AQHA Members Vital to the Process
May 13, 2009
AQHA’s governance is patterned off of our country’s foundation.
The 2009 committee reports from the AQHA Convention in San Antonio, Texas, have been finalized by the AQHA Executive Committee. The rule changes will take place in 2010 and will be listed in bold in the 2010 AQHA Official Handbook or Rules and Regulations.
Rules passed at the 2009 Convention will take effect in 2010.
Some items such as approval of dressage represent more than nine years of work, research, discussions and task force meetings. There have been some questions about why we chose to do things the way we did concerning dressage.
I can assure you that after nine years of working to make dressage recognized that nothing was done without thorough investigation and discussions. Some people have questioned why we are requiring dressage judges to be members of AQHA.
The judges committee voted to require specialized over-fence judges to be members of AQHA. We also require judges from other specialized associations such as cutting, working cow horse, reining, team penning and ranch sorting to be members. To be consistent with our requirements, the committee thought the same should apply to dressage judges. For the initial year, the dressage judges are exempt from attending an orientation session, but Alex Ross, AQHA executive director of judges, will still send them an orientation booklet for their review. Requiring AQHA membership also gives AQHA members some recourse through our disciplinary proceedings should there be a problem.
I sometimes hear AQHA members say that they have no voice in our Association, and that is not true. I wanted to use this post to review AQHA’s governance and remind members of ways they can be involved in shaping the organization.
The United States was established as a republic in 1776, and AQHA is governed in a similar way.
Each state or country is allotted representatives – directors – based on the horse population according to AQHA registration records, similar to the way the U.S. House of Representatives is determined.
The AQHA board of directors includes these directors, elevated directors, such as directors emeriti, and past presidents. Directors are required to serve on standing committees to help shape the Association and better understand issues facing AQHA.
AQHA members may submit committee agenda items until December 31 to be reviewed at the following AQHA Convention by the appropriate committee or committees. During committee meetings, AQHA members may address the committee during the open session and voice their opinions about agenda items. AQHA members also have every right to contact directors to discuss concerns and ideas or to voice an opinion on upcoming Convention items. Each committee agenda is listed at www.aqha.com prior to Convention.
AQHA members can log onto www.aqhamembers.org for a list of the AQHA board of directors complete with addresses. This information is also listed in America’s Horse magazine in the July issue and four times a year in both The American Quarter Horse and The American Quarter Horse Racing journals.
AQHA directors are as passionate about the American Quarter Horse as you and I are, and they want to make AQHA the best that it can be.
AQHA is a leader in the equine industry today because of the 330,000-plus members who are willing to share their ideas, experience and time to make this Association better. We count on you to be part of the Association’s future.
Happy trails,
Don Treadway Jr.
AQHA Executive Vice President
Learn the many reasons you should be a member of the world’s largest equine breed registry. Join AQHA today!
Comments
15 Comments on “AQHA Members Vital to the Process”
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May 15th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Mr. Treadway:
You are too kind mentioning my name in your blog regarding Dressage for the Quarter Horse. Living on the East Coast in Maryland I cannot wait to enter the USDF Dressage Show Arena with our quarter horse. This is going to thrill many, many quarter horse owners that have been waiting for this day for years. After reading the rules, I think you have got it right. There will always be minor changes each year but this is a great start and I am confident the American Quarter Horse will make their mark in the discipline of dressage. This is a great day for the American Quarter Horse.
Thank You Sir
May 18th, 2009 at 10:13 am
Dear Mr. Treadway
I hope to see Aqha evolve, in the near future to something that more resembles a horseman’s organization. Our classes are described as having become “highly specialized” but in my view they have evolved into activities involving horses as forced participants in events that showcase nothing more than a trainers ability to restrain all motion of the horse as he plods around the ring. Look at their teeth gritting, their dead tails, pinned ears. The typical AQHA owner has no desire to ride a horse like that. There is nothing appealing to what was once everyone’s favorite class, western pleasure. It has morphed into something almost comical to watch were it not obvious the deconstruction of the natural ability of the horse itself, for want of a “problem free” ride around the pen for the person on it’s back.
I hope that dressage judging allows purity and integrity of the event to supercede the trend toward homogenous palates of pointless criteria now used to pick the AQHA winners. Through spur stop and spur training our horses are now “captured” in every sense of the word, as they perform their events. This training method does little to show case the most talented individual but rather allows the rider to have a flawless ride, sitting stone still on the horse as it grits it teeth, swats it tail and pins it’s ears around the arena.
