As a testament to the dedication of AQHA employees, those that were able to get to the office dug in where they were most needed.

The first month of 2010 ended in a flurry of activity – literally. A severe winter storm hit Amarillo last week. On Thursday, January 28, the AQHA offices closed at noon due to deteriorating weather and road conditions. We were able to reopen the offices Friday with a skeleton crew. As a testament to the dedication of AQHA employees, those that were able to get to the office dug in where they were most needed. Customers that called in to the customer service department were greeted by yours truly and employees from other departments.

After a foot of snow fell on Amarillo, new customer service representatives were recruited to answer AQHA's phones.

The Treadway family had a great holiday, and I hope you did, too. Grandson Connor received his first horse. Connor’s mom insisted that we wait a little longer before he gets his American Quarter Horse so this year we had to settle for just a quarter-sized horse.

Connor Treadway rides his Christmas pony.

With the beginning of a new decade, we are looking forward to a productive year at the Association. The staff is making final preparations for the Racing Champions Announcements and the Fort Dodge Versatility Ranch Horse World Championship Show, which will both take place next week.
 
The 2009 AQHA Racing Champions awards will be announced Wednesday, January 13, at 6 p.m. CST from Heritage Place in Oklahoma City. The show will broadcast free of charge on Q-Racing Video at www.aqharacing.com. If you are not able to be in Oklahoma City for the announcements, be sure to tune in to the live broadcast via the Internet.
 
Once again, American Quarter Horses will take center stage at the National Western Stock Show in Denver, January 13-14, for the 2010 Fort Dodge Versatility Ranch Horse World Championship Show. The American Quarter Horse Journal will be in Denver to bring you full show coverage from live results to photo galleries and championship stories. To keep up with the action in Denver, visit www.aqha.com/showing/shows/vrhworldshow/index.html.

Information about the 2010 AQHA Convention is online. Early registration discounts are available until January 31.

AQHA Members have opportunity to shape the world’s largest equine association.

AQHA members are vital to the Association and have been influential in shaping the organization since its founding in 1940. The opportunity to propose new rules or changes allows members to voice their ideas and help continue to improve AQHA. If you are an AQHA member and have a suggestion for a rule change for the AQHA Official Handbook, you can do so online at www.aqha.com/forms/pdf/2009%20Rule%20Change%20Proposal%20Form.pdf. All proposals are due by December 31, 2009. Constructive rule change proposals will then be assigned to the respective committee(s) and included on the AQHA Web site, with an invitation for members to submit comments.

AQHA asks that members take the following steps when writing a proposal:

• Define the problem and develop as many possible solutions as you can by asking others for input.
• Choose one possible solution that appears to be the most appropriate and that fits the mission and goals of AQHA.
• Determine if any other rules would be affected if your proposal is adopted, and specify the rule   numbers.
• Submit proper wording for a proposed rule change by typing or neatly printing the exact wording being proposed. If you propose changes to existing language, strike through the words you propose to delete. Type in bold and italics the words you propose to add.

All proposals must be received by December 31, 2009. You can e-mail them to agenda@aqha.org or mail them to the appropriate department at P.O. Box 200, Amarillo, TX 79168.

Thanks for being part of AQHA and helping to make the Association even better.

The deadline to file Stallion Breeding Reports for 2009 or to enroll stallions in the Incentive Fund for 2010 is November 30.

The Incentive Fund deadline for stallion enrollments for the 2010 season is coming up November 30. Owners can call to enroll if they choose; or they can fax their enrollments to (806) 349-6407; or mail them to our office making sure they are postmarked by November 30.

The deadline to file 2009 stallion breeding reports is also November 30. Filing a report on-line is quick and easy. It allows stallion owners to get their pre-printed breeder’s certificates back from AQHA quickly. Tammy Canida will answer e-mails until midnight central standard time on November 30 to assist anyone having difficulties getting it done. The e-mail address for on-line stallion breeding report filing assistance is sbr@aqha.org.

Registration applications submitted on-line are processed within two working days. Go to aqhamembers.com to register your foals.

