In January the board, our office manager and other interested people (total of 26) will meet at Silver Falls Convention Center for the annual retreat. This year the topics we plan to discuss are:

• How to increase volunteerism
• Issues for chapters
• ODS Championship and Open show
• ODS League Show Program and Championship
• Insurance compliance and other issues
• Fund raising
• Establishing committees for the year
• ODS Finances and meeting increased costs
• Education projects for the year
• Practice show standards

The purpose of the retreat is to plan for the year, brainstorm about solutions for issues and establish teamwork among the board members and other key volunteers. The March column will report the results of this year’s retreat discussion as well as the board meeting which will occur there also. In the last column you learned of the board restructuring which was passed at the last board meeting. As a result of this we have 3 directors and two of them have accepted executive board positions: Ed Miller who is now our President Elect and was formerly a regional representative and Sally Temple who is entirely new to the board. I would like to give you the opportunity to get acquainted with Sally and asked her if I might include a bio about her in this column. I also asked Ed, our new President elect to introduce himself to the membership as well.

Sally has always been interested in equestrian activities and has shown First Level at both league and recognized shows.  She is particularly interested in promoting quadrille teams and has actively worked toward that end.  Organizing clinics, educational events, and practice shows have also been a focus.

Sally and her husband, Jim, live 25 miles west of Eugene near the small town of Noti. For the last 16 years, they have built a home there on their 13 acres and enjoy a garden and all of the benefits of country living.

The local Springfield/Eugene ODS Twin Rivers Chapter has begun a busy year with many activities.  The club had an organizational meeting this November and has been rejuvenated by over 24 enthusiastic members.  Sally is president of this group for 2007-2008 and with everyone’s hard work and planning will put Twin Rivers “on the map”.

Being on the ODS Board will be a rewarding position for Sally and she
looks forward to assisting ODS members, dressage enthusiasts, and the board reach their goals.

Since moving to Ashland OR from the east coast 10 years ago Ed Miller took up the sport of Dressage seriously.  He joined ODS at that time and have been an active member of the State of Jefferson Chapter of ODS, serving as board Member and President.  Until elected as a Director at Large, he was a Southern Region representative on the ODS  Board of Directors.

Ed currently have three horses at various stages of training from a baby just getting started to one schooling 4th level.  He will be competing a young horse at second level this year.  Besides being a competitor he have been active in the organization and presentation of shows.   He is particularly interested in riding as an art form with emphasis on partnerships and grace.

Until next month,

Marsha

ODS President’s Column January 2009

Since we have just returned from the 2008 USDF Convention this month’s column will be a report of the issues presented and decisions made.

The USEF Dressage Committee very graciously agreed to withdraw the current Performance Standards Proposal after ODS and PM Delegates stood with California Dressage Society and several other large GMO’s to request the committee not go forth with the proposal at this time. The committee listened and responded and they will go back to work on a new format which may very likely end up being a rider test at each level to grant proficiency to move up. The rider tests would be based completely on the rider and not the horse.

The USDF proposed budget which was presented by ODS member and USDF Treasurer Barb Tuohino Funk was rejected by the Board of Governors. The proposal was for a balanced budget but included substantial dues and fee increases and the addition of some new fees. After a very long discussion the Executive Board and USDF staff was directed to balance the budget without raising dues or fees. Barb was on the podium for hours directing the debate and discussion of this topic and she did a great job. I am very proud that we have had an ODS member on the Executive Board. Barb has put in hundreds of hours for USDF and her work has been greatly important and appreciated. Her job is not over as she will have to put in many hours revamping the budget.

One of the programs scheduled to get the ax due to budget constraints was the High School Dressage Pin program. Our Youth program coordinator, Gaye McCabe and another person from another region lobbied hard to retain the program. The other person was actually able to find a sponsor for the program during the convention and it due to that and the fact that there is are several years worth of pins that have already been purchased the program has been saved.

The rule regarding entering the arena at A only will go back to committee to be revised so that the concerns the rule addressed are dealt with without the enter at A only clause. The just of it is an arena opening will be allowed at spots other than A, except for C where there will be no entry or exit. If the opening is not at A then the fence must be closed for the test.

