San Martin Horsemen’s Association

Happy March, riders! Once the rain stops again, we look forward to seeing everyone at our next event which will be a tack fitting clinic on Saturday, March 22 at Blomquist Arena in Gilroy. More information and registration can be found on this flyer. Let us know if you have any questions!

The Club Ride this month will be on Sunday, February 23 at Harvey Bear County Park, San Martin Ave entrance. The club rides generally ride out at 11:00, but please check the Facebook Page as the ride out times of rides are often adjusted due to weather and other park conditions or events.

The General Meeting this month will be at 7pm on Wednesday, February 26^th at Saddles & Treasures in Gilroy. Saddles and Treasures is located at 7641 Monterey Street, and sells quality used tack, barn goods, jewelry, art and collectibles. Arrive early to browse and shop as Proprietress Amy Boucher generously opens her store to us. Our Guest Speaker this month is Emily Ehrke, Purina Livestock Production Specialist. Emily will be speaking to us about horse nutrition so bring your questions!

The February newsletter contains our 2025 Calendar. We have lots of events planned, please check it out.

Lots of pictures in this month’s newsletter, from the Holiday Party and the Ride & Carols event last month.

Our General Meeting this month will be at 7pm on Wednesday 22^nd of January at the Longhouse Restaurant in Gilroy. Arrive early to order dinner. We will be completing the annual elections for officers, see page 2 of the newsletter, and presenting the 2025 calendar of events.

Membership

The 2025 Membership Form is available online.

Currently the fees are, Individual $30, Family $40. We haven’t raised our fees for a long time but felt it was time to bump it up a little to cover our increasing costs. From 2/1/2025 the rates will be:

Individual:     $35 Family:           $45

Renew before 2/1/2025 to get the lower rate.

Update coming soon

The newsletter is available.

There will be no General Meeting in November, see you at the Holiday Party!.

The SMHA day ride is Saturday 11/23 at Salinas River State Beach. Ride out time 11am. RSVP required to Kathy by 11/22.

#HoofPicsinParks last day for submissions is December 1st.

Annual election of club officers is open see page 2 of the newsletter.

Upcoming:

We will hold our end of year Holiday Party on Wednesday December 4th at 6pm for no host cocktails at the Old City Hall restaurant in Gilroy. No-host dinner at 6:30pm.

Bring a new/gently-used, wrapped gift valued approx. $10-$20 for a fun gift exchange game! It will also feature the awards for this year’s #hoofpicsinparks competition.

RIDE & CAROLING

Saturday December 21st ride out at Noon

Dress up in your finest Christmas sweater and your horse too if they have one.

Come for a lovely little ride and provide some entertainment for the folks strolling around the loop at Harvey Bear County Park, San Martin entrance.

The General Meeting this month will be at Saddles & Treasures 7pm on Wednesday 23^rd of October. Our guest speaker will be Angel Fletcher DVM of Fletcher Equine Veterinary Services. Arrive early to browse and shop too.

The SMHA day ride is cancelled this month, apologies for any inconvenience.

Note the venue has changed for the Holiday Party.  We will be in the private room upstairs at Old City Hall. No host cocktails at 6 PM, no host dinner at 6:30 PM., do usual fun and gift exchange after dinner.

The November 2^nd Halloween Poker Ride is coming up and will also feature a campout at Harvey Bear County Park from Friday afternoon through Sunday morning, 11/1-11/3. Registration link and info on page 4 of the newsletter. Or here.

The General Meeting this month will be at 7pm on Wednesday 18^th of September at the Longhouse Restaurant in Gilroy. Arrive early to order dinner. Note the recent date change.

The SMHA day ride will be at the main entrance of Mt Madonna County Park on Saturday September 14^th  Meet at the Sprig Lake entrance at the bottom of the hill. Ride out time will be 10:30am. Bring your lunch to hang out after the ride. Space is limited so RSVP is required to kmarn@aol.com 

Coming up on Saturday the 21^st  is the September Play Day see the flier on page 4 of the newsletter. This is a fun event for you and your horse, and you’ll probably find something you need to work on. The two hours of practice allow you to find out what that is and try your best to get through that obstacle.

Please register online at https://form.jotform.com/toniwhedon/smha-september-play-day-2024

Then mark your calendars for the Trailer Backing Clinic on Saturday October 5^th. A very popular clinic with experts guiding around curves and corners.

Please register online using this link:

https://form.jotform.com/toniwhedon/smha-trailer-backing-clinic-2024

The November 2^nd Halloween Poker Ride is coming up and will also feature a campout at Harvey Bear County Park from Friday afternoon through Sunday morning, 11/1-11/3. Registration link and info coming soon.

Our club meeting this month is at Saddles & Treasures  in Gilroy.

Amy Boucher will be speaking on ways to get out of your horse’s way to improve your ride and your relationship with your horse. 

Meeting is Wednesday August 28, 7:00.

The SMHA day ride will be at the main entrance of Mt Madonna County Park on Saturday August 31st. 

Address is 7850 Pole Line Rd, Watsonville. Ride out time will be 10:30am. Bring your lunch to hang out after the ride. Space is limited so RSVP is required to kmarn@aol.com. Note this is a change from the previously advertised Calero Park location.

Mark your calendars for our next play day on Saturday September 21st. Volunteers welcome.

The newsletter is on summer break this month.

www.smhorse.org

The General Meeting this month will be at 7pm on Wednesday 24^th of July at the Longhouse Restaurant in Gilroy. Arrive early to order dinner.

The SMHA day ride will be at the main entrance of Mt Madonna County Park on Sunday July 21st. Address is 7850 Pole Line Rd, Watsonville. Ride out time will be 10:30am. Bring your lunch to hang out after the ride. Space is limited so RSVP is required to kmarn@aol.com 

Coming up on Saturday August 3^rd is the Horse & Bikes clinic see the flier on page 4 of this month’s newsletter.

MORGAN HILL 4TH OF JULY PARADE

Toni Whedon
I am so excited to tell everyone that SMHA won first place out of the equestrian entries in the parade this week!  

Thank you again to everyone who helped decorate the float, trailer and horses this week – it really takes great teamwork to accomplish so much in such a short amount of time on parade day. All of the horses did amazing, and feedback on our equestrian group was all fantastic. We certainly couldn’t have been successful without every single one of you. With that said, if you have any feedback on how we can do even better or improve our processes next year, please feel free to email me directly – I would love to hear your ideas!!

I also want to say thank you to everyone for cleaning up after themselves and our animals so that we left the neighborhood in good condition…our efforts did not go unnoticed, and I was very proud of how our group was so responsible. I love being associated with such a great group of horse (and mule!) folks. 

Lots of pics in the newsletter.

The General Meeting this month will be at 7pm on Wednesday 26^th of June at Saddles & Treasures in Gilroy. Arrive early to browse and shop, www.saddlesandtreasures.com . Our speaker will be Sara Luke discussing Equine Bodywork.

Coming on June 29^th is our Horse Camping Clinic & Chili Cook-Off at Henry Cowell State Park, the Santa Cruz Horsemen’s Assoc. grounds. Campout weekend runs from Friday June 28^th checkout on Sunday June 30^th. You can register for each event using the links.

The newsletter is here!