President’s Message … Feb, 2004

Happy New Year to all.  Perhaps you have already heard that I am the newly
elected President of MDDA.  I am honored to be in charge of this organization and will do my best to be a capable leader.  Last fall Theresa made a decision to step down from this position due to her many commitments, first of which is her involvement in building a new home.  She encouraged me to accept the nomination and promised to give me all kinds of support from her experience.  I am sure it is quite a change for her and every day I come to appreciate the job that she did for MDDA as president these last three plus years.

 Our goal for 2004 is to grow with new members throughout our region and increase attendance and participation in each driving competition offered by MDDA and UMECRA.  Theresa sent me her membership records and it is quite evident that our numbers have increased by leaps and bounds since our sanctioned beginning in 2001.  It must continue to move upward and to accomplish that goal we need to get the word out about distance driving.  But beyond that we need to show growth through participation at the scheduled drives.   We must have larger numbers of drivers competing beyond the 6-mile novice drives offered for beginners.

 So I am asking for your help.  First of all, tell other drivers about our organization of caring horse people, direct them to our informative website at www.midwestdistancedriving.org, show them our attractive and interesting newsletter and invite them to participate at a clinic, novice drive or regular event.  If not as a driver, perhaps they might want to first experience distance driving by grooming for you.  Perhaps they may be willing to volunteer for one of the many special jobs associated with vetting in or timing.  The door is wide open for opportunities to learn, grow and have fun.

I am also asking you to participate.  We need more drivers.  Those of us that do come have a great time.  However, it is disheartening for ride managers and event organizers to put forth the effort to prepare special times and trails for drivers and then have only a few drivers show.  We all realize that there are good reasons for not being able to attend certain drives but our new VP Jac Deweese surmised that if every member would compete in at least one drive beyond the Novice event, we could be successful.  It starts with a commitment and it starts now.  Go to the website and pick out the drives that are reasonable for you to attend. Click on Schedule and check out the past year’s drives (2004 is not yet completely set) and put those that are most feasible on your calendar.  Then begin preparing to meet that goal by starting conditioning, fixing the trailer, calling the farrier, getting your Coggins test and making sure the harness and cart are in good repair.  Don’t put it off and wait until the last minute as I so often have done.  Start on that commitment now because MDDA needs you.  It’s not too late for an MDDA New Year’s Resolution.  Join us in actively participating in the fun of distance driving.

Wes
Wes Licht
MDDA President