The USDF Committee on Governance presented a draft proposing reorganization of the current USDF Governance. The draft is detailed and the committee admitted it was not a finished project. The main issue being reduction of delegates on the Board of Governors by more than half and a reduction in the number of councils and committees. The Board of Governors voted to table the Governance changes until the 2010 Convention. I hope the proposal will be available on the USDF website for members to review.

There was once again discussion regarding the National Dressage Championships for Adult Amateurs and possibly for Open Riders that do not compete in High Performance Dressage. Money put aside for this purpose has been a part of the “Qualifying Fee” PM’s pay when entering a class to qualify for the Regional Championships. The first such championship would be held in Lexington, KY in 2011 if the plan goes through. There is much controversy on this topic. Many people feel the fund should be used to balance the budget without cutting programs. Most people seem to feel it is an impractical idea to hold this sort of championship. The details at this time are that Champions and Reserve Champions from each region in Training through Grand Prix would be invited to attend and that they must be US Citizens. There is a survey of Participating Members being planned. Please watch for that and participate. Also let your PM Delegates know your opinion on the subject.

I left the convention feeling positive about the Democratic process in USDF. We as delegates were able to influence the decision making at our council and committee level and in the open discussion on the floor at the Board of Governors meeting. My only regret was not attending the Symposium with Kyra Kirkland especially after I attended her lecture on Friday night. We will look for a report from President Elect Ed Miller on that topic!

While at the convention we purchased 4 new DVDs to add to the ODS Library. Look for them to appear on the list very soon. We were able to purchase them at a very low cost because we had received points towards ODS purchases when Participating Members buy items from USDF. The new ODS Librarian is: Claudette Fitzgerald her address is: PO Box 1063, Keno, OR 97627.

The Oregon Dressage Society has been approved as a host organization for the Open Event Incentive Program of the Arabian Horse Association. This means that program members will be able to earn points at USEF/USDF/ODS Licensed shows, earning prizes for themselves and a permanent show record for their Arabian and Half-Arabian horses. If you ride Arabians be sure to check with the Association and see what the qualifications are to participate.

The ODS Board Retreat is planned for January 10-11, 2009. This is a board meeting and planning session for the year. Chapters have been encouraged to send a representative. We will have a report in the next column on the retreat.

Happy Holidays!
Marsha

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The ODS Delegates have just returned from the 2007 Convention. The Florida winter weather was heavenly and in contrast to Kansas City where the holiday decorations were brilliant against the white landscape they were hardly noticeable in the lush, tropical environment of Orlando. Besides attending the Board of Governors Meeting, Committee Meetings and Educational Seminars we had a chance to enjoy Disneyworld and catch some sun at poolside. Returning to Oregon in the windy storm on Monday was a bit frightening for the adults but the children on board thought it was just another ride and whooped it up appropriately!

It was announced the Capital Campaign for the USDF Educational Center in the Kentucky Horse Park would end December 7, 2007. When all the outstanding donor pledges come in USDF will be debt free! The faster the funds come in the more we will save on interest. The fundraising effort is now being turned to an endowment for educational programs.

There are many improvements being completed at the Kentucky Horse Park before the World Equestrian Games. So far Dressage has outsold all the other ticket sales in the market test.

The 2008 USDF Convention will be held in the Denver area and a Symposium is planned. In 2009 the Convention is planned for Austin, TX. In 2009 we will elect USDF President and Treasurer and in 2010 Vice President and Secretary.

We proudly watched Francy Haupt be awarded the Region 6 Volunteer of the Year. This is at least the third year in a row an ODS member has received this honor.

At the Board of Governors meeting a motion was passed for USDF to stand against the change for USEF General Rule 1212.5a which would require 2 EMT’s to be on duty at all USEF recognized shows.

Motions were passed to increase the minimum median score for all year end awards to 60%. This will be effective October 1, 2008. The awards council also proposed a motion to drop the scores from regional championships from the year end award program. The rationale was that the scores from regional championships are usually lower due to the panel of judges and some regions do not have their championships before the end of the competition year. There was much discussion and this motion was tabled until next year.

