President’s Post
“President’s Post” – January 2015Hello MPHA members!! 😀 The MPHA Board had it’s January meeting on 1/27/15 and is proud to announce the new Board of Directors for 2015! President: Robin Little-Basil Vice-President: Jenna Ratliff Secretary: Jenny Adams Treasurer: Rebecca Beal And Board Members: Drexel Ratliff Teily Little Cyd Blakeslee Megan Brewington Taylor Davidson We are all super excited for the upcoming year and all the new events and activities MPHA will be involved in. There is a new “Events” calendar on the website and facebook. You do NOT have to have an MPHA registered horse to attend/join in on any of our trail rides, campouts or fun shows…everyone is welcome and we would love to see you there!! The BIG news for MPHA is our acceptance into the Kentucky Breeders Incentive Fund for the 2015-2017 period..WooHoo!!! MPHA has partnered with “ACTHA” to allow purebred MPHA Kentucky born horses to compete in any “ACTHA” ride, anywhere in the United States, for end-of-the-year points to qualify for KBIF payouts in 2016! This means any member, out-of-state or in Kentucky can compete! You will find a copy of our Award distribution plan & proposal on the website and facebook. We do NOT have all the details worked out yet, and the number one question of “How much $$” hasn’t been answered, but we will let you know as soon as we know! However, you can start making your plans & looking at ACTHA rides near you if you want to compete. The best score of 5 total rides will be used for the end of the year scores. We will be adding links and more information shortly, so keep checking back on the website!! More exciting news involves the MPHA website. The MPHA database is now up and running on the website!! You can search the database for any registered MPHA horse using a full or partial name. We are planning on expanding the database and it’s capabilities into 2016 and would love any input from the members. Don’t forget to check out the “Return to our Roots” section which includes some interviews from well know horse breeders as well as videos of foundation stallions and two KET specials about the Mountain Pleasure Horse. If anyone has any videos, interviews, pictures or articles from the past, we would LOVE to have them for the website! Again, the Board of MPHA wants to welcome all new & returning members to join us in 2015 as we, the Mountain Pleasure Horse Association, “Return to our Roots”!! “President’s Post” – July 2014Hello MPHA members!! 😀 June was another busy month for the Mountain Pleasure Horses! The MPHA held their 3rd MPHA campout/trail ride of 2014 at Rudy’s Ranch in Salt Lick, Ky. We had several MPHA Virginia and Ohio members & horses there to enjoy the weekend with us and had a fantastic turnout for our 1st “Fun show” of 2014, with every class having a big turnout, the open ladies class had over 30 entries! June 20-22nd found the Mountain Pleasure Horses enjoying some trail riding at Hocking Hills, Ohio. You can check out pictures of our “adventures” on the Mountain Pleasure Horse facebook page! We are hoping some members can make it to at least one of our future campouts/trail rides. Check the schedule of upcoming events… we’d love to have you! July 11th-13th will be the 25th year/Silver anniversary for the world reknown “Breyerfest” at the Kentucky Horse Park. Once again the Mountain Pleasure horses will be wowing the crowds with versatility demonstrations on Friday and Saturday and the 12 “palomino ponies” will be performing a drill demonstration on Sunday. Come out and enjoy the show if you’re in the Lexington, Ky. Area, and stop by Barn 7 and visit with us if you can! Don’t forget to stop by the Kentucky Horse Park Breeds Barn & say “hello” to “Rockin R Maxx”, if you get a chance! He will be spending the next 6 months performing for the twice daily crowds during the “Parade of Breeds”!! There are some exciting new changes to our website now, too, including historical looks at our breed which are under the “Return to our Roots” section which includes some interviews from well know horse breeders as well as videos of foundation stallions and two KET specials about the Mountain Pleasure Horse. The recent interview by Wayne Williams for his TV program “Speaking of Horses” is also available on the website. If anyone has any videos, interviews, pictures or articles from the past, we would LOVE to have them for the website! We are also currently working on incorporating the horse database back into the website, and hope we can have this feature up-and-running shortly for everyone to use and enjoy! Again, the Board of MPHA wants to welcome all new & returning members to join us in 2014 as we, the Mountain Pleasure Horse Association, “Return to our Roots”!! “President’s Post” – June 2014Hello MPHA members!! 😀 Summer (along with all her lovely crawly & flying friends..ugh) has arrived in full force here in Kentucky! Hope everyone is getting to enjoy your Mountain Pleasure Horses in spite of the bugs, we sure are!! May was another busy month for the Mountain Pleasure Horses. The MPHA Drill team “Rockin R Rhythm Riders” rode in their first competition of 2014 in Alexandria, Ky. on May 17th , and came home with blue ribbons all around! A big thanks to everyone who came out to support the “palomino ponies” ☺ Our 2nd MPHA campout/trail ride at Midwest Trail Ride in Indiana was a great time, too. We had several MPHA Indiana members & horses there to enjoy the weekend with us as well. We were even interviewed by Wayne Williams for an upcoming spot on his TV program “Speaking of Horses”! I’ll post when we have a date/time for the interview available. May 31st was the 3rd annual Deaf/Blind horse camp at the Rockin R Riding Ring in Jeffersonville, Ky. There were around 100 folks who came out to enjoy a day of horse grooming, horseback riding, wagon rides & fun. Thanks to all the volunteers who came out to help, and thanks to the MPHA horses who were, of course, the “stars” of the show! Don’t forget to stop by the Kentucky Horse Park Breeds Barn & say “hello” to “Rockin R Maxx”, if you get a chance! He will be spending the next 6 months performing for the twice daily crowds during the “Parade of Breeds”!! “President’s Post” – May 2014Hello MPHA members!! 