Let the dreams begin.

Hannah Blaeser, of La Mesa, New Mexico, and Look At This Asset were crowned the performance halter geldings reserve world champions at the 2010 Built Ford Tough AQHYA World Championship Show.

“Way to go!” and Jim Searles gave his daughter, Taylor, a high five as she sat aboard her gray mare, Rip N Zippin Goodbar, while mom, Deanna, smiled up at her.

Taylor, from Cave Creek, Arizona, just finished her western riding prelims go, 89^th in a field of 103 at the 2010 Built Ford Tough AQHYA World Championship Show. The field included seasoned horses and riders and past world champions, including 2009 western riding world champions Ali Papendick and Harley D Zip.

As of this posting, the finalists haven’t been announced, but Taylor’s parents – longtime trainers and exhibitors themselves – are proud no matter what. The 11-year-old had a world show-worthy pattern in world show company.

There are 859 exhibitors with 1,208 horses making up this year’s 2,402 entries, all competing for 35 world champion titles. The American Quarter Horse Journal interviews all the new world champs fresh out of the arena. Winning run interviews are posted online within the hour along with reruns of the winning goes.

Of course, there’s a lot going on outside the arena. Youth are also competing in horse judging, public speaking, team demonstrations, scrapbooking, Horse Bowl and more.

And don’t forget, if you’re back home or back in your living quarters trailer, you can catch the Oklahoma State Fair Park coliseum competition on the Pfizer Web Cam – if something’s going on, it’s live on the Web.

It’s no secret what they’re looking for. You can learn how AQHA judges score halter classes in AQHA’s FREE report, Judging Halter.

Don’t miss these special Ford Youth World happenings and offers:

Year-long Discount Card – For $20, you can buy a World Show Trade Show 10 percent discount card, to be used over and over until August 31, 2011. And $15 from the sale of each card goes directly to the American Quarter Horse Foundation Youth Scholarship Fund. If you’re going to be doing some buying, it’s a great investment.

College Fair – starts Friday, July 30, and continues through Sunday, August 1, in the Coliseum concourse. If you’re looking for schools that offer equine-related sports or coursework, come check it out.

SmartPak Internet Café – You’ll find free Internet access in the Internet Café in the room across from the AQHA Media Room, courtesy of AQHA Corporate Partner SmartPak.

Feed Mill Tours – AQHA Corporate Partner Nutrena is offering free tours of their feed mill. Sign up in the show office for tours on Tuesday, August 3, 1-3:30 p.m., Thursday, August 5, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Get the inside scoop on feed production.

Coke Floats and Shop – Grab a free coke float at the trade show receptions on July 31 and August 5 at 4 p.m.

And check the Ford Youth World coverage home every day for stories and slide shows from The American Quarter Horse Journal’s award-winning team.

As the unwanted horse problem continues, responsible breeding is a must.

To combat the unwanted horse issue, horse owners should only breed the very best to the very best.

By Dr. Thomas R. Lenz in The American Quarter Horse Journal

The unwanted horse continues to be a major issue in the U.S. horse industry. The economic downturn has only served to make the situation worse, as many people can no longer afford to keep their horses or find qualified buyers.

AQHA and the Unwanted Horse Coalition are focused on finding homes, alternative careers and additional options for horses that are no longer wanted. But if we’re going to solve the problem, we must also decrease the number of unmarketable horses we are producing through responsible breeding practices.

There will always be some unwanted horses because horse will grow old, sustain career-ending injuries or not meet their owners’ expectations, but we can minimize their numbers through responsible breeding.

In my opinion, the days of “let’s breed ol’ Dobbin to see what we get” are over because it is unfair to the resulting unmarketable foal, as well as our industry. You need only visit one of the lower-end horse sales or the local sale barn to see the impact of producing poor-quality horses that are selling for only a few hundred dollars or less.

Making Good Decisions

To minimize risk and maximize the likelihood that you will produce exactly what you want, it is always a good idea to rationally think through:

1. Which mares you want to breed and why?
2. What stallions you want to breed them to and why?
3. What you want to do with the foal?

AQHA’s “Equine Insemination with Frozen Shipped Semen” DVD includes information about processing semen for freezing, tips for successful mare insemination and much more. Order your copy today!

Here is a brief checklist to aid you in that process:

• Is the mare from a good bloodline and has she excelled in the show ring, on the track, on the ranch or on the trail? If she cannot do the job (too slow, too stubborn, unattractive, etc.) don’t pass those genes on. Remember, the mare will provide the foal with half of its genetics and often the majority of its personality.
• Has she been tested to ensure she is not carrying the genes for hereditary equine regional dermal asthenia (HERDA), hyperkalemic periodic paralysis (HYPP), polysaccharide storage myopathy (PSSM), malignant hyperthermia (MH) or glycogen branching enzyme deficiency (GBED)? Genetic tests are available for all of them.
• Has she produced great foals in the past or have her siblings or half siblings produced great foals?
• Does the stallion have a phenotype similar to the mare’s? Too often, people select stallions based on word of mouth or an advertisement. It is always a good idea to research the stallion’s bloodlines as well as his performance record to determine whether it nicks with the mare’s.

