2007 Show - THANK YOU thread!

[jaybird]

I'm so proud to be a part of SAFE. We have come so far and accomplished so much, and it is all because of the fine fine group of people that are the heart of this organization. This past weekend proved that.

There are so many people that I want to thank that it is going to take a while! I had a somewhat limited perspective during the course of the show since I was shackled to the desk in the show office all day, so I am sure that many things went on that I did not witness, but I am extremely grateful to all the volunteers who attended, and several who were unable to attend.

First off, I want to thank REDMOND!/Valerie W. for her amazing fundraising contributions. Valerie lined up three of the six show sponsors we ended up with to the tune of $900, and she also brought in 6 class sponsors, and donated several items of her own to the Silent Auction. In recognition of her contributions, we'd like to present Valerie with a blue ribbon for 1st place in fundraising effort. (Literally, I mean: we have an actual ribbon with an actually picture of her horse Redmond on it to give to her just as soon as I get my stuff home from Portland.)

Next I'd like to thank Kahluacowgirl/Patti R. for all her hard work at making this show a success. This was Patti's brainchild, and I remember groaning when I read the message she posted back in December 2006 suggesting we do some kind of benefit horse show....it seemed like SO much work. As it turns out, I had no concept of how much work it would be, but as those memories begin to fade, I am truly grateful to Patti for coming up with such a terrific idea. As one of the few among us who knew how to run a horse show, Patti's experience was invaluable, and she spent many hours answering inane questions from me, taking and making phone calls, planning the trails course, obtaining the judges, organizing the volunteers, soliciting donations and sponsors, and so much more. Patti's contributions represent an evolution in the possibilites for SAFE fundraising in the future, since she has so successfully shown us what we can accomplish.

I would have not survived the day of the show without the help of several wonderful people:

Cardicorgi/Jenny M. was a force to be reckoned with in the show office, diving into the unsafe waters of registration and stall assignments with an amazing lack of fear, handling the myriad questions and requests of the show participants with willingness and cheer, and making everyone feel welcome and appreciated.

Schwung/Jaime always seemed to quietly appear every time I needed help, and she did a fantastic job handling the hugely popular Bribe Your Horse class as well as the Sit A Buck...and she did all of it with absolutely no warning from anyone that it would fall to her, and not a second to prepare. As I was scrambling in the show office to calculate the final results of the show for the trophy presentation, I could hear a constant barrage of laughter and applause in the venue around me, and that is how I knew that Jaime was making it all happen. She was also given the responsibility of running the trophy presentation from the arena, again with no warning and no time to prepare. She looked out for the SAFE horses all day, rode Vanna in a few classes, and did it all with a smile.

(time to post so this isn't lost...)

[jaybird]

Another big thank you goes to Amie Belmont, who worked on the show as a job-shadow program for her high school. I hope that most of you got a chance to meet Amie...she was a huge help to us in the show office, and I honestly do not know how I could have survived without her. One of the most difficult issues with the show was dealing with the many riders who had "all day" or open check entries, and who joined in classes at the gate, since we did not have a way for the show office to communicate with the gate keeper, and we didn't have a working printer to use to produce class lists. Amie kept all that going as smoothly as possible, running handwritten lists of entrants to the gate keeper, double checking the numbers of the entrants in the ring, running results from the steward to the booth, and just being where she was needed most at all times. Amie is putting on a benefit gaming show of her own this coming weekend, and I wish her the best of luck with it.

Winterlakesfarm/Chelea was our Ring Steward and she spent the entire day in the arena with our judge. She communicated gait and direction changes to me, and wrote down final results for each class that we run up to the show office to be annouced. Mostly I recall watching the relaxed and happy smiles on the faces of Chelsea and Cassie as they worked, and it set me at ease to know that Chelsea was doing her part in such a competent manner, keeping things running so amazingly smoothly. She was on her feet for hours and hours, but never slowed down. She was very patient with me every time I would miss a signal for an annoucement to the class, and she did a lot to keep my stress level to a dull roar.

Trillium/Laurie T. ran the Silent Auction and the Prize Drawing on the day of the show....a job so huge and overwhelming that I cannot even fathom how she pulled it off so well. As mentioned on an earlier thread, the Auction and Drawing brought in a lot of money for SAFE, and we have Laurie to thank for orchestrating it all. She also donated some addional items to the Auction that were very popular, and althought I did not have the opportunity to see the set up for the auction (or bid on anything!) I was thrilled to see how great it looked in the photos. Laurie also brought her goats to add to the Trails course, which is just brilliant in my book. She also brought the rest of her family...which leads me to my next thank you....

