This message is from: "Ursula Jensen" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Last weekend Ursula, myself and approx. 15 other interested people
attended Phase One of the first Registry Training Program for Evaluators.The
BOD was represented by Tom Hans and Marcy Baer; and the Evaluation Committe
represented by Anne Appleby, Beth Beymer, Tom Hans, and Pat Wolfe from
Ontario Canada. Wayne Hipsley, Senior Evaluator for the Fjord breed in N.A.
was the clinician/educator/mentor.
We arrived in Denver Friday afternoon to a light snow storm and temp. of
28 F. A shock for us as we had left Calgary with temp. of 50 F. and
sunshine.Sandy North met ourselves and Anne A.at the airport and we headed
for Cripple Creek in the mountains near Colorado Springs. Cripple Creek is
a revived old mining town now housing many Casinos. We arrived about 7:30pm
and immediately Anne and her committe left to have a meeting whilst Ursula
and her group ( Record Book Members) disappeared as well. After a short
'getting aquainted' most people headed to bed.
Sat. 8.30am found us all in class giving intros and looking at the
material presented to us. The Eval. Comm. has revamped & overhauled the
Programs wording and layout & is now calling it the Eval. Handbook. Well
done!!!! Wayne provided the group with an Evaluators Guide and Reference
Handbook. These two documents became the basis for the weekends training and
yes, the ever present exams. Mr. Murphy gave me the flu, so I spent some
time Sat. visiting you know what!!! Not good for the concentration.
The atmosphere was open, honest, and very lively at times. Lots of
learning took place just sitting and soaking things up by osmosis. A
wonderful lunch and supper was hosted by the Comm. which of course I had to
pass on. In his presentation on Sat. Wayne used handouts, pictures, bones of
horse legs, and slide presentations as well as the flip chart. The
Educational forum was certainly there for those of us who wanted to learn.
Sat. eve. at about 9 PM the day wrapped up with two exams about equine
nomenclature and blemishes or faults. Folks did not stay up long after that
day of classroom learning. Sunday AM found us back in the classroom writing
the third exam which was longer, more detailed and more to my liking. I was
beginning to feel better. We then checked out of our rooms & jumped into a
convoy of cars waiting to take us to a local indoor arena/farm which is
managed by Taffy Plaisted. Fjords were visible everywhere so there was no
lacking of subjects to practice our conformation assessment skills on.
After a couple open book discussions about Fjords presented, the group
was fed a wonderful lunch cooked ole chuckwagon style. Afternoon again was
conformation testing on four Fjords. Each of us had four Eval sheets and had
to evaluate the Fjords presented as would happen at a real evaluation. In
our group were several Breed Judges who were very helpful with their
questions and observations. Mary Wolverton, of Denver Colorado was
especially helpful to me and my questions. By late afternoon the weekend was
suddenly over and people were saying goodbys and heading out to catch
flights.
Sandy and Beth drove us back to Starfire Farm with Marcy B. and
Anne A. where we stayed overnite and were safely put on our respective
flights Mon. A.M.
In retrospect the weekend was a trememdous success for the
individuals attending and the Fjordhorse of N.A. Another gigantic step has
been made by the Registry and Eval. Comm. to provide North American
Evaluations. A very special thanks to Beth and Sandy who worked tirelessly
in putting on the weekend and handling the logistics for everyone. They
seemed to be everywhere helping us (with a smile). Wayne as an Educator
provided us with the material, forum to learn, and support to get us there.
Anne A. and her Eval. Comm. have worked very hard to have this happen and
their hard work was evident in the quality of this weekend.
From Ursula and myself a very sincere thankyou to all. We appreciate
all the hard work and effort on behalf of the N.A. Fjord. For me this past
weekend was like a long dream coming to fruition. N.A. has a very good Eval.
Program for Conformation and Performance, and has now completed Phase One of
Four Phases to train N.A. Evaluators of the Fjord.
Brian Jensen
Trinity Fjords
Box 1032 Lumby BC Canada V0E-2G0
http://okjunc.junction.net/~ujensen/
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(250) 547-6303
