This year marks the 50th Anniversary of the Canadian Nationals. The Canadian National Show Commission and the city of Regina are going all out to make this show a memorable one. The show promises to be a true "event." The Youth Nationals celebrates its 15th year with a special performance of country western stars Emerson Drive to add to the excitement. Last year we saw a record number of entries and we're expecting the same or better turnout. This show is important as it showcases the youth of our industry who will be our leaders of the future. Sport Horse Nationals celebrates its fifth year and returns to its roots in Lexington, Virginia. Shows are reporting exceptionally high Sport Horse class entries, which indicates that Sport Horse Nationals will be bigger and better than ever. The U.S. Nationals in Albuquerque will be a memorable one as it marks the last time in that venue before relocating to Tulsa. There will be an evening to honor past champions, just as we had in Louisville. It will be a special evening, traveling down "memory lane" to remember the many great horses that have shown there, as well as the exceptionally talented exhibitors who have ridden to victory. Best of luck to all those exhibiting in all of our events and a "thank you" to our show commissions for their hard work and dedication to producing shows which are designed to deliver the very best experience to you, our members.


Our membership numbers look good for this time of year, with almost 40,000 members. AHA is offering a special on our Lifetime Membership, previously priced at $1,000. For a limited time (April 1, 2007-March 31, 2008) and for adults only, purchase your Lifetime Membership for only $650! The Board in May voted to remove the membership $10 late penalty, our way of saying "welcome back" and removing a headache from our many valued membership secretaries. I truly believe this signals increased efforts to attract and encourage AHA involvement, rather than placing barriers. More great news: Youth membership is up eight percent versus last year. This is attributed to increased communication on the part of our Staff efforts to engage our youth, such as last year's leadership conference at the Youth Nationals, and the realization that keeping our youth active will result in sustained membership growth.

While on the topic of membership, I am pleased to inform that we have important additions to the AHA website. You can now go online and make your entries for National competitions, and you can check your points for qualifications. In addition, our Community Forum on the AHA website is up-and-running with many members signing up for discussion about breed-related topics, the Association, and a variety of other equine topics. Your participation is welcome. Please visit the AHA Forums here. I am pleased that we can offer you these customer-friendly services and thank our AHA Staff for all of their efforts to adding these services.


As I told you in my last President's Bulletin, we as an Association are working toward improving our governance structure. We've done Board surveys, and the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors have discussed this important topic at the last two Board meetings. There is strong concurrence that we need to improve our governance structure if we are to be more "organizationally efficient", one of our critically important cornerstones.

While there has been considerable dialogue, I will zero in on the key issues: From the surveys and the discussions, there has been agreement that what is needed is a definition of the roles of the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors, the Executive Vice President, and the various committees that make up AHA. The consultant who has guided us through discussions and presentations, Bill Charney, has coined the word for such job confines and responsibilities as "corrals." The Board adopted a motion moving us toward creating such "corrals" for the various entities, with a report due back to the Board for the August meeting. I believe it is important to have an efficient proactive process to cultivate and utilize the ideas and voice of our membership, committees and delegates.

Direction should be given from our membership, the foundation of our organization, to AHA leadership. This is not an organization driven by Staff or the Board of Directors. Rather, it is a membership driven organization. Why is improving our governance structure so important? We must construct strict policy that will encourage appropriate due diligence, provide for future progress, and assure a process that will safeguard the accomplishments that have been made. Since some of the suggestions will mean Bylaw changes at Convention, I think it important you be as informed as possible. I will continue to update you as to our Governance Initiative progress leading up to Convention.

The entire Board has been invited to the annual "Think Tank" at Bazy Tankersley's ranch near Flagstaff. Amongst other agenda items, we will continue dialogue about the governance structure. This "retreat" is a first for the Board and will give ample time, with no other pressures, to encourage discussion. I appreciate and would like to thank Bazy Tankersley for her generous hospitality and invitation to the Board. Improving our governance structure will move us closer to operating as an efficient organization. Your support of the suggested actions is essential. I truly appreciate the efforts of the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors in this initiative.


The Executive Committee and Board of Directors saw a new four-minute CD that will be used at the various horse fairs and other public events. The CD focuses on the beauty, athleticism, and attraction of our horses, letting the visuals tell the story. We have heard for the past several years that we need television visibility. Our Marketing staff is currently completing final edits for a new TV commercial. The commercial will debut on the Tommy Garland Show "Rx for the Horse and Rider" on RFD television. Also, a 30-minute documentary is nearing completion with placement planned on such outlets as PBS and cable channels. This year promises to be a good one for making our horses more visible through television to the general public.

