Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Equine Educators conference - BCCTRA comments





By Nicole Vaugeois

The Equine Educators conference was held Jan 21-23 in Kelowna. Tammy Mercer, Peter Reid and I all attended from BCCTRA and were able to share some of our unique needs with respect to trail access. Peter and I participated at the Trails Roundtable on Saturday where about 20 land managers and different equine trail user groups discussed their needs or position on trail use for horses. The event was a great success as folks were able to share their perspectives in a respectful way to understand each other. I am sure that the outcomes will be positive and am hoping we can continue this sort of dialogue in years to come. Congrats to Horse Council BC for pulling this together and inviting us to participate.

I was asked to speak about the needs of competitive trail user groups, which included input from Endurance, competitive trail and TREC. The following are some comments shared:

  • We have unique usage needs for trails in that we use them frequently for training and require numerous miles of varied terrain;

  • We require access to trails for training and competition as we seek permission for each mile we use in competition;

  • We have experienced challenges with respect to access, particularly from private forest companies where permit fees and delays in approvals has impacted events;

  • We are seeking to develop stronger working relationships with land managers so that they understand our sport, our usage patterns and see us as partners in land management;

  • Our competition requires travel and overnight camping. Further enhancements to travel with horses such as pull outs, ferry knowledge about horses, signage and camp facilities are needed throughout the province. Camp facilities that are accessible and accommodating of horses are needed, particularly sites that can accommodate numerous large rigs for competitions.
Since the event, I have already been communicating with Rod Bealing, who represents private timber companies in BC and he has been helpful in linking me with the right people that we can communicate with about things such as annual permits and partnership. Similarly, Connie Faulk in Barriere, who was also on the roundtable has emailed me to say she is keen to have a BCCTRA event in their region as they have the trails and facilities we need for our events. Similarly, Chilko Ranch is keen to have a BCCTRA event this year and there is some interest in having a schooling ride on the Sunshine Coast.
All in all, this type of exposure for our sport was invaluable. We need to be understood with other horse groups and with land managers in order to move toward the goals in our strategic plan. I believe this event helped and we can build upon it by using the contacts made.





Wednesday, January 5, 2011

BC Trails Roundtable - Kelowna January 22

Competitive trail riders need access to trails for their miles of smiles.  Whether training or competing, riders throughout the province spend hours in the saddle on trails owned by a variety of land managers such as provincial parks, regional districts, timber companies and private owners. 

BCCTRA is committed to play an active role in enhancing trail access for equestrians.  One of our members, Nicole Vaugeois, sits on the Joint Trails Access committee with HCBC and is joined by reps from other organizations such as Endurance riders and Backcountry horsemen. Together these three organizations represent the three types of user groups for equestrian trails - competitive and recreational.

Unfortunately, access to trails has been a growing issue for equestrians in BC.  Urban sprawl, private land development, arduous permit processes and restrictions or prohibitive fees from Timber companies are some of the factors that have precipitated this issue.

HCBC is organizing an Equestrian Education Conference in Kelowna on January 22-23.  At this event, a trails roundtable is being organized to allow for better dialogue and enhanced relationships between trail user groups and land managers.  The roundtable promises to be a positive evolution for BCCTRA and Nicole Vaugeois and Tammy Mercer are attending on behalf of BCCTRA to bring our specific trail needs to the table.  Members will hear more about the outcome of the conference later on.

In the meantime - if you have specific trail related concerns or better yet - solutions - send them to Nicole to have represented at the conference.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Congratulations 2010 Award winners!


On December 19, members of BCCTRA gathered at Gryphon's Lair near Ladysmith for a Year end awards celebration over brunch.  Congratulations to all the award recipients and thank you to Barbara Smith for tabulating all the year end awards and to Sheri Cochlan for coordinating the trophies. And, big thanks also out to Tammy Mercer and Karen Eigler for presenting the awards.

Overall High Point Horse and Rider
Nicole Vaugeois with 2851 points

Weight Division High Point Awards
            Junior:  Teri Lynn Moorby with 951.9
            Lightweight:  Nicole Vaugeois with 3142.69
            Heavyweight:  Laureen Styles with 3092.69

Lil Schmidt High Mileage Award - Tie
Laureen Styles and Nicole Vaugeois each with 115.23 miles

High Point Breeds
            Grade:  El Nino owned by Nicole Vaugeois
Quarter Horse: Slow Dancer Dan owned by Nicole Vaugeois (ridden by Laureen Styles)
            Morgan: Northern Flaire owned by Phyllis Payne
            Arabian: Lyndales Bambaya owned by Del Lenk
            1/2 Arab:  Unforgettable Samba owned by Blane Hill
Canadian:  Du Coteau Dynamo Lyrique owned by Kerri-Lynne Wilson
            Appaloosa: Rocking Bear Paw owned by Barrie Davies