Probably the most controversial issue came before the Board of Governors in the form of a Proposal from the USEF Dressage Committee: The Performance Standards Proposal. While we have been aware this has been in the works we now know the format of the standard which, if passed, will come into effect for the 2010 competition year. Briefly, the levels have been divided into Basic (training through second), Medium (third and fourth), Advanced (PSG and I-1) and International (I-2 and Grand Prix). There are no criteria for moving from training through second level. A rider will not be allowed to ride third level until they have achieved a certain amount of points at second level based on second level scores of 60% or higher. Similarly for riding PSG or I-1 a rider must have a certain amount of points based on tests for third and fourth level, and to move to the International level a rider must have a certain amount of points based on I-1 and PSG. There will be some exceptions for Young Riders competing at National Championships and NAJYRC Qualifying Shows. The competency is based purely on the rider and scores we already have will count. USDF medal holders are grandfathered in to their prospective levels so if you hold a bronze medal you may ride third level, silver you may ride PSG and a gold you may ride whatever level you wish. There is also an appeals process.

In addition, to be eligible to compete at third level or above you must be a USDF participating member and a member of USEF. This means you cannot get a bronze medal unless you meet all these requirements. Previously rider awards did not require PM and USEF memberships.

The standard is based on a European model and is designed to improve the quality of riding in the US at medium level and above. Whatever the committee comes up with we have 2 years to improve our riding, so there is a new goal for the New Year!

I hope to see a representative from every chapter at our January Board Retreat. This is really your chance to participate in the planning for the year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Marsha

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The ODS General Membership Meeting and Board Meeting were held in Springfield on November 3. At the General Meeting we reviewed the year’s accomplishments and the Financial Report was presented.

One highlight of the Board Meeting was the presentation of the newly revised bylaws which had been reviewed by an attorney and the board voted to accept them. The revised bylaws will be printed in the 2008 ODS Roster. One provision of the new document is a new board structure. The number of Directors at Large will be increased from 3 to 6. The 4 ODS Regions will have at least one regional representative. President and President Elect will be elected from the Directors at Large. Secretary and Treasurer will be elected from the Directors at Large or Regional Representatives. If there are no board members qualified for these positions wishing to accept nomination than Secretary and Treasurer may be appointed from the ODS members in good standing. They would become board members for the year of their term.

Special thanks to Donna Thayer for putting together the draft for us and to Vic and Martha Pagel for making it possible to have the draft reviewed by an attorney from Martha’s law firm.

The winner of the Director at Large election was the incumbent Siobhan Barker. The board went on to fill two new Director at Large positions with the other two candidates from the election: Ed Miller will serve a three year term and Sally Temple will serve a two year term. The third new Director position was selected from the current regional representatives and Carol Stevens, a General Member who is currently a North Region Representative, was selected.

Election of Executive Board Members was held and the results as follow:

President: Marsha Williams, Central Oregon Chapter
President Elect: Edwin Miller, State of Jefferson Chapter
Secretary: Sally Temple, Twin Rivers Chapter

John Craven graciously agreed to be appointed Treasurer until another qualified member can be recruited for this position.

We are very happy to be starting the year with a full compliment of board members. The remaining board as follows:
Francy Haupt Director at Large, Rose Newman: North Region Rep, Carol Taylor: South Region Rep, Kim Barker: Central Region Rep, Donna Thayer: Eastern Region Rep.

I am personally very excited to be working with this tremendously talented and dedicated group of people for another year. I look forward to our retreat in January and am hopeful that each Chapter will send a representative to participate in the discussions and planning for the year ahead. Please be sure to get your representative registered with Corinne at the ODS office for this opportunity.

This year for the first time the number of applicants for the Connie J. Keith Adult Amateur Camp grants was greater than the number of grants the board is allowed to award. Grants were awarded to: North Willamette Chapter, Central Oregon Chapter and North Eastern Chapter for their camps planned for 2008. Cascade Chapter will be the reserve if one of the camps is cancelled for some reason.

