Page 102 - April 2017

FOCUS
ON THE
E FUTURE
Preliminary reports from meetings at the AQHA Convention indicate a lot of movement in a positive direction for the racing industry.
by Sue Zuber
The 2017 American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) Convention featured meetings, banquets, luncheons, and
more meetings March 17-20 in San Antonio, Texas. While the Racing Committee sent few recommendations to the Executive Committee, industry leaders made progress on several issues intended to improve Quarter Horse racing across the country.
The only recommendation that the Rac- ing Committee forwarded to the Executive Committee was for the approval of the new members of the Champions Selection Com- mittee. The Executive Committee will review the submissions, as well as rule changes and proposals submitted by all committees with the exception of the Stud Book and Registra- tion Committee, at its April meeting.
The Stud Book and Registration Commit- tee made three decisions, which do not require Executive Committee approval. The first adds a statement to the front of AQHA registration certificates, stating, “Identifying information, including genetic panel test results, is printed on reverse side of certificate.” The second creates a task force to investigate the use, distri- bution and value of microchipping in Quarter Horses. The task force, whose members will
be appointed by the Executive Committee,
will present its findings at the 2018 AQHA Convention. And the third appoints a task
force to study the potential impact of allowing foals from appendix-to-appendix breedings to be registered in the appendix registry.
The final item, regarding a rule change pro- posal to allow the registration of foals produced by appendix-to-appendix breedings, originally passed the Stud Book and Registration Com- mittee with two opposed. It was later the subject of lengthy discussion at the General Business Meeting and the Board of Directors Meeting, where it was eventually overturned. A task force will study the rule change proposal, which has been submitted to the Stud Book and Registra- tion Committee for three years in a row.
The Executive Committee also does not need to rule on several bylaw changes, which fall under the final authority of the Board of Directors. The amended bylaws can be read on AQHA’s website at www.aqha.com.
The remainder of the Racing Committee’s meeting time focused on updates from various subcommittees and discussion on existing and new programs to benefit the racing industry.
CHANGING THE CHALLENGE?
One of the subcommittees that provided an update of its activities was the Racing Challenge Task Force. The Racing Challenge program has seen several minor changes since the first Challenge Championships were held in 1993. Now, task force members are taking
an all-encompassing look at the program to see if there are ways it can be improved.
“I think the thoughts on the Challenge pro- gram are all over the board,” said Kelvin Childers, who was reelected chairman of the Racing Com- mittee. “Number one is trying to figure out how to get more money into it and keep people interested in paying into it. I think the general consensus is we need to find a corporate sponsor to really pick up and carry that program a little bit better than what it is now. Obviously, we’re getting great sponsorship from the other AQHA Corporate Partners, but if we split off and find somebody new to help sponsor the program, I think that is a big piece of it.”
The task force is also examining the nomi- nation system and late enrollment fees in an effort to encourage more people to get involved in the Challenge and keep their horses in it.
“It’s wide open what needs to be looked
at there,” Childers added. “I think it’s a good step forward to try to get as many ideas as we can from the membership—it is a membership organization—who needs to be happy with the program moving forward.”
AQHA Chief Racing Officer Janet VanBeb- ber echoed Childers’ comments about finding
a way to grow the Challenge program to offer a bigger, better product for AQHA members.
“We have had two telephone conference calls thus far,” VanBebber said of the Racing Challenge Subcommittee. “We are reviewing the financial
100 SPEEDHORSE, April 2017
photo courtesy The American Quarter Horse Journal