To say the least, it’s a busy time but more than anything else, it’s a thrilling time of the year if you love great American Quarter Horse competition.

It’s hard to believe it, but another year has zipped by and here we are at that time of the year we like to refer to as our Season of Champions. In my opinion, it actually begins with the Bayer Select Show and All American Futurity and continues through the Congress, the Bank of America Amateur and FedEx Open World Championship Shows, the Bank of America Racing Challenge Championships and through to the Los Alamitos Two Million Dollar Futurity and ending with the aptly named Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos. In slightly more than three months, the finest horse flesh anyone could ever imagine is assembled in spots from Amarillo, Texas, to Columbus, Ohio, Southern California and Oklahoma City, just to name a few of the places. To say the least, it’s a busy time but more than anything else, it’s a thrilling time of the year if you love great American Quarter Horse competition.

Speaking of competition, I think this year has been a real test for the newly formed competition department at AQHA. Not only have we seen this new department, that combines racing, showing, judges, international, public policy and breed integrity/animal welfare, begin to gel, but we’re beginning to see a tremendous amount of team

Photons All Round captured the open and amateur world titles in performance halter at the 2008 World Show. He returns in 2009 to defend his titles.

work occur on so many fronts as we move through this Season of Champions.

Congress

It was great to attend the Congress this year, and I want to compliment Cam Foreman, the Congress Tri-Chairmen and the entire Ohio Quarter Horse Association on what is an absolutely amazing feat.

The enthusiasm and passion for the horse and/or event were infectious. We were so fortunate to have dozens and dozens of people visit the AQHA booth, many who brought us unfinished paperwork that were able to help them complete on-site. It was great meeting so the many AQHA members and American Quarter Horse lovers who were at Congress. 

The overall fitness of the horses was excellent and the level of competition continues to increase. 

If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to send a special hello and congratulations to AQHA member Marleen Cowie from New York, whom we met at the AQHA booth at Congress. She had us pull a record for her because she is being inducted into the New York Palomino Association’s Hall of Fame. Congratulations from your friends at AQHA – we always like hearing about and meeting AQHA members and their accomplishments. Congratulations!
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Exciting matchups on the racetrack aren’t the only things happening during the Challenge weekend.

Fall is here, which means a cornucopia of events featuring the best and the brightest American Quarter Horses. Sandwiched between Congress and World Show, I will be looking forward to watching the fastest horses on earth compete at the Bank of America Challenge Championships over Halloween weekend at Los Alamitos in California.

The Orange County racetrack has a storied history, opening in 1951 under the care of Frank Vessels Sr., and today hosts many of the most prestigious races in the sport.

Saturday's Bank of America Racing Challenge will feature the rematch between two-time distance champion Snowbound Superstar and world record holder Gone To The Mountain at 870 yards.

The Bank of America Racing Challenge will celebrate its 17th running this year with full fields of horses from around the country.

To qualify for the Bank of America Challenge finals, horses compete in six different categories – the Bank of America Championship Challenge (for horses 3 and over), the Bayer Legend Derby Challenge (for 3-year-olds), John Deere Juvenile Challenge (for 2-year-olds), Merial Distaff Challenge (for fillies and mares), Red Cell Distance Challenge (for horses racing 870 yards); and Fort Dodge Starter Allowance Challenge (3 year olds and up who have started for a claiming price of $5,000 or less in the past year).

Horses will travel from as far as Brazil, Mexico and Canada to compete for large purses and the prestige of winning these great races.

The $350,000 Bank of America Challenge Championship (G1) headlines the night, and feature a great matchup of horses. Among them is champion Little Bit Of Baja, who won the August 15 Bank of America Central Championship (G2) Challenge by a dominating two lengths over WRS Special Shoe, who won the Bank of America Challenge Championship (G1) last year, and Hijo De Villa. Also in the field is Fighter On Fire, who has earned nearly half a million dollars in the past three years and qualified to the race with a win in the Bank of America California Championship Challenge (G2); Grade 1 winner Trisk; Mexico invader Mayo First; and Northwest challenger Snip N Dale, who has never been worse than third in 19 career starts. read more »

The 2009 Ford Youth World Show featured some great American Quarter Horses and some very talented AQHYA members in Oklahoma City who lived up to the theme of Rock Your World.