Senior Horse
            Michelle Laszczyk’s  “Jacob One One” - Grade horse

Best Young Horse
            Tammy Mercer’s “WRA Dark Diablo” – Arabian

Rookie of the Year and Combined Mileage
            Nicola Maughn for 108.23 miles
            Rookie is Nicola with 1934.19 points

Volunteer of the year -Jo-Hull Sykes

Sportsperson of the Year - John Eigler

Gordon Sydney Award - Tammy Mercer 

The Ride of the Year – Cariboo Plateau organized by Joanne Macaluso and team

Mileage Awards:
            100 miles
                        Lisa Beeston
                        Sheri Cochlan
                        Joanne Macaluso
                       
            250 Miles
                        Laureen Styles
                        Kerri-Lynne Wilson
                        Katie Schoor

Top 9 Lightweight Riders

Nicole
Vaugeois
3142.69
Nicola
Maughn
1934.19
Joni
Dewitt
1265
Joanne
Macaluso
948.9
Lori
Bewza
942.9
Tammy
Mercer
919.43
Jennifer
Brownlow
309.9
Janine
Davies
309.9
Nancy
Gourlay
298.4


Top 10 Heavyweight Riders
           
Laureen
Styles
3092.69
Delford
Lenk
1286
Blane
Hill
1265.6
Jo
Hull Sykes
638.4
Diane
Prinsen
636.6
Kerri-Lynne
Wilson
630.6
Madeline
Bateman
623
Sheri
Cochlan
620.13
Debbie
Cole
585.7
Lisa
Beeston
317.4



Top Junior Riders

Teri Lynn
Moorby
951.9
Katie
Schoor
638.4
Kevin
Gourlay
303.9
John
Gourlay
301.4


Top Ten High Point Riders

Nicole
Vaugeois
2851
Laureen
Styles
2801
Nicola
Maughn
1750.5
Delford
Lenk
1178
Joni
Dewitt
1164
Blane
Hill
1159
Teri Lynn
Moorby
882
Joanne
Macaluso
879
Lori
Bewza
873
Tammy
Mercer
864.5


Lifetime Mileage

Shannon
Allan
0
Michelle
Balme
538.58
Donna
Barr
140.6
Madeline
Bateman
566.68
Lisa
Beeston
147.8
Laurie
Belanger
0
Lori
Bewza
748.26
Sue
Billings
12.6
Randi
Bjornson
0
Jennifer
Brownlow
28.4
Doug
Carr
150.4
Mary
Carr
123.4
Bruce
Christison
967.4
Penny
Clayton
55.4
Sheri
Cochlan
158.55
Debbie
Cole
35.7
Debra
Coles
0
Sandy
Compton
20
Leslie
Coultish
151.7
Janine
Davies
18.9
Barry
Davies
35.23
Jayne
Demorest
0
Joni
Dewitt
50.5
John
Eigler
570.07
Karen
Eigler
787.67
Pat
Evans
0
Kevin
Gourlay
31.5
John
Gourlay
31.5
Nancy
Gourlay
18.9
Clarke
Gourlay
18.9
Fiona
Griffiths
0
Julia
Hardcastle
0
Anna
Hawthorne
59.4
Pat
Hayword
1292.34
Blane
Hill
720.7
Rhonda
Hittinger
84.5
Jo
Hull Sykes
174.4
Janice
Isenor
29.4
Wyatt
Laing
79.95
Michelle
Laszczyk
0
Delford
Lenk
788.73
Nichola 
Lindberg
0
Diana
Little
0
Anne
Mabberley
12.6
Joanne
Macaluso
120.04
Ann
Mackay
1715.65
Nicola
Maughn
61.23
Shannon
Mayer
357.51
Tammy
Mercer
698.24
Teri Lynn
Moorby
23.3
Phyllis
Payne
450
Richard
Payne
0
Debbie
Powell
40
Diane
Prinsen
46.3
Peter
Reid
0
Pat
Sampson
59.3
Joanne
Schneider
122.9
Katie
Schoor
253.1
Jo
Schoor
184.8
Deborah
Schrott
0
Barbara
Smith
707.6
Laureen
Styles
354.57
Patricia
Taylor
0
Myrna
Thompson
35.23
Donna
Tuele
26.5
Jenessa
Tuele
0
Ron
Tuele
0
Nicole
Vaugeois
499.67
Bev
Voigt
12.6
Linda
Warnock
422.8
Mary
Watts
12.6
Molly
White
398.1
Kerri-Lynne
Wilson
274.4