​ Happy Holidays!  It's hard to believe that another Thanksgiving is in the books, Christmas is just around the corner, and another show season has come to an end!

If you are a current MAHA member and are participating in the High Point program, it's time to submit your competition results and nomination forms.  You can obtain these forms from the Montana Arabian Horse Association website. Just click on the High Point Awards link from the home page.

To be considered, you must have your competition reporting forms postmarked no later than December 31st, 2018.
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Important reminders for High Point:

1. You MUST be current with your MAHA membership. 
2. If you participated in a nationally recognized non-AHA event (ex: NRHA, USDF, ARHA,etc...) you must include the competition reporting form signed by the show secretary.  I will accept digital copies from nationally recognized non-AHA result pages.
3.  If you have shown a horse this past year for the first time and would like to have that horse nominated for the 2018 competition season, you will also need to include a copy of the horses registration papers; front and back.

There is no fee to participate in the High Point program and there are multiple categories to choose from.  All horses that are nominated will automatically be enrolled in the Horse of the Year category.  Champion, Reserve Champion, and 3 Top Fives are awarded to those horses with the highest cumulative combined totals from performance, halter, and dressage.

If you have any questions, you can contact me anytime.

Good Luck to all!

Mary Catherine Brownlee
2470 Coonie Ct
Billings, MT 59106

email: cabmcd@msn.com
cell: 406-672-0639 

As of January 1, 2019, every USEF adult member (ages 18 and older) with a Competing Membership must complete USEF's Safe Sport Training course.  The purpose of Safe Sport is to reduce, recognize, and respond to misconduct and abuse in sport.  USEF posted the following statement on their website; "US Equestrian is committed to creating and maintaining an equestrian community free of all forms of emotional, physical, and sexual misconduct.  US Equestrian members and participants have a mandatory duty to report suspected sexual misconduct to the U.S. Center for Safe Sport".   

USEF members who do not complete the training by the January 1, 2019 deadline will be ineligible to participate in USEF activities, including competitions.  The training is free and must be completed online.  If you are already a USEF member, you have probably been receiving e-mail reminders, as well as a card in the mail with instructions for completing the training.  The training takes about an hour and a half and consists of three online modules.  You can also access the training through your member portal on the USEF website.

For more information regarding Safe Sport training, visit usef.org and click on the "Safe Sport" tab located at the top of the home page. ​

Every fall the Montana Arabian Horse Association (MAHA) elects three to four delegates to represent our club at the annual Arabian Horse Association (AHA) convention.  This year the MAHA delegates were Joan Rozeboom, Nancy Rohde, and Cheryl Fulton.  The purpose of convention is to vote on changes to the AHA/USEF rulebook and to network with fellow Arabian horse owners and show officials.  MAHA delegates were able to engage in many conversations and meetings that will help us stay connected with AHA and other AHA members on a national level.  Delegates also participated in regional level meetings including the Region 6 delegate's meeting and Region 6 show commission meeting.

There are many committees within AHA including, but not limited to, an amateur committee, dressage committee, competition advisory committee, and a distance committee.  Each of these committees address rule changes and issues that directly affect their discipline.   MAHA delegates were able to attend committee meetings related to disciplines held at our show, as well as meetings that discussed rule changes that will affect our MAHA show and exhibitors.

AHA/USEF rule changes are brought forward in the form of a resolution that is voted on by all AHA delegates.  After a resolution is approved by the AHA delegates, it also needs to be approved by USEF.  So although there are several resolutions that may affect our MAHA members and exhibitors, we will wait to share that information until after it has also been approved by USEF. 

Region 6 proposed a resolution this year and we are very excited to announce that it was approved by AHA and almost certainly will also be approved by USEF.  It proposes a rule change that will allow horses with loss of sight in one eye to show in performance halter classes.  This resolution was for the benefit of our MAHA delegate, Cheryl Fulton, and we are very happy that she will be able to take advantage of this rule change at the 2019 MAHA Spring Show!

MAHA delegates had a great time networking with Region 6 members and other AHA members from around the country.  Everything went as planned until the Friday afternoon session when we were suddenly evacuated from the hotel due to a fire in the escalator.  We were told it would be three to four hours before we could get back into the hotel so we went to the local pub (naturally!) with some delegates from Colorado.  When we returned several hours later, we discovered that we were not going to be able to stay at our hotel due to smoke damage.  After retrieving our things from our room, we found that the closest hotel with availability was 45 minutes away!  After a 45 minute UBER ride and a good night's sleep, we traveled 45 minutes back into Tulsa for an abbreviated session on Saturday.  All other convention activities were cancelled so we made the best of it and took an UBER to Claremore, OK to a quaint, Victorian era Christmas stroll.  We had a lovely dinner while we were there and did some Christmas shopping. 

Due to early Sunday morning flights, it was decided that we would find a hotel closer to the airport.  There was very limited room availability in Tulsa and we were stuck with an unfortunately seedy hotel (not unlike baby Jesus as pointed out by Region 6 director, Steve Hugus).  At least we were only 10 minutes from the airport and we were all able to make it to our flights in a very uneventful manner.  

The MAHA delegates would like to thank the club for allowing us to represent you at convention.  In spite of the commotion, we enjoyed ourselves and hope that we will be able to benefit our club with the connections we made.   Please e-mail MAHA delegate, Nancy Rohde - nrohde57@gmail.com, if you would like more information regarding convention.

-contributed by MAHA delegate, Joan Rozeboom

Happy Fall to all MAHA members and friends!

I'd like to introduce you to our new web page; MAHA News.  This page is intended to replace our quarterly newsletter.  The reason for this change is to allow for more frequent and accessible communication between MAHA and our club members.  I plan to post updates and news at least once a month, and an e-mail will be sent whenever there is a new blog post.  If you are not a MAHA member and you would like to be added to our e-mail list, you can sign up on the home page of this website.  

There are several really exciting things about the fact that this is a blog page.  My favorite feature is that anyone can comment on blog posts.   You can also easily share the link to a blog post via e-mail or Facebook.  If you have any news or pictures you would like to have posted on the blog, send them to me and I'd be happy to post for you!  My e-mail address is: joan.rozeboom@hotmail.com.

Some of the things we'll try to share via this blog are membership meeting minutes, MAHA show dates and information, updates and photos from the annual AHA convention, and member accomplishments.  I'll be relying on you for the member accomplishments!  If you or your horse recently competed at regionals, nationals, or another type of event; send me pictures!  We all love to cheer for and congratulate our local Arabian horses and owners:)

Below is a picture of my favorite fall ride in Big South Fork National Forest, TN.  Send me pictures of your favorite fall ride (trail, nationals, endurance) and I'll create an album:)  Let me know where you were, your name, and your horse's info.  Let's get to know each other a little better!
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Happy Riding!!