BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Trudy Ruth

President

Trudy is currently employed as a commercial real estate/contract paralegal. Her love of horses started at age 9, showing in hunter/jumper and dressage into her early 20’s at which point she took a break to raise a family and establish her career. Trudy resides in Chino Valley with husband George, son Terry, dogs Annabelle and Jesse, and equine partners Grayson and Sal. She was drawn to CVEA to connect with other horse people and began serving on the Board in 2023. Trudy is honored to serve as President, with the goal of continuing to make improvements to the Park and grow both the membership and events held at the Park.

Greg Valenti

Vice President

Greg has been riding horses for over 40 years. He has ridden western and English and learned how to jump. Greg and his wife Lynn love to go out to trail ride, but he has driven horses and mules on drives in the back country in California. He has done limited cow work here in Arizona. Greg was born and raised in Southern California and moved to Arizona in 2015 after retiring from the LAPD as a legal advisor with the Department after serving for 34 years. Greg has been involved with LASER since its inception five years ago. He is currently the President. He is also the Chair of the Yavapai County Community Organizations Active in Disasters (COAD) and is also a board member of the Arizona Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD). Greg has been a member of CVEP for a few years and has done quite a number of projects for CVEP.

Mary Henry

Treasurer

Mary has been riding horses for over 30 years, learning and training in Southern California. She loves trail riding, and obstacles; and is looking forward to even more and versatile equine sports. She moved to Arizona in 2000 with her horses and dogs. After meeting and marrying her husband Mike, they retired and moved from the Phoenix valley to Prescott in 2016. She is a premier member of CVEP, and is currently a member of the Board. Her experience as a Sr. Administrator and paralegal in commercial banking and real estate development provides a good background for the organizational skills and knowledge of fiduciary responsibilities, which is important for non-profit board positions.

Kay Oden

Secretary

Kay Oden works part time in the office for a local mobile veterinarian. Although the family had horses when she was a teenager, Kay did not start riding until her late 40’s. Currently she rides Warrior, a 9-year-old quarter horse that she acquired as a 4-week-old foal (along with his mama). Having never raised a foal or trained a horse, Kay says they have grown up together. She has been active with Prescott Frontier Days World’s Oldest Rodeo as a chairman of Cowboy Country and the PFD Trail Ride and has ridden in the Rodeo Grand Entry for the past 12 years. Her favorite hobbies are trail riding and trail obstacle competitions. She was on the 2022 Board
and is the Membership Chairperson for CVEA. She is looking forward to serving on the 2023 Board and continuing her work supporting the association.

Bill Oden

Board Member at Large

Bill Oden grew up with horses, horse shows and rodeo as part of his life and to this day enjoys others who share that same adventure.

Bill truly believes in the ‘Cowboy Way and Cowboy Ethics” and when scared to death “ Saddle Up Anyway”. He served two years as President of Prescott Frontier Days Rodeo and is currently the Vice President of the Prescott Frontier Days Foundation. CVEA welcomes the experience and outlook Bill brings to the table as Board Member at Large.

Susan Van Buren

Board Member at Large

Susan was lucky enough to get her first pony at the age of 6 and has been riding horses ever since. She grew up riding in the woods of northwest Pennsylvania and moved to Arizona over 30 Years ago. After retiring from managing her husband’s medical practice, she and her husband owned a summer home in Prescott for 10 years before moving here full time 5 years ago. Besides riding, she enjoys training her Border Collies and competing in the dog sports of obedience and herding. Susan has served on multiple competitive canine organization’s boards at the local and national levels. She and her husband now own 3 horses and Susan rides at CVEP several times a week. Her motivation for being a board member is to create a safe and welcoming environment for all members of the park and to help develop it to its full potential.

Traci Ranic

Alternate Board Member at Large

Traci was introduced to the great southwest and a love for horses from her family vacations throughout the 1980’s at the Lazy K Bar & Ranch in Tucson. In 1989 her Dad retired and they high-tailed it to Tucson.

Since 2005 she has made the Prescott area her home with her significant other Larry.

Traci and Larry have 5 horses, 4 mares and 1 gelding. They welcome each day with their herd and the unknown opportunities presented to them. As they learned early on, horsemanship and caring for them is no easy task so always be ready with an open mind.

Traci graduated in 1998 from the University of Arizona. Since 2001 she has been a mortgage broker licensed in California and Arizona. This profession allows her to share her love of the Southwest and Arizona with people eager to also make it their home.

I believe I can make a contribution to the Board and provide a positive voice to support the growth of the Chino Valley Equestrian Park. I understand the importance of making decisions based on the needs of the membership first and will not use the Board position to advance my own interests.

Lynne Trenery Freeman

Board Member at Large

Lynne Trenery Freeman has been riding and driving horses since she was 6yo. She has competed in various English disciplines including Saddle Seat, Hunt Seat, Hunter Hack, and Dressage and also Western Pleasure, Ranch Riding, and Trail. She shows in breed and carriage Pleasure Driving events and Combined Driving. She has also competed in Endurance races. She stood the top-rated American Saddlebred stallion in the Country and bred and trained generations of show horses. Lynne has produced events from local schooling shows to USEF A rated multi-breed and multi-discipline shows. Lynne is also an attorney currently licensed by the State of Arizona. Lynne hopes to bring her experience to events at the Chino Valley Equestrian Park.

April Durnez

Board Member at Large