Page 39 - May 2021

AQHA RACING UPDATE
“A horse that starts his career in racing can go on and enjoy
barrels, jumping, ranching, roping, you name it.”
Hello friends, since this is the Speedhorse Crossover edition, my report will
focus on that theme and touch upon
‘Crossover’ elements of the American Quarter Horse Association.
Second Career Stars
I will open by offering insight on how we in the Racing Department at AQHA find it important to promote former racehorses in their second careers.
First, let’s cover the multi-faceted reasons this topic is so important:
• It is up to us to tell the story of how wonder-
ful the American Quarter Horse is. They are versatile and can prove their talent in a variety of tasks. A horse that starts his career in racing can go on and enjoy barrels, jump- ing, ranching, roping, you name it.
• Sharing such stories will help create a broader market for ex-racehorses and develop increased opportunity for them to transition to a new discipline.
• Animal welfare is always a paramount con- cern. We want to maximize the opportuni- ties for horses to learn new skills and be well cared for after they leave the racetrack.
• While animal welfare is a cornerstone
of our mission statement, sometimes the public hears a different story. The public must be made aware that we do indeed take care of our horses after they are done racing. Often the activists’ complaints are the loudest, and their accusations are not always well founded. People need to know that the great majority of Quarter Horses that leave the racetracks are not treated in the manner that activists often portray. In their rhetoric, those entities fail to share that many racehorses graduate to brood- mare bands and stallion rosters or can be found in arenas and on ranches enjoying their newfound skills.
We have added a landing page on the AQHA website under the Racing discipline called Second Career Stars (AQHA.com/ second-career- racehorses). It is an ongoing series covering retired racing American Quarter Horses and features them excelling in their new careers. There are currently over 15 articles detailing such horses, and their new vocations are varied. The stories are interesting and showcase our athletes in a posi- tive manner. If you know of a horse that would make a good story, we would like to know! Write to acaudill@aqha.org. We are pleased that our friends at Speedhorse have also featured articles of this sort and applaud them for doing so.
QData
The racing industry is well-aware that the AQHA department called QData (formerly Robin Glenn Pedigrees) produces sale catalogs for most of the premier auction companies, along with pedigrees and stallion statistical pages for personal use. Less commonly known is the fact that for
the past 38 years, QData employees have also recorded performance money earned by American Quarter Horses and the breeds that officially
cross on Quarter Horses in the QData Database, which contains more than $2 billion in total
horse earnings today. In 2020 alone, this included $27,720,541 in barrel horse earnings from nearly 9,000 races. If the barrel producer records the earnings to the horse, the event is recorded in the QData Database, and this information is available online in the form of performance, sire, dam and maternal grandsire records on www.robinglenn. com. The database also has annual racing leader stats for horse, sire, dam, maternal grandsire and sale yearlings recorded back to 1995. Additionally, a free “FoalTracker” service is also available at www.robinglenn.com that allows one to track
the activity of racehorses that have gone into the performance arena. For several reasons, this site proves to be a valuable tool in reporting the cross- over statistics of Quarter Horses.
Other initiatives:
Other projects at AQHA have been initiated to applaud the crossover of Quarter Horses from one discipline to another. One such effort is the 2nd Go Program that
began over 10 years ago. It was initiated by an AQHA task force and implemented by current AQHA Racing Committee members Sharon Brandsness and Paris Wixon. Still today, 2nd Go Weatherbeeta horse blankets are offered at the AQHA World Show to the top barrel horse competitors that were previously racehorses.
At present, AQHA is engaging in discus- sions with key industry representatives to develop an initiative to recognize the perfor- mance of American Quarter Horses par- ticipating in the barrel racing sport in a more comprehensive manner.
AQHA celebrates the versatility of our breed. Even more, we find great value in the opportunity to transition successfully from one discipline to another. We want you to know that the crossover of the American Quarter Horse is important. So, those of you who have a hand in it, know that your Association appreciates you.
With that, I close. I hope to see you at an AQHA event soon – whether contested at a track or in an arena!
2021 AQHA SECOND CAREERS
May 2021
by Janet VanBebber, AQHA Chief Racing Officer
AQHA Racing World Champion Bodacious Dash is succeeding in his second career as a Halter Horse.
SPEEDHORSE May 2021 37