Francy Haupt, ODS Volunteer of the Year, has been selected as the Region VI Volunteer of the Year. Francy is an ODS Director at Large, Region VI Adult Education Council Representative and has been running the USDF Instructor Certification and L-
Graduate Programs for ODS for the past several years. As Region VI Volunteer of the Year, Francy could be awarded USDF Volunteer of the Year. The award will be announced at the Board of Governors’ Meeting at the USDF Convention in Orlando later this month. This is the second year in a row an ODS member has been selected as Region VI Volunteer of the Year.

Several ODS members will be attending the USDF Convention as representatives this year. ODS delegates are: Ed Miller, Kim Barker, Francy Haupt and Marsha Williams. Corinne Stonier, Gaye McCabe and Marsha Williams are Region VI Participating Member Delegates. Region VI Director Donna Longacre is also an ODS Member. News from the convention will be reported in the next column.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday!

Marsha

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The first of November marked the new ODS membership year and ODS awards year. We are caught up on our awards for the previous years now and John Craven (Licensed shows) and Gene Hall (League shows) will soon be hard at work tabulating the awards for 2007.

I have just sent the document for the new, updated ODS By Laws to the law firm to be reviewed and they will be ready for presentation at the November 3 board meeting. Hopefullly by the time you read this we will have new ODS By Laws. Thanks to Donna Thayer for her work on this project and to Ed Miller and Corinne Stonier for their help and advice. Also, a big thanks to Vic Pagel (Mid Valley Chapter) and his wife Martha for making it possible to have the document reviewed as a pro bono project by Schwabe Martha’s law firm.

All chapter presidents have been mailed a letter explaining the assessment each chapter will receive for their share of the 2008 annual premium. The cost will be approximately $75.00 per chapter. Last year we paid the whole premium with ODS treasury funds. This year we are billing the chapter for their share as the policy covers chapter officers as well as ODS board members and some key volunteer positions. This $75.00 needs to be included in your chapter budgets for 2008.

The ODS Open and Championship shows have been scheduled for September 12-14, 2008. This moves them off the Labor Day Weekend which will have some advantages. However, we will need even more volunteers since some committee members with school age children will not be able to participate as strongly as they have in the past. Judges are tentatively scheduled: Dinah jo Babcock-S, Janet Curtis-S, Janet (Dolly) Hannon-R.

Region VI Director Donna Longacre has organized a mini convention for the same weekend as the Region VI meeting. This is scheduled to start Friday November 16 with a welcome reception and committee meetings followed on Saturday a.m. with a L-graduate continueing education presentation led by Trenna Adkins, lunch and in the p.m. the Region VI meeting to prepare for USDF convention. Please check the Region VI website for more information.

November 27 the ODS and Region VI delegates will be heading to Orlando, FL for the 2007 USDF Convention. There is no Symposium this year but there will be plenty of educational sessions involving horse health due to a Veterinary meeting go on at the same time. The USDF staff has worked hard to put together a variety of great speakers for us.

January 12-13 is the annual ODS Board Retreat at Silver Falls Convention Center. Chapter President’s or representatives and committee chairpersons are invited to attend as well. This is the major planning session of the year.

Most importantly on the local level is the Show Management and Volunteer training seminare scheduled for February 23-24 in Wilsonville. Thanks to Rose Newman for organizing these workshops. We really need more people trained to put on shows and this is a great opportunity. Please watch the ODS website for details

Please remember to renew your memberships early in order to receive all the publications without extra charge.

Have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving. We’ll have more to report after the conventions. –Marsha

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The ODS Championships and Annual Awards Banquet are over for another year. Thanks to the efforts of many volunteers, donations from the chapters and individual members both were quite successful and from my perspective a lot of fun. We plan to list the award winners and the Championship Results on the website.

