Santa Clara County Horsemen's Association - Home
- Corral Chatter 6_2025
| President's Message Dear SCCHA Members, I hope this message finds you soaking up the sunshine and enjoying the start of a beautiful California summer. As we settle into the slower rhythm of summer, June offers us a chance to catch our breath, enjoy the longer days, and spend some quality time with our horses and fellow riders. While this month is a bit lighter on the calendar, we’ve still got a few important events worth noting and we’d love for you to be a part of them. General Meeting and Dinner – June 20 All members and their guests are invited to join us for our next General Meeting and Dinner on Friday, June 20. This is a great opportunity to stay informed, offer input, and see what’s coming up for SCCHA. Your voice matters—let’s keep shaping the future of our club together. Mark Your Calendars – 5D Play Day Returns! – June 22 Saddle up and come join us for the next 5D Play Day on Sunday, June 22. This day is all about fun, speed, and a little friendly competition. Whether you’re riding or cheering from the rail, these events always draw a great crowd and showcase the energy of our community. Sign-ups begin at 8:00 a.m. and events start promptly at 9:00 a.m. Bring a friend and come enjoy a great day at the arena. Looking Ahead – 4th of July Parade We’re excited to represent SCCHA in the 149th Annual Morgan Hill July 4th Parade, and we’d love for you to be part of it! Whether mounted or on foot, our members always make a proud showing. This is a family-friendly event with deep community roots and a fantastic way to represent the club. If you’d like to participate, please RSVP to Yvonne Lee at (408) 203-1795 by Friday, June 27. Let’s celebrate our country and our club together in true SCCHA style! Volunteers Needed – Santa Clara County Fair, July 30–August 3 We’re also beginning preparations for the 81st Annual Santa Clara County Fair, and we need your help! This year, we’ve been invited back to host an equine exhibit, which is an opportunity to engage with over 80,000 fairgoers and introduce them to horses, many for the very first time. We’re looking for volunteers to help staff the booth, bring horses to the fairgrounds, and assist with horse interaction shifts. Fair admission is complementary for all volunteers. If you, your horse, or your trailer can support this outreach even, or if you’d like to be part of the Saturday evening parade at the fair, please contact Rachael Parakh (408) 242-2654 as soon as possible. Let’s make the most of this calm and sunny month while planning ahead for the excitement of summer. Happy trails, Tami Moore, President --- Contact Information Website: https://horsemens.org/ Email: SCCHA.1939@gmail.com Follow Us on Social Media Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SCCHAHorsemens Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sccha.1939 |
 Event Calendar
Hi All. We need our club members to lead events. Let's camp, trail ride, have clinics, or other fun events (anyone for cards?). Please come forward and propose them - lets make this a fabulous 2025!! We also need someone to lead some Hoofbeats (Junior) events - movie night, riding, games.... The Board meets the 2nd Tuesday of the Month 7:00pm-9:00pm
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Events
Take a look at Facebook for Pictures....or check out the pictures (Click the link and scroll down): Pictures
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Come join the fun for another Grounds Cleanup Day! Saturday June 21st starting at 9:00am. Please bring your weedwackers! Thank you again to all our wonderful volunteers that make our club so beautiful!
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SCCHA Tack Sale, Camping, and Potluck: Tack Sale: What a fun time at the Tack Sale. We had a lot of sellers and buyers and the weather was amazing. The Junior Program made $545 due to the sale of Donated Items and Table Rentals to non-members. Special thanks to the following Donors for their generousity: Theresa Treanor Wendy Fedde Valerie Merklin Anne Terranova Karen Fagunes Walter Chang Potluck: The potluck was super fun with great food and 'Train Dominos'. A new favorite game thanks to Deboraha Hampton! Another family-fun activity. Camping: Yeah, we had new campers over the weekend. Some of our first-time campers are young families - sharing life-long memories with their kids. We also had a nice group of young adults and first time guests who want to join the club. | Line Dancing with Sydney: Thank you Sydney Vandenbrand for leading the Line Dancing / Classes. This is truly a family-fun activity for everyone. I hear the next line dancing will have an "Austin Powers" theme. Stay tuned for the dress-up opportunity!
