Show season has already started for many and that means getting your Arabian horse show-ring ready! Watch this running mane braid and tail braid tutorial to ensure your horse looks their best before they step into the arena.
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Read the monthly dish in the Arabian horse industry.
Many of us know the power of the horse and their ability to help in therapy situations. Hollywood star Ben Affleck received first-hand experience on the power of horses and healing while in recovery for alcohol addiction. The program Affleck check into, has used horses before to help people with addiction and said," Horses have the ability to sense what a person is feeling and the sympathetic animals can react favorably to people who are in distress brought about by trauma or a mental illness."
Want to be a part of the rule decision process? The resolution process is how items in the AHA Handbook are determined. Learn about the resolution and Convention process and how you can be involved!
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AHA Corporate Partners & Sponsors
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Sponsorship Webpage
Corporate Partners
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Corporate Sponsors
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Equine Affaire
West Springfield, OH
April 21 - 23, 2017
Midwest Horse Fair
June 1, 2017
Performance Futurity/Maturity Nominations
Club Nominations For Board-Elected Positions Due
June 30, 2017
Final Club Membership Count To Annual Convention Due
July 1, 2017
Performance Futurity/Maturity Nominations
August 1, 2017
Performance Futurity/Maturity Nominations
August 4 - 5, 2017
AHA Board Of Directors Meeting
Aurora, CO
August 15, 2017
Convention Resolutions Submission Deadline
Club Excellence Awards, Awarded At AHA Convention
August 31, 2017
Regional Volunteer Service Award Nominations Due
September 1, 2017
Deadline For Submission Of Nominations For Ambassador Award
Deadline For Submission Of Nominations For Open Competition
List Of Certified Convention Delegates And Alternates
September 15, 2017
Nominations For AHA Convention-Elected Positions Deadline
Club Level Volunteer Service Award Nominations Due
For a full list of dates and deadlines click here.
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Every month, the AHA Insider showcases one of our employees. We want to give our readers an insight as to who works for AHA and what they do for the association.
Tanya McCoy
I have had a love of all animals for as long as I can remember; but horses have always been my favorite. My immediate family are not horse people at all but luckily my Godfather and his family breed and show Peruvians in Honduras. My mom is from the small island of Roatan in Honduras so I spent my summers and holidays with the beautiful gated horses.
During the school year, I lived in Tampa, Fla. and thankfully my neighbor managed a very large jumping facility and I quickly fell in love with jumping. I would go to work with my neighbor on days off from school and at the end of the day she would teach me to ride.
My passion for horses continued and in 2011 I graduated from Colorado State University (CSU) with my Bachelors in Equine Science. While at CSU I played Polo and began working at a Dressage barn in Windsor, Colo. Shortly after graduating I moved into the Dressage barn as a live-in barn assistant. After the barn sold in 2013 I began working at AHA on the Registry Services team. I have loved my time with AHA and enjoy meeting people I help in the office at shows.
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Get all of your official AHA gear here!
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Do you like to ride or drive your Arabian or Half-Arabian horse? Now you can get rewarded for your hours in the saddle or buggy. Log your non-competitive hours you are riding or driving and when you reach hour milestones, AHA will ship YOU rewards!
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Become an AHA member and get the NEW AHA magazine.
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May is Arabian Horse Month - You Don't Want to Be Left Out
May is the month of the Arabian horse and the Arabian Horse Association is CHALLENGING YOU to get involved in an outreach event that showcases and brings awareness to the Arabian horse breed. If you, your club or you and a group of Arabian horse enthusiasts need outreach ideas, take a look at our
Marketing Toolkit. Make sure to use #ArabianHorseMonth so we can see what you are up to for 'Arabian Horse Month'!
Not only can you be involved in a NATION WIDE effort, but you can win a $50 Visa gift card, be showcased in
Arabian Horse Life magazine and on AHA's social media platforms by participating in the Arabian Horse Month Challenge. Check out challenge details by clicking
here.
Want to win even more cash and prizes? Sign up for the Time to Ride Challenge and start earning that $$$!
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Time to Ride Challenge Registration is Open!
The
Time to Ride Challenge through the American Horse Council is back for 2017 and it is your chance to share the Arabian horse with newcomers, and to win cash and prizes at the same time! Challenge registration began March 1, 2017 and is free to join. The Challenge begins May 1, 2017 and continues through September 30, 2017. Arabian Horse Association (AHA) members can win additional cash by participating in the Association Challenge portion too. Just remember to sign up as an AHA member when registering for the Challenge, and you will automatically be eligible for a portion of the $5,000 cash prize.
The 2016 AHA Challenge winners, Rushlow's Arabians of Romulus, Mich., brought a total of 807 newcomers and received prize money of $3,500 from AHA. The AHA Challenge runner-up, Rusty Bar Ranch of Roy, Wash., attracted 232 newcomers and received prize money of $1,500 from AHA. For more information about the Time To Ride Challenge and how to sign up, visit
www.timetoridechallenge.com.