Roll It!

Hereditary equine regional dermal asthenia (HERDA) is genetic skin disease. Dr. Kenton Morgan hosts a three part series to explain this devastating disease which causes skin on a horse’s back to lift and peel away from the body.

• Is the stallion a carrier of any of the above genetic conditions? If he is carrying any of them, what is the probability that the foal will be affected?
• If you’re interested in color, what will be the probable color resulting from this mating? You can always download AQHA’s FREE Coat Color Genetics report to help you find the answers.
• Do you have the resources or time to raise and train the foals(s) properly?
• How are you going to market the foal(s)? Have you nominated them to a futurity or Incentive Fund to enhance their value?
• What will you do with the offspring if it does not meet your expectations? Will you retrain it for another job, donate it, euthanize it or drop it off at the local sale barn?
• Would you be better off buying a horse rather than breeding your mare?

Order AQHA’s “Equine Insemination with Frozen Shipped Semen” DVD today. It’s an excellent educational resource for students and breeding barn help as well as any mare or stallion owner.

These are just a few of the many factors you should consider before breeding your mare or standing a young stallion at stud.

We all want to produce better horses and protect the integrity of our breed. The best way to do that is to be informed, organized and sensitive to the potential repercussions of breeding anything other than the very best to the very best.

For more information on keeping your horse healthy, consult an American Association of Equine Practitioners-member veterinarian in your area.

July’s Facebook contest is all about fly control and some great prizes from AQHA Corporate Partner Farnam.

Win a huge Farnam prize package, including two SuperMasks!

Just in time for summer, AQHA and Corporate Partner Farnam are giving away some great prizes to help your horses beat those pesky flies.

Up for grabs to all AQHA Facebook fans is a huge fly-control package worth $175, including:

• 1 – Endure Quart
• 1 – Endure Roll-on
• 1 – Repel XP Quart
• 1 – Swat
• 1 – EquiSpot
• 2 – SuperMasks

Plus, FIVE lucky fans each weekday will win Farnam coupon books worth $70 of savings!

How to Play

• Become a fan of AQHA on Facebook.
• During each weekday in July, watch for a post on AQHA’s wall containing “Farnam.”
• Be one of the first 10 fans to comment, and you’ll be entered to win the grand prize package.
• To sweeten the deal, the first five fans to comment each day will receive a coupon book worth $70 of savings on Farnam products.

At the end of July, we’ll announce the one lucky fan who receives the grand prize Farnam package.

Farnam is the official grooming and conditioning products and the official dewormer and fly control product supplier of AQHA since 2004. AQHA members receive discounts on many Farnam products through Quarter Horse Outfitters.

Five problems you should always call the vet for.

While mild colic can just be sand in the gut, if it isn’t and is allowed to go on, the result can be lethal.

From The American Quarter Horse Journal

Most horse owners don’t call a veterinarian for every little scrape on their horses. Most horse owners can handle cuts, bruises and bumps with supplies they have on hand.

Dr. Julie Dechant, an assistant professor in the clinical equine surgical emergency and critical care portion of the University of California-Davis, offers five examples of injuries that need immediate veterinary care. Don’t try to handle these on your own. Get help right away.

No. 1 – Nail In the Hoof

A nail in the hoof might be mild or it could hit something important – the coffin bone or the navicular bone; synovial fluid structures; the navicular bursa; coffin joint; or the digital tendon sheath. The danger in hitting any of these internal structures of the hoof is that infection can occur, which can lead to chronic lameness or even severe disability, which can lead to euthanasia.

Dr. Dechant advises owners not to pull the nail out, as instinct would tell them to, but to instead stabilize the foot in a way that would not allow the nail to go any deeper and call the vet. Ideally, the vet would take an X-ray to determine just what the nail has encountered, if anything. The vet would then remove the nail.

If the nail is in danger of being further pushed into the hoof and cannot be stabilized, Dr. Dechant recommends marking the hoof where the nail entered, marking the nail to show how deep it went in, and the direction of how the nail went into the hoof, before you remove it and then call the vet.

No. 2 – Eye Injury or Abnormality

Even though eye boogers might not look dangerous, Dr. Dechant says they can be a sign of something more serious. Any discharge is cause for concern and something you should call the vet about. Some things that could be indicated by eye discharge or injury are corneal ulcer and uveitis (moon blindness), both of which can lead to blindness. More rarely, glaucoma might be in the works, and the discharge is giving you a heads-up. All of these conditions can be mild, but it’s safer to never assume. For the cost of a veterinary visit, you can ensure that your horse will stay sighted.

Keep in mind, earlier treatments can control the inflammation and keep the horse from developing cataracts. Also, these eye conditions can also be very painful, so it’s best to get them taken care of as soon as possible.

