AQHA Professional Horsewoman Lynn Palm celebrates 40 years by sharing this list with you.

Lynn Palm celebrates her 40th year as a horse trainer, competitor and clinician.

Remarkably, 2010 marks Lynn Palm’s 40th year as a horse trainer, competitor and clinician. As a thank-you to her loyal supporters and fans, the world champion has created a list, “40 Fabulous Tips for Better Horsemanship,” to share some of her vast knowledge of horsemanship and equine management.

Lynn created the list as part of her “Fabulous at 40” celebration, which included 40 weeks of prizes from Palm Partnership Training and sponsors such as Wrangler and Professional’s Choice.

“These are really useful tips that I use every day when I am out in the barn or traveling with my horses. My hope is that everyone will be able to find something useful in this list,” Lynn says. Read the rest of this entry »

AQHA Corporate Partner Farnam offers advice to a mare owner who has spotted worms in her mare’s feces and is concerned about the foal.

Question:

I recently bought a mare and foal about a month old. The mare was dewormed by the seller just prior to our leaving, with Ivermectin paste dewormer. Over the next few days, many live worms were seen in the feces of the mare. I dewormed her again with Panacure. How long should I wait before I deworm her again, and should I deworm the colt, who is soon to be 2 months old? What should I use on her/and or the colt?

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USDA hopes to show the prevalence of the contagious equine metritis disease.

This voluntary program is in response to the ongoing CEM incident involving approximately 991 horses found in 48 states.

Provided by American Horse Council

The United State Department of Agriculture has announced a voluntary program to test up to 3,000 breeding stallions for Taylorella equigenitalis, the bacteria that causes contagious equine metritis, or CEM.  The program will be implemented immediately by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Read the rest of this entry »

Insider tips for getting expression from your halter horse.

In a ring full of wonderfully proportioned, beautiful Quarter Horses, the slightest details can make your horse stand out as the winner.

In AQHA’s FREE Halter Horse Expression report, you’ll learn the secrets to completing your horse’s “total look” in the halter arena. AQHA Professional Horseman Kathy Smallwood explains how to get your horse to present the facial expression the judges are looking for.

“Halter Horse Expression helped me understand how important expression is when showing my horse. Learning techniques to train and the timing of ques to show my horse at her peak potential is thrilling! Wow! What a competitive edge!

Each year I show, the competition is tougher. This article explains expression simply, in a way that is easily transferable to my horse, training for expression without overdoing it. This particular article helped me understand the importance of that balance between my horse being overly anxious or too relaxed. It is fantastic to receive tips and strategies from professionals who have been there. I can’t wait for show season to begin.”

AQHA Member Kim Nunn, Greenwood, Missouri

Kathy explains:

• How to train your halter horse at home for good expression

• Tools of the trade

• Grooming tips to help improve and accentuate expression

• How to get good expression from young halter horses

• Ways to get the extra edge by using your horse’s natural energy

Learn it all in AQHA’s FREE report, Halter Horse Expression.

One of Kathy’s secrets:

“At home, give your horse a peppermint and be sure to unwrap it right in front of him so he associates the noise of the wrapper with getting the peppermint. Then, when you go in the show pen, put a little bit of the peppermint wrapping in your pocket and when you want to get expression, take it out and crinkle it through your fingers a little. It’ll get the horse’s ears up because he’s looking for the peppermint.

When you’re done showing, and you’re about to go out of the ring, give him the peppermint. Otherwise, he’ll lose interest.”

AQHA Corporate Partner Pfizer will give one deserving charity $10,000 this summer.

Pfizer's annual Giving Back contest focuses on those who have reached out to strengthen community bonds through horses.

Provided by Pfizer

Pfizer Animal Health announces its Giving Back Contest, which recognizes for-profit equine businesses that give back to their community either locally or globally.

