Visit the Big Iron Ranch to see what a great program they have and meet Hal and Jackie McCormack & their trainers, Todd and Doug Henricks!   The Big Iron Ranch

We are thrilled to Welcome our new Hotel Sponsor, the Fairfield Inn in Nampa. They are proud to offer GREAT ICHA room rates, as well as Dining and Shopping within walking distance!  The Fairfield Inn, just 6 minutes and two exits down from the Idaho Center Sports Arena, is our host hotel for the ICHA Spring Aged Event & Weekend Show. It is a New facility with all the amenities! Call now to make sure you are included in our “ICHA Block” of great rates for the dates of March 17 - 21, 2010.  (208)-467-5888 (Please Note: The Hampton Inn and Suites is full for this show. We appreciate all of their past support and look forward to staying there again in September 2010.)

As we approach spring, I hope that it finds each of you well!  We are very excited about our 1^st Annual ICHA Spring Aged Event, which will be held March 17^th, 18^th and 19^th at the Idaho Horse Park in Nampa, Idaho.  We will be having three separate Aged Event shows- one each day- with $7,000 Added in Each Show ($2,000 in 5/6 Open & Derby Open; $1,000 in 5/6 Non-Pro & Derby Non-Pro; and $500 in the Uncola Open & Uncola Non-Pro)!  .  Each day will be a new day, with a clean slate to start from on a fresh playing field, and lots of money to be won.  We are excited about this change in structure and hope to see many of you there to join us.

In conjunction with the Spring Aged Event, we will be having our ICHA Spring Weekend Show on March 20^th and 21^st.  It will be 2 shows over 2 days with $3,000 Added in each show.  We will also be having Youth Scholarship Cuttings both days.  It has been approved by BoiseValleyCHA and UtahCHA and we are glad to have their support!

We are excited to present our 2009 Idaho Champion Series Awards on Thursday, March 18^th during our “Welcome To Idaho” Party, which will be held from 5:30-8:30pm in the beautiful new concessions area of the Idaho Horse Park Sports Arena.  The awards presentation will begin at 7:30pm.  Plan to join us for an evening filled with great friends, good, wine and entertainment!

Plans are underway for the 2010 ICHA Futurity & Aged Event, which will be held September 1-8 at the Idaho Horse Park in Nampa, Idaho.  Brian Anderson and myself will be the co-chairmen again this year for this event.  Diehl Hiner, Bob Hulden, Scott Martin and Dan Roman have enthusiastically accepted positions on our Futurity Committee again for this year and we are very glad to have each of them!  We will have lots of great cattle to cut in the show pen during the day, along with some great events planned for the evenings during the show.  This year’s event promises to be one of our best shows yet!  We hope to see you there.

 See you all in Nampa,

Preston Skaar

ICHA President

The weekend show season is off and running. I hope that many of you were able to attend the UCHA show in Hurricane, Utah and enjoy a few days of warmer weather! If you weren’t able to attend the Hurricane show, or you are looking for another opportunity to head to warmer country, I would encourage you to head to Las Vegas for the ICHA-approved weekend show February 19-22 at the South Point Equestrian Center.

Our Annual ICHA General Membership Meeting held in January went very well. A big thanks to Sandy Figge for providing us with lunch and a beautiful place to meet. I would like to personally thank each of the ICHA members who attended for coming. We got many things accomplished and many good decisions made.

We are excited about the 2010 ICHA show schedule!

Once again this year, the ICHA will be hosting the *Idaho Champion Series*. We have two ICHA-produced shows planned as part of this series. We also have many other ICHA-approved shows (held in Idaho, Utah and Nevada) that will also be part of our series. We are very excited about the opportunity that this series provides to you as cutters to compete in many locations and in different year-end awards programs! Please look for the detailed 2010 Idaho Champion Series Tentative Show Schedule in this issue of Horse Sports.

We will present year-end awards for the 2010 Idaho Champion Series to the top 4 places in each class. Darcy Skaar and Sue Marostica will once again be heading up our awards committee this year. If there is something that you would like to see given as an award, please let one of them know.

We are very excited about our 2010 ICHA Spring Aged Event & Weekend Show, which will be held Wednesday – Sunday, March 17th – 21st, at the Idaho Horse Park in Nampa, Idaho. The Aged Event will be held the first three days. There will be $2,000 Added per day in the Derby Open Derby, and in the 5/6 Open. There will be $1,000 Added per day in the Derby Non-Pro, and in the 5/6 Non-Pro. Each day is a new day on a brand new playing field! A 2-day Weekend Show will follow the Aged Event, and is approved by both Utah CHA and Boise Valley CHA. There will be Youth Scholarship Cuttings both days. It should be a fun show!

The 2009 Idaho Champion Series Awards will be presented on Thursday, March 18th at 7:30 pm. Please plan to come early and join us for our “Welcome To Idaho Party”, which will start at 5:30pm that evening. There will be lots of great food, wine and entertainment, along with the presentation of our fantastic awards. I hope to see each of you who won awards in this series last year there!

Last but not least, ICHA has been selected to host 2010 NCHA Weekend. We will be having the show in Lewisville, Idaho at Skaar Feedlot on Friday & Saturday, June 4-5. I would like to extend a personal invitation to each and every one of you to come enjoy a great weekend of cutting with us!

It’s going to be a great year!

Preston Skaar
ICHA President

I hope that each of you had a wonderful holiday season!

As we begin 2010, I would like to extend a personal invitation to each of you to join us at our Annual ICHA General Membership Meeting on Saturday, January 9th at 1pm at Figge Farms Barn in Bellevue, Idaho.