In the September column there was a statement about the league shows and championships which might be misleading regarding the riding of Amateur and Youth horses by professionals. Professionals may certainly ride their students/clients horses at ODS League shows and they may be cross entered and ridden by the student and the professional at the same show. HOWEVER, at the League Championship show the horses may NOT be cross entered in Open and Amateur/Youth divisions. Youth and amateurs may cross enter horses with other Youth or Amateurs. No one may ride the horses except the riders who entered the horses or a groom on a loose rein.

November 3, 2007 is the annual general membership meeting of ODS at the Springfield Mall meeting room in Springfield, OR. We would love to see a good turnout for this meeting. I would like to encourage each chapter to send a carload of their members and make this year a record breaking year in terms of attendance.

November 17 and 18 there will be a region VI meeting and Mini Convention in Portland. This will include a continuing education session for L graduates which may be audited by members. It will be a chance to meet the Participating Member Delegates and express concerns about regional and national issues.

Later in November the USDF Convention is being held in Orlando, Florida. The ODS delegates are: Francy Haupt, Edwin Miller, Kim Barker and myself. In addition 3 of the 7 Participating Member Delegates from Region VI are ODS members: Corinne Stonier, Gaye McCabe and myself. Our region VI Director Donna Longacre and USDF Treasurer Barb Funk are also ODS members. Any member is welcome to attend the convention and  be a part of our region VI meetings. We can use additional people to attend the many open committee meetings.

Congratulations again to all of our ODS Champions and our Special Award winners. It was a huge honor for me to be able to represent the board in presenting an Honarary Lifetime Membership to Joyce Stride. It was also very fun to select and present the Horse Ambassador Award to Parocco. I personally enjoyed the Championship Show and Awards banquet very much. A big thanks to our hosts DevonWood Equestrian Center and the Holiday Inn, all of our Sponsors and all the Volunteers for making these events possible.

See you November 3rd!

Marsha

Due to the fact that our ODS board is composed of a group of very busy people who are key volunteers, show secretaries and managers and serious competitors, both amateur and professional, there was not a date in July or August that was available for a board meeting. We tried an online meeting as a solution to this problem. There were some drawbacks, it probably took more time than everyone driving to and attending a meeting but the advantage was we did get the agenda covered and we had a quorum. Corinne provided a very well organized template for the meeting and I for one thought it worked quite well.

Therefore, I would like to report to you on some of the decisions that have a direct effect on the membership at large.

The ODS awards program has been popular and fun for the members. However, it is no longer paying for itself with the increases in postage and production of the plates for the scores over 60 percent. Currently the ODS awards fee is $2.00 per show. We voted to change the fee to $1.00 per ride per show. John Craven did a study and this was the best solution to make the program pay for itself and seemed the most fair. It was passed unanimously by the board.

Some rules regarding the League shows and League show championships were formalized. There was a dress code established for all League Shows: Competitors may wear formal show attire or they may wear a more colorful and casual form of attire but tee shirts, tank tops and blue jeans will not be permitted. Half chaps and tall boots will be allowed. Tack will conform to the current USDF/USEF requirements. There will be no cross entries between Open and Amateur or Youth classes. Amateurs and Youth may share horses but they may not be ridden by professionals at the championship show, however, the limit of rides per day per horse is still limited to 3. For the 2008 show season the League Championships will allow any entries for Quadrille, Pas de deux and Musical Freestyle without qualifying criteria. All other levels require two scores, from two shows under two different judges and the qualifying percentage is 55%. Show entry rules, rules regarding judges and general dressage rules will conform to the USEF/USDF rulebooks.

Due to liability and safety issues there will be a formal ODS show rule published in the Omnibus which does not allow any person on foot in the warm up arena at any ODS League or Licensed show.

The USDF Convention is in Orlando, FL this year. ODS, as usual, will send 4 delegates and our office manager. The delegates are: Francy Haupt, Kim Barker, Ed Miller and myself. It is very important for the future of ODS and region VI that we have a strong voice and presence in the convention meetings, for this reason there is a stipend for the delegates which partially covers their expenses.

The ODS Bylaws, written in 1971 have been reviewed and revised by Donna Thayer, Eastern Representative. The new bylaws will be presented to the board at the November meeting.

