2020 is a year of a lot of first for not only our organization but also the world. Just weeks after our Annual Meeting the world felt like it was grinding to a halt with all parts of our lives shutting down - people were remotely working, horse shows, hunts, and gatherings were being cancelled all over the world and we were having shortages of supplies that left a lot of people in fear and stress. So the ISSO board got together to brainstorm on how we as an organization could bring a little joy to our members lives, fill a void with physical horse shows being shut down, and promote virtual comradery within the membership- hence the idea was born to start a series of virtual all side saddle horse shows that were safe for everyone to enter and we even voted to add an additional year end division to our program so that people could have something to look forward to at the end of the year! Not to mention we had no idea when anything may be opening back up.

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We decided quickly on photo only shows to be as inclusive as possible so that those who could not ride or even visit their horses at a barn could still participate and we even opened it up to non-members so that they could enjoy the fun of looking through photographs for the "perfect" picture for each class. This also allowed members who did not currently have a side saddle partner to participate with horses that were no longer in their lives for what ever reason. We had some members use the opportunity to take new photos and create new memories with their equine companions. It allowed other members to reminisce on horses that they loved that had crossed over the rainbow bridge or bring our beloved older guys "out of retirement" for one last show season!

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To say that we had a good turnout is an understatement! We had 187 beautiful entries submitted from all over the world and we could not ask for better competition as the habits, horses, and photos were all top notch. Every class had over ten entries (even the juniors!) and we even had several new members join our wonderful organization! We can't thank Heidi Opdyke, a longtime side saddle rider, ISSO member and SSA as well as ISSO instructor, enough for donating her time to judge this great show. She asked that we pass on "Thank you to everyone who entered, it was a pleasure viewing all the photographs. Congratulations to our winners it was a tough decision in many categories. Many thanks!" 

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We as an organization would like to congratulate everyone on their achievements (please see photos on this page) and are also very grateful for all the participants support of our show. Based on the response, it appears everyone was happy with the beautiful ribbons that were mailed out and we even were able to send little "thank you" to those not receiving an award. ISSO would also like to thank several people for making this show possible: Pie Truono and Tammie Conway for their hard work on the show by adding submissions to the Facebook Page, following up on emails/PMs, checking the payments, and the list goes on, as well as, Laureen Bartfield for organizing and shipping out all the awards and "thank you" gifts to participants! 

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We know that things are starting to get back to the "new normal" with physical shows  and events cautiously opening back up but given the uncertainty of how long we will be able to gather and knowing not everyone can physically participate we are continuing with our second show of the series this year. We hope everyone is able and will enjoy some friendly competition by entering our Summer show that is going on from August 8th until the 23rd. Anne Moss, a lifetime ISSO member and USEF "R" judge, has graciously accepted our invitation to judge and we have changed up the classes just a little to add some different options based on participation in the last show as well as requests from members! We hope that you will enjoy competing and remind you again that is show will be double pointed for ISSO members participating in the year end points program! You can enter the show on our Facebook page under Events section and add your photos to the comment section.

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