Our official magazine has been revamped and renamed, "Modern Arabian Horse". There was considerable discussion by the Board about the appropriateness of the name and the process of naming the magazine, our most public marketing piece. The Board adopted a motion that will reassess the magazine name at our March 2008 meeting. As part of that motion, the Board decreed that no name change of the magazine or brand will occur in the future without its approval. Executive Vice President Gary Zimmerman explained to the Board that a survey done after the appearance of the magazine showed that AHA membership strongly approved of the new magazine name and over 90% approved of its contents.

We also learned at the Board meeting that we have 70 Arabian Community Shows scheduled, just five shy of the projected 75 for the entire year. These increasingly popular shows are easy to put on, hold the promise of making money for your club, and provide a great show venue for an important segment of our community.

More great news: We have a new corporate partner, Montana Silversmiths and extend a warm welcome to this new partner. There will soon be a link to their site on our AHA website. Please visit Montana Silversmiths and their many fine products as there will be discounts for our members and clubs, particularly for awards programs. I will personally be visiting Montana Silversmiths on June 12th.


The new Arabian Breeders Sweepstakes program is entering its second year. Sweepstakes Chair Dean Meier told the Board that in-utero foal nominations are on the rise, and we are seeing increased interest in the Points Payout Program. Last year, our first for points payout (you receive money for each point which is based on the number of horses beaten); we had about 1,700 exhibitors sign up. The payout per point was $37.86. This year, we have over 2,000 exhibitors signed up which will mean the payout per point may be lower, but is predicted to be higher than the original forecast of $10 per point. The new-and-improved Sweepstakes program is definitely a breeder's program. There are more people receiving Sweepstakes money than ever before and mare owners are receiving checks from every Sweepstakes horse they have bred and enrolled into the program. This has to be one of the most attractive incentives AHA has created and I encourage you to join in!

Distance riders increasingly are seeing the value of Sweepstakes and have become a critically-important part of our Arabian, Half-Arabian and Anglo-Arabian horse family. There is an enormous opportunity to increase AHA membership through the involvement of the Distance riding community. First though, we must develop a clear value proposition for Distance competitors to register their horses. The Board recently learned that AHA is seeing an increase in the number of local Competitive trail and Endurance rides. In 2005, we had 39 local rides; in 2006, there were 83, and at this time, AHA has recognized over 129 rides.

While we are working harder and smarter to be responsive to and proactive for our membership, we still have the vexing problems of declining registrations in our Arabians, Half-Arabians and Anglo-Arabians, along with the continued struggle of our declining local shows. It is extremely important that we address these issues and take initiatives to improve the numbers. Along with Communication, Organizational Efficiency, and Financial Responsibility as part of our cornerstones, there is another, which is Breed Growth. At the Board meeting, Directors spent time working on the Business Deployment Plan, breaking into various cornerstone groups. The Breed Growth Group came up with several objectives for consideration. They included: Develop a campaign targeted toward unregistered Arabian, Half-Arabian and Anglo-Arabian horses; solicit Half-Arabian registrations outside AHA with Pintos, National Show horses and others; expand stallion report data collection and utilize data to follow-up on stallion owners. The Executive Committee, Board of Directors, and AHA Staff realize the importance of improving the numbers and are re-doubling efforts to make inroads into increasing registrations. Utilizing registrations as a measuring tool for success is important; however, one must consider the fact that using this as a metric is more difficult than other businesses that measure success by production. In other words, initiatives that we do today may not be able to be measured for several years. Results from our initiatives that encourage breeding decisions today could take up to four years before we see them in our registration database. People often ask me if I think they should be breeding their mares. My suggestion to all mare owners is that I would breed every mare that I have. Why? Because I believe there will be a demand within four years. For over a decade we have been breeding fewer Arabian, Half-Arabian and Anglo-Arabian horses. Statistics show that the horses currently being used for pleasure or competition are rapidly approaching the age that they can no longer be active. People will look for replacements. Plus, if we are successful in creating additional demand through marketing and initiatives to encourage the use of Arabian, Half-Arabian and Anglo-Arabian horses we will not have horses at the age necessary to replace horses for immediate use. I believe this is basic supply and demand analysis, and our market cannot produce product (horses) as fast as the demand that will occur. I also believe our target market is going to be the largest demographic population in history, the soon retiring "Baby Boomers." This demographic segment will have the financial resources, time, commitment, competitive attitudes and desire to own the most beautiful horses in the world -- the Arabian Horse!