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We need volunteers! Do you want to come help with registration, announcing and scoring at the 5d Playdays? We need you! Kathleen and Tami can train a few more people. Best to start scoring with Kathleen and Tami at the shows to learn. If you are knowledgeable with excel or open to learning this is for you. It's all automated, but you would need to follow the directions for sorting and setup. Contact Kathleen O'Neill if you are interested. koneill_950372003@yahoo.com. or (408) 590-3933 Special Thanks: Big "Thank-You" to Todd and Wendy Fedde for getting the Arena and Stalls ready for the PlayDay and Guest Camping. |
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'Memorialize' yourself with the Club.....
Do you want your name on the Clubhouse Horse Decoration? Have you ever wondered about this beautiful piece of art? Well if you have been a member for 5 years or more, you get your name on a horse for $50. Do you want more names on a horse? Add another name for $50...... You can go to the club Store to purchase ...
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Important Reminders The Club welcomes Member Guests to use the arena with a Liability Release form and use payments. Don't want to pay 'Use' Fees, it's free to members..... CAMPING & ARENA GUESTS A Guest must be accompanied by an adult member. It is the responsibility of the Member to
Guests visiting for the day: Guests with horse activities pay a day use fee of $20. Guests Camping: For each night stay, a Guest pays a camping fee of $10/person plus $15/horse. | Here is a link to Membership Benefits, the Liabiity Release Form, Trainer Rules, and Club Rules. Membership Overview & Rules, Trainer Policy, Liability Release Waiver Check Arena Availability Please be sure to check that the Arena is available for use before coming to the Showgrounds. As a Member, you have access to Member Only Information!! You can login to the website https://horsemens.org/ go to the “Member Only” page, under the Membership Menu, and voila - you have access to a lot of important information....
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NEW!!!! Advertise on the SCCHA Website:Want to Advertise on our website? We welcome your "Family Friendly" Ads. Advertising is free to our Members and $200/Calendar year for Non-Members. Your ad is available to the public, our members, supporters, and equine enthusiasts. Demographics include Santa Clara County, San Mateo County, San Francisco County, and more.See Details in the Club Store Here Club Store Your Ad will be shown here: Advertising
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Membership - Bring a Friend. Help Grow the Association: Tell your friends about the "Horsemen's". Their first dinner, as a guest, is free at the General/Dinner Meeting. Have them apply for membership! Membership Application See all the benefits membership brings Membership Overview & Rules, Trainer Policy, Liability Release Waiver Welcome New Members: Katja and Andreas Wick I have ridden since I was 6 years old but stopped in my late teens. When my daughters were about 8 years old, we started leasing a couple of ponies at Bear Creek Stables and I ended up running a "pony co-op" for 8 years where several families would share a pony (we had up to 3 in the program). I also became involved in the Friends of Bear Creek Stables and organized countless open houses, obstacle clinics, and outings to local horse shows. I started riding again about 8 years ago and we had our own horse for the last 4 years but decided to part with her last year when my daughters left for college. I am now riding the horses of friends 2 to 3 times a week. I am also a member of the Bay Area Ridge Riders which offer endurance rides.
Katja with Jess the Mustang and Runner the Thoroughbred Megan Downing I started my horsemanship at Bright Ranch. I am fortunate to have a world champion horse trainer less than a mile away from where I live that could give me lessons. The lessons only lasted six weeks because they were a gift from my parents, but they were awesome. My friend of 10 years always told me about the horses her uncle owned that she wasn't interested in, but I was. Finally, in 2022 I had the chance to talk to her uncle, Chris Monahan, about the possibility of me helping with the horses. As a 13-year-old, I knoew I didn't have the money for lessons and I didn't want to burden my parents wit the cost of lessons. Chris made me a deal I couldn't refuse. He offered me the opportunity to take lessons from him and learn all about the horses if I would help him around the ranch. I talked to my parents about it and we all met with Chris and his wife, Amy. After we all agreed that i would work my horse time off, we began to build on the lessons I had from Dennis Bright. A year later, I began to participate in the gymkhana playdates. I actually won a buckle my first year. This upcoming year is going to be my 3rd year cmpeting in the playdates and I feel like I'm getting better and better. I am looking forward to becoming a member of the SCCHA and participating in the variety of events that are upcoming.