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CHA Seeking Host Sites for Equine Facility Manager Certification Clinics
The
Certified Horsemanship Association (CHA) is currently seeking equine facilities that are willing to host an Equine Facility Manager Certification Clinic. The CHA Equine Facility Management (EFM) Program is a 20-hour certification clinic that is run over three days. Participants are evaluated on their skills and knowledge of equine facility management through demonstrations and through written tests at each of four levels of certification: Stable Worker (Level 1), Stable Manager (Level 2), Herd Manager (Level 3), and Equine Facility Manager (Level 4). Participants start at level 1 and can complete all four levels within one clinic.
Host sites must be a commercial equine operation that offer a range of functions so that the CHA program content can be tested through all four levels. If you are a boarding, lesson, or training operation; a trail or dude ranch operation, a college facility, a competition center, or a breeding farm, CHA invites you to apply to become a host site for these clinics, which can be very beneficial in a variety of ways for the host site and its staff.
"By hosting an EFM Clinic, your facility can get its staff certified, either free or at a greatly reduced cost," said Christy Landwehr, CHA's CEO. Many equine facilities prefer to have a private clinic for the benefit of their own staff. However, for those that wish to open the clinic to the public, this can help offset the costs of the clinic and can also serve as a fundraiser or an additional source of income. "It's also very good to help decrease overall facility insurance, equine professional liability insurance, and other types of insurance that are needed when you run an equine business," added Landwehr.
"It's also a relatively easy clinic to do, because no arena time is necessary, so it doesn't interrupt normal day-to-day business at your barn."
All host sites for CHA Certification Clinics are pre-approved before a certification clinic can be held at the facility. As a clinic host, the facility becomes the event organizer while the actual clinic is run by two CHA Certified Clinicians. Host sites have the following responsibilities as the event manager: send registration information to participants and collect fees, to distribute CHA-provided course materials to participants, to contract with CHA Clinic Staff, and to pay any applicable certification fees from participants to CHA.
If you have already been previously approved as a host site, please contact CHA Program Director Polly Barger at
pbarger@CHA-ahse.org to sign up to host an EFM Certification Clinic and to receive your Materials Order Form and Clinic Request Form.
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AHA Convention
Mark your calendars! The 2017 AHA Convention will be held November 15-18 at the Denver Marriott Tech Center. Hotel reservation link and more details coming soon!
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American Youth Horse Council Symposium
Learn and share what is happening in the youth horse industry through networking, workshops, tours, round table discussions and demonstrations.
Why Should You Attend The Symposium:
- Internationally and nationally respected presenters
- Keys to successful youth horse programming
- Non-breed specific curriculum
- Knowledge that transfers from the book to the barn
- Take-home tools to teach safe, effective horsemanship
- Connect with resources and referrals
Don't miss out on this amazing networking experience! Find out more at ayhc.com.
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Darley Awards Hollywood 2017 Now in the History Books
This past weekend, all eyes were on Hollywood, California as the Arabian racehorse was celebrated, and the best of 2016 were honored. The weekend started off with the HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Darley Awards at the Dolby Theatre, home of the Academy Awards. Of course, an award ceremony at this historic location wouldn't be complete without a Red Carpet! Paparazzi, lights, cameras, and onlookers made for an unforgettable entrance. But the real winners were the Darley winners themselves. Here is the complete list:
Darley Champion 3-Year-Old Colt: RB Nash
Darley Champion 3-Year-Old Filly: RB Kinkie
Darley Champion 4-Year-Old Colt: Easter Man
Darley Champion 4-Year-Old Filly: RB Madymoiselle
Darley Champion Older Horse: Paddys Day
Darley Champion Older Mare: Dream Pearl
Darley Jockey of the Year: Ricardo Chiappe
Darley Trainer of the Year: Scott Powell
Darley Owner of the Year: Joe & Betty Gillis
Darley Breeder of the Year: Joe & Betty Gillis
DARLEY HORSE OF THE YEAR: PADDYS DAY
USA Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Darley Award Winners: Best Journalist: Stephanie Corum Best Breeder: Dianne Waldron
The excitement continued on Saturday with a full day of racing at one of the most beautiful race tracks in the United States: Santa Anita Park. Darley guests donned their best hats and enjoyed lavish treatment
inside the track's two-level, indoor/outdoor Chandelier Room overlooking the finish line, where they enjoyed five-star treatment, a full day of racing, and the capstone event: the $100,000 HH Sheikha Fatima Bint Mubarak Darley Award Stakes (G1), where Paddys Day defended his two-time Horse of the Year title
in a dramatic duel to the finish. The win gives Paddys Day a fully paid trip to the world's richest Arabian race in Abu Dhabi this November, worth
€1.2 million.
For full coverage of Darley Awards HOLLYWOOD 2016,
click here.
