Marilyn Weber, Chair

2011

I received 50 results that were eligible and 4 that did not qualify plus one request two weeks after the closing. This year in addition to the plates, we are offering one saddle pad at each level of the recognized division for training through grand prix.

All awards have been picked up and certificates are being printed.

Marilyn Weber



2010

We had 56 scores submitted of which 3 had to be eliminated due to lack of membership. Our biggest problem appears to be getting H/R combinations signed up in advance for the trophy order. The trophies have to be ordered 8-9 weeks in advance of the banquet. Without sign ups I just have to guess at the order numbers because I do not know how many horses are showing at each level. This year we will give out only 43 awards due to an increase in training level participants and a decrease in first  and second level participation.

In 2006 we gave 40 awards: in ’07--31, in ’08--24, and in ‘09, 49 awards were presented.

The plates have been the most popular in the past with the possibility of upgrading to platters, pitchers and soup tureens. We could revisit the awards choices with a poll on the web site and at the dinner.

Leslie Burkett, Chair

2011

Goal: Select a ‘partner charity’ in which a selected CLD show would provide a designated portion of the net proceeds to a charity who would, in turn, provide volunteers for the specified show.

Recap: A variety of charities were reviewed and discussed at several of the CLD board meetings. After much review and discussion, it was decided to visit Refuge Ranch and get to know them better. The CLD members that visited the ranch were very impressed with the facility. It was well thought out, organized and maintained. The volunteers were enthusiastic and well informed. Alice spent time with Chris Daniels, asking questions and gathering additional info about the facility, their goals and mission.

Results: Our visit was shared with the Board, who is also enthusiastic about partnering with Refuge Ranch. A tad more research needs to be done, the terms established and concurrence acquired by all parties.

Future: The decision will be forthcoming from a future board meeting. The decision will lay the ground work for the next steps for this effort.

Kate Fleming-Kuhn, Chair

On November 12-14, CLD’s Annual “Education Days” will take place. I have secured Cindy Ishoy as the instructor. She will teach at StarWest with lunch and lectures on Friday and Saturday. Also, she will give a talk during the Awards Banquet on Saturday night. We easily filled the event with riders and there seems to be a lot of excitement building about the event. We are hoping to draw a nice group of auditors as well.

On June 4-6th, 2010, we had a very successful CLD clinic with Col. Christian Carde. , with 32 different people participating. This event drew some new people to audit, including one from Colorado, and was enjoyed by all who participated.

Coming:

Emily Wagner clinic. 2011 Fall Education Days. And a blockbuster clinician for the 40th Anniversary Education Days in 2012.

Janet Fitch, Alice Martin, Nancy Simpson

Work has begun on trying to locate charter members of CLD which will celebrate its 40th Anniversary in 2012. Hopefully, some of them will be able to attend our annual awards banquet in 2012. The three founders, Elaine Powell Gibala, Alice Martin and Genelle Royer Bishop, have committed to attend.

Preliminary planning has begun for special events throughout that year--like anniversary cake at our four annual shows--culminating in a top clinician for Education Days in 2012. Anyone who would like to join the committee is cheerfully encouraged. If you are a charter member or have the address of some early members who moved from this area, please get in touch with Alice Martin.

Kelly Griffith, Coordinator

2011

As Grassroots Coordinator this year, my primary focus was continuing our efforts of increasing the awareness of CLD in Champaign-Urbana and the surrounding areas. Additionally, there are a number of individuals who once belonged to CLD, but for various reasons are no longer members. My goal was to coordinate and/or host events that would energize enthusiasm in CLD and its mission.

Last year I coordinated a CLD sponsored clinic at Oak Hill Farm (Terri Stark’s farm in St. Joseph, Illinois), and my hope was to be able to coordinate another similar clinic in 2011. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to coordinate a clinic prior to my move to Springfield in September. My goal these past couple of months has been to find a willing person in the Champaign-Urbana area to volunteer as the Grassroots Coordinator so that we can continue our efforts there. I have contacted several individuals in Champaign-Urbana, but I haven’t located anyone willing to take on this role.

I will continue efforts to locate someone in the Champaign-Urbana area, but I know that with some advance planning/preparation, I can still work with Terri Stark and host some CLD clinics at her farm.

2010

As Grassroots Coordinator this year, my primary focus was to increase awareness of CLD in Champaign-Urbana and the surrounding areas. Additionally, there are a number of individuals who once belonged to CLD, but for various reasons are no longer members. My goal was to coordinate and/or host events that would energize enthusiasm for CLD and its mission.