Learn how obesity, laminitis and insulin resistance can impact your horse in AQHA’s FREE Chubby Horses report.

No. 3 – Colic: Severe or Mild

Horses in California have a serious tendency to develop endoliths (rock-like growths inside their abdomen that can block their intestines). Other parts of the country see this condition as well, but California seems to have an abundance of cases.

While mild colic can just be sand in the gut, if it isn’t and is allowed to go on, the result can be a ruptured intestine that would require an owner to put a horse down. Unfortunately for horse owners, you have no way of knowing if the problem is mild or on its way to severe.

Signs of mild colic can just be lying down often, Dr. Dechant says, or not eating as usual, not passing as much manure, being restless, repeatedly getting up and down and/or isolating themselves from the herd. The signs aren’t huge, flagship signs, so it’s best to know what is normal for your horse and what isn’t. Of course, the more severe signs of colic are a bit easier to spot.

No. 4 – Horses That Trip or Stumble

Uncoordinated horses aren’t funny if they’re yours. And they are even less funny if the condition turns out to be a neurological condition.

Dr. Dechant says that suddenly uncoordinated horses, whether from an injury or not, should be looked at right away. A horse that is having neurological problems needs to be seen as soon as possible. These horses can include wobblers or horses that trip or catch their feet funny repeatedly. These signs can indicate an infectious disease such as equine herpes virus, which is very contagious to other horses, or even a spinal injury.

Often the changes are very dramatic, Dr. Dechant says, and by the time a horse with those symptoms makes it to the veterinary hospital, there is little that the vet can do for him. If a trauma occurs, even if the horse seems all right, it’s important to get the horse looked at.

If a horse has flipped over, run his head into a solid object or had fractures, he needs to be evaluated.

“We can often do something at the actual time of trauma,” Dr. Dechant says. “But if a horse owner waits, thinking it will go away, often it just gets worse, and you are just more or less left with the horse you have at that point. There is not always a chance to fix something, but if there is a chance to fix it, earlier is better.”

No. 5 – Gums of a Different Color

The color of your horses’ gums can tell you quite a bit about his health. Dr. Dechant has seen gums that are white, pink, red, yellow and even blue.

Bright red gums usually indicate endotoxemia. Basically the horse with bright red gums is very, very sick and in shock. Really pale to white gums can indicate anemia or shock from being sick or even internal bleeding. Yellow gums are a classic sign of liver disease but can also indicate other conditions. And blue gums (cyanotic) indicate your horse is not getting enough oxygen in the blood, usually due to lung disease.

Ulcers on the gums can be a sign of a variety of diseases, such as bute toxicity, abrasive feeds, toxins (blister beetles), and/or viral diseases (vesicular stomatitis). Other small signs in the mouth to look for are little wounds, little hemorrhages, little paint brushes of red and bleeding under gums, which can indicate a clotting disorder.

Know What You’re Getting

When your horse’s health – and your dollar – are on the line, using products that carry the Food and Drug Administration stamp is a surefire way to ensure it has been tested for safety and effectiveness.

“Taking chances with products that aren’t FDA-approved means you may have to go back to the drawing board for a real solution. Or worse, you could even be putting your horse’s health at risk,” says Dr. Hoyt Cheramie, manager of AQHA Corporate Partner Merial Veterinary Services. “Some horse owners may even believe that they are receiving FDA-approved products when, in fact, they may be paying for an illegally compounded product.”

This includes products claiming to treat or prevent equine stomach ulcers, Dr. Cheramie says. Because there are FDA-approved products, compounding pharmacies that offer stomach ulcer treatment or prevention may be producing an illegal product.

The FDA has noted that the availability of FDA-approved products greatly reduces the need for compounding, which may be reserved for specific patients requiring a strength or dosage form not available.

In AQHA’s FREE Chubby Horses report you’ll learn about equine metabolic syndrome, conditions resulting from EMS, the connection between EMS and Cushing’s disease and how to manage EMS.

Compounded omeprazoles may lack the consistency and effectiveness of FDA-approved products, and, therefore, owners using compounded omeprazole may not be addressing their horse’s health concern, Dr. Cheramie says.

“Stomach ulcers can develop in a range of situations – from competition, to changes in routine – but the heart of the problem is acid production, and there are only two FDA-approved products proven to consistently and effectively suppress acid production at the acid pump for either prevention or treatment of stomach ulcers,” Dr. Cheramie says.

UlcerGard is the only FDA-approved product to prevent stomach ulcers, and GastroGard is the only FDA-approved product to heal stomach ulcers. The unique, patented formulation of the products helps ensure the omeprazole is stabilized to work effectively. While the products are dosed differently to either provide prevention or healing, both offer convenient once-daily administration that is well accepted by horses.

“Choosing products that are FDA-approved helps ensure that you’re not only providing the best medicine for your horses, but that you’re also making the most of every equine healthcare dollar,” Dr. Cheramie says. “Don’t take chances with horses’ health. Look for FDA-approved products that are proven safe and effective.”