Laurie's husband Kurt worked the gate for us all day long, and he had the patience of a saint dealing with the fact that we had no class lists for him, just a series of numbers handwritten on paper and run down to him (at best!) or picked up by him in the show office (sorry Kurt!) at worst. I was aware of no problems at the gate, which means he either did a superhuman job, or he protected me from having to worry about anything over there. Either way I am extremely grateful (I wrote "gateful" at first...hee hee) for having him there because he was fantastic. I am sorry about the lack of a nice cold beer, I sure hope you got one not long after, Kurt!!

I also know that Laurie and Kurt's daughter Kathryn was hard at work during the show, and I saw her from my window a number of times over the course of the day, but I can't give you specific examples of what she did. But I'm certain there are plenty of others who can! I do know that Kathryn's display of forgotten horses was magnificent, and I'm sure a lot of people came away from the show with a much better understanding of the horses we deal with as rescuers. A huge thanks to the entire Taylor family...it was a huge help and relief to have all of you there.

[schwung]

To echo Bonnie's sentiments, I was simply blown away by the way everyone came together to make this show such a huge success. When the classes first started, I stood in awe at the sheer size of the first halter class. I told Bonnie I actually had to not watch because each time I did I would start to tear up. But anyway, I digress.

Special THANK YOUs to the following, in no particular order (and, I will try to get everyone, but Bonnie and Jenny, please jump in with any I am missing!).

To Laurie (aka Trillium), and her daughter, who manned the Silent Auction and sold the Prize Drawing tickets all day, and who created the wonderful display with all the before and after photos of our horses. Oh, and let's not forget who contributed the goats for the trail class!

To Krystal (whitewolf) who drove ALL the way from SPOKANE with her mom and two twin baby girls to offer her time as trail judge! In addition, she did a great job on the stall signs for the rescue horses (and even willingly went back to the hotel to get them when she forgot them!). She handled the almost-disaster in the morning when we couldn't locate the obstacles for the trail course in stride and quickly helped to come up with ways to improvise, and did an excellent job manning the trail course all day in the heat with little direction from the show office (who frankly, had no idea what was going on out there so we could only hope it was going well!)

To Mara (averyacres) who drove all the way down from Lake Stevens to help! She jumped in and was willing to help in any way we asked, including getting the horses ready and pretty, and coordinating the leadline classes, and also was the Ribbon Diva. Her godchild Kelsey was invaluable with Shante, showing him for us in halter and rescue classes.

To Chelsea (winterlakesfarm), who spent the entire day on her feet as Ring Steward, never leaving the judge's side, even holding her bladder for long hours and sacrificing her white tennis shoes! Not to mention driving two hours north to pick up JR, Dobbin and Heidi on Thursday night, 5 hours south on Friday night, and then all the way back up to my place to bring the horses back on Sunday! You rock Chelsea!

To Allison (skekaberry), who helped take care of the horses while trying to get ready for her own classes, and in the end decided she would rather help than show and scratched her classes. She jumped in and helped with gate keeping and whatever other tasks were needed, including helping me run the Sit-A-Buck class which we pretty much came up with the rules and how to judge it in about 3 minutes time. That was so fun though!

To all the Significant Others who came to help and support their wives/girlfriends - Laurie's hubby who was gate keeper all day (and a friendly, patient one at that!), my boyfriend Mike (farmboy) and Jenny's hubby Bill who set up the trails course and all the gaming events and ran various errands throughout the day (including getting the emergency stopwatches). Mike also helped time the speed events, and both Bill and Mike were willing sports in the "Other Half Leadline" class (and Mike had the added fun of riding a jigging, freaking out Vanna in a dressage saddle).

To Peri (pdevlieg) who got up early in the morning to make the drive all the way down, and jumped in wherever she could. She helped beautify the horses and was invaluable in preparing for the lunchtime rescue horse presentation. And her two beautiful daughters - Marina and Jessica - who braved their stage fright and did leadline on Buck and JR so that they could help promote our rescues!

To Cat - another invaluable asset - who took over getting a dirty manure-stained Heidi into a beautiful clean white Heidi and braved getting on her and riding her in the chaotic show environment with no idea how she would behave. She did a fabulous job with her and it was GREAT exposure for Heidi that will no doubt go a long way to helping her find a great home!