CLD financially assisted a member, David Blake, with his trip to Germany with his young horse Lord Albert. (David is the son of long time CLD member, Nancy Blake.) In exchange for the financial assistance, David agreed to do a clinic for CLD at a later date. David has been doing clinics in the Champaign-Urbana for several years and CLD thought it would be a great opportunity to have his clinic hosted in the Champaign-Urbana area. I was responsible for planning the clinic and working with Andrea Blake, David’s wife, to procure a date for the clinic.

The clinic will be hosted at Oak Hill Farm in St. Joseph, owned by former CLD member Terri Elsesser (now Stark) on Saturday, November 27, 2010. The clinic will consist of 4 rides, followed by a lecture/Q&A session. The clinic is giving preference to junior/young riders ($75 per ride) and then to adult amateurs ($100). I am responsible for the details of clinic, including the scheduling of rides, collecting the money for both the rides and auditors, and preparing the food. I will also host a Barn Tour at my farm (Hickory Ridge Farm) following the clinic at Oak Hill Farm.

I will have CLD membership forms available at the clinic and any other materials that would helpful information to potential members. I am hopeful that we will gain new members for 2011 from this event.

Leslie Burket and Elena Voigt

Goal: Open up a line of communications with other GMO clubs to foster sharing of information and collect demographic information.

Recap: As with any new position, there was much organization and research required, up front, before communications could be pursued. As the data was collected and organized, the focus of the communications developed and the resultant, ongoing, club communications had a purpose. Clubs welcomed the infusion of new information and an avenue to expand their audience.

Results: The concept was to encourage the sharing of information about upcoming club events, shows dates, clinics, education opportunities and newsletters. The shared information would be added to the website and newsletter of the club, if adequate time were allowed. Several clubs I contacted even used email blasts.

Originally, the target audience consisted of the following four clubs:
IDCTA - IL Dressage & CTA
Little Egypt Dressage Association
Great River Classical Horsemanship Association
SLADS - St. Louis Area Dressage

Our emails were well received and clubs responded positively to all of our communications. This triggered a second wave of initial communications with the following three clubs:
Michiana Dressage Club
The Dressage Company
Wisconsin Dressage & CT

CLD maintained open communications with these clubs, sharing information about three major events.
Col. Christian Carde clinic – June
Centerline Dressage Classic I and II - August
Cindy Ishoy Education Day – clinic and lectures – November

Future: The hard work and research has been completed. The future focus of this position will be on how to increase the level of communication among these clubs.

Pinky Noll, Membership Secretary

2010 finished with 108 members, which was 8 more than in 2009. Most members renewed early, with the discounted membership fee structure reduced to $25 if paid prior to November 15.

Memberships for 2011 have started to come in, but have not yet been processed. Thank you all for a good couple of years in this position. I am stepping down , to let another club member participate on the board.

Alice Martin, President

Without numbers, our club has less influence for good in the world of dressage. Membership has risen from 78 when the new officers of the Board assumed office in January and stand at 108 for 2010. Without education, our greatest purpose under our charter, is useless. Two symposiums, Col. Christian Carde, and Cindy Ishoy, have been held for 2010. Two youth clinics, subsidized by the club to encourage those under 21 to begin their long process of dressage education have been held in 2010, one in March and one in July with Melanie Michalak. A third youth clinic is scheduled with David Blake on Thanksgiving weekend.

Four shows, two schooling, IceBreaker in April and FireCracker in July, and two rated, Classic I and II in August, have graced our calendar. CLD approval was granted to a schooling show at Chrisman and many members enjoyed the two schooling shows at Tower Hill, site of next year’s Al Khamsa Dressage shows.
Grace to others has been voted: to Emily Wagner to compete in Europe on her homebred, and money was donated to the Region 2 Jr/Young Rider Team. On the home front, an education grant was given to Paula Briney, a clinic grant to Jordan Meadows, and a scholarship to Amanda Graham. Tonight money will be donated to Bill Schomburg, a fellow horseman who has suffered a grievous accident.

