Happy New Year!
I’m sure everyone is looking forward to 2021. At this time, we have a full competition calendar scheduled. For details, check our website at www.areavii.org and the USEA website/competitions/Area VII.
Please join me in welcoming Luigi Meneghelli as our new Area VII Chair. Luigi has prior experience in this role and will be an excellent leader for our Area. I’ve enjoyed being Area VII Chair for the past two years and will remain on the Council for the next rotation as I am now on the USEA Board of Governors. Area VII has strong representation at the national level and I’m honored to be a part of our strong team. if you would like to become more involved in Area VII activities, please reach out to Luigi or any of the Area VII Council members. Our contact information is on our website, section Resources/Area Council.
Regarding the competition calendar, there has been a bit of date shuffling which has impacted where and when we will hold our Area VII Championships in the next couple of years. In 2021, the AEC’s will be held on the same weekend as the EI Fall event. This is a disappointment in that EI put a lot of effort into its plans to host the Championships in 2020, only to have all of their activities canceled due to the pandemic. Now with the AEC’s being held on the same date as EI’s Fall event in 2021, it wouldn’t be fair to those who qualify to compete in both the National and Area Championships to have to choose between the two. Therefore, after much thought and discussion among the Area VII Organizers and Council, the 2021 Area VII Championships will return to Aspen Farms in September.
In 2022, Rebecca Farm will be adding a second event to its calendar and will host the AEC’s in September. It is very exciting that the National Eventing Championships will be held in our Area! To avoid a conflict, Aspen Farms will also host our Championships again in 2022.
We are thrilled that Aspen Farms has agreed to host the Championships again in 2021 and 2022. We are also very excited that Rebecca Farm will be hosting the AEC’s in 2022. For those who qualify for the AEC’s, this is a wonderful opportunity to have this prestigious event in our own Area.
The future is full of exciting opportunities for Area VII. Here’s to a healthy and successful new year!
Best wishes to everyone - Cynthia Bayles
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Here are the 2020 Divisional Year End Champion and Reserve riders. Congratulations to all! Ribbons will be mailed in early 2021 to the address tied to your USEA Membership. If your address has changed, please PM Lorilee Hanson.
Area VII 2020 Year End Awards by Level
Junior Beginner Novice: Champion (tie) Olivia Martin and Alexis Johnson
Senior Beginner Novice: Champion- Kady Ellifritz; Reserve - Chris Gianini
Junior Novice: Champion - Coulter Verharen; Reserve- Harper Padgett
Senior Novice: Champion = Catie Cejka; Reserve - Karen O’Neal
Junior Training: Champion - Nicolas Portillo; Reserve (tie) - Kylie Cemulini and Alexis Larson
Senior Training: Champion - Karen O’Neal; Reserve - Ashleigh Rauen
Junior Preliminary: Champion - Jenna Lounsberry
Senior Preliminary: Champion - Marc Grandia; Reserve - Karen Lounsberry
Intermediate: Champion - Momi Henne; Reserve - Alessandra Allen-Shinn
Advanced: Champion - Sara Mittleider
Season’s Greetings from The Area VII Council!
The Area VII Council represents our Area at the national level. Like you, we are volunteers and we do what we do for the love of our Area and our sport. The Area Chair typically serves a three-year term and the Council members also rotate every few years. Although it might have seemed like not much happened this year on the competition front due to the restrictions and safety concerns presented by the pandemic, the Council was busy behind the scenes working hard to make sure we are represented well at the national level.
This year the Area VII Council held monthly conference calls to keep us moving forward with all kinds of planning activities both regionally and nationally, from working with our organizers on our competition calendar for this year and the next few years, to activities with the Young Rider, Adult Rider and Instructor Certification Programs, to discussions about rule changes, safety and so much more.
We are thrilled that so many of our Area VII Members are being recognized by the USEA in this year’s national awards. Area VII is very diverse, active, full of people who value and exhibit good sportsmanship and horsemanship and we are proud to be a part of such a fantastic group. If you want to become more involved within Area VII or if you want to share anything with us, our contact information is on the Area VII website. The 2021 Calendar and other website news updates are in process.
This year, once the USEF and USEA COVID guidelines were established and some of the state regulations allowed events to be run, three of our organizers were able to provide our competitors with four events between August and October (Rebecca Farm, Caber Farm x2 and Spokane Sport Horse Farm).
We understand not everyone was in a position to be able to train and compete (or in some cases even be able to visit their horses during lockdown!), but many were and for those who were willing and able to compete in this challenging environment, it was good to see everyone respecting the COVID safety protocols. Strong compliance with the protocols proved we can safely run our events in the most difficult of times and we thank everyone who participated in these events – including but not limited to the organizers, volunteers, officials and competitors – for setting a strong example of compliance and how to get things done even during tough times. If you were able to compete in one of these events, you owe that opportunity to these organizers who, because of the additional rules, restrictions and safety protocols implemented during the pandemic, really had to go above and beyond what they normally have to do to host an event! A huge thank you to them for running successful and safe competitions.
Although the ongoing pandemic will prevent us from holding our annual meeting and awards celebration in person this year, we will be holding a virtual business meeting early in 2021, date and time TBD. Also, the Council wants to recognize those competitors who were able to compete this year by recognizing the top two points earners in each of the divisions. Since we can’t gather in person, the ribbons will be mailed. We will announce the winners in the near future, so stay tuned!