From fundraising horseshows, giving lessons to inner-city kids, to housing rescued horses, the Giving Back contest is looking for those who have reached out and strengthened community bonds through horses. Because being a good member of a community is smart for business. Read the rest of this entry »

Who says you can’t teach a rope horse new tricks?

From The American Quarter Horse Journal

Melinda Mays, Robbie Kelly and Almosta Boom

Editor’s note: Melinda Mays of Weatherford, Texas, wrote to tell us about turning her husband, Robbie’s, rope horse into her horsemanship mount.

My husband, Robbie Kelly, has a rope horse named Almosta Boom, who was trained in reining and cow horse as a young horse by Al Dunning. Al bred, raised and trained “Little Al.”Little Al has multiple Superiors, 50 points or more in a specific event, and almost $3,500 in National Reined Cow Horse Association earnings. Read the rest of this entry »

Check in with what’s going on at the 2010 Texas Classic in Fort Worth!

The 2010 Texas Classic is in full swing in Fort Worth. (HorsePower Inc. photo)

The Texas Quarter Horse Association’s 2010 Texas Classic in Fort Worth is bustling with activity.

American Quarter Horse competitors descended on the Will Rogers Memorial Center over the weekend, entering in AQHA, as well as National Snaffle Bit, National Reined Cow Horse, South East Reined Cow Horse and National Cutting Horse association classes.

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Your FREE online resource for AQHA supplies and brochures!

AQHA Customer Service Rep Kayla Randall

The introduction of AQHA’s Downloads page has made a big difference in the amount of informational material AQHA has available to everyone. With the economy so scary right now, it has been difficult for some businesses to keep up the same quality of service to consumers. AQHA hopes to close that gap a little with AQHA Downloads. It’s free, it’s convenient, it’s fast! Now you can view and/or print brochures and booklets with the click of a mouse instead of calling in and waiting for your brochures to arrive in the mail.

To access the AQHA Downloads page, all you have to do is fill out a little information page – this helps AQHA know how many people are using the service. You can then save the page to your favorites, and there you have it! A wealth of information at your fingertips!

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Look at more than just head position when training your horse.

AQHA Professional Horseman Lynn Palm stresses the importance of training your horse for more than just a headset.

By AQHA Professional Horsewoman Lynn Palm in The American Quarter Horse Journal

One of the most common questions I get from show-horse enthusiasts is: How can I achieve a better headset and get my horse to lower his head? Horses’ head positions and headsets seem to be such an emphasis with competitors, trainers and the general public who want to achieve excellence with their horses. Some exhibitors are absolutely obsessed with the headset, and the horse is the one that suffers. Read the rest of this entry »

AQHA’s color specialists explain how to get a cremello colored horse, plus how to enjoy him in competition.

Question:

I have a cremello mare, but a photo of her sire looks like he is gray. Could that be possible?

Also, conformation wise, my mare is beautiful and halter qualitly. I was told by a trainer not to waste my time conditioning her for halter showing, because there is a bias against cremellos in the show ring. Do you agree?

Read the rest of this entry »

Hall of Famer Bill Collins rode the back of a horse to higher education.

Hall of Famer Bill Collins is a scholar who has made the horse his lifelong study.

By Larri Jo Starkey in The American Quarter Horse Journal

This is the last of a three-part series. Need to review Part 1 or Part 2?

When Bill Collins opened a boarding stable, he had intended it to be focused on cutting, but that wasn’t financially feasible.

“When we started our stables in Edmonton (Alberta), I ended up having to be open to anybody who wanted to come there with a horse to start with,” Bill says. “We started out with 40 horses, and then pretty quick, some of the Read the rest of this entry »

Maybe someday you’ll be a leader or a change agent for something you love, like the American Quarter Horse.

Every industry has leaders, or change agents, people who attempt to influence decisions in a direction he or she feels is desired.

These professionals can range from parents to presidents. AQHA has tons of leaders who help influence what’s happening in the industry everyday.

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