The CLD Handbook has been updated, the By-Laws revised, the working Board expanded from 12 to 22, regular communication with neighboring GMO’s has been formalized, CLD members assisted with the Region 2 Championships. Educational lectures were conducted with tours and potlucks at Pratense Farm, Heartland Veterinary Clinic and Sangamon Equestrian Center. A group of members toured the Currier & Ives trotting horse exhibit at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and enjoyed lunch together afterwards. A movie and pizza party topped off the group outings thus far. We have our Awards Banquet and the annual Christmas party yet to go this year.

Of the 22 ideas proposed in my first President’s letter in January 2010, 20 have been accomplished during the year. Look forward to a joint Scribe clinic with members of ARAB, Inc. early in 2011 and preparation of an officer’s handbook to enable newcomers to the board an know the duties of a particular office. Farther in the future is the celebration of our 40th Anniversary in 2012. Ideas and volunteers cheerfully accepted.

Anne Scrivner, Coordinator

Prior to the show season, in accordance with new USAE rules, a safety coordinator was appointed.

I assembled a notebook containing a comprehensive accident preparedness plan, a shorter version of the plan to go out on the clipboards of ring stewards and scribes, maps of the show site, driving directions to show, to the trauma hospital, and to the closest animal emergency medical facilities, and signs and badges to help competitors identify show staff members.

I provided a copy of the plan to the TD and held a brief meeting with staff to exchange phone numbers and to make sure everyone was aware of the plan on the day of the show.

We did have one accident at The Classic. A rider was unseated during her test in the outdoor arena. She was evaluated by EMT at the scene and showed no apparent injury, nor did the horse. Both were able to walk back to the stable. However, within about twenty minutes, members of her party reported that she was confused and had no recall of the accident. An ambulance was called, the rider’s vital signs were monitored, and she was given oxygen until it arrived, by which time her sensorium seemed to have cleared. She was taken to Memorial Medical Center where she was evaluated (and had a C-T scan) before being released. The TD filed a report and informed the rider of the need to obtain a medical release before her next competition.

The remainder of the season was uneventful.

Classic I & II August, 2011


There were 123 rides entered Saturday and 115 rides entered Sunday, with 116 actually ridden on Saturday and 100 actually ridden on Sunday. There was a total of 73 horse/rider entries, with 17 of them Junior or Young Riders. 238 Tests were used. The total entry revenue was $24,049.00, Expenses were $20,613.67.

Jeanne Craver, Classic Secretary




FireCracker Schooling Show 2011

There were 36 rides entered with 30 actually ridden.  There was a total of 17 horse/rider entries, three Juniors and 14 Adult riders.  The total entry revenue was $593 and we collected two new member fees.  Twenty-nine ribbons were awarded in 16 classes:  12 - 1st, 6 - 2nd, 5 - 3rd, 2 - 4th, 2 - 5th, 2 - 6th.  Thirty tests were used.   We were fortunate to have a donation of two sets of polo wraps from Kathi Cannon and thus has no expenditure for prizes.  

Income :  $593

Expense:
Judge                     $150.00
Holy Land Diner     $50.00
Prizes                          0
Tests                          $1.50
Ribbons     $39.44
Net Income:                     $352.06

Jan Gurga & Julie Nichols, Co-Managers

Nancy Simpson, Secretary

Minutes from the Board Meetings are printed in the Newsletter. The Secretary keeps a notebook of printed minutes which will be handed on to each new Secretary who serves on the Board. Any CLD member is welcome to see this notebook.

The mailed ballot for the election of four Board members was prepared and distributed on October 12, 2010, in accordance with the By-Laws.

Email voting: 11 ballots returned; unanimous for all 4 candidates.

US Postal mail: 9 ballots returned; unanimous for all 4 candidates.

There were no write-in candidates submitted.

Janet Fitch, Alice Martin, Kate Fleming-Kuhn, and Deb Porter are elected to the Board of Directors for the term November 2010 through November 2012.

Janet Fitch, Chair

The committee is comprised of Janet Fitch, Alice Martin, and Marilyn Weber. This year CLD has added a new scholarship, the Clinic Scholarship, to our roster. The first ever Clinic Scholarship has been awarded to Jordan Meadows to enable her to take part in the Cindy Ishoy symposium in conjunction with our annual Education Days.

We also made awards for our other two scholarships, the Academic Scholarship and the Cheryl Finke Scholarship to allow members to take advantage of extraordinary opportunities to advance their riding careers.