It’s always fun to spend time with our AQHYA members and see the future of our association in action. Last week, I witnessed some top competition at the Built Ford Tough American Quarter Horse Youth Association World Championship Show in Oklahoma City.

There were 883 youth exhibitors from 45 states, four Canadian provinces, France, Germany and the United Kingdom who competed for 33 world championship titles. This year’s theme was “Rock Your World” and the AQHYA members did just that from the talent show, the contests and the show arena.

For nine full days the competition kept State Fair Park in Oklahoma City hopping. Oklahoma City rolled out the welcome mat for our exhibitors. It’s no wonder given the fact that the show provides an estimated $10.9 million boost to Oklahoma City’s economy.

There were some great stories from the show. The Gorsuch sisters earned world championships in opposite events - Mary Francis won the barrel racing title while older

Sage Christian competed in team penning at the 2009 Ford Youth World Show with American Quarter Horse Heza Dunn Charlie.

sister Kathryn took home the title in trail. Five-year-old Sage Christian was a crowd favorite when she was competing in the finals of team penning. There are many, many more great stories. If you missed any of the action, The American Quarter Horse Journal captured photos and stories from the Ford Youth World Show.

To see full results as well as special feature stories, interviews and photos of the world champions, visit www.aqha.com/youthworld. Also, The American Quarter Horse Journal will publish the full results in the October issue. In addition, highlights will be shown on America’s Horse TV, AQHA’s new online television initiative.

AQHYA members competed outside of the arena as well with judging, speech and team contests. In the horse judging competition, North Carolina swept the team competition winning the halter, performance and reasons categories to take home the overall award. The high-point overall individual was Jason Farrington of Navasota, Texas, with runner-up Bayley Bedford of Locust Grove, Oklahoma.

In the Horse Bowl competition, North Carolina took top honors again. AQHYA Region 8 Director Edwin Gaffney from Aurora, Colorado, and his sister Julia won the team demonstration competition. Edwin also won the prepared public speaking competition while Cori Elliott from Stockton, Illinois, won the impromptu speech.

At the talent show, Trisha Timmins and Christopher Luba proved that our AQHYA kids’ talents don’t end at the barn. Trish, who is from Laguna Beach California, won the instrumental division and overall talent show title while Christopher, who is from Louisville, Kentucky, won the vocal division.

Our AQHYA officers and directors were busy helping make the show a success and rewarding the finalists with their winning. The 2009-10 AQHYA officer team and directors were elected during the AQHYA Convention and Youth Excellence Seminar in Amarillo.

Cait Kerber was elected president of the 31,000-plus youth organization. Cait is a very poised young lady from Missouri and has some great ideas on promoting the American Quarter Horse Youth Association. In her campaign speech, she described AQHYA as a growing plant with the leadership team providing the foundation.

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Charlie Hemphill answers questions about Incentive Fund changes in 2010.

We’ve had a few questions that have arisen after my recent post on AQHA’s introductory shows. The following is from AQHA’s Senior Director of Shows Charlie Hemphill:

The introductory shows are not intended to qualify people for the World Show but instead, as the name implies, be an introduction to AQHA classes. The AQHA show department has reviewed the entries at the introductory shows and at this time has not found anyone abusing these shows to get qualified for the World Shows. Show Management has the option to restrict the exhibitors at introductory shows. As an explanation, show management could limit the open, amateur and/or youth divisions to those exhibitors who had less than a specific number of points, say 25 points, in a class to be eligible to show. The task force that formed the introductory shows wanted to award points as an incentive for the people who have only been showing in open shows without any connection to AQHA to attend these new types of shows and experience AQHA competition. The Introductory shows have and will continue to be a means to try and draw new people into our shows. The intention of the introductory shows is not to replace existing AQHA shows but to complement these shows by introducing exhibitors who are showing at open shows to AQHA-approved classes. The first time an exhibitor shows in an AQHA show or an introductory show, they are enrolled in the Show Up! program and become eligible for prizes.

