This is your club and we need you!  Make the GRHC the best club in the area!

The GRHC has been re-energized lately by new energetic board members who have some great ideas and the desire to create a host of different events. They are also willing to work to make our current events even better in 2012. The date for most of our events have been set, while others are still in the works. So keep checking our web site for updates.

First, we will be presenting some educational lectures in months of February, and March. Our first one will be on Tuesday evening, February 21st, with our speaker Dr. John Perdrizet, DVM who will give a free lecture entitled "Chinese Medicine and Horses". Next, on Tuesday evening March 6th, Dr. Michael Caruso, DVM from the New England Equine Surgical Center in Dover, NH will present a free lecture entitled "Equine Medical Emergencies and First Aid". Both lectures will be held at the Mount Holyoke College Equestrian Center in South Hadley, MA beginning at 7:00 PM

For trail rides, we begin with GRHC's Annual Peggy Santaniello Memorial Ride on Sunday, May 13th, at the Swift River Sportsmen's Club in Belchertown, MA. Due to the fact that we had to move to a new date for this ride due to scheduling conflicts, and we realize that it is now on Mother's Day, we are giving all Mothers a discount on entry fees. So come and spend Mother's Day with us! Bring Mom for the meal or go see her after the ride refreshed from a fun and relaxing time. Remember this is a wonderful ride with great food for a good cause. We will collect funds for the American Heart Association or an animal shelter of your choice.

Our annual GRHC Fall Foliage Ride and Feast returns on Sunday October 14th, with a rain date of Sunday, October 20th at Glencorft Farm, Southampton, MA. This is our big ride and feast and it has been hit for many years now. A trail pace will also be held sometime this year with the date to be announced later.

Brand new to our calendar this year is a special event that has gained popularity across the country.  The GRHC will be hosting an ACTHA competitive ride on
Sunday, September 9th . ACTHA stands for American Competitive Trail Horse Association and was created to show case the talents of our trail horses. ACTHA's founders, Karen VanGetson and Carrie Scrima were tired of long drives to multi-day, timed competitions. They wanted a venue where they could enjoy their horses and the wonderful scenery surrounding them. Of course they wanted some challenge and a chance to learn as well as show off their horse's talents. Most of all they wanted beauty, camaraderie, and fun! They created ACTHA to host these events. ACTHA events are sanctioned by the association and are advertised widely throughout the country and are held in every state. They are basically obstacles courses on the trials in the woods that challenge the horse and rider teams with natural obstacles that any trail horse may found along the trail. Some of the obstacles are easy for any trail horse to complete such as riding up an embankment. Others might be crossing a wooden bridge or crossing water. Still natural obstacles may be something like dismounting on a trail to pick up an object and then remounting with the object. You must become a member of ACTHA to participate. Membership is very inexpensive and there are many benefits, prizes and great discounts for equestrian products . At this point we are looking for an appropriate location for this event. We will let you know as soon as possible where this ride will be. Please visit their web site at www.actha.us and check out the possible obstacles and watch videos of riders performing tasks and negotiating obstacles.

For shows this year, we are hosting 2 horse shows and one gymkhana. The first horse show will take place on Saturday, June 16th at Dufresne Park with our traditional GRHC Annual Open Horse Show. This is always a popular and fun show. The second horse show will take place on Sunday, August 12th at the same location. Our gymkhana will take place on Sunday, September 23rd.

Finally, the GRHC will participate in the Belchertown Fair Parade on Saturday, September 29th. Last year we had a great showing of members in various costumes. We won third place in the professional marching unit category!