Members of the newly-formed Arabian Horse Association Charity met for the first time in Aurora on May 16 and made significant progress. The Arabian Horse Foundation has joined with AHA in creating a new foundation, which will be managed and administered by AHA Staff. This initiative has been in the works for some time and I am pleased to report that we are moving forward. While the Arabian Horse Foundation, which brings assets to the new charity, has focused on youth scholarships, the Board members of the new foundation will work to the benefit of and direct funds toward other areas such as equine-related research. For the first time, we will have the opportunity to contribute to a charity that will benefit many areas, meaning your donation can be designated for the area you choose. The Charity, which will be up and running before year's end, will have a comprehensive, well-organized platform with opportunities for all levels of donation. Watch for more information on this new initiative.


In my previous President's e-mail broadcast I shared information about my trip to Brazil. This time I want to share my experience from a recent trip to Australia. The opportunity to travel to Brazil and Australia within a short time-span was truly fascinating. In both instances, I judged horse shows, and also took the opportunity as your President, to meet leaders of the Arabian horse community, engaged in dialogue and learned more about issues confronting Arabian horse owners in other countries. I find such interactions to be extremely helpful, not only to AHA, but to those from other countries. Dialogue with other Arabian horse leaders allows the sharing of concerns and problems, along with helpful solutions.

While in Australia my hosts were Ian and Deb Watson and, after the show, my hosts were Wayne Beasley and Miranda Krantz. I had an opportunity to address a wonderful group of people that attended festivities at the Challenge Show in Queensland. I accepted an invitation to have lunch at the farm of long-time Arabian Riding Pony breeder Bob Burgess where I also had the opportunity to meet with the Society of Australia Board Chair Coralie Gordon (similar position as our AHA President). We had a great conversation and I learned that many of our problems in the U.S. and Canada are common problems around the world and that perhaps solving some of these issues could be better accomplished together as worldwide supported initiatives.

I also visited three breeding farms: Bremervale (Jill and Warwick Toft), Chaswyck (Ron and Lorraine Bond) and Jangharm (Tom and Marion Sharman). They all provided wonderful hospitality and, of course, very interesting horse conversation. I also had an opportunity to visit with Peter Toft, an International Endurance competitor and breeder. We shared ideas for improving registrations within the Endurance world. Watch for some new ideas regarding the rapidly growing, worldwide Distance community.

Overall, the show was great, the horses spectacular and the people wonderful. Any judge that is a horseperson that has judged in Australia will inevitably talk about the Derivatives. These are horses that must trace at least one line to a Purebred Arabian horse. There are seven Derivative registries in Australia; Anglo-Arabian, Arabian Pony, Arabian Riding Pony, Arabian Warmblood, Partbred Arabian, Quarab, and Arabian Stock Horse. While these all have very different and distinctive characteristics, the quality is unbelievable. As a judge with a diverse background and knowledge of various breeds, I found the Derivatives intriguing. My world travels have been very interesting for me as President: I have learned a lot, but more importantly, see so many opportunities we can realize by building relationships that lead to strong bridges uniting our Arabian horse world. If my schedule allows, I hope to visit our Arabian horse counterparts in Europe this fall. The Arabian Horse Association is viewed as the global leader for other countries and I think we should take this honor and responsibility seriously. All of us working together can do a better job of promoting and marketing our horses and make our breed stronger in the years to come. I have realized, regardless of where I travel, that Arabian horse owners worldwide have a commonality: Our love of the Arabian horse.


As I review my message to you, I realize that it is filled with many exciting initiatives. Our collective plate is brimming full: From marketing efforts, to renewed dedication to increasing registrations, to growing membership, fostering youth participation, and to how we govern ourselves. In order to make improvements it takes momentum, and there has to be something to start that momentum and keep it going. You are the ones who have energized all of us. For years, I have said AHA needs to listen to what our membership at all levels want. We are listening and will continue to do so. Are there obstacles ahead? Yes. We can, though, continue to overcome obstacles and work as a team toward making our breed and Association the very best that it can be. On behalf of our AHA Staff, our Executive Committee and our Board of Directors, I thank you for your ongoing support and belief in where we are going. I will be at various events and look forward to meeting with many of you. I find your comments, even if negative, to be helpful. As always, my open door policy extends to each and every one of you, please feel free to contact me by e-mail myronk@sprintpcs.com or by phone.

Thank You and God Bless,