AQHA Region 1 Experience – Haidee Landry PRESS RELEASE Our AQHA REGIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS are coming to BC in 2010! BCQHA will be hosting the Regional Championships at Thunderbird Equestrian Show Park in Langley, BC. July 21-25, 2010. There will be a trade fair, an AQHA Trail Ride, an AQHA Test Ride, Professional Horsemen clinics, fun socials and entertainment. Riders will be competing for over $100,000 in awards in numerous AQHA classes such as Barrel Racing, Cutting, Reining, Western Pleasure, Roping, Ranch Sorting, Working Cow Horse, Hunter U/Saddle and Over fences classes.

Sponsorship opportunities are available. More information at www.r1aqha.com The Region One American Quarter Horse Affiliates (R1AQHA) has developed a new website www.r1aqha.com. R1AQHA is a non-profit organization developed from a voluntary confederation of AQHA recognized affiliates within Region One. The AQHA recognized Affiliates of Region One are ALASKA, BRITISH COLUMBIA, IDAHO, OREGON and WASHINGTON STATE Quarter Horse Associations. The purpose of the R1AQHA is to aid its member affiliates in the promoting, developing programs and marketing of the American Quarter Horse at a regional level as a breed in any and all matters such as may pertain to the history, breeding, exhibition, publicity, recreational riding, ownership, sales, racing or improvements of the breed throughout the affiliates compromising the R1AQHA.

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE - Gordon McEachen

Well the show season is full swing throughout the province and when writing this piece the AQHA REGION ONE CHAMPIONSHIP in Langley was only a few days away with many folks expecting a great show with lots of fun and learning events.

The BCQHA board of directors has been busy since the annual general meeting in Prince George this spring and I am pleased to announce that all BCQHA youth members in good standing as of June 21, 2010 will receive a free BCQHA monogrammed jacket. Youth who join after this date, the monogrammed jacket will be available for purchase. Funds for these jackets was raised from the Stallion Service Auction.

The board and the Governance Committee has been busy reviewing the BCQHA constitution and by-laws for potential changes for next year. One of the major initiatives in this process was to review available mechanisms that will permit all members within the province to vote on constitution and by-laws changes. After a full review of options the board will be recommending the use of the proxy vote. More details will be available from your zone representatives or feel free to contact myself.

Enjoy the your horse and the summer weather.

AQHA/CQHA/BCQHA Director - Gayle Pawley-Wilson

The AQHA Executive met in April to review the Committee Reports and Recommendations from the AQHA Convention. The final reports will be posted on the AQHA website within the next week. Please visit www.aqha.com for these reports.

Congratulations to the following members on their new AQHA Committee Appointments:
Haidee Landry: AQHA International Committee 2010-2011
Laurie Takeoff: AQHA Show Committee 2010
I have been appointed: AQHA Recreational Riding 2010-2012
This is a very positive step for BCQHA to have more representation on the AQHA Committees.

The AQHA Region One Championship brochures will be mailed out within the next couple of weeks. The class list is available on the website and the Premium books will be also available within the next couple of weeks. You will be seeing the advertisements in magazines and more visible on websites by June 1, 2010. Please visit www.region1experience.com for more information.

Bill Collins, AQHA Hall of Fame Inductee and well known Canadian was the featured story of the AQHA Americas Horse Daily online on May 10 and May 17, 2010 issues. For anyone who does not subscribe to this online publication and wishing to read these articles, they will be forwarded to the BCQHA Directors.

Report from Don Treadway:
AQHA and the Palomino Horse Breeders of America have embarked on new territory for the two organizations. They are beginning a new service that will benefit both associations. To help maximize efficiencies involving technology and manpower, AQHA is entering data for PHBA registrations and will soon be doing the same for PHBA memberships. In addition to handling data entry, AQHA is mailing finalized work involving registrations, transfers and gelding reports for PHBA, and will add memberships in the near future.

By utilizing AQHA’s information technology department and data entry personnel, PHBA staff will be able to focus on other aspects of their business such as shows and events. PHBA can reinvest in programs that will benefit horses and their owners instead of investing those resources into computer software and hardware that AQHA has readily available. PHBA and AQHA are already exchanging data – PHBA-registered palominos’ performance achievements are dually noted in AQHA’s database on the horse’s registration records.
  
On average, PHBA registers about 750 palomino horses a year – the majority of which are American Quarter Horses. AQHA registers more than 8,000 palominos in an average year. By working together they will be able to market the benefits of dual registration to all owners of palomino American Quarter Horses.

Don attended the Pfizer’s Equine Executive Forum in Miami. Many members of the equine industry are in attendance including American Horse Council and American Association of Equine Practitioners representatives. The theme of the meetings is to encourage all horse organizations to work together to advance the industry instead of trying to fight each other for a slice of the pie. That fits right in with some of the initiatives that were discussed earlier at the Executive Director/Executive Committee planning session in Gainesville, Texas.
The Executive Committee members and AQHA’s Executive Directors took this opportunity to look at AQHA programs and evaluate them for effectiveness but also brainstorm about ways to promote the American Quarter Horse with innovative ideas.
A few of the ideas that they discussed with the caveat that they are ideas that they are exploring but not committed fully to at this point so that you can get an idea of the discussions.

One of the ideas was to host a summit of several key/influential show managers and the show council in order to address several topics including:

• exploring ways to develop a better working relationship between AQHA and the entities managing AQHA approved shows and
• to develop a plan to increase the number of exhibitors and horses competing at AQHA shows.

They want to look at the limited rider program and evaluate its effectiveness.
Walk-Trot classes for western pleasure and hunter under saddle at open and affiliate shows are some of the most popular. Is it time to look at adding this type of class to our line-up?
What are ways that they can encourage more memberships and transfers? What groups or disciplines are riding American Quarter Horses but not transferring the registration papers? They hear that many ropers and barrel racers are not keeping their horses’ papers up-to-date. What are some ways to improve those relationships, and what incentives could be offered to encourage transfers? 
Horse fairs and clinics are very popular with equine enthusiasts. Should they become more involved with these events? How can they utilize the talented Professional Horsemen and their skills to educate horse owners and promote the AQHA brand?

They also talked about investigating opportunities in emerging markets such as China. They know that there are many Chinese horsemen that are buying American Quarter Horses for barrel racing and other disciplines. Looking at the possibilities that exist in an economically growing nation with more than a billion citizens is mind-boggling and very exciting.

Quarter Horse Outfitters is offering a great discount this month to get everyone ready for spring riding. Shop now and you’ll get 20 percent off your entire purchase by entering promo code TRAILSTYLE at checkout.  Visit www.aqhastore.com to start shopping and see all the great new products Outfitters has to offer.

Respectfully Submitted
Gayle Pawley-Wilson
BCQHA/AQHA/CQHA Director