May 18th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Mr Treadway
It was my understanding that the Regional Shows were to be what the Quarterfest is about.
How can AQHA put on the Quarterfest and not have a Regional Show in their own backyard?
You need to work on what you have started and keep it going before you go to something else.
I am a life member and a 50 year breeder, I have seen AQHA go from the greastest, to a group that has no direction. Remember the everyday member, they made AQHA great.
May 19th, 2009 at 8:49 am
I am writing to complain about the recent increase in the price for a DNA kit as well as other fees associated with registration and membership. In the current economic times breeders are enduring ever-increasing costs. Some justifiable, others are not.
Hay, grain fuel, veterinarians’ bills, farriers’ fees, meds, the list never ends. Now the fees associated with registering foals have shot up and I do not believe this increase was unavoidable.
I went today to order a DNA kit for one of my mares only to discover the price has jumped from $35 to $50.00!
I can order an all-in-one DNA testing kit that includes VeriSNP testing from DNA Diagnostics for just $40. http://www.dnadiagnostics.com/animal_genetics.html
They include:
• Identity/Parentage Markers
• Cream dilution
• Red (Chestnut)
• Silver
• Sabino 1
• Agouti (Bay)
• Champagne
• Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis (HYPP)
• Lethal White Overo (OLWS)
• Glycogen Branching Enzyme Deficiency (GBED)
• Junctional Epidermolysis Bullosa (JEB)
• HERDA (HERDA-QH)
• Polysaccharide Storage Myopathy (PSSM)
Yet, the kit ordered from UC-Davis only provides DNA typing and for an additional $40 you can get HYPP results.
It’s pretty easy to figure out which test is a better buy for the money.
I found this article online:
“AQHA’s Executive Committee, at its January meeting, reduced the cost for a DNA kit from $40 to $30 per horse. The new price became effective Feb. 1, 1999.
To date, AQHA offers its Members the lowest fees in the equine industry for DNA testing. In conjunction with the University of California at Davis, AQHA is making an effort to understand certain genetic disorders and prevent their being passed on to future generations with parentage verification through DNA testing.
“At AQHA, we want to provide our Members with the best, most courteous service possible, while enhancing each of the Member programs and services we offer,” said Bill Brewer, AQHA Executive Vice President. “Included in our pledge, we are determined to provide the lowest fees whether it is a transfer, registration or DNA kit, available in the equine industry.”
I doubt the AQHA is concerned as I am about the costs incurred as a small breeder, but I don’t feel like my association is doing what it can to ensure that horses are getting tested and registered.
Please consider reducing the price of the DNA kit, as well as offering reduced registration fees, or at least looking for cheaper testing alternatives.
On another note: The APHA has a searchable database with photos for their members. We AQHA members are still waiting for that advancement in technology and have been for years. The free $10 worth of records a month hardly compares to the higher membership and registration fees and services provided. A fully searchable database complete with photos isn’t expensive to maintain and should be offered free with a paid membership.
Thanks for taking the time to read this-
Tawnya Kemper
Sundog Quarter Horses
Yoder, Colorado
May 20th, 2009 at 7:56 am
I would like to respectfully reply to the comment left by Sharon Lee. Sharon I am a fifty year breeder with AQHA, an AQHA Judge and Professional Horseman. I have lived my life with AQHA and for AQHA. I have seen many changes through the years in the equine world both good and bad. Trends come and go. Much of what you said is simply not true. Let me explain myself. The American Quarter Horse has evolved into one of the most spectacular creatures, able to excel in many different disciplines, from racing, showing, trail riding, ranch horses and most recently Dressage. While excelling in all these different disciplines our wonderful horse always leads in attitude, kindness and willingness. You cite teeth gritting, their dead tails, pinned ears. The number of AQHA members who show Quarter Horses is by far in the minority, the members who show Western Pleasure are in the minority compared to the number of other classes offered and lastly the number of horse you see with the problems you cited are definitely in the minority. As an AQHA Judge and traveling across the county I see the worst and the best the shows have to offer. The Western Pleasure class has improved greatly. The main reason is our selective breeding for a horse that travels naturally and likes his job. I consistently qualify and show at the AQHA World Show and have never altered a horses tail. The horses I train love what they do and crave to be better. To lump AQHA, horse show exhibitors and Professional Horseman all together in an evil category is grossly wrong. It is like saying ALL politicians are liars, all lawyers are ambulance chasers, or doctors don’t want to find a cure for cancer. Their are bad apples in every aspect of life but I know for a fact that they are few and far between in the Quarter Horse world. AQHA has taken a proactive stance on inhumane treatment, drug abuse and genetic diseases. In my opinion one of the best new ideas AQHA has had for some time is the use of this blog. It lets people like you air their grievances and hopefully see the other side of the coin too. I sincerely hope this has helped you see the good AQHA has to offer its members and the Quarter Horse. Thanks for your time. Laurel Walker Denton
June 3rd, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Thank you to AQHA for getting Dressage in as a real class now. How exciting!!!!!!! All those letters many of us wrote and sending in test scores have paid off! It has been a long road, but rewarding. I can’t wait to get real dressage points on my horse Astro Silver. He has points in many other events and now the opportunity to add dressage points will show his versatility. Too cool!!!! I also recently completed the 5000 hour award for the Horseback riding program and many of those hours were spent in training for dressage competition. Makes all the hard work worth the effort now. We will continue to ride the regular classes as well and truly show how wonderful the American Quarter Horse can be all the while learning a whole new discipline!!
