Western Chapter meeting minutes: 6.23.15 7pm at Hillview Restaurant, Depew NY
In Attendance: Larry Thurber, Mary Szarek, Barb Cunningham, Nancy Reeves, Megan Stapley,
Amy Hewson, Peter T and Linda T, Barb R, Ann C, Christine E, Denise L, Barb H, Barb M, Lisette
R, Mary McNall.

Approval of minute’s last meeting Motion by Linda T, Barb H seconds, all in favor.

Treasurer Report – balance $14k+ by Peter T
o The one EquiFest vendor didn’t pay for the booth yet (Cowgirl Couture) and
repeated attempts to reach her have failed and she has not responded to
correspondence. Barb C – at this point we should just forget it.
Old Business

2015 WC Activities
o June 27
WCNYSHC Saddle-Up for St. Jude at Darien Lakes State Park,
Sumner Rd. entrance. 10 Am. Bring chair and dish to pass for after the ride. Hot
dogs provided by the Horse Council. Per Amy H – we have between 20 and 30
people coming so far.
o Sept. 26
WCNYSHC Trail Ride to Benefit the Erie County Sheriff’s Office
Mounted Patrol. Hunter’s Creek Park. 11 Am. bring a dish to pass for after the
ride. This is a date change from previous schedule due to conflict.
o Sept. 27
EquiStar Ride-A-Thon at Darien Lakes State Park. Sumner Rd.
entrance. 9am. WC-Co-sponsor
o Donations/support for 4-H Equine Activities in the area. Barb C – we could spend
$100 per county? Peter T – how many counties? Barb M has contacted Erie, no
one has replied to Barb C’s attempts from Niagara, Genesee has agreed to take
money, and Mary M has contacted Wyoming. Peter T needs the contact info of
where to send the check.

Barb M has been in contact with Tammi Kron at Erie County Cooperative
Extension. They spend a huge amount on their year-end awards, and
they’re grateful for whatever we can provide.

Mary S will assist with writing ad for their program.

Motion Peter T $100 for bronze level Erie county, and we do up to $100
for other counties as well. Amy H seconds. Barb M – however at this mtg
was also told that there is a young lady going to nationals in horse bowl,
and Motion that we help her go to Horse Bowl. Larry T – is this something
that could go for scholarship? Peter T let’s keep these issues separate.
Barb C - all in favor of our sponsorship of $100 for Erie County 4H and up
to $100 for 3 other counties? All vote yes, none opposed.

Barb M – young lady is the only person in the county who is going to
Horse Bowl, Nationals in Nov in Louisville. Young person would have to
pay her own way.

Peter T suggests that we make sure she’s the only one from our
area going. Barb M will look into this.


Tabled until the next meeting when more info is available.
Fall dates are being added (per Mary Mc) which will be new for 4H this
year, ranch horse and novice reining. This will be in Catt county and per
Mary M’s contact, they’d be interested in the horse council involvement.
Barb C – we should look into if CattChaut is already involved here.
o Equifest 2016

Barb M – idea: we produce something to give the newer horse people
something to carry home with them that can point them in the right
direction, if we’re continuing to do clinicians / demos for beginners or
people brand new to horses

Barb R – trainers locally feel that they really need something for brand
new people on where to start and how to start. Maybe the senior 4hers
would be interested in doing demos to help with this. Or a small booklet
or publication from the WCNYSHC that would have our name on it.

Lisette – what if we made a few little promo videos to post on our
facebook for the new folks who might be interested?

Megan and Lisette offered to work together on videos / trailers for a
youtube channel.

Barb M – motion to produce a booklet of some kind for newer horse
people to go along with the EF program that is pointed at less
experienced people. Mary M seconds. All in favor. Barb C – motion has
passed. Barb M will put together an outline / rough draft of what may go
in the booklet and we can review at the next meeting. Lisette and Megan
will have some topics in mind for the video teasers.

Mary S – if we’re getting into specialty program areas, I would suggest
that Deb H split up and delegate some of the responsibilities between
others. Deb would still be the top contact. Barb C – we should talk about
this when Deb is here.


Larry T – horses that multi-task would be great too.
Handing money to the sheriffs (Barb M) – will we be doing something ceremonially we
could do this at the trail ride. Barb C – this is a good idea, or we can just get the money
to them and hand them an empty envelope at the Nov mtg.

Barb C – speaking at the Nov mtg, anyone willing to chair? Where we have it, what the
venue is, are we having food catered, etc?
o Ann C and Nancy R will work on it together, will report back in August on this
topic.
New Business
o Parking at Knox Farm

Issues with horse trailers parking and cars parking basically on top of the
trailers. The meeting described below included some solutions for this,
including signage and lines added to designate horse trailer parking only.
The meeting folks had a meeting with the soccer folks. Days later the
exact same problem happened again.
o Knox rules-Knox is the only park which requires riders to have permits helmet

Peter T – issues with horse trailer parking and soccer kids etc, so a
meeting was held with town officials. They’d like to see more horses at
Knox, but Peter said one of the reasons people don’t go is because of the
helmet requirement and permit requirement. This limits folks who come
in. The officials agreed and said they’d get a hold of Senator Gallivan’s
office and start making some noise so the senator’s office can go to the
parks office.
o Sponsorship - EA Driving Society Show

Linda T – the carriage drive is the last weekend in July. They’re active in
the HC, and many worked on the fence etc. They sent Linda a letter and
they’re celebrating the 40th anniversary of the competition in July. They’d
like the sponsorship or financial assistance for their event. Full page ad in
the program $150, Megan makes motion to purchase this. Barb H
seconds. All in favor. Motion passed. Peter T – who is designing the ad?
Mary S will do the ad. Linda T – deadline is ??? They’ll find out.
o Polo at Knox is doing tailgating this year (Barb R), and Silver Spur is having a spot
up front along the center of the field. $25 for the space to tailgate, would WC
want to do this? Mary Mc feels that we should do it. Barb C, let’s pay for it and
Mary M and Barb H can go. Peter T will reserve a spot for us.
o Barb C – no meeting in July, Christine will do next mtg in East Aurora, 4 th Tues in
August.
o Christine motion to adjourn mtg. All in favor.