To Liz (Buena), who not only drove all the way down to compete at the show, but also donated a dozen or so of her beautiful rhythm beads to the show, including a strand for each child in the leadline class. I know those children will treasure those and always remember the experience, and that was just AWESOME of you Liz.

I know there are others I am missing and I was almost afraid to post this - if I forgot your name it is NOT because you are not important or did not contribute! Just that it is 11 pm and I am having a hard time thinking clearly!

I LOVE YOU ALL, THANK YOU FOR MAKING SAFE A SUCCESS, SO THAT SAFE CAN HELP MORE HORSES!!! ;D ;D ;D

[jaybird]

Averyacres/Mara was our Ribbon Diva, and again, while I couldn't see her doing her thing, I know she did a fantastic job because all the participants were happy with her work. She did a lot more than just handing out ribbons and prizes, including preparing favors for the participants (ie treat bags!) and helping with the SAFE horses and the leadline classes and so forth. Mara also procured one of the larger show sponsors by talking her mom's company into supporting us, which gave us a last minute preshow money-boost that we really needed.

I did not know beforehand that Peri and her daughters were coming to the show, so when they arrived, it was a very happy surprise! The three of them were very busy all day long...grooming SAFE horses, riding SAFE horses in classes, helping with the auction and drawing, and just generally doing what needed to be done. Like Jaime, Peri had a knack for appearing when help was needed and then providing it. I know she interacted with a lot of the participants, and was a huge part of the positive experience that so many of them have told us they had.

Farmboy/Mike W was another person who was there when something was needed, and he dealt with things with great generosity and willingness. I know he made a few emergency runs to the store, did a huge amount of setup and tear down, worked with SAFE horses, and was an integral part of the gaming team. He was someone who could be asked for help and would just take charge, and I just love it when that happens. Mike's good humor and general brawn kept things running smoothly and I am very grateful that he was able to be there.

Same goes for Jenny's husband Bill...he was there and ready to run with it if things needed to be done. I hope that some of the people who worked with Bill and Mike can fill in the details on what their busy days entailed, but from my perspective, they were both ready, willing, and able. Bill was a great sport for participating in the leadline classes (both in the saddle and on the ground) and I saw some really great pictures of him riding Crafty on the Kaufholtz photography website. I also want to thank Bill for getting all of my junk back to the house in Portland, and allowing me to clutter the Corgi household with a number of boxes that won't be leaving until my truck is fixed and I return to get it.

Another person who did a tremendous job that I never got to see was Whitewolf821/Crystal. Her take charge attitude with the trails course turned a potential disaster into a great success. Our plan had been to set up the trails course the night before the show, but horrible traffic and other delays meant that none of the people coming from up north made it into the area before 10pm. So trails had to be set up during the chaos of the morning of the show. Then for some utterly bizarre reason, the venue owner could not find the majority of the trails equipment that we had been promised. So Crystal, Patti and the volunteers who helped them had to improvise a trails course at the very last minute...but they did it, and people seemed very happy with the results. Crystal took charge of the judging, the gate, and the results, and earned my gratitude by doing it so competently. Special thanks to Crystal's sister who came along to help and I'm sure put in a long day of hard work.

Cat67/Cathy seemed to be everywhere at once -- riding SAFE horses, timing the gaming, answering questions about stabling, being a living target for the Bribe horses, sending messages to the SAFE board on her Blackberry, websurfing for info on the Blackberry... Cat came to the venue on Friday night to help with unloading and getting horses settled in, and helping us set up the show office and get some sort of a grip on what was going on. She's a lot of fun, and it was great to finally meet her in person! Thanks to Cat we now have a lovely video of Heidi cantering under saddle in the show ring, which will undoubtedly be a big help in finding her a permanent home.

Another person that I was really happy to finally meet was Buena/Liz C. She had a full schedule of showing, but she still managed to do her part to make the show special. In particular, she brought a large number of Rhythm Bead strands to donate to the Auction and to be used as special prizes in some of the events. The best part is that she presented each child in the Leadline class with their own strand of Rhythm Beads, so everyone in that class walked away with a special prize. That was one of my favorite classes to begin with, and Liz's thoughtful contribution made it even more special for the kids.

I did not see much of Shekaberry/Allison over the course of the day, but I now understand that is because she ended up scratching most of her classes in order to care for the SAFE horses. She also was invaluable help to Jaime in figuring out and executing the Bribe class and the Sit A Buck classes so successfully. Allison is smart and easy-going and she was a huge help where help was needed.