The 2010 Adequan Select World Championship Show is right around the corner — get the facts on the Farnam All-Around Amateur Award.

The 2009 Farnam All-Around Amateur winners Susan K. Johns and Majestic Scotch.

AQHA Corporate Partner Farnam, a company dedicated to horse care, has teamed up with AQHA as the title sponsor of the Farnam All-Around Amateur Award this year’s Adequan Select World Championship Show. The Adequan Select World Show is August 29 – September 4 in Amarillo.

The Farnam All-Around Amateur Award goes to the top Select amateur exhibitor-and-horse team earning the most points in three or more events in two categories during the Adequan Select World Show. The winner of this award receives $10,000 cash, plus $1,000 of Farnam product and a WeatherBeeta blanket; the reserve all-around amateur receives $2,500 cash, plus $500 of Farnam product; and the third- through fifth-place finishers each receive $1,000 cash and $250 of Farnam product.

The 2010 Adequan Select World Show entry deadline is August 1, 2010, and with prize packages like this, the chance to compete for $10,000 in cash is fading fast.

“Farnam has been an overall contributor to horse care in our industry and the company has taken its support a step further in rewarding equine athletes at their highest level of competition,” said Leman Wall, AQHA director of corporate and affiliate partnerships.

Farnam is also sponsoring the Farnam All-Around Award presented during the Bank of America Amateur week at the 2010 AQHA World Championship Show in November in Oklahoma City. Farnam is the title sponsor of the Farnam Superhorse Award, which is presented during FedEx Open Week at the AQHA World Show.

“We are honored to be the title sponsor for awards presented to horses that exemplify the versatility of the American Quarter Horse,” said Chris Jacobi, Farnam senior vice president for equine products. “And if along the way, we can raise awareness of the importance of horse care, then it makes it that much better.”

Farnam has had industry-wide support and has joined with The American Quarter Horse Foundation in offering America’s Horse Cares, a special program to support therapeutic riding facilities.  America’s Horse Cares is dedicated to creating an ongoing funding base to support special-needs individuals and organizations that benefit from equine experiences. Farman’s contribution is just another example of its care and support of American Quarter Horses and the people who love them.

AQHA news and information is a service of AQHA publications. Find out more in The American Quarter Horse Journal or America’s Horse magazine.

AQHA announces the beta launch of the redesigned aqha.com. We want your feedback!

AQHA’s Web team is pleased to launch the public beta release of the new-and-improved aqha.com, located at beta.aqha.com.  This is only a preview of the future site and is in the public testing phase.

Please note that much of the functionality is still in progress. To conduct regular AQHA business, please continue to use aqha.com.

AQHA members and users are encouraged to take a moment to visit the beta site at beta.aqha.com, and use the comment feature at the bottom to tell us what you think about the overall design and navigation.  Or simply e-mail us at beta@aqha.org with your comments and suggestions.

AQHA’s Web team is dedicated to making the future Web site more user friendly, more customer service oriented, more fun and more resource-oriented than ever before to help Quarter Horse enthusiasts enjoy their horse lifestyle to the fullest.

So please take a few minutes to tour beta.aqha.com and offer your feedback at beta@aqha.org or via the comments feature located at the bottom of beta.aqha.com.

We look forward to your comments about the beta Web site regarding:

• Look and feel
• Navigation
• Sections
• Organization

Again, please continue to use aqha.com to conduct your AQHA business.

AQHA news and information is a service of AQHA publications. What to know more? Subscribe to  The American Quarter Horse Journal or America’s Horse magazine.

AQHA Professional Horsemen talk about the five errors non-pros make in halter.

In the halter ring, don’t let your nerves get the better of you and help you to make the biggest mistake of all: over-showing your horse.

From The American Quarter Horse Journal

When it comes to showing horses, we all make mistakes. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a pro or a novice amateur, you’re going to mess up every once in a while.

But if you know how to keep your eye open for mistakes before they happen, maybe you can prevent them.

The Journal asked a few AQHA Professional Horsemen what the top five mistakes are that most halter amateur exhibitors make, and how to avoid them.

No. 1 – Set Up the Horse Improperly

Know the conformation of your horse and how to show her so she will look her best.

• For a long-backed horse, bunch the horse up a little bit in the set-up, which will round her back. Don’t set your horse up too wide, which also hollows out the back.
• Don’t set your horse’s head too high. Look at where the neck comes out and present the horse’s head so that it doesn’t dip the back.

No. 2 – Lead the Horse Incorrectly

Walk and trot your horse properly to the judge.

• Don’t pull your horse’s head to you. This will kick your horse’s rear end out to the side, and it will make your horse look and travel a little bit funny. This won’t give the judge a clear picture of how your horse travels.
• Make sure that your horse’s head is pointed straight and ahead. As the exhibitor, you should focus on the wall in front of you, rather than the judge as you lead the horse.

