Banquet Time: NIHJA and IHJA Year-End Awards Banquets

The Chicago Equestrian team headed out to the banquets this weekend.

Brenda and Laura were at the NIHJA Banquet on Friday night they had a drawing for a free halter and gave away Chicago Equestrian rubber bracelets! Thanks to everyone that stopped by our table and said Hi.

Laura, Stephanie, Brenda, The Chicago Equestrian Team

Saturday night the three of us, Brenda, Laura and Stephanie,  headed over to the Schaumburg Renaissance for the IHJA Banquet. What a delightfully fun time we had!

The cocktail hour was a big success. We had our table half way down the reception area by the raffle tables and we had lots of interest in the new website. Hope everyone got their bracelets because we gave them all out! It was so much fun to talk with everyone and to check out all the beautiful dresses and hair-dos. 

We donated 2 free Chicago Equestrian subscriptions for the IHJA raffle as well as raffling of a Walsh shipping halter at our table. There were tons of great raffle gifts donated to IHJA, including a very nice bottle of champagne that we would have liked to win! 

 

The rest of the evening was filled with the awards ceremony. Watching the smiles on the littlest riders all dressed up getting their awards and ribbons was great and some of the perpetual trophies and special awards were beautiful and big! What an honor for everyone that worked so hard during the show season. We were entertained by fun video montages from the past show season and a great blooper video of falls, Yes, Equestrians are a tough group of people! Dinner and dessert were both very good, great conversation at our table and then of course the fun started out on the dance floor. I would say that the evening was a success! 

Dancing the night away!

Full banquet coverage and stories coming to the website soon! Don't miss out on reliving all the fun :)

Welcome to Chicago Equestrian!

Hello Chicago horse enthusiasts,

Chicago Equestrian website is live! The team has been hard at work getting every last detail squared away so we can hit the ground running.

You may be wondering what this new website is all about and where it came from. Well, let me fill you in with some  details.

It all started as an idea. Brenda Mueller, President and Owner of Chicago Equestrian, approached myself and another Adult Amateur rider and said;

'what do you think of this idea? A website that is just for Chicago area riders. A site that contains any and all information in one place, barn listings, show information, trainers, farriers, vets, clinics etc, etc, etc... A site that can help promote the Chicago area horse industry.'  

We immediately loved the idea and between the three of us, and input of several others, we ran with it. Over quite a few conversations, Saturday morning breakfast pre-barn pow wow meetings, endless e-mails, phone calls and text messages we refined the idea into a tangible project. Then the real work started of actually making it all happen! 


Fast Forward to today, the site is live and chocked full of great information that any Chicago area horse person can use plus a whole lot more. Here is a highlight of what you can experience at www.ChicagoEquestrian.com

• The latest news on Chicago area riders with video interviews.
• Interesting articles
• Calendar full of show dates for IHJA, NIHJA and A Place to Start series. As well as clinics and banquet dates.
• Special event information: clinics, benefits, special shows.
• Classified section to reach out to the Chicago equestrian community.
• Jr/AO hour, a special section where you can comment on articles pertinent to Jr/AO riders. Let's hear what you have to say!
• Promotion packages for your special events, your barn, your rider or even a feature article written just for you. 
• Follow Chicago Equestrian on Facebook and twitter and play foursquare to become the mayor of Chicago Equestrian locations to win prizes.
• Stay tuned for up to date and behind the scenes action on our blog.
• Low yearly subscription rate that gives back to the community. $5 of every subscription is donated to the USHJA Zone 5 Scholarship fund.

I look forward seeing many new faces join us in this new Chicago Equestrian experience and help promote each other and the Chicago area horse industry.