June 6th, 2009 at 6:48 am
I am so excited about dressage being added to AQHA rides and competition. I’ve been doing dressage off and on for years on my QH’s! I currently show monthly at USDF shows in training and first level. I am glad these classes will be judged by USDF judges as they will maintain the integrity of the movements. Look for me and Anderoo in the future! And much later, me and Lily Evangeline; I hope! I also show my solid color Paint (who is mostly QH!) and she has won the Adult Amateur Training Level Test 4 division two months in a row! She is only 14.3 Hds! So, all you folks get out there and ride!
July 29th, 2009 at 3:55 pm
Good stuff, bookmark +1
August 29th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
I just recieved my USDF magazine. It says that for AQHA Dressage points to count, a horse must get 72% or better at Training 4. I also recieved “The Chronicle of the Horse”, and checked the results from two big, multi day dressage shows, one in California and one in Connecticut. Only one horse, out of all the horses showing at both shows, got into the 70’s at Training 4!. The winners were mostly in the 66-68% range. This was all breeds, not just AQHA registered horses. I think that setting the percentage that high is unreasonable. If you look at the USDF AQHA All-Breed awards, I doubt you will find many, if any, horses winning at above 70%.
I showed for many years, USDF, USEF, etc. I won and placed in many dressage classes, with a TB, an Appy and a Quarter Horse. I never scored higher than mid-60’s, and neither did any of my friends, who rode more traditional dressage breeds. You just don’t get that type of mark at that level, it is “training” after all, perfection is not expected!!
It feels with the judges being required to be AQHA and the scores set unreasonably high, that you really haven’t included dressage, you have just made it seem like you have. I doubt very few, if anyone, will qualify with the way things are set.
September 2nd, 2009 at 7:09 am
This is what AQHA distributed as guidelines as I understood it! You can only achieve a total of 20 points per level. Mr. Treadway correct me if I am wrong.
DRESSAGE SCORE CONVERSION
SCORE SCORE SCORE SCORE
60 – 65 66 – 70 71 – 75 76+
CONVERSION POINT POINT POINT POINT
Training Level 1 2 3 4
First Level 1.5 3 4.5 6
Second Level 2 4 6 8
Third Level 2.5 5 7.5 10
Fouth Level 3 6 9 12
FEI 4 8 12 16
September 2nd, 2009 at 7:15 am
It did not come out as I typed it in so I will describe it.
Training Level if you get a score of 60 -65 you will get 1 point, 66-70 you will get 2 points, etc
First Level if you get a score of 60 -65 you will get 1.5 points, 66-70 you will get 3 points, etc
Second Level if you get a score of 60 -65 you will get 2 points, 66-70 you will get 4 points, etc
Third Level if you get a score of 60 -65 you will get 2.5 point, 66-70 you will get 5 points etc
etc
etc
October 16th, 2009 at 8:37 am
I agree Tawnya, glad to see someone speaking up about this. Hope all is well with you! Banner is doing great, such a nice horse, although I do have her for sale.
Kathie
December 3rd, 2009 at 8:10 am
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October 20th, 2010 at 4:03 am
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