At the 2009 Awards Banquet, CLD presented the second annual Academic Scholarship to Chrissy Simpson. We also awarded a Cheryl Finke Scholarship to Paula Briney to help defray the expenses of participating in the 2010 Conrad Schumacher Dressage Symposium. The next Academic Scholarship winner will be announced at the 2010 Awards Banquet.

Marie Meadows, Treasurer

As of Oct 31st we have not received the bills for the water, electric, stall cleaning, stall rental, phone use, etc. from the Illinois State Fairgrounds for Classic expenses. Being Treasurer over the last ten months has required a lot of time for me to incorporate a system that works best for me so that in the end it will aid the club when reviewing income and related expenses. In addition every transaction that requires a check to be written is supported by hard copy documentation. All income received and expenses paid are tracked by the CLD Profit and Loss Spreadsheet and on a hard copy written account as well to assist the accountant when it is time for her to do our 2010 taxes. Upon review of the books, an error that was made many many years ago was found. It appears that we have approximately $1700 more in our checking account than what is reflected currently on the CLD Profit and Loss Statement. I am waiting for receipt of the October bank statement before I include the $1700 amount in our checking account balance. Good news for the club!

Over all: IceBreaker took in $877 less expenses of $471.06 = Net income of $405.94

FireCracker took in $700 less expenses of $485.11= Net income of $214.89

Classic I & II took in $31,966 less expenses received to date $15,726.36 - $16,239.64 (still waiting on final bills from the Fairgrounds).

Membership received during the calendar year, $1197.00; membership fees paid to USDF during the calendar year $1225.00.

Michalak - 2 youth education clinics brought in a total of $570; expenses were $1198.50. CLD subsidized the $628.51.

Carde Clinic broke even - $4426 plus the $750 ($5176 total) received from The Dressage Foundation $5176. $3853.92 was received for the clinic and $572.69 was received for food. We broke even and returned the $750 to The Dressage Foundation.

The club made two generous donations: 1. to Emily Wagoner and Wakeup in the amount of $2000 to help offset cost to attend the European Young Horse World Championship 2. a $200 donation to the Region 2 YR/JR Team.

Tax preparation was $650; $793 to insure the club for shows, clinics and other club related events; $500 in scholarship paid out thus far; $638.49 to print and mail the CLD Handbook; other misc .expenses can be seen on the 2010 CLD Profit and Loss Statement.

Please be advised that this statement is through Oct 31st only and that there will still be financial income and expenses for November and December which will include the CLD Education Days Ishoy Clinic, incoming membership paid to the club and the club paying a fee to USDF for each member, the CLD Awards, Reader, Web site fees and other misc cost.

Martin Kuhn, Webmaster

Nov 1, 2009 - Nov. 1, 2010

The CLD Website and accompanying newsletter continues to be a popular resource for dressage enthusiasts.

Site Costs
Total costs to CLD Nov. 1, 2009 to Nov. 1, 2010.

Hosting Costs (Yahoo.com)	$179.25
48.6 billable hours (less 15% discount)	$510.70
Less $5.63 overcharge from June 2009	$5.63
Totals	$684.32

Traffic & Referrals

As in previous years, the CLD website gets its highest level of traffic around the time of CLD Classic I & II. The most visited pages on the site, in order:

• Home Page (News)

• Results

• Shows

• Calendar

• Downloads

• Classic

• Horse Fair

• Contact

• Links

• Letters from the President

CLD’s site gets the majority of its traffic from the email newsletter and from people typing in or bookmarking the site. We also get quite a bit of traffic from Google and other search engines, as well as referring links from StarWest, Lloyd Landkammer’s site, and the Region 2 site. We enjoy web traffic from six continents.

E-mail Update Newsletter
On October 12, 2009 we started using the current system (provided free from Mailchimp.com) to send out the email update newsletters. From then until Nov. 1, 2010 we have had only three people unsubscribe. We have grown from 126 recipients to 161. These emails go to all members with email as well as to any non-member who wishes to sign up for the free newsletter.

Future of CLD Online
At the March 13, 2010 executive board meeting, the board unanimously authorized the spending of an additional $30 to get software needed to revamp the look and feel of the website as well as to add search capabilities to the site. This feature is planned for implementation during the winter of 2010/2011.

Jordan Meadows, Youth Coordinator


This past year we were able to organize one youth event. It took place on October 24, 2010. Three youth, including one prospective member, and four adults attended the movie Secretariat followed by pizza at Coz's Pizza. Overall the event went well, but I am hoping that we can get more involvement next year.