Six months after being elected as President of the Arabian Horse Association (AHA), Lance Walters was elected to the Board of Trustees of the American Horse Council (AHC). In addition, Walters serves on the Board of Directors of the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF). Read more…

The National Pedigreed Livestock Council (NPLC) this week elected Debbie Fuentes, Senior Director of Customer Service and Registrar for the Arabian Horse Association, as its new President for 2009 - 2010. Read more…

Click here to get a sneak peak of both the inside and outside of the new Arabian Horse Galleries building with narrated videos taken just last week. Though not fancy, these videos will give you a valuable first-hand perspective of its location within the Park, its beautiful architectural style, and its size and space inside.

Two major components exist on the journey to the Arabian Horse Galleries opening: the building and the exhibits. While we are waiting just a few more weeks on the official certificate of occupancy, the building is finished and gleaming at the Kentucky Horse Park, awaiting the exhibits it will house for years to come. Exhibit fabrication begins in July.

Thank you to all our existing donors for supporting the widespread story of the Arabian horse. If you have not yet donated, but would like to, click here.

The 2008-2009 AHYA Youth Board needs your help. Groups or individuals who would like to be an activity sponsor can donate any amount to AHYA to help continue a Youth Nationals tradition of offering kids of all ages a myriad of activities to participate in all week long. The parade of regions, the ice cream social and the annual stick horse race all create lasting memories and great photo ops to boot. Exposure will commensurate with sponsorship amount.

Anyone can be a t-shirt sponsor! When you sponsor a Qualifier T-shirt, your name/business name/website/horse's name is printed on the back of 1,000 shirts. Choose your contribution level: $250, $500, or $1,000. Download a Youth Activity Sponsorship form today from the AHYA website by clicking here or contact angela.mannick@arabianhorses.org for more information.

Qualifications for Green Working Hunter Classes at the 2009 Sport Horse Nationals will be waived. Horses must still be eligible to show in the Green Working Hunter Class as defined by United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) in Article AR 148.3. Contact the Competition Line at (303) 696-4500 or ned@arabianhorses.org with questions.

Plan ahead for the 2009 U.S. Nationals and book your hotel reservations through the Tulsa Convention Housing Bureau. Reserve your room by email, fax, mail or online. Click here for more information.

Visit the National Events page from the Competitions drop down tab on ArabianHorses.org for updates, prize lists and online entries for Youth Nationals, Canadian Nationals, Sport Horse Nationals and U.S. Nationals. Information is posted as it becomes available.

The 2009 show season is quickly approaching. Don't miss out on your Patron, Sponsorship and Farm Flag opportunities. Check your Omnibus or contact Mike Stadler, Event Sales at 303-696-4534 for more information.

The Arabian Horse Association (AHA), of Aurora, Colo., recently announced its corporate alliance with Cacties, an up-and-coming apparel company based in Nashville, Tenn., making waves for its quality and attention to detail in every product. Cacties is the new, official apparel line of AHA, where members can get members-only apparel adorned with the AHA logo on luxurious fabrics.

"We are very pleased to add Cacties as a corporate partner. The quality of Cacties' product is second to none, from the neckwear to the classic western shirts. We are very excited to offer such stellar apparel to our membership," says Jim Gordon, Director of Publications and Corporate Alliances.

Still a young company, the style of Cacties draws inspiration from an old heritage-the spirit of the American West. Cacties product brings the durability and iconic symbols of the range to the boardroom in a stylish and playful simplicity. Visit MyCacties.com to shop and read creative quips about each product. Look for Cacties apparel at AHA national shows and events.

The Nominating Committee would like all potential officer candidates for 2010, excluding the present slate, to submit the application form to the AHA office, c/o Joleen White, by August 1, 2009. The Committee will review the forms and take appropriate action that is consistent with an equitable presentation of eligible candidates. A decision on whether to have a candidates' forum will be predicated on the number of new candidates submitting applications. Contact Joleen White at 303-696-4552 if you have any questions.

The 2009 Fall Exhibitor/Judges School will be held in Scottsdale, Ariz. Dates for the School is December 3-5, 2009 with the Judges Evaluation coinciding on December 4-6, 2009. The Live Judging portion of the School and Evaluation will be held at Westworld at the 2009 Saguaro Classic. The classroom portion of this event will be held at the Scottsdale Marriot at McDowell Mountain. Sleeping rooms will be held at a special rate for the 2009 Fall School and Evaluation at the Marriot. You may contact the Marriott directly at 480-502-3836 to make room reservations. For more information on this event please contact the Judges and Stewards Commissioner's Office at 303-696-4537 or ahcommish@arabianhorses.org. Check out the website www.arabianhorses.org under Competitions, Judges & Stewards, Seminars and Schools for all the information you need to register.

