State Director's Newsletter

Brad and Pattie Marshall
6800 Risner Dr
Plainwell MI 49080
616-292-5674

August 30, 2023

Hello, members of Michigan NBHA! I wanted to let you all know that as of today I am your new Michigan State Director. While I know there is a lot of work to be done, I am really, really excited and grateful for this opportunity.
For those of you who don’t know me, I’ve been a member of NBHA for 23 years. My family primarily bred and trained reining horses but recently our focus has been back on barrel racing. I have been the director of MI02 for three great years and it has been a honor to help grow the sport of barrel racing in our area. My husband, Chris, and I have a horse farm in Maple City, Michigan. We really try to put our efforts into the youth in our area as it’s something we feel very passionately about.
Michigan NBHA has some unique challenges to overcome. My hope is that we can all come together to make our NBHA experience what we all know it can be. I hope that you can look forward to next year with optimism and enthusiasm about being a member. I promise to work hard for you, and I hope that you will, in turn give Michigan NBHA a second chance.
I hope you all have a great end of your district seasons and will be in touch soon with updates about the upcoming 2024 season!
Haylee Fisher

March 11, 2023 update

Update on the state show: for every $500 in sponsorships you get, you will receive a $100 credit towards your entry fee! There will also be an award for the highest total sponsorships received by a member. Make sure your name is on the form so I know who to give credit to for getting the sponsorship.

February 22, 2023

Hello Everyone,
Please find the State Championships sponsor form here. I am asking for everyone to help this year. Due to not being able to have the All District show the past 2 years and the lower entries at the championships last year we are running a little bit low on cash. I’m not asking everyone to go out and get $2500 sponsors, what I am asking is everyone please do a little bit. If 200 of our members secured a $100.00 sponsor that adds up to $20,000!!! Sounds a lot more achievable doesn’t it?

Each member that gets $300.00 or more in sponsorships will get a FREE 2023 State Championship T-shirt. Everyone that gets sponsorships of any amount will be recognized on our website and Facebook page. Please write your name on the top of the sponsor form so when I receive it I will know who to give the credit to. We will accept any donation. If a sponsor would like to give something tangible instead of cash that’s great too. If you need a sponsor form modified for a sponsor I can do that too. All help is welcomed and appreciated . Let’s get out there and get those SPONSORS !!!!!

January 27, 2021

            2021 is here!!! Brad and I are still the Michigan NBHA State Directors... Surprise! I truly hope everyone is getting through this Covid virus. My heart goes out to all of you that have been sick and/or have lost love ones because of this virus. Brad lost an uncle and had two cousins that were very sick and hospitalized but have since recovered. I pray that the United States and ALL of her people can move forward in a good, caring, and positive way from all of this. I am hopeful that the 2021 barrel season will be bigger and better than 2020.

          I have booked the Midland Fairgrounds for the All District Show April 23rd.- 25th, The Midland Blast May 14th - 16th, and our Michigan NBHA State Finals September 3rd - 5th. In meeting with Trish, the supervisor of the Midland fairgrounds, I found out a few things. There IS a rule that you cannot ride horses in the campgrounds. They do not want us riding on the roads on the same side as the warm up pen so please be courteous and lets all live by example. I also found out that there was some damage done to a hill with landscaping that was torn up last year. So, we will have to be extra careful if we want to continue to bring and rent golf carts. There was a $5 a day increase in the stall rental. The prices for vendors also went up and they are now charging $250.00 for inside or $150 for outside the building.  I plan to get the show bill for All District and State Finals out in early Februry. I also want to go over the sponsorship form and get that on the website. A big thank you to Diane Fenby for forwarding me information on a potential sponsor. She got us a $200 sponsorship from M-SPORT-6 (Air-Conditioned Sportswear).  I'm relieved to be able to tell you Robyn Rhode will again be doing the program for State Finals. You have no idea how happy this makes me.

            Brad and I had a meeting with the 03 and the new 01 and 05 Directors last weekend. There will be a lot of fun and exciting things happening this year. Unfortunately, the new 02 and 04 and 00 directors couldn't make it. I will be meeting with them this week either in person or via a phone conference. Renee Yerger will be staying on this year as our MI-00 Director.  Brad and I would like to thank the last MI-01 director, Kendra Granquist, for all that she has done for her district.  Kendra has other goals she wants to attain and in doing so had to take on another job leaving her feeling that she won’t have enough time to spend on being a Director. We would like to wish her lots of luck and much success. Carly Vix and Anna Cole will be taking over as your new MI-01 Directors. Olivia Valleau has also stepped down this year. I can't thank Olivia enough for jumping in and doing a tremendous job with little to none experience as a Director. Hopefully we will continue to see her riding and competing with us this year. Coming to our rescue is a past MI-02 Director, Geri Olson LaForge and Haylee Fisher who have agreed to be the Co-Directors. I'm excited to see what these two have planned for the MI-02 District. I've been to Geri's shows in the past and there was nothing but fun to be had. Staying with us as your MI-03 Directors are Jeri Witzel and Lil Rasmussen. Jeri and Lil have been trying to schedule a few shows at the normal 03 arenas and even try to revisit an old arena. Talk about jumping in when we needed somebody, Eugene Perry and Ivy Allen helped us out when we were in a pinch and took over MI-04 last year. As you know Eugene and Ivy are very busy with dog breeding and horses and training and who knows what else, so they will also be taking a step back. As we announced at the 2020 MI State Finals last year, Dominique Ricotta and Hannah Munck will be the new MI-04 Co-Directors. It will be nice to have a fresh and young perspective on the sport of barrel racing. I can't wait to see what they have to add. Also leaving as Directors are Randy and Jayne Rieder. They really never volunteered, they were pushed and only stayed because of our friendship and we were in desperate need. Taking over as the new MI-05 Co-Directors are Jessica Lajcak and Bobbiejo Ward. These ladies are no strangers to what it takes to put on shows. Both are very excited and have ideas for the coming season as you all will find out soon enough.