[schwung]

Here's Bill riding my horse Crafty: www.kaufholtzphotography.com/gallery/3226205#178196186

Mike's photos aren't up yet but we bought one of the ones where he actually managed a smile even though Vanna was pretty much ready to ditch both of us and depart the ring, and he was pretty much hanging on for dear life!

[huskiesnhorses]

jaybird said:

In recognition of her contributions, we'd like to present Valerie with a blue ribbon for 1st place in fundraising effort. (Literally, I mean: we have an actual ribbon with an actually picture of her horse Redmond on it to give to her just as soon as I get my stuff home from Portland.)

YAY!! Thank you!! I have been coveting those ribbons ever since I laid eyes on them! I am honored!

And can I just say again how impressed I am at how it all came together - you all are just an awesome group and I am so proud to be a part of SAFE!

[crum]

schwung said:

Here's Bill riding my horse Crafty: www.kaufholtzphotography.com/gallery/3226205#178196186

Mike's photos aren't up yet but we bought one of the ones where he actually managed a smile even though Vanna was pretty much ready to ditch both of us and depart the ring, and he was pretty much hanging on for dear life!

Mike's composure when he was riding Vanna was very impressive.

[Buena]

Ladies, I am so proud to have donated towards the effort of this show. I only wish I could be doing more for this organization! In time, I will be able to I hope (like when my son starts some sort of preschool). You are a fabulous group and are doing so much for the cause of helping horses and educating people. Keep up the good work!

[farmboy]

Well I had a great time and am very proud to be associated with such a fine group of people. It was a lot of hard work, but well worth it in the end.

Thank you and congratulations to all involved.

[cardicorgi]

I think you guys all rule! I'm thankful to each of you for your contributions to this show, and the horses of SAFE.

I'm grateful that all of you drove the long hours down here and devoted your entire weekend to this event!

And how wonderful to meet you all in person... it's about time! ;D

[averyacres]

It was a wonderful event to be a part of, and I am very proud to have been there! Towards the end of the day, I had to hand over my Ribbon Diva job to Allison, as I was driving home after the show with not very much sleep during the week, and maybe an hour the night before. I thought it would be best to sit for a minute before heading back. Thank you, Allison!! Everyone was so nice, and this was Kelsey's first show, and she loved every minute of it. She kept asking me if we could take Storme to a show really soon. I loved how everyone did whatever it took to get the job done, everyone worked so well together, and no one ever complained-that's teamwork! I look forward to the next SAFE horseshow!

[cat67]

schwung said:

even holding her bladder for long hours and sacrificing her white tennis shoes!

To clarify: Chelsea did not pee herself. It was just ring dirt.

Hee hee, you guys were all great. I sincerely would not have known it was your first time running a horseshow. I have dealt with far more drama and panic from groups that do this all the time, I won't name names. O...H...S...E... *giggle*

[winterlakesfarm]

ROFLOL no i did not pee in my white tennis shoes! Special mention to Cat for going above and beyond by picking my paddocks and feeding my horde of horses for me so I did not have to when I got home from hauling horses Sunday!!!! Not to mention it was her BIRTHDAY and she was slaving away! I owe you a dinner for your b-day! A real one.....like in a vegetarian friendly resturant WITHOUT a drive through LOL

[cardicorgi]

HA! Chels, I forgot to add how much fun it was when you would give the signal for "canter" in the leadline classes. ;D ;D HiLARious! The 3 of us in the show office were CRACKING up.

I forgot to add a BIG BIG BIG BIG THANK YOU to Robyn, who not only sponsored a bunch of classes, but also gave us a lovely Crosby bridle for the prize drawing, and a Western headstall as well, and probably other stuff I don't know about - THANK YOU for your generosity!

And thank you, even more, for sacrificing a significant part of your Sunday AND Monday for hauling Bucky and Shante on sudden notice. Obviously we couldn't have done it without you. You tell me when you need some labor around your place and I"ll be there for you!

[averyacres]

Is Robyn the one who is working on her website for an online tack store? horsepowersaddleandtack.com ? She also fosters Bella? I didn't know that was her! If so, it was so nice to meet you. I was a lucky winner that day and won the beautiful sparkly western headstall and breast collar. My friend's horse who I ride is going to start showing Western Pleasure/Eq, so I am sure we will put it to good use! Thank you!!!