Arabian Trail and Half-Arabian/Anglo-Arabian Trail Futurity classes have been added to U.S. Nationals. Entries must be five years of age or under and will be shown and judged under the class specifications set forth in the Arabian Division of the USEF Rule Book for trail horses. In addition, entries must be shown in a snaffle bit or hackamore. All entries will compete in two go-rounds and final results will be based on an accumulative score from both go-rounds.

The enrollment deadline for the U.S. Performance Futurity/Maturity is June 1, 2009. The entry can be paid in full ($630 per class) or the first payment ($230) needs to be postmarked/electronic transaction dated prior to June 1, 2009 in order to avoid late fees. If you choose the payment option, the second payment must be submitted prior to July 1, 2009 and the third payment must be submitted prior to August 1, 2009 (postmarked/electronic transaction dated to the AHA office). Payments postmarked/electronic transaction dated after the first of each month will be assessed late fees.

Nominations must be made prior to the original close of entries for the U.S. Nationals (for this year the entry deadline for U.S. is August 28, 2009). Entries postmarked/electronic transaction dated after the original close of U.S. Entries must pay the total nomination fee of $780 plus an additional $750 late fee per performance class (to be included in the prize money pot for that particular class). Nominations are allowed with the additional $750 late fee up until the Post Entry Close Date or the actual day the show office opens, which ever is later and any additional U.S. National class fees (including late fees) must be paid.

National Performance Futurity/Maturity Enrollment Forms can be downloaded off the AHA website or it can be found in the 2009 Arabian & Half-Arabian/Anglo-Arabian Championship Horse Shows Omnibus.

Resolution 4-08 was passed at the 2008 AHA Convention that changed both the due date for resolutions and the effective date for implementation. Resolutions must now be postmarked/electronic transaction dated by August 1. This change in date allows the Agenda & Resolutions Committee to review resolutions and submit those affecting USEF/EC to the appropriate offices by the September 1 deadline implemented by USEF.

Proponents must now state whether a resolution is "extraordinary" or "standard" when submitting resolutions. An extraordinary resolution is defined as one that affects the health, safety or well being of the horse and/or rider; affects the financial well being of AHA, and/or Member Organizations; or creates a severe hardship or gross unfairness to the Association's recognized events or involves other compelling circumstances clearly specified.

If a resolution is submitted as extraordinary, it must clearly define how it meets the "extraordinary" criteria. It will then be reviewed by the Agenda & Resolutions Committee to determine if it meets the necessary criteria. Upon approval, the effective date will be December 31 of the year adopted or upon approval by USEF/EC, if applicable.

A resolution deemed as "Standard" will upon passage, have the effective date of December 31 the year after adoption. (i.e. adopted November 2009, effective December 31, 2010)

A newly revised Resolution form will be available online, which has incorporated the changes referred to above. Look for it to be posted under the "Convention" section of the website. For all rules regarding the submission of resolutions, please click here.

There is a correction to National qualifications for Reining and Trail in the printed version of the AHA Handbook. Article 1354 should read "Three points or two scores of 68 or better will qualify for a National Championship class." It is correctly listed in the Regional/National class list found in chapter 13. In addition, Article 1354 of the online version of the Handbook has been corrected.

AHA's official site for checking qualifications is found directly on ArabianHorses.org, not DataSource. Simply login to your Members homepage and click on the Horse/Rider Points and Competition Records link. While DataSource contains your horse's entire competition record, the qualification portion of our website gives you only 2008 and 2009 records, the qualification period for 2009 Regional and National Shows. The qualification page also specifies which section you have qualified for and how many qualification points you have accumulated. You can take this information and easily refer to the point qualification chart found in article 1369 of the AHA handbook here to determine your qualifications.

If you have questions, please call the competition line at AHA 303-696-4500, press #4.

Corrections to the 2009 handbook have been noted in red on the website. Please note there have been some changes and corrections to qualifications. Please take a moment and check out these corrections.

AHA is on the hunt for photos, stories, and testimonials about the Arabian Community Show program. Let us help you promote your shows and demonstrate the benefits of ACS shows to all of our members. Your picture or story could be featured! If you have a great photo, program testimonial, or an exceptional experience to share, please send it to us at ACS@arabianhorses.org.