By Megan Ward
The Eastern Iowa Dressage & Eventing Association (EIDEA) is a small USDF Group Member Organization (GMO), averaging fewer than 75 members. In light of its membership size, EIDEA has made the strategic decision to focus on education opportunities over holding competitions.
After winning the 2024 GMO Participation Award for Book Club, we knew that we wanted to win again in 2025. We began giving the current Book Club read as a door prize at events, sent reminders for the webinars to members, and offered to organize watch parties each quarter.
This time, it came together rather organically. A group of us were participating in the EIDEA Rider Development Program with instructor extraordinaire, Anne Cizadlo, when it was suggested we all watch the Book Club webinar together.
The next thing we knew, we were all invited to Monica’s family home, where her sister and 90+ year old mother welcomed us with open arms. Drinks were served, pizza was ordered, and during the webinar, they brought us popcorn!
As the webinar got underway, we discussed what was being said, looked up equine heart monitors, and asked each other questions (“What’s the keyword?”), before suddenly realizing they were talking about US, and about how EIDEA was in it to win it for 2025. Webinar co-hosts Reese Koffler-Stanfield and Megan McIsaac teased that they really wanted one of the swag bags that we had put together, featuring the Book Club Award banner on them. Our stunned silence didn’t last long, as we started cheering and laughing. We knew we needed to memorialize the moment and asked to have our picture taken proudly displaying our copies of the third quarter book club pick, Jec Ballou’s 33 Strength and Fitness Workouts for Horses.
At the end of the webinar, EIDEA was then awarded the 2025 Book Club GMO Participation Award!
And yes, we are mailing Reese and Megan swag bags ASAP!
The USDF Book Club, created in 2024, hosts four quarterly webinars with discussions based on the reading selection of the quarter. The program aims to immerse members in the world of dressage through the published works of some of the industry’s top professionals and authors.
The 2026 book selections are: How to Ride the Horse You Thought You Bought by Anne Buchanan (held March 18, 2026), The Imperfect Ride by Andrea Monsarrat Waldo, Fur Mama by Diana du Pont, and Stable Core by Joyce Kramer. USDF members can purchase their own copy of each book through Trafalgar Square Books and get 20% off using the USDF Member Discount Code (log in to your USDF member account on USDF.org to find the code here).
Did you miss any of the Book Club webinars? Watch them on demand on the USDF website, and tune in for the 2026 second quarter webinar (date to be announced soon)!