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Photo courtesy_ Nadine Frampton |
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Subscribe FREE to the AJC's Quarterly E-Newsletter for More on Arabian Racing
Curious about the world of Arabian racing? It's fast, fun,
friendly and more affordable than you might think! Subscribe to the FREE AJC Global Arabian Racing E-Newsletter to receive the industry's latest news and events on Arabian racing in America and abroad.Sign up
here
!
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Members Tales
Arabian Horses are Saving Endangered Species One Stud at a Time
Dixie North worked at the San Diego Safari Park in the late '80s as a volunteer animal behaviorist and little did she know then but it would eventually change her and her Arabian horse's life.
Bob and Dixie North of California started in the Arabian horse industry in 1973 when they purchased their first half-Arabian. Later, in 1974 they purchased a Purebred Arabian horse and kept a small breeding farm for many years, having only a foal or two a year. When Padrons Psyche became available in 2000, the Norths
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Ever After NA
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jumped at the chance to add him to their barn. After acquiring Padrons Psyche, their lives changed drastically. They purchased a large horse farm and started acquiring mares to build their breeding program. In 2002, the couple traveled to Brazil to see Sir Fames HBV and instantly fell in love. They saw the potential the stud could bring to their breeding program and decided to breed their Padrons Pysche daughters to him. Through these breedings, they ended up foaling Ever After NA, a nationally recognized stallion, who at the time the Norths didn't realize would change the course of history for the Northern White Rhinos years later.
Due to Dixie's involvement in the '80s with the San Diego Safari Park and her knowledge of how close to extinction the Northern White Rhinos were, she was quite excited when Dr. Barbara Durrant, the Director of Reproductive Sciences at the San Diego Zoo Institute for Conservation Research reached out to the couple to see if they would be interested in letting the Zoo utilize their stallion in a semen cryopreservation program. According to Dr. Durrant
, "The semen cryopreservation program
is an essential part of all long-term conservation programs for endangered and threatened wildlife. The semen of each species requires a specialized freezing method that must be experimentally determined. San Diego Zoo Global has recently launched an ambitious initiative to save the Northern white rhinoceros, a distinct subspecies of white rhino represented now by just three living individuals. One of the project goals is to optimize semen cryopreservation techniques for the white rhinoceros. Because the horse is the closest domestic relative to the rhinoceros, equine semen studies will be of great value to the project. In addition, new information generated by this study may benefit horse breeders by increasing the post-thaw viability of stallion sperm. These studies are conducted by the scientists in the Reproductive Science research group at the Institute for Conservation Research at San Diego Zoo Global."
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Northern White Rhino
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The semen cryopreservation process has been around for a while, even if the idea of it seems relatively new. Since the first testing processes starting in 1980 to now, scientists at San Diego Zoo Global have been able to refine the process of retaining genetic diversity through semen banking. Equine semen freezing studies didn't start until 1990 with a few Arabian horses, eventually leading to the use of North Arabians and Ever After NA. Through the equine semen freezing studies, a process called semen dilution or extension was founded and used in the semen cryopreservation process. According to Dr. Durrant, the semen dilution/extension process is categorized as, "
various liquid mixtures of organic compounds including buffers that stabilize the pH of the semen, a cryoprotectant that protects the sperm cells against the damage of ice crystal formation during the freezing process, and some form of sugar to nourish the sperm. The current study is designed to discover if seminal plasma (the liquid portion of the ejaculate) is beneficial or harmful to sperm before and/or after freezing. Common practice in equine breeding facilities is to remove seminal plasma from semen prior to freezing, but recent research has shown that, in some species, adding seminal plasma back to thawed sperm may enhance its fertilizing potential. We will be conducting experiments with equine and rhinoceros semen to determine if sperm viability can be increased by freezing with seminal plasma and/or replacing it after sperm thawing."
The ability for the San Diego Zoo to have the use of Ever After NA and have him in close proximity to the Zoo is extraordinary for the researchers. Semen dilution/extension process must be done immediately after collecting a sample from the stud and a small aliquot (portion taken for chemical analysis) is evaluated for motility, concentration, morphology and viability. If the sample evaluation is positive, the collected semen may or may not be centrifuged to remove the seminal plasma and then must be immediately cooled for 30 to 60 minutes before it is frozen at a specific rate with the addition of a cryoprotectant. The sample will then stay frozen until it is needed for artificial insemination or in vitro fertilization process. When the sample is needed, it is thawed at a specific rate, the cryoprotectant is removed by centrifugation and the sperm is diluted in fresh extender without croprotectant. Hopefully if all has been done right, the sperm will be viable and will be used for reproduction purposes to produce offspring of the Northern White Rhinos; all due to one volunteer at the San Diego Zoo who happened to have an Arabian horse, all those years ago.
We feel so blessed to have these magnificent, intelligent horses in our daily life. We are in our senior years, and would not have it any other way!
If you or another AHA member has a story that you would like to share in the AHA Insider, please email Mikayla Boge at Mikayla.Boge@arabianhorses.org with the subject line: Member's Tale Story.
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