AQHA judges are highly trained to spot good conformation and give the top award to the most-deserving horse.You can learn how AQHA judges score halter classes in AQHA’s FREE Judging Halter report.

No. 3 – Get Too Close to the Horse’s Head

If you stand too close to your horse’s head, the horse might want to start playing with your hand, biting on you or chewing. To avoid this, make sure your hand is away from your horse’s head.

No. 4 – Pay Too Much Attention to the Judge

Don’t lose focus on your horse because you are spending too much time watching the judge. Always make sure that your horse is properly positioned, just in case the judge looks over at you.

If your horse is set up improperly, and the judge is coming, don’t be afraid to re-set your horse. If you just take a second and get it right, the judge will give you the time to set your horse up correctly.

No. 5 – Over-Show the Horse

Don’t let your nerves get the better of you and help you to make the biggest mistake of all: over-showing your horse.

Keep up your self-confidence, and you’ll find that you won’t make as many mistakes. Positive thinking is a must, as well as getting to know your horse.

In AQHA’s FREE Judging Halter report, you’ll get an understanding of the ideal American Quarter Horse. You’ll train your eye to acknowledge balance, structural correctness, breed and sex characteristics, muscling and more.

If you’re not sure what to expect at a show, go and watch it first. Going to lots of horse shows will calm your nerves and let you know what to expect.

And if you find that you get nervous at big shows, just treat that major show like it’s a weekend show. Slow it down and stay in your regular show routine, and you’ll do a better job of presenting your horse.

Final Tip

Remember that horse shows are to be enjoyed. Take your time, relax and enjoy it. Keep in mind the words of AQHA Professional Horseman Denny Hassett of Auburn, Kansas, “Your horse is ready, you’re dressed properly, and if you get it shown properly, you’re going to win a prize.”

The Ohio Quarter Horse Association pulls together to help one of its own.

Trey and his roping/speed-event horse, Bar Dee Boy 036, aka "Scooby." Photo courtesy of Tow Pal Inc., which sponsors Trey.

By all accounts, 14-year-old Trey Schwab has a wonderful, supportive family. But outside of his biological family, he also has an amazing network of unrelated kinfolk – connected by a common love of horses – who have rallied around him in the wake of a terrible accident. At the AQHA Region Four Championship in Columbus, July 15-18, this family was kicking it in high gear.

May 22, Trey and his family had been driving to a horse show on Ohio’s Interstate 71 when their left front tire blew out. As Paul, Trey’s father, slowed down to pull over, the truck shot abruptly across the median and into some trees. The trailer disconnected from the truck, and one horse ended up dying. Cindy, Paul’s mother, bled profusely from a severed carotid artery, and Paul sustained head injuries. Cindy also suffered several broken bones and is now in a wheelchair, although a full recovery is expected. Trey remains hospitalized, and the extent of his brain injury is not yet known. He blinks to answer “yes” or “no” questions, and he knows that his best horse, “Scooby,” survived.

At the accident scene,  “there were angels everywhere,” says Ohio Quarter Horse Association youth director Kelli Diaz – from a passerby who stopped and helped stanch Cindy’s bleeding, to another one who happened to be driving by with an empty horse trailer; she transported the horses to a nearby vet clinic.

Today, it’s Kelli and others at OQHA and neighboring affiliates who are filling that role.

Kelli and Jamie Watson, whose daughter, Lacy, is an Ohio youth director, filled me in on the details of how the horse industry has swooped in to help the Schwab family.

The Ohio youth kids had already been selling raffle tickets for an All American Quarter Horse Congress package that included a stall at the Congress, a VIP parking pass, tickets to premier events and more. The proceeds were to go into a youth general fund that could be used for pizza parties or other social events. After the Schwabs’ accident, “the kids all got together and said, ‘We would like to donate it to Trey and his family,’ ” Kelli says.

At the Region Four Championship, Lacy sold $750 worth of raffle tickets in one night. She “has been phenomenal,” Kelli says – and she even sells the raffle tickets on her Facebook page.

It’s understandable why Lacy feels that kinship with Trey. The members of the Ohio Quarter Horse Youth Association voted on who should attend the AQHA Youth Excellence Seminar in June in Amarillo. Lacy and Trey – both active directors who were successful in the show ring – were unanimous picks.

Trey, obviously, wasn’t able to attend, but he was on the Ohio representatives’ minds. Kelli bought a photograph of the letters “A,” “Q,” “H” and “A” from Quarter Horse Outfitters, and she let all the kids at YES sign their names to it.

They’ll deliver it as soon as the busy summer schedule allows.

“We’re all going to go down and see him,” Kelli says. “A lot of the kids want to go visit him.”

At the Region Four Championship, besides the raffle sales, proceeds of a live and silent auction also went toward the Schwab family’s benefit fund. More than $9,000 was raised, and items just kept being added to the auction – a month’s worth of training here, more Congress tickets there. Others were just writing checks to make straight donations. The selflessness and generosity was heart-warming, to say the least.