            When I was looking for someone to take over the position as Michigan NBHA State Director I was approached by a fellow member who had a genius idea. So this year I will be forming committees for the different jobs at State Finals. Please watch the website and Facebook, I will be posting a list of all the committees and what each one entails. Amanda Kincade will be helping me with this. Be thinking what you are good at, what your strengths are and where you would like to help out because this isn't just my State Finals this is OUR State Finals and I know working together we can  make it fun for everyone. 

            I have several sweatshirts from 2019 State Finals and a few youth shirts from 2020. Watch the web and Facebook for a list of what's available at discounted prices. There were also numerous prizes that were NOT picked up after the finals. If you placed in the top 5 in the finals in any division of the Open, Youth, or Seniors and didn’t get a prize please call me so we can make arrangements. I will also try to make time to see what I have and who might have won the items and list on Facebook.

           You should all be getting your 2020 awards and having your banquets soon, if possible. I can't wait to actually see all of you again. I will be getting a list of the shows that are scheduled to the website so make sure to check back here often. Let's start gearing up for a spectacular 2021 Michigan NBHA season. Ride Hard, Stay Safe, and Keep Warm.

Brad & Pattie Marshall

Michigan NBHA State Directors

Hello Everyone! Barrel Season has begun. Brad and I would like to thank everyone for their kind words welcoming us into the new position of Michigan NBHA State Directors. Diane Loosenort did a wonderful job building Michigan NBHA into what it is today. Thank you Diane for 26 years of hard work and your extreme dedication.

Brad and I had a great time attending 4 out of the five District awards banquets. There were some amazing awards and so many great ideas. We got to enjoy the company of so many wonderful friends, old and new. We have found out quickly that this isn't an easy job. Brad and I have been trying to make some changes while always keeping in mind what we believe is best for Michigan NBHA as a whole. If you have seen the schedule for the spring All District show you saw we will be running on Sunday. There are some other changes we were exploring but in the end weren't able to make happen right away. We have been checking into some other nice arenas in Michigan. We might add a show in the fall at one of these facilities.

We're excited about another change we are making. With all of the many barrel show producers these days we were in constant competition on any given weekend. So instead of making the barrel racers pick and choose where to compete and with who we will be working together this year with Michigan IBRA, On The Road With Dawn And Clea, and Brooke Braska & Rhonda Read’s The Rise Above Tour. We are truly hoping that we can all work together to do what is best for barrel racers as a whole and all of the organizations involved. We will again be adding The Michigan Barrel Futurity to some of our bigger shows. Please stay in touch with all of the District schedules and points on our MI NBHA website (www.michigannbha.com). We couldn't ask for a better person to keep us all updated than Diane Fenby. With that being said Diane can't do her job unless all the District Directors do our part. Please send her all of your show schedules, results, and points as they come in before you post them anywhere else.

Diane Loosenort wasn't the only director to take a step back this year. Theresa Kanous stepped down after State Finals last year as she is helping her daughter Danielle get ready for college. Your new MI 01 Director is Allison Dagenais. Brad and I weren't able to attend the MI 01 banquet, but we've been in touch with her and plan on going to one of their shows in the U.P. (after ALL of their snow is gone). Allison has a great crew helping her at shows, meetings and with the year-end banquet. Matt & Julie Strawn stepped down from being the MI 04 Directors to be with Julie's mom. Please keep them all in your nightly prayers. Taking over as your new MI 04 Directors are Eugene Perry & Ivy Allen who are both very knowledgeable horse people with great ideas. When Brad and I agreed to take over the position as State Directors Billy And Becky Holden agreed to be the MI 05 Directors. This is going to be a good change not just for MI 05 but for all Michigan members. Billy has found out so much about what the Charlie Horse Program can do that we haven't even begun to use. He's been working on the part that we started to use at State Finals last year. Be watching, because you'll be able to use your phones soon somehow someway. Please welcome all of these Directors. Help where help is needed and let’s have the very BEST barrel season we possibly can. And as always from BRAD....

GET A DEEP SEAT AND FARAWAY LOOK!!!

Looking forward to seeing you all this summer!