😀 Spring has finally sprung & I don’t know about you guys, but none too soon for me!!! Hope everyone is getting out & enjoying their horses before the flies get here!May is shaping up to be another busy month for the Mountain Pleasure Horses. The MPHA Drill team “Rockin R Rhythm Riders” will be riding in their first competition of 2014 in Alexandria, Ky. on May 17th. If anyone can make it out, it’s a great competition put on by the Northern Kentucky Horse Network with anywhere from 15-20 teams competiting..It’s always a fun & exciting day! May 31st will be the 3rd annual Deaf/Blind horse camp at the Rockin R Riding Ring in Jeffersonville, Ky. The Kentucky Association of the Deaf/Blind will be bringing their folks down for a day of horse grooming, horseback riding, wagon rides & fun. We could use some volunteers to help, and believe me, you will get way more out of this day than you give..they are precious! Don’t forget to stop by the Kentucky Horse Park Breeds Barn & say “hello” to “Rockin R Maxx”, if you get a chance! He will be spending the next 6 months performing for the twice daily crowds during the “Parade of Breeds”!! Maxx will be ridden by a “frontier nurse” and the proud history of the MPHA will be announced for the crowds! We will be planning an “official” day for MPHA members to come to the Ky Horse Park & see “Maxx” in action sometime over the summer! Look for some exciting changes coming up on our website & facebook pages very soon, too, including, starting this month, some historical looks at our breed and a few “blasts from the past” we think everyone will enjoy! Again, the Board of MPHA wants to welcome all new & returning members to join us in 2014 as we, the Mountain Pleasure Horse Association, “Return to our Roots”!!
“President’s Post” – April 2014Hello MPHA members!! 😀 April brought some exciting events to the Mountain Pleasure Horse Association! Equine Affaire was a huge success & we thank everyone who came out to see us in Columbus, Ohio. We really appreciate it! April also brought about an exciting honor for the Mountain Pleasure Horse. We were asked to provide a breed specimen to be included in the Kentucky Horse Park’s Breeds Barn for 2014. So, on April 7th, “Rockin R Maxx”, a 12 yr. old golden palomino gelding, was delivered to the KHP to spend the next 6 months performing for the twice daily crowds during the “Parade of Breeds”!! Maxx will be ridden by a “frontier nurse” and the proud history of the MPHA will be announced for the crowds! We will be planning an “official” day for MPHA members to come to the Ky Horse Park & see “Maxx” in action sometime over the summer! Our first (of hopefully many!) organized trail ride/campouts is scheduled for this Saturday-Sunday (4/26-4/27/14) at Elkins Creek Horse Camp in Pedro, Ohio. Please call if you need reservations/directions 740-643-2416. There are going to be exciting changes coming up on our website & facebook pages very soon, including some historical looks at our breed and a few “blasts from the past” we think everyone will enjoy! Again, the Board of MPHA wants to welcome all new & returning members to join us in 2014 as we, the Mountain Pleasure Horse Association, “Return to our Roots”!!
“President’s Post” – March 2014Hello MPHA members!! I just wanted to take a few moments to “reintroduce” everyone to your new Board and update you on the upcoming events we have planned for our wonderful Association. First and foremost, we are striving to be a totally “transparent” board to all the MPHA members and want to welcome, one and all, past and present, to attend our bi-monthly meetings (the next meeting will be 5/20 @ 7:00pm at the Menifee Co. Health Dept. building in Frenchburg) and to any/all of our events. We will be posting and updating these meetings and events monthly on our website and facebook pages, so please check in and join us, we would love to have you! Our first (of hopefully many!) guided trail rides is scheduled for this Saturday (3/22/14) at Murder Branch Trail in Menifee Co. Ride will leave promptly at 12:30pm, and will last 3-3.5 hours. Please call/text if you need directions or if it’s raining (possible rain date) 859-533-9715. Equine Affaire will be our next “big” event on the MPHA schedule, with 8 horses going to Columbus to represent our breed. We are scheduled for 3 demos on Sunday 4/13 and the booth will be set up in the Voinovich arena Thursday-Sunday, so please come by & see us! Again, the Board of MPHA wants to welcome all new & returning members to join us in 2014 as we, the Mountain Pleasure Horse Association, “Return to our Roots”!! Thanks & hope to see everyone soon!
“President’s Post” – Feb 2014I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to all MPHA members, past & present. My name is Robin Little-Basil, and I am the 2014 MPHA President. Many of you know me as R.T. Little’s granddaughter, Ronnie Little’s daughter, or the coach of the Rockin R Rhythm Riders/Licking River Riders Drill Teams. If you don’t recognize me, please feel free to facebook me or contact me directly at 859-533-9715 or rockinrfarm@hotmail.com I’m 3rd generation MPHA owner/breeder, and am going to do my level best to help bring some excitement back into the MPHA association in 2014! Any ideas or suggestions are more than welcome! We would love for anyone with photos, videos, stories, articles or anything else related to the history of this Foundation breed to feel free to share these with the website or facebook page. Send us your trail pictures & stories..We’d love to post them! We on the board are very excited to begin our journey to “re-visit” our history and want to welcome everyone to come along with us as we in the MPHA “Return to our Roots”!! |