April 2010 Newsletter from VTEA, a Langley, BC charity for hippotherapy for the disabled and for special needs children - Valley Therapeutic Equestrian Association

VTEA Valley Therapeutic Equestrian Association for the disabled

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VTEA Monthly Newsletter - April 2010

Session Dates

Our Spring 2010 Session commenced on Tuesday, March 16th and runs through until Thursday, June 24th. Please note that there will be no lessons on Saturday, May 22nd due to the Victoria Day Long Weekend.

Art Show in Fort Langley - Fundraiser for VTEA

Equine Persuasion Art Show by Susan J. Falk.

In previous shows at The Fort Gallery, artist Susan J. Falk has brought us, in very large format, images of forests, bears and arbutus trees. Now for her show from April 7th - 25th, she would like to share with us her passion for horses. " my other life". Horses in all shapes and sizes will be displayed in drawings and paintings. One wall in particular will display a length of canvas 15 feet, showcasing life size drawings of horses in various dressage movements. Small 8 x 10 inch pastel/mixed media drawings framed in antiqued gold will round out the gallery space. Susan's inspiration for this show came from Rosewyn Stables in Langley where she and her horse train with Coach Monique Fraser and has been photographing and drawing many of the horses and riders from that facility.

Partial proceeds from this show will go to Valley Therapeutic Equestrian Association. Special posters are available of Susan's drawings to help support this important cause. If you are unable to attend the art show but would like to purchase once of Susan's posters for $20 to support VTEA - please contact the VTEA Office.

Equine Persuasion / Susan J. Falk - April 7th - April 25th, 2010 (Artist Reception: Sunday April 11th, 1 - 4pm at The Fort Gallery - 9048 Glover Road, Fort Langley, 604-888-7411. Please visit Susan's website at www.susanfalk.ca - her paintings are amazing!

Paula Farr - Assistant Instructor, Salee - our therapy pony, Katrina Aponte leading, Kim Yawney sidewalking and rider - James Harder - photo by Susan J. Falk

Help Your Gardens/Flowerbeds Grow!

Horse manure is available for your property/gardens and flowerbeds by donation to VTEA. If you need a truck load or a bag full - VTEA is the place to go! Large pick-ups can be pre-arranged through the office.

Visit our Booth at the Cloverdale Rodeo

We will have a booth set up for VTEA at this year's Cloverdale Rodeo in the agricultural building, Friday, May 21st - Monday, May 24th.

This event promises to be fun for the whole family. The agricultural building will be full of all kinds of animals for the kids (and adults!) to enjoy. Jan Elliott, of Elliott's Miniature Sicilian Donkey Farm will have her donkeys there, there are miniature horses, cows, sheep, goats - all with babies! Tickets to the Country Fair are $10 each and for children 7 and under - admission is free. For more information, please visit www.cloverdalerodeo.com

We do require volunteers to assist at the VTEA Booth from Friday May 21st at noon to 8pm, Saturday 10am - 8pm, Sunday 10am - 8pm and Monday, May 24th from 10am - at 5pm. Volunteers will be provided with a parking pass, free admission pass and a lunch voucher. If you are interested in volunteering for a shift at the booth, please contact Suzette Brunner, our Volunteer Co-ordinator asap.

Annual VTEA Horse Show

Our Annual Horse Show is scheduled for Sat, Jun 26th. All riders are encouraged to participate, this is an extremely fun day and there are classes for all riders to enjoy and ribbons for everyone! Instructors will be discussing with riders/parents suitable classes for each rider to enter. These shows require a large number of volunteers to assist with the classes, grooming/tacking horses, show assistants, etc.

We will be asking volunteers to sign up with their favourite horse as grooms/assistant grooms for the day - and finishing off the day with a "best costume class for our horses" - last year Big Ben won as our "Hawaiian Hula Girl"!

Julie, our Head Instructor and Suzette, our Volunteer Co-ordinator will be posting sign- up sheets in the parents viewing area shortly.

Horse Show Concession

Last year we had a fantastic concession stand set up, at the Horse Show that was organized by some of our staff, volunteers and parents. Once again we are asking volunteers/parents to sign up to assist with this project. Suzette, our Volunteer Co-ordinator will be posting sign-up sheets in the parents viewing area shortly as we need to plan and start organizing this as soon as possible.

Donations for the Concession

If you or anyone you many know would be able to donate pop, juice, water, hot dogs, hamburgers, buns, chips, muffins, etc. for the Horse Show - please advise the VTEA Office - thank you!

July Summer Camps

We will be offering Summer Camps during the month of July for our riders and our volunteers. Further information will be available in the VTEA May Newsletter.

Volunteer Appreciation BBQ

Mark your calendars! Sunday, July 10th is our Annual Volunteer Appreciation BBQ at VTEA. We currently have approximately 50 volunteers that assist at VTEA every week. Without this amazing group of dedicated people we would not be able to run our program. They dedicate their time and their talents - rain or shine each week to enable our riders to enjoy fun but safe lessons.

We encourage all parents and riders to join us for a "Volunteer Celebration" at our Annual BBQ. This is a pot luck event and there will be sign-up sheets posted in the Parents Viewing Area during the month of June.

Volunteer Positions Available at VTEA

We would like to offer the following volunteer positions at VTEA - Tack Room Co-ordinator, Safety Co-ordinator and General Housekeeper - if you are interested in any of these positions, please contact Suzette Brunner, our Volunteer Co-ordinator ASAP. Riding lessons with our VTEA Instructors will be offered in exchange for these positions.

Director Required for our VTEA Board

We have at least one opening for a Director on our VTEA Board. Board Members meet once per month. If you have any skills that you believe may be helpful to our Board - such as an accounting, legal, business background, please contact the office for more information.

RCMP Posters - Fundraiser for VTEA

We have some beautiful RCMP posters for sale at VTEA for $25 - these are the posters from the RCMP Musical Ride and are signed by their team - please see sample posted in the parents viewing area in the arena. For more information, please contact the office.

Riding Attire for Lessons

Just a reminder that proper riding attire is strongly recommended for all riders at VTEA. This includes riding boots or rubber boots with a 1" heel, riding pants or stretchy fitted pants. Gloves are also recommended (no mittens) - riding gloves are available at local tack stores for approximately $5. Although VTEA does provide helmets, if you are riding on a regular basis it is recommended that you purchase your own helmet - these are available at local tack stores for around $65 and up. If you have any questions regarding correct riding attire, please discuss them with your Instructor and they will be happy to advise.

VTEA Wish List

Please take a look at our VTEA Wish List posted in the Parents Viewing Area. If you are able to assist with any of these items, please contact the Office.

Memory Lane Trail

We would like to thank Davey Tree Services for the many loads of wood chips they have delivered to VTEA. They have been a tremendous help in the preparation of our trails and also in "mud control" in our paddocks. Again, thank you to Wayne King, Wayne Singbeil, Pete Creamore and Wade Cavanaugh for their assistance in spreading these chips and for their many hours spent maintaining our trails. Please note that we are still looking for various items for the trails, including - garden ornaments, pool noodles, bird houses, wind chimes, etc. We are also looking for a garden table/umbrella/chairs - anyone that would be able to donate any of these items, please contact Julie, our Head Instructor - thank you!

Enjoying a trail ride on our "Memory Lane Trail" at VTEA

Happy Easter! - Paula Farr

VTEA Staff and Board of Directors