“Once it starts,” Kelli says, “you just can’t stop it.”

But she says it’s easy to care this much about such a great family.

“They’re just a phenomenal family. They’re just as real as you can get. They do it (show horses) as a family.”

Trey was spotlighted in the Ohio affiliate’s newsletter in May, and in his interview, “it just talked about how humble he is, all the way down to ‘we save money by packing our lunches instead of buying food at the shows’ so he can help his parents so they can continue to travel. He’s just a great kid,” Kelli says.

Jamie, who ponied up $2,500 in the live auction to buy a Congress package, says it’s all well worth it.

“In Ohio, we’re pretty tight with our kids. Everybody works together, and it’s like a family.”

The “family” is now brainstorming, wondering how they can make Trey a part of the Built Ford Tough AQHYA World Show, which kicks off Friday in Oklahoma City. Trey and Scooby, registered as Bar Dee Boy 036, won the AQHYA stake race national high-point. He was to accept his trophy on August 5.

“We might even try to Skype,” Kelli says, referring to a service that allows online video conferencing. “We’re trying to think of different ways.”

But no matter how hard Kelli and her Ohio youth members work, they know Trey is working harder.

“It’s going to be a long road to recovery,” Kelli says, “but he’s a strong kid and they’re such a great family. I’m very optimistic.”

And that Ohio Quarter Horse spirit? It’s pretty cool, and yet another reason why joining your state affiliate is such a good idea – it’s like adding to your support system.

“We would do it for any of our youth,” Kelli says of the benefit efforts, “because we’re all one family. But he and his family are extra special.”

To help:

An online benefit auction

A benefit account set up at Chase Bank

Or at the Paul Schwab III Benefit Fund
Park National Bank
50 N Third St
P. O. Box 3500
Newark, OH 43058-3500

Hats off to all the fund-raisers, and best wishes to the Schwab family!

Holly Clanahan
Editor, America's Horse magazine

AQHA’s Facebook fan page has reached a milestone, and everybody gets a prize to celebrate!

Check your Facebook to see if you've won this saddle bag or a Journal subscription!

If you’ve been to AQHA’s Facebook page lately, then you know what a busy place it is! AQHA’s Facebook page is bustling with activity, from the latest industry news to tips and tricks to help you enjoy your horses to the fullest.

AQHA’s Facebook page offers:

• “Guess That Horse.” Each Wednesday, enjoy this fast-paced game with a great prize up for grabs to the person who is the first to correctly guess the horse in the photo.
• Monthly contests with AQHA corporate partner prizes. AQHA’s generous corporate partners provide a hefty prize package each month.
• The latest industry news.
• Blogs and stories on your favorite horse subjects, including training, health, riding, showing and breeding.
• Customer service that’s second to none! Don’t bother with the phone – Facebook us your questions about your AQHA business, and we’ll get back to you quickly.
• Videos and photos.
• Community and friendship.
• Discounts and special offers.
• An on-call equine color specialist to answer all your coat-color questions.
• And more!

In celebration of our 100,000-fan milestone, we’re offering each fan a 25-percent discount to Quarter Horse Outfitters online, good through the month of August, 2010. Go to AQHA’s Facebook page to receive the promo code for 25-percent off your online order!

And that’s not all!

Ten lucky fans will receive a FREE one-year subscription to The American Quarter Horse Journal.

Plus, two fans will receive a Professional’s Choice Recreational Rider Series saddle bag.

Finally, 25 fans will receive $25 gift certificates to Quarter Horse Outfitters.

So check Facebook to find out how you can win a prize! And don’t forget to start shopping today with your generous discount from Quarter Horse Outfitters.

Get your friends to join us on Facebook!

Note: To be eligible for a prize in any of AQHA’s Facebook contests, you must have your privacy settings set so that we can contact you via Facebook. Please refer to our contest rules under the Info tab on our Facebook page.

Get insider information on one of AQHA’s most frequently asked questions!

AQHA has developed a section of its Web site specifically for members called Member Services. It is every AQHA member’s place to conduct business with AQHA, look up the most up-to-date records on any American Quarter Horse, view show leaders lists and more.

But there’s a catch! You have to have your AQHA ID and PIN to log in. This week, I want to share with you the procedure for sending PINs to our members.

AQHA Customer Service Rep Kayla Randall

The way you sign up for your AQHA membership – by phone, mail, fax or online – determines whether or not you need to request your PIN from AQHA.

If you:

• Sign up online, a letter will be automatically mailed to you.

• Sign up by phone, mail or fax, then you need to request a letter from AQHA. You can do this  yourself by clicking on the “Get a PIN” link on the AQHA home page. You can also contact AQHA Customer Service.

The PIN letter you receive will contain an alpha-numeric PIN and the last three digits of your AQHA ID number. Don’t let this fool you! You need to use your entire, seven-digit ID number when you sign on!

