April 2015 - Appleatchee Riders

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April 2015
Appleatchee Riders Association
PO Box 22, Wenatchee, WA 98807
Located at 1130 Circle Street
Wenatchee, WA 98801
509-663-3175 phone ~or~ 509-664-3834 fax
[email protected]
www.appleatcheeriders.com
FROM THE OFFICE
Show time is now in full swing. The next three weeks will be very busy and then we will
settle into a more normal routine. Please try to schedule your hay deliveries on Mondays
and Tuesdays this month for ease of delivery and for safety in the barns. I have let Ross
(who frequently delivers hay) know our schedule for April.
Stall renters should be cleaning up after hay deliveries and feedings. We need to be sure
all loose items are removed from our stall fronts and around the tack rooms. If you see
trash on the grounds while walking to and from the arenas, please pick it up and drop it in
a trash can at either end of each barn. This really does help the grounds crew.
If anyone has a good working refrigerator that is no longer needed, we sure could use a
better one in the club house. The club house is starting to be used more and we are trying
to restock some worn out items. We could use folding table and chairs, pots and pans etc.
If you have any items you would like to donate contact the office.
Please welcome new members Sharmon and Andy Hilliard, Yanet & Juan Garnica, and
Oscar Sosa.
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If you are going to park in the main parking lot while hiking, please stop by the office so I
can give you a card to place in your car. That way we know which vehicles belong to
members
--Susan
REVIEW THE GROUND RULES
Please review the items below, and make sure your teenage children are also familiar with
these items. We are receiving a lot of complaints about these rules not being followed:
FROM THE APPLEATCHEE GROUND RULES
Non-Member Guest:
Non-members are not permitted on Appleatchee grounds except as a guest of Appleatchee Riders
for one time and only in the direct, immediate company of a member. Spectators are welcome at
any club-sponsored event. This rule does not apply to out of town house guests of a member.
Turnout of horses:
a. If the roping or middle arena is available, horses may be turned out for a maximum of 30
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
minutes to stretch their legs and/or while renters clean their stalls and paddocks. Turnout
in these arenas need not be supervised.
Turnout in the covered warm-up arena permitted for 15 minutes only during inclement
weather. Horse must be supervised at all times. Riders who want to enter the indoor arena
must honor the turnout and use the north entrance to the arena or wait the 15 minutes. After
the horse is caught, they can then enter the arena from the south.
A minimum of two riders has preference on the turnout arena if and only if no other arena is
available for riding.
No turnout in the round pen unless supervised at all times. Time limit 15 minutes.
NO TURNOUT IS PERMITTED IN THE TOP ARENA AT ANY TIME.
NO TURNOUT IN THE INDOOR ARENAS AT ANY TIME.
Turnout may be limited during ground rentals.
ATTENTION STALL RENTERS:
We are at the beginning our show season and beginning with April we start out with a
BANG
Starting with the WA Quarter Horse Show the first week, thru the Appleatchee Riders
Barrel Futurity the third week, begins this years member barn lockouts.
The WAQHA will need our stalls early Wednesday April 1, with a few needed Tuesday
Mar. 31. Lockout will be 8am Tuesday March 31. They purchased a load of bulk shavings
for their exhibitors. They'll have someone bed their stalls Tuesday. Please do not take
any of the shavings as WAQHA paid for this.
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The WRHA will be back April 9-12. They will be arriving Wednesday April 8th. Lockout
will be 8am Wednesday so our guys can bed stalls for them.
The last lockout for April is for the Appleatchee Riders Barrel Futurity April 1719. Lockout will be Friday April 17th 8am.
We realized this is 14 days of being locked out of our stalls, but look at this this way. If all
120 stalls are filled at $15 per night for 11 nights that is approximately $19,800 that helps
keep our rent low and almost pays for the re-skin of A-Barn.
Thank you for patience
ROPING
Spring is finally here, And we are looking forward to moving
back outside. There will be no rain-out options throughout
the month of April due to a very full events calendar. Our new
steers have arrived, and we will start using the fresh cattle
April 3rd & April 5th. We are gearing up for our summer
ropings, and Jess Ford has committed to sponsor our
Memorial weekend saddles again this year. We are very
thankful to all our sponsors. They are all greatly appreciated!
If anyone is interested in helping with Chutes or Office work please contact Shawna. We
are always looking to train new reliable individuals to work for an hourly fee and on a
rotating schedule during our events.
We are also looking for awards/prizes for our “Dummy Ropers”, these are children that
are under the age of 10 that compete against each other roping a plastic dummy for
points. If anyone is interested in donating awards or sponsoring anything towards our “lil
dummy ropers” it would also be appreciated. Last year we held 3 dummy roping events in
the grass area. There were approximately 15 kids at each one on three of our big
weekends (Memorial, 4th of July, & Labor Day). We received lots of good feedback on
this.