In closing I would like to thank all the volunteers who have made the 2007 competition year a success. Without you none of it would be possible.

The EHV-1 virus scare in August was a serious problem for ODS with far reaching consequences. The board had a stressful week dealing with this horse health issue. I would like to thank them for their attention and concern. At this writing only one show was cancelled for which we are so relieved and thankful. On top of the online board meeting we were faced with making a policy. Having not dealt with this before we were charged with coming up with something which was fair to the competitors and would protect ODS from serious financial loss which could limit future shows and programs.

There is an annual Open Membership meeting on November 3, in Springfield, Oregon. Traditionally there has not been a very good attendance by members. I would encourage all members to make an effort to attend. Get a group of people from your chapter to carpool and attend the meeting. Give yourself a chance to participate in the future of ODS.

See you there,

Marsha

I’m very happy to announce that membership in ODS has passed 1200 so far this year! This is the largest membership number for ODS so far. We are still ranked as the third largest Group Membership Organization of USDF behing California Dressage Society and New England Dressage Association. One reason our membership is growing is because of the excellent programs ODS offers to members including our wonderful Championship Show, the League Show Progam, the variety of youth shows and programs and our educational programs. In order to learn more about what makes ODS go I have attended quite a few of these events so far this year.

I think one of the best things ODS has done is improve service to members by hiring an office manager, first with Joyce Heinke, followed by Cynthia Prater and now with growth a much larger job held by Corinne Stonier. The “office” is the face of ODS to the public and a place a member can go to get questions answered or be directed to someone else for help.

The second thing I have observed which makes ODS go is the highly dedicated group of individuals who hold key volunteer positions and have spent an incredible amount of labor, time and even personal resources to make the programs go and grow. As ODS grows these jobs are getting bigger and we will be recruiting more people to take on a part of this work. We try hard to keep cost down to the members but unless we are able to get help from more members the costs will have to go up for membership, fees and show costs. There are many, many volunteer hours given by members for short term things like working at shows. This is great and appreciated. What I am talking about here are jobs that go on behind the scenes all through the year such as planning and coordinating projects like the L program, Instructor Certification Program, Linda Acheson Education Fund Benefit, key positions for the Championship shows and other shows and educational presentations. If a few people with good organizational skills can step forward to help or replace the existing volunteers the programs can continue and grow as the organization grows.

Speaking of volunteers I have been volunteering a lot this year and have observed the way volunteers are treated by competitors and other participants. Please take the time to thank a volunteer personally for their time and work and please if you have a complaint take it to the person in charge such as the show manager, a board member or committee member. Even if you think a volunteer is doing something incorrectly they are most certainly trying to do a good job and they may not be as familiar with rules and formalities as would be ideal. The goal is for competitors, management and volunteers to all have a positive and safe experience and want to come back.

We were disappointed to learn the Debbie McDonald Clinic planned by Idaho Dressage and Eventing for this fall has been cancelled due to Debbie’s other responsibilities.Tthis would have been a wonderful educational opportunity and many of us were looking forward to it. However, we have learned that George Williams will be the Dressage Clinician at the Horse Expo in Albany, Oregon next spring. This should draw a lot of dressage enthusiasts and gives us another educational opportunity to look forward to.

Please try to attend the ODS Award Banquet on September 1st in conjunction with the ODS Championship Show. You could always volunteer at the show for the day and attend the banquet that evening. It is probably the largest turnout of ODS members for the year and a great chance to socialize.

See you there!

Marsha

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One of the most enjoyable jobs I’ve had while on the ODS Board is serving on the ODS Scholastic Merit Scholarship Selection Committee. We have just selected 5 recipients of the 2007 Scholarship fund. Each will receive a $500.00 scholarship for college. The winners are Barbara Ayers of Cottage Grove, Catherine Pike of Gervais, Magen Pettitt of Estacada, Jamie Hughes of Salem and Denae Martin of Gervais. The Scholarship Fund is generated from the profits of the Dressage for the Ages Show. Last year we were able to award 3 scholarships and this year the show profits provided for 5. The money is raised by the youth and their supporters. The criteria are: Academics, Leadership and Community Service and Extracurricular Activities. The students must also submit essays on a given topic and at least 2 letters of reference. Congratulations to the 2007 winners!

