Benefits

Loving horses is reason enough for people to become great friends! However, having a group of like-minded folks to ride with, share with, learn with, and compete with is even better! Unfortunately, in Alaska, having small numbers and being so spread out makes getting together sometimes challenging. We're a huge state geographically, but we're tiny when it comes to the equine industry!

ASQHA is a well established, grounded group of friendly folks that just happens to really love Quarter Horses. We're only slightly prejudice, though, and we happily welcome our non-QH friends, too. (We all had to start somewhere!)

ASQHA is the official Alaska affiliate of the largest breed association in the world, the American Quarter Horse Association. We follow their standards, rules, and philosophies and are proud to be their representatives in the Last Frontier. We're always looking to branch out into new disciplines since Quarter Horses, of course, can do anything! From showing to trail riding, to jumping, to dressage, to mounted shooting, to driving... we'd love to share our enthusiasm for our horses with you!

Not everything we do involves serious showing. Sometimes we just wanna have fun! Each year, ASQHA hosts a Breast Cancer benefit called "Tough Enough to Wear Pink." Everyone wears pink, some paint their ponies pink, and it's all a blast! There are schooling classes, just-for-fun classes, and this year, there's even a Men's Pink Pleasure class. That ought to be a hoot. There will a handmade quilt raffled off and lots of "Pink" ASQHA gear to buy and proudly wear throughout the summer. Call Lori Hackenberger if you'd like to help at 727-4444.

4H-4FUN Show: AQHA and 4H go together like... peanut butter and jelly! It's a long-established alliance, but new to southcentral so we're amping it up this summer with a fun show in the Valley. You don't have to be a 4H member to participate, but we hope to all meet up at Bluegrass Stables August 14th to cheer on all our local youth riders and have a great time!

 

 

 

 

 

There are 13 glorious virtual patches to be earned this summer! And if you are dedicated enough and hard-working enough, you may just end up winning.  In order to be considered for the grand prize you must complete a minimum of 9 patches. It’s up to you to earn as many as you can before October 28^th.  Every time you earn a patch your name will go in the hat for a chance at the grand prize.  The more things you participate in the better your chances are to win! At the year end banquet we will be doing a drawing for the GRAND PRIZE as well as category patch drawing. Every time you complete a patch send an email to bethaustin.asqha@yahoo.com and your name will be put in the drawing.

Here are all the details on the patches.  

1. Member-Get-A-Member Patch: Encourage a friend to join ASQHA who wasn't a member last year and if he or she gives you credit during the online registration process, you'll get your patch. (Email us for help if you meant to give someone credit when you joined but had a brain malfunction.)

2. Meeting* Patch: Come to any ASQHA or AQHYA meeting and earn your patch. *If you join within a month of coming to the meeting, you will still get credit. This is the only patch you can earn retroactive to your paid membership. (ASQHA Board members will not be awarded their Meeting Patch until they have satisfied the minimum attendance requirement set forth by the ASQHA bylaws.)

3. HBR Patch: Join the ASQHA Horseback Riding Program and after you've logged your first hour, send us an email  and we'll approve your patch.

4. Sponsorship Patch: Help us bring in more sponsors by either procuring an ad for our annual Showbook or finding us a show/award sponsor. Just send an individual or business our way! Make sure they mention your name, or call us ahead to let us know they will be contacting us. And we're not picky, even YOU can be a sponsor. If you, yourself, advertise with us or sponsor an award, please be sure you settle up with our treasurer in a timely manner to assure you get to keep your patch.

5-8. Show Patch: We have 4 circuits so you can earn up to 4 Show Patches! A minimum level of participation is necessary and we've set that at 3 classes a day. You can show multiple horses in multiple events. It doesn't matter, as long as you pay the bill for a minimum of three classes each day.

9. Clinic Patch: ASQHA already has 3 clinics on the schedule. Pay and participate in one, and you'll earn your patch. Can't get your horse to the clinic, you can earn your patch with 3 paid audits instead. Hey, you're still learning, right!?

10. Ride Patch: Join us for our Fairbanks Ride this summer to earn this patch. We're even thinking of throwing in a mini-Ride here and there this summer, so watch the website for more information.

