Early spring finds WAHA in full swing with a successful Halter and Showmanship Clinic already completed, and the Midwest Horse Fair coming up quickly. The May Show is also just around the corner as our year kicks off. Please volunteer to help at either the Horse Fair or the May Show, or both, if you are able to! Contact Stacey Dunn at 608-774-1864 to volunteer for Horse Fair. May Show volunteers should contact either Gay Jeanne Bower (920-699-3690) or Jessica Cole (262-672-9742).

The fragile state of the economy seems to be on everyone’s minds, and it appears that some of our shows may suffer from lower entry numbers in 2009, but we are still hopeful that good class lists and good management will draw significant numbers of exhibitors. We hope that all of you will continue to give us your feedback regarding classes you’d like to see offered and scheduling improvements that you feel could be made. Show managements cannot always incorporate new suggestions, but we are always grateful for feedback and use it to try to keep the shows as exhibitor-friendly as possible.

Sponsorships of classes will also be very important to the success of our 2009 shows. WAHA Treasurer Bev Cole began a 2009 sponsorship drive in mid-March. Some sponsorship checks are arriving, but it looks like the response will not be quite as generous or enthusiastic as in previous years. Therefore we ask you to consider sponsoring a class and perhaps suggest to your vet, instructor, tack vendor, or farrier, that you would appreciate them considering doing one as well. Contact Bev Cole for any questions regarding how to do a sponsorship at 608-356-5340.

As always, the entire Board of Directors is grateful to the membership for their ideas and their support through volunteering! Please continue to share your ideas and time with us so that WAHA continues to grow and excel in the promotion of the Arabian Horse.