PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Summertime!! Summertime!!

Tower Hill's Breeze (Kilfenora Windy Isles x TH Kathleen {Chiltern Copa of Tower Hill}) with Sally Oxnard up

This is really the time of year for the ACPS to kick back and relax!! I have been inundated with emails re the various WEG activities which are rolling along. Susan McConnell has a list of about 75 volunteers, all of whom have to be credentialed by July 15. Laura Balding and Katherine Short have a list of about 20 pony ambassadors all of whom had to start getting their shots in February. Amy Plavin has a letter out requesting that breeders and vendors and ACPS members send their donations and their graphics to her and Janice Meyer for the commemorative pamphlet to be handed out, 15,000 in total, at our booth at the WEG Irish Village. Joanie Webster and Christie Kelly and I have been working on the Ride to the WEG fundraiser- a virtual Ride to the WEG where every dollar donated to the ACPSF gets us one mile closer. Region 5 has a 50/50 raffle and other activities at their Midwest Connemara Show to support the WEG effort as well.

In addition we have the Connemara shows moving forward – Region 4 had Connemaras and Dartmoors at their show in June. The Region 10 show which is a USEF recognized show is on the June 25-27 weekend, followed by the Connemara Divison at the USEF Recognized Welsh show- Ponies on the Hudson on July 1. Then the Midwest Connemara Show on July 10, the Region 3 Show on July 17 and 18 , with the Region 1 Show at the end of July, and including the M and M classes this year.

Inspections started with 14 ponies in Region 4 on June 7- they passed one stallion, 2 more premium mares, and 11 other ponies. Next is Region 1 on June 26, then Region 5 on July 11 after their show, then Region 3 on July 19 after their show. If you want to learn more about the inspections process, please attend one of these inspections- most pony owners now allow the comments on their pony to be presented publicly and the audience can learn a lot about good Connemara conformation and movement and the Connemara standard.

By the time you get this we will be wending our way down towards the WEG and then the annual meeting with the wonderful Hall of Fame Awards presentation at the banquet- I hope you thought to nominate that outstanding mare or stallion or performance gelding or halfbred you are so proud of. Please vote for the Bylaws changes when they arrive in your mailbox with your proxy for the meeting.

Finally, I personally miss Mary Rutter who was a real stalwart in the ACPS for decades. “She WAS the ACPS” is a quote I heard. It is fitting to honor her and Rogers in the Mares and Foals issue of the magazine- she had as many as 6 mares foaling every year. At the urging of Pat Lightbody, she sold me two wonderful ponies- my first Connemara mare TH Carmody, (called “Angelface” by Rogers), and her last foal, TH Breeze, by *Kilfenora Windy Isles. When you went to look at a pony at Tower Hill Farm, you went for a visit. I got the tour, I had a cup of tea, I talked about my plans for this pony, and then we went out for lunch together. She did NOT approve of dressage. I felt I got a real vetting and I think she chose me well. Thanks, Mary, for giving me my start in the ACPS.

Sally Oxnard