindsay Russo, and Rachelle Dobin for making this happen.

Paula Coffman-Johs has been hard at work with our volunteer roster.  We've almost got everyone assigned to their post and the good news is that no one will have to work for more than 100 riders - and hopefully, that's only two hours!!!!  Over 60 of you responded to our call for help and I'm happy to say that this year's show will be very smooth and well organized as a result.

Judy Gill has ponied up some sponsors and some GREAT awards for the Dog Races.  This year's proceeds will go to the Y-ME Breast Cancer Organization.  The Overton's have agreed to help coordinate the event at the show and Liz Greenslitt has volunteered once again to be a judge.  Thanks to all of you for making this happen.

Sara Honegger from District 16 will be setting up a volleyball court - this will be a lot of fun for our youth riders to work out some of those pre-run jitters!

Deanise Heer will be coordinating the CartACorral Raffle and Chamane Shellstrom (District 20 Director) will be hosting a silent auction featuring tickets to Dr. Phil.  All proceeds from these fundraisers will go towards the NBHA State Awards Fund.

Debra Zavatto has commandeered the Show Office and will be running a tight ship.  Results will be audited every 50 riders to assure timely posting of each day's results.  John Tabak will be our Announcer, once again, this year.

Colleen Brock has volunteered to help me out this year so that I can run my gelding - I sent him to Cathy Cooper's two weeks ago so that I won't look like a complete idiot on him - we're still getting used to each other!  So if you're in the mood to watch paint dry, be sure to watch my run...err....lope at State this year.

Returning from our Santa Rosa show as our official greeters are Pops (Frank Zavatto) and Darla Brothers.  Be careful, they look like cute little old people, but they've got some attitude and a huge sense of humor - so don't be afraid to speak up while you're looking for directions!

The Sibley's (their daughter won the Pee Wee Saddle last year) ponied up a saddle sponsorship this year for the Pee Wees, Dean Hendrickson got the buckles and a saddle sponsored, Julie and Paul Lane sponsored a saddle, as did Bart and I.  We're paying back 100% of the entry fees and we've spent the processing fee we've collected on small prizes and ribbons for all.  This will be our best pee wee program ever. 

Some of you may receive invoices in the mail this week.  These are because you may have short paid your entry or called/faxed it in.  Please bring the pink invoice with you to the check in to expedite the check in process.  It will make things much easier on our staff.

Also, many of you will receive your refund checks this week for vet outs & overpayments.

I am leaving for Tulare on September 30th - so quickentries.com will not accept anything after 9/28.  You can still late enter at the show.  You must be signed up before the first rider in that class rides - I highly recommend signing up on Thursday or sending your entry in with someone who is arriving on that day.

Stall assignments will be made by Districts and priority stalls will be assigned in the same manner as last year.

Thanks to all of you who made this happen -

We received terrible news today that Squeak Valenzuela has suffered an accident while riding his horse. His wife found him unconcious and had him taken to the hospital.  Squeak is having trouble moving his right side, and his prognosis is not yet known.  Today is Saturday, September 8 - we will provide an update for you as soon as we learn of anything new.

If you would like to send Squeak a card, you can either send it to the NBHA California address (21704 Devonshire St., #280 Chatsworth, CA  91311) and I will forward it to Squeak or you can phone or e-mail Susan Eskander for his address.

Everyone on the NBHA California team wishes Squeak a speedy recovery - we hope to see him back in action very soon!

Let's Go to Vegas!

The Draw is up on www.nbhaca.com - visit the home page for links!  I'm so excited I can't see straight!  Almost 700 entries this year in the Open!  That's up from last year and I'm sure there will be lots of late entries.  Nearly 300 of the entries are coming in from the State of California - so a big thank you goes to all of our California Members who rallied and supported this race.

Lots of great stuff is going on with NBHA.  We just received word that through an agreement between 12Basket Productions, www.barrelhorse.com , and NBHA National, we are going to have LIVE WEBCASTING at our State Show.  This is GREAT news and will help us not only share our race with the rest of the Nation, but it will also benefit our sponsors.

So big thank you's go out all the way around!

The weather is finally breaking and it looks like our season is off to a great start!  I FINALLY went and ran at a barrel race this past weekend at District 17's season opener.  I was on a new horse that just has just come out of training, so I won't go into detail about my stellar performance.  Needless to say, the horse knows what to do and I'm not keeping up with him!  What a great turnout they had.  It was nice to get together with old friends and talk about barrel racing.

There were some questions brought up at the show and I thought they were very good ones.  There is a lot of buzz regarding the NBHA John Deere Show in Vegas in June.  Here is some information:

HEALTH CERTIFICATE AND COGGINS
You will need a current health certificate and Coggins to attend this show.  The Coggins cannot be performed more than six months and the Health Certificate within 45 days in advance of the show.  You may be asked for this when you ENTER CALIFORNIA on your way home from the show at the border checkpoint.  The State of California will not allow your horses to enter the State without these papers!

NEW NBHA THREE MINUTE RULE
There is a new rule being enforced at all NBHA National Shows.  You must start your run within three minutes of being called to make your run by the announcer or you will be disqualified.  

Please visit www.nbhaca.com and follow the links on the home page to the John Deere Show for answers to frequently asked questions and updates from our National office.

VOLUNTEERS FOR STATE SHOW
We are looking for volunteers at our State Championship Show.  We will only work you for a few hours and you will receive in return 

1) discounts on your stalls
2) free logo'd shirt by Panhandle Slim to wear during your shift (or your run, too, for that matter!)
3) One raffle ticket for every hour worked to be put into a special raffle (limited to volunteers only) for a brand new custom saddle sponsored by BIT N SPUR (www.bitnspurtack.com) worth $2000.00!  There will be other great prizes in the raffle, as well  - we are working on more sponsorships for this program.

Please contact susan@nbhaca.com with your shirt size to volunteer, or with questions.  We will ask you to set barrels, work gates, or man the show office.  We will NOT schedule your volunteer time near your run time.