The roping club will continue to practice every Tuesday night at 7pm. The fee is only $10
for members and $15 for non-members to practice. We are not certain about Thursday
night practices yet. There is a small group of people who would like to introduce Ranch
Roping. If anyone is interested, please feel free to contact Ken or Terri. We would like to
encourage everyone that is interested in exposing their horses to cattle, please to come
join us.
Team sorting practice is scheduled for the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month.
Appleatchee members $15 and non-members $20. Practice starts at 6PM for set up.
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Everyone gets a full 2 minutes in the pen sorting, with a minimum of 3 times each. Please
see the Sorting Division report below for more information and updates.
Check out our appleatcheeropers.com and see pictures of our winners along with other
pictures of ropers, and link to our Facebook page.
UPCOMING DATES:
April (Outdoor Roping Arena)
4/03/15
Friday Night Draws
7:00 outside
4/05/15
Sunday Roping
11:00
4/10/15
Friday Night Draws
7:00
4/12/15
Team Sorting Comp
9:00
4/17/15
Friday Night Draws
7:00
4/24/15
Friday Night Roping
7:00
5/01/15
Friday Night Draws
7:00
5/08/15
Friday Night Draws
7:00
5/9-10/15
Sorting clinic
9:00
5/15/15
Friday Night Draws
7:00
5/22/15
Memorial Day Fri Night
7:00
5/23/15
Memorial Day Roping
10:00
5/24/15
Memorial Day Roping
9:00
5/25/15
Memorial Day Roping
9:00
5/29/15
Friday Night Draws
7:00
May
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TEAM SORTING
The final results for the winter sorting are in! Congratulations to the winners, especially
Tia Ragan (15 years old!) who managed to best all of us as the
overall winner! The Ragan family had a pretty clean sweep too!
The 1st thru 3rd winners in each division are:
Division 1: Tia Ragan, Monica Alloway, Amber Cook
Division 2: Sasha Ragan, J.D. King, Linda McFarland
Division 3: Sonja Ragan, Brock Ragan, Christy Patterson
Division 4: Jamie Judd, Terri Tincher, Thera Judd
Awards are as follows:
 1st place: Cactus-brand Appleatchee breast collar
 2nd place: Appleatchee Sorting hooded sweatshirt
 3rd place: cow counter made by Squilchuck Saddlery
Upcoming dates…
April: we will practice in the outdoor roping arena. We will continue to practice through the
summer on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month in the roping arena.
May 9-10: Roger Braa clinic. There are ~8 spots left, so sign up now.
June 13-14: 3-man 8-go open competition.
Club sorting competitions for 2015: April 12, none in May (but we will practice on the usual
Wed. evenings), June 21, July 19, August 9, September 20, October 12, November 15, &
December 13.
We will continue to have 3-man (3 goes) and 2-man (2-6 goes) competitions the rest of
the year, but we are changing the 2-man format starting in April, to a jackpot format.
That is, no summer series with prizes at the end of the series as we have been doing. We
want to attract more people with higher cash prizes at each sorting, and we want all levels
of riders to have a chance to take home money, not just the very top riders. To do that the
2-man sorting format will change, as described below. We will try it in April, and then
maybe adjust for the summer…
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All teams will be drawn – you won’t be able to pick a partner. We are doing this so that
the chances of winning are even for most riders.
Prices will increase a bit ($40 for 3 goes at 3-man, $20, $40, or $60 for 2, 4, or 6 goes at
2-man) to allow for bigger prize pots; 50% of the entry fees will go to cash prizes for
winners of that day’s sorting.
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


o
o
o
o
o
The goal is to pay the 1st place riders ~3 times the entry fee (~$180 for 2-man), and 2nd
place riders ~2 times the entry fee. The more riders we have the more money in the pot,
the higher the prizes, and the more places paid out.
3-man sorting will pay off the best teams as we have been doing all along.
2-man sorting. We are trying a “2D” divisional format to sort riders by ability and
eligibility for prize money. At least for April we will try it this way …
after all the teams ride, for each rider we sum the total cows sorted (not clean runs first
anymore) and time, then
we rank the riders from high to low,
we divided the riders with any cows sorted into 2 even groups - “high” and “low divisions
(these are the 2 divisions in “2D”)
the top 10 riders from Division 1 and top 10 riders from Division 2 are randomly paired in
10 teams for a final 1-ride competition to determine the winners.
In a separate “summer buckle series”, each month from June thru September we will
awards points to the top 10 riders in each of the 2D divisions (determined at each event),
then sum the points after September to award a 1st place buckle and perhaps a 2nd place
prize.
I hope this makes sense. We think it will be great fun and reward riders at each
event. We are open to suggestions.
