When: March 23, 2013

Where: Airdrie Agricultural Centre, Theatre Room,  

   97 East Lake Ramp NE, Airdrie, AB

Time: 10:00am - 12:00pm

All members are highly urged to attend.

Click Here to review and download the AGM Meeting Agenda   

The AEF is seeking nominations for its Board of Directors.  Elections to fill the seats of Executive Committee and Director(s) at Large will be held at the AEF Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Saturday, March 23, 2013 from 10 am - 12 noon in Airdrie, Alberta. We are searching for candidates who support the objectives and activities of the AEF and who would like to be active members of the organization. To learn more about our mission, vision, values and the organization, please visit us at www.albertaequestrian.com.

The AEF is made up of individual, family, club and business memberships.  The membership will be invited to the Annual General Meeting to elect individuals to fill these vacancies on the board. The AEF Board is intended to reflect a diversity of experience, skills, knowledge and abilities suited to the strategic needs of the organization. We are looking for members from all areas of the community and from a range of backgrounds.

The role of AEF Board members is to be involved in:

• Ongoing evaluation of the organization's mission, vision and values
• Monitoring the organization's progress towards achieving its mission and strategic direction
• Strategic and Business planning
• Community and stakeholder outreach
• Continued evaluation (and restructure as necessary) of the internal and external structures of the organization and its programs to best serve the membership
• Financial oversight (due diligence)
• Board self-maintenance, including recruitment and orientation of new Directors

Requirements of Directors

Directors are expected to:

• Attend at least 60% of scheduled board meetings, well prepared in advance (approx 8 meetings per year)
• Participate on standing committees and, as needed, ad hoc committees
• Participate in AEF events, including fundraising events, committee meetings, strategic planning and other activities as necessary
• Be readily accessible and responsive to email and voicemail communication
• Support the aims and objectives of the organization
• Abide by the AEF Bylaws and Code of Ethics

*Please note there are currently no terms of service for directors on the AEF Board*

Coaching Excellence Awards reward leaders in the coaching program who have gone over and above in their contributions to building and promoting the national programs for rider and coach education and development.  These awards are peer nominated from among the coaching leadership team.  The recipients have dedicated hundreds of hours of their personal time, and their contributions have been pivotal to creating the world-class coaching programs we now have.  This year, we would like to specially recognize the following people, please join us in congratulating:

Along with,  

Cathy Chalack      Learning Facilitator/Evaluator 

The Annual National Coaching Awards are for those coaches and instructors who exemplify the National Coaching Program, and set an example promoting rider education through the national Learn to Ride/Drive programs.  Nomination was run by the provinces, and final selections were submitted to EC by the provinces.  We congratulate the following coaches whom were selected by EC to receive a National Award for their category:

Drive Coach: Kathleen Winfield, Alberta

English Instructor: Roxy Wright, Alberta

English Level 1/Competition Coach: Jennifer Smart, Alberta

English Level 2/ Coach Specialist: Cathy Chalack, Alberta

Western Level 1: Gabriele Klotz, Alberta

Western Level 2: Wendy Johnston, Alberta

Level 3/High Performance: Tricia Dahms, Eventing, Alberta

Special Congratulations also goes out to all those coaches whom were also nominated for the awards. The AEF received over 55 individual nominations! They are as follows:

The Alberta Equestrian Federation would also like to congratulate Gillian Wright, Coach-3-Dressage for her nomination within the NCCP/EC Coaching Awards.

Due to an administrative error, Gillian's name was not previously published with the rest of the nominees.

Congratulations Gillian!

The AEF encourages the membership to consider coaches for 2013 awards especially in the categories for instructor of beginner for Western and saddle seat as well as para/therapeutic coach/instructor. There were nominations where candidates did not meet the qualifications required. They are encouraged to apply in 2013.  Thank you to the membership for recognizing these amazing individuals!

What is the Certified Horsemanship Association? CHA is a 45-year-old member based organization that certifies horseback riding instructors (over 18,000 since we began), barn managers, vaulting coaches, driving instructors and trail guides, accredits equestrian facilities, publishes educational manuals and DVDs about horsemanship, and hosts regional and international hands-on conferences.

How We Can Help You! If your equine facility becomes a CHA program member for only $200 year, you will have access to the following member benefits. And from now until March 15, 2013, sign up to become a CHA Program Member for only $175 a year and your membership is good from now until December 31, 2013!   Visit http://cha-ahse.org/store/pages/23/Membership_Application.html to enroll or call 859-259-3399 and use the code "AEF" to get the discount and extra months of membership.

To view the full special offer to AEF members, click here 

The NCCP/EC Equestrian Theory Course is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for Instructor/Coach candidates, and is also a great way for already certified coaches to gain hour for hour coaching update hours.