ICHA has once again approved the Utah CHA show in Hurricane, Utah, which is scheduled for Friday & Saturday, January 29-30, 2010. It is always a nice show to attend to get a little break from the cold and I hope to see many of you there.

We are very excited about our 2010 ICHA Spring Aged Event and Weekend Show, which will be held March 17th – 21st at the Idaho Horse Park in Nampa, Idaho. Watch our website and the February issue of Horse Sports for details!

Last but certainly not least… ICHA has been chosen to host 2010 NCHA Weekend, June 4th-6th, 2010 and we are very excited and honored to do that! We are in the process of finalizing the location and details of that show, so be watching for that information soon.

We are excited to begin the 2010 season. Please feel free to contact me with any ideas, questions or concerns. You, the ICHA membership, are what makes this organization successful!

See you in Hurricane,

Preston Skaar
ICHA President

BOARD MEETING:
11:00 am - 1:00 pm
GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING:
1:00 pm - 3:00pm

All ICHA members are encouraged to attend this Annual General Membership Meeting for an opportunity to present your ideas,
express your opinions, and provide input regarding the direction of the ICHA for 2010. We look forward to seeing you!

Can you believe that the end of the year is already here? Time sure does fly. It has been a great year and I would like to personally wish each and every one of you a very safe and happy holiday season!

With 2009 quickly coming to a close, the time has come for some of our Board members to retire from their responsibilities on the ICHA Board of Directors. I would like to extend a big Thank You to Jody Cada, Hazel Thorne, and our Youth Director, Will Hulden! I appreciate the time and effort that each of them has put in on behalf of the ICHA to make great contributions on many levels. If you see these people, please be sure to tell them thank you.

I would also like to Welcome our new ICHA Director for 2010, Bob Hulden. We are excited to have Bob join our Board!

Thank You to Ann Hulden, Chris Smith and the Rande Pace family- our ICHA/UCHA Youth Scholarship Coordinators. They did a great job putting together two fantastic Youth Scholarship Auctions in Idaho and Utah this year! Thanks also to everyone who donated auction items and so generously bid at the auctions. We appreciate your assistance in supporting our youth.

Our Annual ICHA Board & General Membership Meeting will be held at 1pm on Saturday, January 9th, 2010 in Bellevue at the Figge Farms Barn. A big THANK YOU to Sandy Figge and Scott Martin for their gracious hospitality!
* There is more meeting information in the notice that is posted in this issue of Horse Sports.* Please come and join us as we begin the 2010 year.

Happy Holidays to all!

Preston Skaar
ICHA President

As we approach the final few months of this year, I would like to say thank you to each and every one of you who has helped make 2009 another successful year for the ICHA.

The ICHA is committed to producing quality shows and providing great venues for you to show your horses. As we make plans for the 2010 show season, I would encourage any of you who are interested in helping to please let myself or one of the ICHA Directors know. We welcome your thoughts, ideas and assistance!

Congratulations to each of you that placed in the top five of each class of the 2009 Idaho Champion Series! We look forward to presenting those awards during our ICHA Spring Aged Event & Weekend Show in March 2010.

Remember that one more 2009 ICHA/UCHA Youth Scholarship Auction will be held in conjunction with the UCHA Futurity & Aged Event, November 3-7, at the Golden Spike Events Center in Ogden, Utah. Please show your support of our youth cutters by donating or bidding on the fantastic items that will be available at the auction.

I look forward to seeing each of you in Odgen!

Safe travels to all,

Preston Skaar
ICHA President

I would like to personally thank those people who are directly responsible for the production of a fantastic, smooth show; Sue Marostica, Corey Fagan, Wells Wyatt and Jeff Peck, John & Lennie Uhrig and their crew, Bob Hulden, John Dienhart, Kathryn Webb, Dru Stewart, Kim Whimpey, Casey Casper, Brian Anderson, Scott Martin, Dan Roman, Aaron Aegerter & Hitchiker Productions, and Laurie Errington & Scootemnshootem Photography. You have each gone above and beyond the call of duty numerous times throughout the past several months. I feel very privileged to work with such an awesome crew!! A big thank you also to Rod, Sally and Gary and all of the Idaho Horse Park staff for once again helping us put on a fabulous show.

Many thanks to Ann Hulden for doing such a great job organizing and promoting our 2009 ICHA/UCHA Youth Scholarship Auction!! Thanks to everyone who bid on and purchased items- with everyone’s help, we were able to raise almost $3,000 for our youth cutters.

Remember that one more 2009 ICHA/UCHA Youth Scholarship Auction will be held in conjunction with the UCHA Futurity & Aged Event in November.

Be on the lookout for the ICHA election ballot, which should reach each ICHA member household the first week of October. Please take a minute to fill it out and return it. Ballots must be received in the ICHA office by October 20th.

Be sure to mark your calendars for the Boise Valley CHA aged event & NCHA-approved weekend show, which will be held October 9th – 11th in Kuna, Idaho. These will be the final weekend that earnings will be counted toward the 2009 Idaho Champion Series standings.

We are excited about our new 2010 ICHA Spring Aged Event. Watch our website and future issues of Horse Sports for more information & details about that show.

We are already busy making plans for the 2010 weekend show season, as well as the 2010 ICHA Futurity & Aged Event. Any suggestions, comments or ideas from you, the ICHA membership, are welcomed– Skaar3@yahoo.com or (208) 709-3543

Safe travels to each of you,

Preston Skaar
ICHA President