See you in the sorting pen! --John
PERFORMANCE
UPDATE ON THE BOWL
HUGE THANKS to Mary and Stan
Sawyer for donating two dump truck loads
of sand and then spending hours mixing it in
with the footing in the Bowl arena. Tammy
Wheeler is donating another truck load of
sand and has been raking in along with Stan
and Mary.
Julie Sauve is planning on
spraying the arena for weeds and then the
Bowl Committee will be back to clear
those out. The Bowl is gaining in its use
and its proximity is a benefit during those
long weekends just ahead. Getting by the
throngs in the parking lot can be
disconcerting, so think about walking
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your horse past all that and mounting up once you get to the bowl. There are several
things you can use as a mounting block. If you see something that needs repair, please let
the office know so the Committee can get on it.
When you go to use the Bowl, please remember that Stan is the only person grooming the
arena at this time. If you leave large divots in the arena or on the track, or before/after a
jump, please use the rake by the bank jump to smooth things out. This will help keep the
footing in good shape for everyone. Your help is much appreciated and since we are
member owned, taking pride in our club and taking care of our club really is what makes
it special.
Karen O Neal is on the agenda for group lessons and private flat lessons before her
jumping series at Appleatchee. Lessons are on a first come, first served. Contact Harden
Howell at 662 1169 c; 679 0328 h; or [email protected] for more information
or to sign up. Dates are:
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April 6
May 11
June 15
August 17
October 12
It’s funny, how a different perspective can allow us to change our tune…..with the huge
amount of lockout needed in April, there will be a lot of extra time needed to feed and
clean up after our charges. To be honest, l am one of those people who has belly-ached
about the extra walking, lack of parking, and nowhere ride, but I do enjoy the lowest stall
rents in the area. However, this year, I see it from a different angle, and I would love to
be able to take care of my girls, but both times I have been able to get to Appleatchee in
the last two weeks have been exhausting. And no matter how hard I try, I don't think I
would be able to clean stalls with my walker. LOL. And, so, as I look out from under the
other side of the coin, I look forward to being able to put one foot in front of the other
without any support and enjoy my time at the barn, whether it is riding, visiting with my
friends, walking around to feed or looking for a parking spot. You just don't know what
you have until you lose it.
Please remember that Performance Division encompasses a lot of members and their
interests. When a member asks that an event be added to the calendar it can sometimes
put a crimp on areas to ride in. One of Performance's goals is to promote education in the
way of clinics to the members, so that the members may enhance their skills and bring
more enjoyment to their time riding. Sometimes a clinic and a practice overlap, and for
this I apologize. Let's try to share our toys.
Pat Wyse brought his magic to Appleatchee to a full house of eager participants. I'm
hoping that Becky can talk him back next year when I have two legs to stand on.
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Make time for that ride, JoAnne
JoAnne
630 5821
[email protected]
RIDE THE BOWL
With Spring upon us and more riders using the facility, we are getting the Appleatchee
Bowl ready for use. The BOWL has been built mostly with volunteer labor and materials.
The maintenance also is done by volunteers.
Please feel free to utilize the facility. That is why we have it. BUT also please help us
maintain it. If you see something that needs to be done, do it. If you see something
broken or misused, please notify the office so it may be corrected or repaired. The BOWL
arena has been prepared by members using hard
work. The new sand has been donated and moved to
make the arena safer for riding. However, it is not
maintained for fast work or turns. It was originally
built as a dressage arena and should be remembered
as such. Please no barrel racing or reining stops.
Also the poles around the arena are barriers, not
jumps. If you wish to jump your horses, a helmet is
required and safety vest is suggested. Rakes and forks
are left available for you to use to help maintain the
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facility. Suggestions are welcome. Please notify the office or Bowl Committee. Thank
you! Remember-- it is yours to use and maintain for use.
Appleatchee Bowl Committee
Tammy Wheeler
Stan Sawyer
Mary Sawyer
Any others interested in helping!!!
Do you have news?
Horsefeathers is not just for Division reports. Do you have a new horse? How about
bragging about your awards or accomplishments? All of you have some interesting
stories, or how about an essay?
Please submit contributions to Katherine at
[email protected].
Mission Statement:
Appleatchee Riders Association is a member owned and operated equestrian complex.
It is dedicated to the encouragement, development and promotion of horse related
activities that are of interest to its membership and that are supported by member
involvement and by efficient use of Appleatchee’s resources. Adopted January 8th, 2006
SERVICES
Squilchuck Saddlery makes custom leather horse tack & accessories – chaps,
chinks, cases, belts & spur straps to name a few - and repairs or rehabilitates your
old leather goods. My goal is to provide high-quality & timely service at a reasonable
price. Check out the pommel bags (photo) I made for Kelly
Cordell-Stine.
-- John Lehmkuhl. Contact me at [email protected] or 669-
7373.
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Colleen Clark Training
Specializing in Barrel Racing and Speed Events
Colt Starting and Lessons 509-670-6485-