Our two largest League shows, the Adult Team Show and the ODS League Championships have both grown to be full shows this year. The League Championship (which also includes the High School Championship is a two ring show this year). I attended the Team Show for the first time this year and it was really a lot of fun. There were lots of riders fairly new to dressage as well as a few more seasoned horses and riders. The last minute venue change gave us a weekend chock full of surprise distractions but everyone toughed it out and by the second day the horses and riders had become quite seasoned. A delicious lasagna feed was provided for the riders who participated in some interesting games and won prizes. There was a great quadrille performance by a team of Haflingers. The show had great awards for performance and the awards ceremony was quite impressive with all the horses and riders lined up in the arena. Many thanks to Gaye McCabe and her dedicated crew for putting this show on. This year the League Championships is offering an all comers Freestyle and Quadrille competition. There are quite a few Musical Freestyle entries which will be fun for spectators and competitors. The judges are both USEF licensed judges. This show is a great opportunity for league show participants to get a taste of the more formal world of licensed competitions. Thanks to Gaye McCabe, the ODS Board and all the volunteers who have helped to make this program a success.

The ODS Board held a quarterly meeting following the dinner at the Team Show following are a few items from the meeting:

The board members attend 4 meetings per year and a retreat on their own dime. Recently it was suggested ODS pay the board members a travel stipend . We have had trouble getting representation from the far corners of the state due to time and cost of travel and with the rising cost of fuel it has become an issue for all of us including the many committee chairpersons who must attend at least some of the meetings. Treasurer John Craven did a study and calculated an approximate cost. Even with the board members carpooling the cost to ODS would be around $3,000.00 per year. Your board voted not to adopt the stipend because we felt at this time we could not count on increased revenues without raising dues. I hope the over 1,000 other members will express appreciation to the board members for their generous spirit and dedication to the good of the organization. They truly are fabulous, hardworking volunteers and they deserve your support. I know it is very meaningful for me when I get a personal thank you from a member.

A proposal to make some slight changes to the ODS Mission statement was passed by the board and the new statement will appear in the 2008 publications. The By-laws are under revision and a document will be presented to the board for approval at the November meeting. The league show committee will finalize a proposal for formalization of the League show program for the August meeting. So far the board has voted to keep the League Championships limited to Intro through Second Level. The League shows may offer upper level classes but year end awards and championships will not be offered due to the fact that L Graduates are not trained to judge above Second Level. The August Board meeting will be held via e-mail and the next Board meeting and the Annual General Membership meeting will be held in Springfield November 3. If you have concerns, input or comments please contact your regional reps, directors at large or the ODS officers and please plan to attend the General Membership Meeting in November.

Our many licensed competitions are having a successful season! Be sure to get your entries postmarked on the opening day as all the shows are filling quickly. Here’s wishing you good luck and safe travel in the remaining season-see you at the shows!
–Marsha

The show season is upon us and probably everyone has had their first show of the year. Interesting to note the theme of both the ODS column and the EI column last month had to do with volunteerism. In central Oregon our active members are expressing the same theme for both our growing League Show Series and our new Licensed show. The fact is we need more volunteers to keep the shows at every level affordable to the riders. I can’t express enough the need for each and every member to make volunteering a part of their schedule for the show season. Volunteers are needed for all shows but especially for the Linda Acheson Education Benefit shows, the Breeders Showcase, the Devonwood show, ODS Championships and Region VI Championships.

Current business of the ODS board includes addressing the by laws. By August the Bylaws committee will present to the board a complete document to be approved. The revised bylaws will be reviewed by legal counsel and be ready for publication in the 2008 publications.

The League Show Program and League Championships are in the process of being reviewed and formalized by the League Show Task force. If you have input regarding this program and its direction please contact your region director or your directors at large.

We should have a full report by fall.

Here’s wishing everyone a safe, successful and fun competition year.

Marsha