But you wonder, “Do I have to wait for a letter every single time I lose my PIN?” Not at all. Once you log in with your ID and PIN, you will be immediately stopped and prompted to set up a secret question and answer so that you may receive your PIN by e-mail if it ever changes or is lost in the future. If you have a secret question set up and need to have your PIN e-mailed to you, click on the “Forgot Your PIN” link on the AQHA home page. This is a huge reason why we are always pestering you for your e-mail address whenever you call! If we don’t have the correct e-mail on file, you can’t get your PIN!

That is the basic AQHA PIN procedure. I know in these technologically advanced days, there is a password or PIN, ID number or secret handshake to get into everything, but it’s worth it to get what you need fast!

A few other fun facts about your AQHA PIN:

• It cannot be given to you over the phone.

• It can be customized (click on ‘member action’ at the top of the screen after logging in).

• If you have a secret question set up, but forget the answer, call us and we’ll send it to you by mail.

• You can try to answer your secret question/log in unlimited times. There is no feature in place that will lock you out of the system.

• You must answer your secret question in the same format each time (ex: if your answer is a date, and you put in the format mm/dd/yyyy the first time you answered, you must do this each time).

• At a show/event with AQHA OnSite Services? Stop by in person, and an AQHA staff member will give you your PIN on the spot!

Remember, this is all for your security! You can do so much business online, and AQHA wants your information to stay secure! If you’re having trouble with your PIN, send me a comment and I’ll be glad to help you out!

Tom and Margo Ball share their method of halter breaking, based on good, old-fashioned horsemanship.

Most foals are a little hesitant to come to you. If you work around your foals on a daily basis, such as cleaning stalls, they'll start coming to you.

By Christine Hamilton in The American Quarter Horse Journal

Tom and Margo Ball use old-fashioned horsemanship in their halter breaking, approaching it with patience, an earned trust and the belief that every foal is an individual. The steps Tom and Margo go through might take one day or three weeks, and they might spend longer on different steps with different foals. The Balls might start a foal at 30 days of age, or they might wait longer. It all depends on the personality and needs of each foals.

“We wait until our babies are ready to break,” Tom adds. “We don’t want to fight with them.”

The Balls like to start working with the foal in a roomy run, with the foal’s mother close by.

Step No. 1: Wait Until They’re Ready

• Most foals are a little hesitant to come to you. As they get used to you being around, then they will start coming up, and they’ll get curious. And as you pet or scratch them, they become more “humanized.”
• Work around your foals on a daily basis, such as cleaning stalls.
• The key word is trust. When a foal comes up and starts nosing around you, that means he trusts that you’re not going to do something to him that will hurt. So when you do introduce him to something new, like the halter, he trusts that it’s not going to be anything bad.

Want to learn more about what Tom and Margo Ball have to say about halter breaking? Download AQHA’s FREE Halter Breaking Your Foal report.

• If you take a foal and try to put a halter on him and start pulling him around, you’re going to spook him. Then he’ll lose trust in the halter, lose trust in you, and you end up with a horse that’s going to fight you, and maybe one that will get hurt.

Step No. 2: Putting On and Wearing the Halter

• Practice patience before you start. It takes a lot of patience and slow movements. Try to use little resistance with the foal, so you don’t spook him in any way.
• When it comes time to put on the halter, it’s often better to have two people or a box corner to do it in.
• The trick, when you use two people, is for the rump person to just stand there, letting the foal brace against the back person. You don’t want to apply pressure or grab the rump. You want just enough pressure that the foal stands still. The back person just gives support.
• If you’re up against the foal, he’s not going to kick you, other than with his hock. You’re better off touching the foal than standing back two feet, where you can get hurt.
• Stand back and watch and just let the foal wear the halter a while. Foals are individuals; they’re all going to have a little different temperament. Disposition is the key factor in that. Depending on the individual, the foal might just wear the halter for a few days, and you do nothing else with it.

Halter breaking a foal will be his first experience learning to respect you, to give to pressure and to handle new experiences. Thankfully, the AQHA’s FREE Halter Breaking Your Foal report will guide you through the process.

• A leather halter is the safest for a foal. If the foal does get into a bind and gets really caught on something, the leather will break.
• The halter needs to fit the foal. If you have one too big, and the foal reaches up to scratch, the foal could get into a real wreck.
• Don’t leave the halter on the foal at night. You don’t have to stand there and watch the foal the entire time, but on the other hand, you do need to be around in close proximity so that if the foal does get into some kind of bind, you’re there.

Stay tuned for the second part of this series.

Roping, poles, barrels and jumping wrap up the Region One Championship.

By Randee Fox

Courtney Pearson of Langley, B.C., bends around a barrel for her second winning run at the 2010 Region One Championship. Scroll down for more photos by Journal special correspondent Randee Fox.

July 25 was the final day of the wildly fun Region One Championship in Langley, British Columbia. It started with roping and ended with jumping with poles and barrels in the middle. There was plenty of athletic action from 8 a.m. until noon.

