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Red Hats &Purple Chaps

www.RedHatsandPurpleChaps.comSpring 2010

Trail Riding with the RHPCby Sue Vinyard

The weather is winding down a good trail ridingseason. Most of us will start thinking of warm homefires and cold barns. Brrrr! We had a good sea-son and tried a variety of new places. Some of uswent to Buffalo River Trail Rides in Tennessee forthe first time. Playing in the river after a hot day'sride was great. Our horses loved splashing in thewater and some liked to roll in the river.

Deam Lake was rainy but we managed to getsome good trail riding in there. The stalls werelarge and very nice. Mane Trails is a privatelyowned campground and and very clean. The own-ers were very friendly and nice. I finally got to campand ride at Brown County. It was muddy in placesand again hot but the ride to Story was good.

The ride in Yellowwood was interesting. They arelogging in places and made finding some of the(Continued on page 2)

2010 Calendar of Events (Jan - July)Check the website for updates/changes

MARCHMar 13-14: Riding Clinic @ Hoosier Horse ParkMar 20: Healthy Horse, Healthy YouMar 28: Trail Riding @ JW JonesMar 28: Drill Team Clinic @ New Castle, INMar 28: Qualifying & Despooking Clinic

APRILApr 3-4: Qualifying Clinics @ Hoosier Horse ParkApr 9-11: Hoosier Horse FairApr 17: Maple Syrup Festival Parade - Wakarusa, INApr 18: Driving Miss Daisy Clinic - Charlottesville, INApr 24: Trail Riding @ BirdseyeApr 24: Drill Team Practice @ TBAApr 28: Camping/Trail Ride @ Deam LakeApr 29: Pegasus Parade@ Louisville, KY

MAYMay 1: Blossom Festival @ Benton Harbor, MIMay 2: Trail Ride @ Bristol, INMay 7: American Villages 500 ParadeMay 8: Clinics @ Whitney FarmMay 15: Despook/Games Clinic @ Jasper, INMay 16: Driving Clinic @ Sheridan, INMay 16: Clinic @ Sapelo ArenaMay 21-23: Ladies Ride @ BlackwellMay 23: Drill Team Practice @ TBAMay 28-31: Camp & Trail @ Midwest

JUNEJun 4-6: Covered Bridge Trail RideJun 5-6: Drill Team Performance @ KY Horse ParkJun 12: ACTHA Ride & Clinic @ MidwestJun 13: Trail Ride @ Yankee Springs SP (Michigan)Jun 19: Drill Team Practice @ TBAJun 21-25: Buffalo River Trail @ Waynesboro, TN

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Trail Riding Continued from Page 1 trails difficult. And the rattlesnake that KarenHumphreys and I found on trail Z was an experi-ence for us and the horses.

We had a wonderful Ladies Ride in September atMidwest Trails. It was rainy towards the end ofthe week. But we had some fun games to do onthe trails, bingo in the mess hall, and an extremecowboy game. Karen Humphreys always comesup with interesting ways to entertain and teach usgood ways of working with our horses.

We rode at other places too and look forward totrying some more new ones next year. To start offthe new year, please come and ride with us atJW's on New Year's Day. Last year was cold butnot too windy. Four of us brave souls showed upand had a good time. We are hoping CountryBridges (formerly Country Haven) will be opensoon and we can plan rides there. If you have anysuggestions for places to ride, please contact meat svin@sbcglobal.net or cell ph# 812-239-1484.I am always looking for good trail riding and camp-grounds.

RHPC StatisticsYear End 2009

How Old Are We?Age range: 10 - 80Average: 51Mean: 55

Where Do We Live? (Top 6 Locations)Indianapolis, Martinsville, Danville, Bloomington,Coatesville, Lebanon

Where Have We Been?- Ireland- Mexico- Bowling Green, KY to Chicago, IL- 2010 will take us to Benton Harbor, MI

RHPC HorsesRHPC members own a combined 370 horses.

