The horses enjoyed a well-deserved break over the holidays with shoes pulled and plenty of turnout time. Although we still have our fair share of cold and snow, they (and I!) are back to work to get in shape for the coming show season. The dirt roads surrounding our home in New Hampshire are perfect for conditioning rides. Both Dionne and Lance have come to enjoy their treks in the woods and it certainly helps foster a renewed sense of enthusiasm, which carries over into the show ring.

Speaking of the show ring, many of you are already sending in your horse show dates – thank you! Don’t forget that our annual expanded event calendar, The Dateline, has a deadline of March 1, 2010. Be sure to get your dates in early so you don’t miss out on the exposure and lengthy shelf life of this special issue.

Our social media sites continue to grow in leaps and bounds. Our 25 Days of Christmas in December was extremely well received, and we hope you had as much fun finding the answers to the daily questions as we did coming up with them! Our winners received a variety of fun and useful items thanks to our generous advertisers. For a complete list of winners, take a peek at page 13.

The next contest is our Reader Survey. We want to know what you like, don’t like and want to see in the pages of Equine Journal. Three winners will be chosen at random, so if you haven’t visited equinejournal.com to take the survey yet, please do so before March 1. Reader input has already resulted in the change that you see in this month’s magazine – we are back to one combined issue of national news and feature articles, as well as the local breed and discipline news you’ve come to expect. We hope this will make it easier for our readers to find the information they are looking for every month. Let us know what you think!

As our presence on the web continues to grow our print publication is following suit. We are pleased by some of the new clubs that have signed on as affiliate organizations. As you go to renew your club memberships this year take a look at what they are offering you. The member and club benefits of an affiliation are numerous and I encourage you to take advantage of them. At a time when we are all watching our pennies, there are plenty of “freebies” included with the affiliate program!

On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are those clubs that have decided that financially, it just wasn’t in their budget this year to continue. To those, I pose the question, “Can you afford not to?” The free advertising, monthly news in print and on the web, as well as horse show sponsorships are a huge added value. If you think your club could benefit from an affiliation, please contact affiliates@equinejournal.com.

Lastly, be sure to take your time going through this month’s issue. It is full of great articles on breeding, Arabians, camps, nutrition, Welsh Ponies and Cobs, as well as, vaccinations and bedding. Plenty of great reading to keep you occupied on those cold days!

Yours In Sport,

Natalee