After finally finding my momentum chasing stories and photos, I accepted the fact that I could not be at two places at the same time. As the days progressed so did the heat factor as summer finally planted its roots deep into the Pacific northwest so ‘hoofing it’ with water bottle and hat on the 85-acre property, didn’t always allow me to catch each event. Next time I’m bringing my bicycle with a basket so I can zoom from event to event and carry my cameras and note pad.

One thing that I am coming away with is a deeper appreciation for family, community and Quarter Horses, and that extends beyond blood. Every human being and horse needs an extended family or support system. A horse needs the owner, the vet, farrier and trainer, and the human needs her horse, trainer and her extended family of family and friends for support.

What I saw mostly saw over the past four days was how the American Quarter Horse has a way of bringing people together. This was incredibly moving to me.  From Pat Senger, who is 70 and rides like she is a 40-year-old athlete, constantly surrounded by her extended family of friends cheering her on; to young Cassidy Graham who camped on the grounds with her parents, her trainer and her trainer’s husband; and to Becky’s 4-H fan club, who made her a huge banner out of tar paper.

We all need positive and healthy support systems for our health, self-esteem and well-being. And within those support systems, no matter what age we are, we all need good mentors and role models.

Take a man like Don Treadway, AQHA executive vice president. He took time out of his busy life to travel to British Columbia from Texas so that he could give a hand when needed and personally hand out awards to not only AQHA contestants but to the 4-H contestants as well. And barbecue salmon, too! Nothing was beneath this man. He is a true leader and role model.

When these support systems start mingling and blending with other support systems, well, that is when we begin to create communities based on friendship, respect and love. The communities begin to grow and can become international, just as one province and four states came together for this Region One Championship.

Today, I met Yelaina May, 19, from Roberts Creek, British Columbia, on the Sunshine Coast. She took Hez Talk Of The Town into amateur pole bending and barrel racing for the first time.

“I usually do all-around English and western events but never this western!” she told me after winning the reserve in amateur barrels, with her horse’s mane braided meticulously for the English jumping events to follow. This is Yelaina’s first year in amateur.

After her jumping classes, I chatted with her mother, Lilieth Lorenzen, also an amateur competitor and mother of three girls (all AQHA competitors) and owner of nine Quarter Horses.

I learned that during the five days  of Region One, Yelaina and her horse competed in performance halter, showmanship (she won reserve), trail, hunter under saddle, equitation, poles, barrels, equitation over fences (she won the championship), working hunter (she won reserve), and in both amateur and open hunter hack (she won both!).

Yelaina is a mentor to both of her younger sisters who did very well too. Devin May, 15, and her horse, Dee Dees Danny, won the reserve championship in 14-18 youth performance halter. She had to leave the show to compete in volleyball in the B.C. Summer Games which were held this weekend as well.

Sister Tessa May, 13, rode her horse, Gayla Sallena, a 19-year-old gelding. Tessa and Devin both do five to eight hours of dance a week that has helped them with their rhythm and grace as riders.

All nine horses and a couple of ponies live at home with Lilieth, her husband, Allan, and the girls. Lilieth helps her kids with training and coaching along with a team of teachers and mentors.

“They openly accept training from me and are all great athletes and very coachable,” Lilieth says. “They support one another too. Yelaina has a jumping coach, Megan Pomeroy from Monroe, Washington. All three kids have gotten coaching with Mark Webb, a British Columbia trainer and a member of the Canadian Youth World Cup (team). And they started as youngsters with Barb Hopkins who also competed and won the open performance (halter) geldings buckle here at the (Region One) Championship.”

I asked Tessa May what her thoughts were on having horses and what influence they have had on her family.

“They’ve brought us all together and have provided us a good way for us to communicate with each other and bond,” she answered, not missing a beat.

It was a bittersweet ending – bitter because I didn’t want it to end and sweet because of all of the people and horses that I was fortunate enough to meet. And because of the inspiration and knowledge I gained by being a journalist all weekend, I can’t wait to ride get back and ride my horses.

To see photos from the Region One Championship, watch the slide show below. Click on the photos to see the captions.

The American Quarter Horse Journal is your one-stop source for everything about the Quarter Horse. Don’t miss a single issue.

Here’s a little about Randee, the Journal’s correspondent at the 2010 Region One Championship:

“I’ve been an AQHA member since 1991 when I bought my first Quarter Horse. I started with AQHA as a freelance illustrator, writer and photographer back in 1997. I love AQHA and am proud to be a contributor.

“This is the first time AQHA has sent me on the road; I loved every moment. Working as a photojournalist is a wonderful way to be ‘in the moment,’ 100 percent of the time, always looking for the right photo and the ‘theme’ of the story for that day. I love people as much as I love horses so highlighting the everyday Quarter Horse owners and their love of their horses is a real gift.

“And because I personally own four Quarter Horses myself, it is a great way to blend two of my passions; writing and creating images, either by illustrating or photographing, in a field that I love to communicate about – The American Quarter Horse.”