Hello PSHA Family. I am excited to be back as your PSHA President. While my tenure doesn’t actually start till the first of the year, Nate and I are working together to make sure you get all the information you need coming out of convention and looking towards the new season.
This is a big year for PSHA. We told you last year that we’re working to take steps into the digital age. Well, we aren’t there entirely, but we’re getting closer. As promised, we have a new website. Along with this will be a lot more information available to you, including real-time average updates as well as state and interstate rankings. There will be a few changes that come with this. But we’ll adjust and I know that you will love the benefits of the new system.
Additionally, we as an organization have a tough task ahead as the financial impacts of the last couple of years are putting pressure on us. Again, we’ve had to make some adjustments, but we’ll unite and be better for it!
New Website:
The new website is officially live … If you’ve gone to www.patternedspeedhorse.com in the last couple days, you’ve seen it!
One of the changes we get to make this year in order for the new website to be a success is that we need to change rider numbers. We will be moving away from the old region numbers like Y213, H064 or C333. Instead, each of you will have a unique 4-digit rider number like 1127, 1063. Along with that, each horse in the state will have a unique 4-digit number like 5007 or 5237.
These new numbers are listed on the website, and you can look them up. You can go into the new website and register with your email or rider number. You’ll be able to manage your profile to add other family members, which will help you watch their times and manage entries in the future.
As we move forward, we’ll be able to pre-enter for shows work on other advancements.
Timers Sheets:
One of the changes that we’ll need to make as we adopt the new rider and horse numbers is an adjustment to our timer sheets. This rider/horse number change may seem daunting, but we’re going to make this as smooth as possible.
We’ve included a new Electronic (Excel) timer sheet with the appropriate columns. You can use these for your computer and send them to Candice or Print them and hand write in them as well Scan them and email them to Candice or Make a copy and mail them like before.
If you’d like a quick tutorial on using the electronic sheets, reach out to me and we can do a zoom meeting!
They look something like:
- If you still have a pile of the old carbon copy sheets that we’ve used for years. That is okay to use too. Please just write the rider and horse number over in the far-right Horse name column.
- If you or the riders don’t know their new numbers, please don’t fret. Just use their old Region Number (Y213, H064, etc) Candice will convert them. But we want to make the effort to get the new number going.
- At each show, Candice will provide a set of unused rider and horse numbers to fill for New members and New Horses.
- X riders are still x riders. So, take them on just as you would before.
Membership Fees:
As Lesa Notes in her summary, we need to raise Membership fees as things aren’t getting cheaper. They’ll go up $10 each for Individual and Family Memberships. $30 / $50 Starting immediately. If you’ve already paid for the year, you are good to go. But we’d gladly accept the additional $10 if you’re feeling generous!
Sponsorships:
Sponsorships have been an important part of funding State Finals for many years. But we’ve seen these sponsorships drop off in recent years. This year, more than any in recent memory, gathering sponsor dollars is significant. Our Executive team and State Finals committee is doing everything we can to maintain the $29,000-plus dollars that go into State Finals awards. But the reality is that not all of the money is there. We need your help talking with sponsors and raising money. We are working on ways to make it easier to collect sponsorship dollars too. In the meantime, please check out the attached sponsorship forms.
Upcoming shows:
It’s a light schedule so far, but the NVR Winter Series is about to get started. Here is the calendar as we know it now
- NVR Winter Series Show 1: Nov. 12 at Pape Arena in Lynden. Show starts at 930AM
- NVR Winter Series Show 2: Dec. 17 at Pape Arena in Lynden. Show starts at 930AM
- NVR Winter Series Show 3: Jan. 14 at Pape Arena in Lynden. Show starts at 930AM
I think I have taken enough of your time for this month. Please read through all the attached information. If you have questions, please reach out to someone on the executive team to find out answers. If you want to know about the website or how to navigate some of these changes. We are here.
Enjoy the winter. Drum up some sponsorships and keep your horses fit. Spring is coming!
See you soon!
Jamie