As we look ahead to the 2025-26 season, our recent 2.5-hour board meeting centered on some exciting plans and thoughtful discussions aimed at enhancing every aspect of our club. We feel really good about this season and are deeply grateful to all of our club participants for being active contributors and thought partners. 

As we reflected on the past season and looked for areas to improve, one of the biggest takeaways, and something we are incredibly enthusiastic about, is an increased emphasis on horsemanship and sportsmanship.

As the renowned primatologist Jane Goodall said, “World Horse Day is not just a celebration—it’s a call to protect one of humanity’s oldest partnerships.” This sentiment deeply resonates with us. The sport of gymkhana is a vibrant tradition that beautifully celebrates the unique partnership between horse and human. Our aim is to honor the horse and rider, hence an increased emphasis on horsemanship and sportsmanship. 

This will take many forms, from education to empowering judges, board members and trainers to be more observant, vocal and active regarding horse welfare and rider behavior. We noticed possible overworking of horses during competition and fun races at the Summer Showdown as well as concerns about sportsmanship that prompted discussions during the board meeting. We take all of this seriously and will work to protect our club’s culture and priorities. More will be discussed at the August Judges Meeting.

Another takeaway, particularly following the Summer Showdown, is that we’d like to further distribute some of the leadership roles. We realized, about a day before the show when we wondered why we were already exhausted, that we had undertaken producing not just a horse show but also managing a hotel (stalls and camping), running a store (silent auction, raffle, t-shirts, swag bags), setting up a hospitality suite (Judges Lounge) and managing a restaurant (BBQ). 

During the regular season, we would also like a dedicated volunteer coordinator. Hopefully this will be easier given so many of our families are now avid volunteers. If you’re interested in any of the above positions, let us know. We’re hoping Carrie can continue to be our store manager and Chelsea has volunteered to be our “hotel” manager and concierge in addition to her roles on the show secretary team and as our fearless flag team coach.

Speaking of the Summer Showdown, here are a few changes we’re planning for next year:

• Adding one more Division A match race, bringing the total to two AAA match races and two A match races. 
• Potentially eliminating the fun races or making them human-only events to take stress and overwork off the horses. We’re also considering reducing the prize amounts (formerly $50 Boot Barn gift card per person), to emphasize the fun in fun races versus competition and winning.
• Adding another buckle pattern. Each time we designate a pattern to be a buckle pattern, it costs the club $700. A total of four buckle patterns would be $2,400 but if the club continues to perform financially as strongly as it did last season, this should be no problem.
• This would mean: 4 match race patterns, 4 buckle patterns, 4 jackpot patterns at the next Summer Showdown.
• We had a lot of sponsorship support for the Summer Showdown and for next year we’re cooking up some new ideas. Jay Whyte (Sara’s husband) suggested a $1,000 Buckle Sponsor package that included the sponsor receiving a trophy buckle with buckle frame/case and a certificate/thank you from the Mudslingers. Jay loves his own idea so much he’s volunteered to be our first buckle sponsor for this package! Thank you!
• We also enjoyed the basket-making party because it spread the basket-making work among 15-20 people and also gave us time to connect and relax a week before the show.
• We will designate post-show clean-up teams for the Summer Showdown next year as board members ended up picking up leftover trash, canopies, chairs, and hay.
• We received a lot of compliments from new participants, who appreciated our fun and welcoming atmosphere. This is something we are very proud of (and reflects on the whole club) and will continue to foster.

We are incredibly excited about the direction we’re heading for the 2025-26 season. Our first year as an independent club involved producing 12 shows, including the Summer Showdown, hosting an orientation and basket-making party, attracting new marquee sponsors like Deer Springs Equestrian and Ocean Hill Equine, and being in the strongest financial position in the history of the organization. 

Building on this for 2025-26, by focusing on sportsmanship, horsemanship, and the well-being of our equine partners, we aim to create an even more rewarding experience for everyone involved. Stay tuned for more updates as we prepare for an amazing year!