Jack Smith RIC: Plans for 2008
First of all, I must say that I’m very happy that Kerrie Matesich has agreed to be the assistant RIC. We have divided the responsibilities with Kerrie concentrating on the C 1’s and below and at club level while I will be concentrating my efforts on the C 2’s and above and those who teach them. I will also be working with Jen Sacksen who is the new VRS of Ratings in regards to upper level ratings. I have been compiling a roster of C 2’s and up so I can communicate directly with them. However, as we all know, kids seem to change their e-mail addresses all the time so I will post any of my communications on the Yahoo Group so you can be kept in the loop and inform any of your members that may have slipped through the cracks.
Background
Instructor/Education: Graduate of Lake Erie College and taught there for 8 years. USEA ICP Level II instructor (through the CCI* level), received the BHSAI while attending the Talland School of Equitation in England. Students have competed through the CCI ** level including the NAJYRC
USEF Licensed Official: Dressage Judge 'r', Eventing Judge 'R', Eventing TD 'r', and Eventing Course Designer 'r'.
Past USEA & USEF positions: Area VIII Chair, USEA BOG Member, USEF Eventing Technical Committee member, Chair of the USEA Organizers' Committee
Current USEA Committees: Area VIII Young Rider Coordinator, Competitions Committee, Young Event Horse Committee
Rider: ridden through the CCI ** level, recipient of the USDF Bronze medal, and a graduate B of the Lake Erie Pony Club in Western NY
Organizer: The organizer for 2 USEA/USEF, Winona & Stone Gate events for more than 20 years. Have hosted and organized numerous Pony Club rallies, ratings, clinics and camp.
Both of my children are active Pony Club members and will be receiving the USPC Eventing Recognition Awards: Kyle will receive the Gold Medal and Kevin will be receiving the Silver medal. Kyle is a past recipient of the Cavalry award and has participated as a member of an USPC international exchange. Kevin was a member of the USMGA Games team at this summer's Mounted Games World Championships in Belgium.
If you have any suggestions or requests, please let me know. I’m looking forward to working with you and your members.
Jackie Smith
330-222-2089 or 330-277-6964
Kerrie Matesich, Assistant RIC: Plans for 2008
I am happy to begin serving as the Assistant Regional Instruction Coordinator
and wanted to share some ideas Connie and I have discussed for the upcoming
year.
-Club Level Instruction/Ratings
I’d like to see the return of the weekly Pony Club meeting! We need to pump up
our instruction programs for many of our clubs with a year-long lesson plan
implementing the detailed curriculum set forth from the National Office. We
know what our kids need to be doing for ratings. What we need is a plan for how
to teach it, how to gauge the progress, and how to know when they will be
successful enough to rate. We can no longer send our riders to ratings without
the foundations of a basic, balanced position.
The great news is I am here to help! At our yearly Instructor and IC meeting,
we will sit down and put together this year-long outline. We will talk about
what our instructors need to be focusing on in their lesson plans and how we
can keep track of progress. We’ll share ideas about unmounted meetings and how
to provide the most education to our members in the most enjoyable way.
I will also help keep track of our members’ progress with you. We want every
child to be the most successful they can be and don’t want to send them to
ratings prematurely or unprepared. When your members are ready to rate-up, a
copy of the checked-off standards of proficiency will be sent to me for review.
If there is a trend of “prepared members” repeatedly failing testings, I will
visit and work with you to find ways to improve your program. Our goal is to
set our kids up for success!
There will also be a directory available of Regional Examiners that best fit
the Pony Club standard. We will rely on you to help build up this list, so that
we can share it and help everyone have access to the best people. The same will
be done with our Instructors. We want every child to have access to the best professionals
we can find, and if you have an extraordinary instructor that teaches and
understands the Pony Club way, please share their information with me.
-Regional Clinics
I’d like to build upon the great clinics we already have in place, like this year’s
Standards & Rating Clinics, and provide even more opportunities for our
members. The D3/C1 clinics are a great place to start introducing the more
advanced knowledge, such as lungeing and teaching, that our members will
require as they rate up.
I would like to also implement a regional C2 rating for next fall, spanning
over a weekend with a clinic on Saturday and rating on Sunday. I’d like to
bring in a national examiner and start to introduce our coming C2s to the
quality that will be expected as they work forward to their C3. The C3 is now
such an important rating with the introduction of specializations, I feel
taking the pressure off of meeting a national examiner for the first time might
help more riders to succeed.
Background
I am a professional trainer specializing in
Dressage. I have been riding and teaching professionally for over 15 years and
have had the pleasure of working with the Hunter’s Run Pony Club for the past
several years. I earned a Bronze Medal with the United States Dressage
Federation, am close to completing the USDF’s Instructor Certification Program,
and am also participating in the USDF “L” Program. I am a board member of the
Mid-Ohio Dressage Association and am their Awards Chairperson. I am also
pursuing my Ohio
4-H Judge licensure. I operate my family’s Dogwood Grove Farm in Granville, Ohio and am
the Dressage Trainer at Auchmeddan Stables in Pataskala, Ohio.
I hold a B.A. from the Ohio State University
and attended Capital Law School.
Kerrie Matesich
614-519-5782