After much discussion at the 2009 AQHA Convention, the show committee decided to not award incentive fund payout for points earned at introductory shows or for the green classes beginning in January 2010. This decision was made for the green classes because these classes are classes restricted to eligible horses and not open to all horses. In other words, not all horses are eligible to compete in green classes however the green horse could go into any of the other classes and earn points which in turn would allow them to have the opportunity to earn more points at a show than some of the other horses. This is an unfair advantage and allows the green horses currently to be eligible for more incentive money. Along those same lines, the introductory classes can be limited by show management so that means that not everyone is eligible to show. As not everyone would be eligible to show this would cause an unfair advantage to those that met a certain criteria. The show committee did not do this to penalize anyone but is actually working to keep the playing field level and pay out the incentive fund money based on shows and classes that all exhibitors and horses are eligible for competition. It also continues to make the incentive fund an incentive for those that show and earn points at AQHA-approved shows.

Let freedom ride!

If ever there was a symbol of independence, the American Quarter Horse would fit that mold near perfectly.

As we prepare to celebrate Independence Day here in the United States, I’m reminded of the many great freedoms that we enjoy. With our recent signed memorandum of understanding with the U.S. Forest Service, I hope that we will be able to offer even more opportunities to American Quarter Horse owners to enjoy some of the breath-taking scenery in the United States of America.One of my favorite places to spend time with American Quarter Horses while enjoying beautiful scenery continues to be where I grew up, in eastern Kay County, near the Osage County line. When I was there last weekend, the bluestem pastures were as green as I have ever seen them and brought back many memories of me horseback checking cattle there in the summer time for absentee owners, as well as our own yearlings. Tell me about places that are special to you and your American Quarter Horse in the comments section.

Hope you get to reflect on what freedom means to you this weekend no matter what flag you ride under!

AQHA is increasing its efforts to give all AQHA members more opportunities to enjoy their horses in the great outdoors.

This week the exuberance of youth has hit Amarillo as the AQHYA Convention and Youth Excellence Seminar is being held June 25-27.

About 200 AQHYA members have convened in Amarillo, and they will be electing their directors and new officer team.

It is always refreshing to be around these young horse enthusiasts and see their excitement for the future of AQHA. YES offers us a great opportunity to train future leaders for this Association. It’s also fun to meet the young people that are essential to AQHA’s growth. As I look at these AQHYA members, I wonder which ones will follow in Peter Cofrancesco’s footsteps and one day be a part of the AQHA Executive Committee.

Warmer weather gives us more opportunities to hit the trails and enjoy our horses. We’ve ramped up our efforts to give all AQHA members more opportunities to enjoy their horses in the great outdoors.

AQHA is working to preserve trails for AQHA members and their horses.

Stephanie McCommon, AQHA manager of affiliates and recreational riding, is working to bring attention to the STEP program. Formerly known as Trail Trotters, the program was launched in November 2004 by the Equestrian Land Conservation Resource in partnership with the National Forest Foundation. STEP’s goal is to build a program that increases participation in trail stewardship among equine enthusiasts while casting a positive light on horseback riders to land managers and other trail users. The new STEP program helps educate equestrians so they will be effective advocates for trail stewardship in the horse community.

We have recently launched a new Web site for STEP, and Corporate Partner Tractor Supply Company has stepped up to support these conservation efforts. You can check out the new Web site at http://www.ridegreen.aqha.com/. The site will be evolving and improving in the coming weeks, but there is already a lot of information there.

Thanks to the generous sponsorship of AQHA Corporate Partner Tractor Supply Company funding is available for a variety of trail activities. Applications must be received by AQHA on or before August 1 of each year to be considered for funding. Visit http://www.ridegreen.aqha.com/ for more information.

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