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| Traditional New Year's Day ride. Too cold to even put on tack. |
Hope everyone had a great New Years!
I fell asleep around 10 pm with my cat in my lap. I'm not sad about it either haha.
I need to pick your brains on something.
I am going to start a memorial scholarship/grant in my father's name for the Indiana Dressage Society. I haven't presented anything to the board yet, mostly because I need more ideas. Bloggers to the rescue!
I was thinking something for a Jr/YR or AA, someone who trains their own horse. I don't think I will limit it to any certain level, but you do have to have a required amount of volunteer hours with IDS.
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| Huh. We were showing PSG this summer. Hopefully all that training is under all those layers still? |
I'd really love more ideas on what grants you think would be most beneficial? Is there a niche missing? I really want this grant to go to someone hardworking and deserving, not a big name pro or trust fund baby who has everything paid for already.
No such thing as a dumb suggestion so throw them my way! :)
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In other news I am OVER this cold snap and Hampton needs to go back to work badly. He is snorty and obnoxious these days. Oh he had his hocks injected again so now he feels REALLY good .#possiblyneedaneckstrap lol
Awwww, I love this idea. I think it should be someone just like you, a hardworking AA. JR's are cool, but they're more likely to have things paid for by their parents (although yes I realize that's not always true) while AA's are often struggling. Maybe restrict it to 20 somethings since they often have the toughest time staying in the riding scene due to student loans etc?
ReplyDeleteI love the idea of it being someone who trains their own horse, though I wonder how you'll define that. Lots of grey area there, although I know what you mean by the spirit of it - not someone on a made horse.
That's a really lovely idea. My local GMO offers a yearly grant, so that might be helpful to look at? There are rules in a PDF form about halfway down the page. It would give you a place to start.
ReplyDeletehttps://mainedressage.com/resources/grants/
Wow - what a wonderful idea! I don't have any suggestions to offer since I think your idea of it going to a JR/YR or AA - with volunteer hours are great. Your Dad would be proud :)
ReplyDeleteThis is a wonderful idea. I love the idea of it being amateurs, like Jen said. It could always be a short essay-type application with a prompt of your choice. What about limiting levels shown at for someone who maybe hasn't had the horse/money/training to move up before?
ReplyDeleteAgreed - Jr/Yr seem to get everything and poor hardworking AA's seem to have it a bit harder - though to be fair not all AA's are made from the same cloth, same as juniors.
ReplyDeleteI like Jen's idea of it being a younger AA who is possibly struggling to juggle riding and student loans. And I LOVE the idea of it being someone who trained their own horse. Is there a way to find out if people trained their own horse by looking it up on centerline and making sure that the horse hasn't been shown above the level they're competing at by anyone else? That's usually my go to way of figuring it out. It doesn't always hold, since you could be paying someone to train but not show the horse, but I'm always impressed seeing people be the first person at a certain level with their horse. I dunno if that's something you can require though (I know nothing of grants like this)... I've never seen a grant like it, that'd be super cool.
ReplyDeleteOmg I love this idea. Do you know the grant the USDF has for amateurs? It's based on volunteering hours, but you also have to write a letter and get one from other community members, I think. It pays for a week of lessons for you. Intensive training sort of thing. I always loved that idea, but even though I volunteered a TON I couldn't match those who didn't work or made it their life. Is there a way to justify financial need? Can you ask for tax returns? Would a letter from a trainer/community member to support be enough?
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome, Karen. Happy for you to bounce ideas off me anytime!
That's a wonderful idea ❤️
ReplyDeleteI love this idea! I would think that the volunteer requirement would help to select your target group. You could also also say preference will be given to those with self trained horses and then have them write something short about how they train or something.
ReplyDeleteWhat a cool idea! I like the idea of doing an AA award because I'm an AA.
ReplyDeleteI won a $150 scholarship for being AA high point at 3rd level back in July. It was so meaningful to me- I brought Penn up myself and it was like, "Hey, good job! Here's some money to help you get the help you need!"
ReplyDeleteMaybe offer it as a yearly grant for AA/JR riders that has to be applied for- ask all the questions you want about their training schedule and how they plan to use the grant, this lets you ask for volunteer time too. Enough questions that you can get a feel for who works their horses themselves and who gets a trainer to do it.
I think this is a really lovely idea. I was involved in starting the Area 1 USEA grants. Here's the page with all the info we decided on: http://www.area1usea.org/Events/Awards/Scholarship/scholarship.htm
ReplyDeleteWe started with just 4 scholarships and now it's up to 10. It was a lot of fun to think through the requirements and then read through the applications.
I love this idea!! Maybe you could add in that the person has to be nominated (you don't get to just throw your name in yourself) by another rider in IDS. That way there's an extra human vouching that this person is an awesome, hardworking AA/Jr.
ReplyDeleteSuch a great idea! There's an award here for AA's, basically you need to volunteer a certain number of hours and write an essay, and it pays your entries to our regional championships. There's a similar one that pays for your spot in a clinic, and another that subsidizes transportation costs to shows or lessons for people in isolated areas. I like the idea of those because it's rewarding people who want to improve/learn.
ReplyDeleteI’m slightly late to the party, but the GMO I was involved with had a scholarship that involved writing an essay on how you overcame adversity or a hardship as a rider. You also needed a set amount of volunteer hours with the GMO.
ReplyDeleteI don't really have any helpful advice, but I LOVE this idea!!
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