Breeds We Own (by popularity)QH, TWH, Arabian, Paint, Minis, Morgan, TB,Rocky Mountain, Saddlebreds, Mustangs, Mis-souri Fox Trotters, Spotted Saddle Horses,Ponies, Standardbreds, Grade horses, Clydes-dale and Shetland.

First Place Equestrian Unit in 2009 @- Peru Circus Parade- Miracle Mile Parade- Festival of the HOrse (Drill Team Champs)

New RHPC ChaptersWe grew to 5 chapters in 2009!

Thinking aboutjoining us?

The typical Indiana RHPC member...

- is 55 years old- lives on a farm- is married- has 1.5 horses- has her own horse trailer- rides a QH & TWH- has a high approval rating of the RHPC- attends many functions

Sound like fun? Join Us!

Don’t forget to visit us online for updatedschedule & photos, etc.

www.RedHatsandPurpleChaps.com

our National site is online at:

http://nationalRHPC.ning.com

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Memories from 2009

In 2009, RHPC members partici-pated in a variety of events includingparades, clinics and horse shows!

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From Kansas to Kentuckyby Bev Hill, Kansas City Chapter

Queen

It all started with Queen Mum’s emails last fallabout the upcoming events in Kentucky. All of theactivities sounded like so much fun that I wrote toher, drooling on my keyboard, and asked if therewas a possibility for me to make the trip and meeteveryone. Well, you know Jane, she was all overthat! Next thing we knew, the First Annual NationalRHPC convention was underway!

Now, lest you think I go around riding in big timeclinics and starring in fancy parades, nothing couldbe further from the truth. 2009 was our first yearfor RHPC in Kansas, and I have been putting onthe clinics using whatever knowledge I could stealfrom Karen Humphries and the RHPC handbook.We had done two whole parades, very small townstuff. I was hooked, but not what you’d call experi-enced.

Again, our Queen Mum did not bat an eye. Loadup, we’ll see you in Lexington, was pretty muchher advice. So off we went, hubby Cliff and I withour new-to-us truck camper and horse trailer. Therain pelted and the wind blew, and we drove anddrove. We arrived after most everyone was gonefrom the horse park, unloaded Bella and settledinto our camping spot. Whew!

The next morning was the clinic with LexingtonMounted Police. What fun! Riding together was agreat way to get acquainted, so I didn’t have tolearn everyone’s name all at once. Then we hadtwo flag ceremonies at the Parade of Breeds inthe horse park in which I carried the Kansas flag.A true ‘bucket list’ moment and it still brings a lumpto my throat to remember how thrilling that was.

But wait! There’s more, as they say on late-nighttelevision! We loaded up and drove to Georgetown(only getting a tiny bit lost on the way) and linedup for the Festival of the Horse Parade. That wasa sight to behold. You gals sure have your parade

decoration down to an art! A can of hairspray inone hand, giant shaker of glitter in the other, ev-eryone got properly spiffed and shined and thedrill team was off to do their (winning!) perfor-mance. Then we were headed down the road tothe parade lineup.

Walking to our staging area, everyone was so en-couraging. Bella was doing great, but if somethingfrightened her during the parade, the gals ridingbehind me assured me that they were prepared.Cliff was walking nearby carrying a halter, just incase. I started to feel calmer.

I asked which unit we would be and that’s when Ilearned that RHPC is the grand finale of a verylarge parade. We’re the ones they came to see!Nervous again! But the waiting has a way of calm-ing horses and riders down, and finally it was ourturn. The jukebox cranked up and off we went,waving and riding behind the truck. The crowd washuge and they were so excited to see us! At onepoint the people were packed so deep that we hadto ride two-across. But no one stopped smiling,no one’s horse freaked, it was FUN FUN FUN!

I came home with such renewed enthusiasm forwhat the Kansas City RHPC can become. I feelmuch better prepared to lead my group to growlarger and take on more activities. Several of themare planning to go to Kentucky this year. I can’twait!

I want to sincerely thank everyone I met. You madethe trip so much fun. Everyone was friendly, gladto see me, full of positive energy. Bella and I wereso glad to meet you all!