If you are wanting to brush up your Lesson Planning Skills, or even your mentoring for Lesson Planning Skills then this is the course for you! Maybe you want to learn more about Making Ethical Decisions in your environment, or touch base on Equestrian Teaching and Learning? This course offers all of these great topics as well as Analyzing Beginner Equestrian Performance.

This course is not discipline specific so everyone is welcome regardless if they are  a coach, want to be or are not at all!

The course is a 2 day classroom based course, delivered by our highly skilled Learning Facilitators. Participants receive NCCP credit for attending, a certificate for completion of the course, and get to take some great manuals home to always have for reference!

Our next offerings of this course will be:

Date: March 23/24, 2013

Location: Acclaim Hotel, NE Calgary AB

Want to learn more about equine medications/competition or the logistics of equine injury prevention and recovery? Come see our Pro's in Action!!

Everyone is welcome! Whether you are a horse professional, horse trainer, stable/horse owner, equestrian athlete, groom, barn staff, member of an equestrian club, equestrian coach, or just plain love horses - join us to expand your horizons!

Equine Clean Sport:The learning activities in this module are designed to enable you to develop practices and understand the use of medications that will lead to an Equine Clean Sport. Specifically after completing this module you will be able to: Understand and implement the Medication Rules for competition that support an Equine Clean Sport, Interpret results from various clinical methods of determining injuries and understand the acceptable treatments within the parameters set out by the various national and international competition guidelines, Select the best course of action to maintain an Equine Clean Sport.

 Equine Injury Prevention & Recovery: The Learning activities in this module are designed to enable you to: Understand the effect of a conditioning program, taking into account the horse's various physiological systems, understand the link between optimal performance and discipline specific conditioning, develop, implement and analyze conditioning objectives and programs specific to the discipline, analyze and monitor performance based on equine physiology specific to the discipline.

Click here to register 

Lunch and Breakfast will be included! Reserved hotel room rate available!  

Please contact the AEF Coaching Administrator, Erin Lundteigen, if you are interested in attending. 

Everyone is welcome!

403-253-4411 ext 3 or coaching@albertaequestrian.com

• Learning how you communicate through styles of relating
• Discovering your motivational style
• Defining personal strengths and weaknesses
• How other people's different styles of communication affect your performance and how to communicate more effectively with them
• Profiling non-productive activity
• Controlling your state of mind thus body performance
• Determining your learning style
• Peak performances by understanding your emotions
• Controlling fears and reframing negatives through affirmations
• Learning progressive relaxation, imagery & visualization, concentration & focus

ProChaps, a Canadian manufacturer of high-performance riding chaps, has become an official sponsor of Equine Canada's national coaching program.

This exciting partnership will see all Equine Canada certified instructors and coaches receiving 50% off the retail cost of all Competition, Fit and Athletic models of ProChaps apparel.

All Equine Canada members will also be eligible for a 10% discount off the retail price of ProChaps through a special Equine Canada promotional code. In turn, a portion of all sales will be redirected to the federation's Coach Development Fund.

The full information about the Discount Program will be available on the Equine Canada and ProChaps website by March 1, 2013.

ProChaps was created by active individuals who combined their talent in equestrian sports, clothing design and dynamic communication to create advanced legging equipment using proven manufacturing techniques and advanced materials. The chaps are tested relentlessly by industry professionals and used to set the high standards for both construction and performance. ProChaps are available for purchase by visiting www.prochaps.com.  

Olds College Equine Alumni Celebrate with the

Equine Centennial Games

We will be running articles in all four editions of Alberta Bits with valuable information about the history of the AEF. The winter 2013 edition will have a list of 35 questions pertaining to the information from the articles ran throughout the year. Answer all 35 questions correctly and you will be entered to be one of 35 people to win their individual 2014 AEF Membership (value of $50)!

Note: No registration is necessary.  

With thanks to additional financial support from Capri Insurance, the AEF has been pleased to be able to offer an increased number of scholarships to AEF members annually.

 Click here to download and print a copy of the 2013 Application.

The Alberta Equestrian Federation (AEF) is a member driven, nonprofit Provincial organization responsible for organizing, coordinating, sanctioning and administering equine sport and recreation in Alberta since 1978. 

Membership is in excess of 13,000 individual members as well as over 200 member equine Provincial organizations and industry partners. The AEF is the only Equestrian Body recognized by Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation. As such, we are the only body to directly receive funding and to have a voice within the Alberta Government on behalf of all equestrians in Alberta.

Vision

The Voice of Equine Alberta.  The premier source for education, information and support for Alberta's entire equine community.

Mission