Megan and Rex
Carol Wilson Linney I grew up in the hills east of San Diego. My father always kept a horse in the corral, but I rarely rode her/him—too small, too uncertain—but I rode my stick horse with great abandon. Meanwhile I loved horses—a love that never diminished. I bought my first horse in 1991 at the age of 45. He was a 20 year old Morgan gelding and the love of my life. He was perfect for me! We had a deep understanding of and affection for each other. We rode all over Grant Ranch (which at that time had a boarding stable). and had a wonderful time. Unfortunately he died of colic about 3 years later. I took him in for surgery, but he was euthanized on the table. It is still the most traumatic moment of my entire life. Like everyone else, I’ve had many painful experiences in life, but losing Bud was the worst! Ever since I’ve been trying to replace Bud—without success. I’ve leased a variety of horses for short and long periods. Finally I decided to try buying another horse. Of course I looked for a Morgan. I found a mare that looked exactly like Bud, but she turned out to be way too much horse for me. She also had a nasty habit of kicking other horses totally unprovoked. I kept her 5 years which is longer than anyone else kept her based on her papers. I wound up giving her to a breeder in Aptos. My current horse is a lovely Morgan mare named Phoebe. I bought her when she was 19 and I was 70. I hoped we would have a good 10 years together on the trail. I’ve had her 7 years and it looks like we’ll make it to my 10 year goal. She’s a bit more reactive than I would like sometimes, but she loves the trails and so do I. The Robbie Potter clinic and private lesson really helped us with a sticky spot, so we continue to learn and grow. We’re currently at Golden Shiloh, Cathy Angel’s place. We love it there. The care is good and there’s easy access to trails nearby. We mostly ride Santa Teresa, Calero, Coyote Open Space, and Canada del Oro with occasional trips further afield. We just returned from a weekend campout at Point Reyes: such gorgeous trails. My most consistently happy place is the stable, and Phoebe and I are looking forward to many fine adventures with the Santa Clara County Horseman’s Association.
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SCCHA GENERAL MEETING MINUTES May 16, 2025 CTO at 8:51 PM by Tami Moore. Tami thanked Yvonne for preparing our delicious dinner. She also thanked Liz and Jennifer for bartending. She also thanked Dr. Amy Fletcher for being our guest speaker this evening. TREASURER’S REPORT: Yvonne gave the April 2025 Treasurer Report. (see Treasurer’s report) EVENTS: Yvonne reminded everyone the first of the 5D shows is Sunday. Sydney will be teaching line dancing after our meeting this evening. We also have our tack sale tomorrow from 8:00-1:00pm, potluck dinner in the evening. Stephen from Lone Oak reported their Schooling Show is at 9:00, both Western and English. Jumping, trail, many fun classes offered, great to practice for the SCCHA show on Sunday. Anyone interested in riding in the 4th of July Morgan Hill Parade, please RSVP to Yvonne. The Santa Clara County Fair will be end of July, we are looking for horses, trailers, volunteers, July 31 – August 3. SOCIAL: Jennifer announced we have 2 months of opportunities to cook for our General Meetings. June, and September are open. Cheri and Stephen have volunteered to cook for our August meeting. Thank you! Horse and human birthday prizes were given out by Rachael. Motion to adjourn at 9:04 pm made by Cheri, seconded by Yvonne, the motion carried. |
There are always opportunities to volunteer for our activities. Check here frequently as more activities show up in the summer.
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Want to submit something to the Newsletter? The Santa Clara County Horsemen’s Association publishes the Corral Chatter monthly for its members and friends. Please e-mail articles of interest to the Newsletter Editor Stephanie Barada swbarada@gmail.com by the 25th of the month to be published in the next month’s edition. |
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