11. Volunteer Patch: We always need help putting on all the events and activities we do each year. If you can help, we want to reward you with a Volunteer Patch. The most obvious jobs would be show manager, show secretary, ring stewards, gate keepers, announcers, ring crew, ribbon "girls" (although you don't have to be a girl), serving on an committee like awards or banquet, creating the Showbook or laying out our ads, putting on a Ride, schooling show, or clinic, helping with the website, or a plethora of other ideas we haven't even thought of yet. PLEASE check with the supervising entity before leaping into a project so we can make sure it's going to count. All show helpers (secretary and manager is exempt) will need to forego the remuneration offered for at least one day in order to "earn" their patch.

 12. Fun Event Patch: It's not all about the ribbons. Sometimes we just want to have fun! We have several "fun" opportunities for you this summer including the "Tough Enough" Fun Show and a handful of "Movie/Activity Nights." Join us for one or for all, but there's a patch in it for you either way!

13. Banquet Patch: This is the last patch anyone can earn and it's where the winner will be announced. Join us to celebrate all our ASQHA showing accomplishments at our Annual Awards Banquet and Convention to find out how this whole thing ends!

 

Did you know ASQHA has its own youth group? They have advisers and youth officers and they meet every month in both Anchorage and Fairbanks. Each year they raise money in order to provide great opportunities for their members. Don't think that just because we're in Alaska, we don't have an opportunity for greatness. Some of our youth members have competed at the Youth World Show. "Some" of our youth members are AQHYA World Champions! (cough... Danielle Long.)

There are always cool things going on at ASQHYA. The kids go bowling and go-carting, and have ice cream parties. They bake cookies and write thank yous for our sponsors. Last year every youth member got a $25 show certification and a t-shirt! Who knows what this year will bring! For more information, navigate to the ASQHYA page on this website.

We want you to be a part of our association and we want you to stay up-to-date on all our news and events. So, ASQHA meets the first Thursday of every month to do just that. In Anchorage, we meet at Lori Hackenberger's Home and in Fairbanks we meet Seekins Ford Lincoln Conference Room.  Meetings begin at 6:00 and generally last two hours. We have a cooperative atmosphere and members are welcomed to join any meeting. General membership meetings occur at a minimum, twice annually. We also host a BBQ early in the season in both cities. And with our website you can stay up-to-date even if you can't make it. We post our meeting minutes, bylaws, and treasurer's reports on a regular basis.

Just when you thought you had it figured out... Being around horses gives a person a life-long opportunity for learning. There's always something new to help you be a better rider, trainer, communicator, or friend to a horse. ASQHA will be hosting several "Movie Nights" this year where we'll showcase a different DVD from AQHA.

We've also partnered with Alaska Equine and Small Animal Hospital to sample and research the quality of forage available to our horses. All data collected will be shared with all horse enthusiasts through the new "Alaska Equine News" magazine. Be looking for progress on that this summer.

Each summer, AQHA hosts several clinics. You can pretty much count on clinics in the afternoon after a novice show. (There's one in both Fairbanks and Anchorage.)  Kim Leiter, Leanne Williams and Carla Wennberg will host those clinics in 2011. Additionally, judges often volunteer to stay an extra day to do a clinic. Keep checking the website to find out which judges might be staying over. All clinic sign-ups are online this year and space is limited so if you're interested in one, keep your eye on the website for your registration opportunity.

The ASQHA Horseback Riding Program is based on the AQHA program and is designed to reward our non-showing members for, well, just riding! That's right! All you need to do is pay the $10 fee (click the icon on the home page) and you can start logging in your hours every time you climb on a horse. You can ride as many horses as you want, just be sure to print a log sheet for each one. At the end of the year, we have awards for most hours logged for both youth and adult riders in both the QH and All-Breed divisions. In addition, there are lifetime achievement awards that continue to accumulate as long as you remain a current member. You can earn ASQHA gear like pens, patches, water bottles, coffee mugs, visors, t-shirts, and more! Grab a friend and head down the trail, then when you get back to the barn, log in your hours and you're on your way to a bucket full of prizes. Join AQHA as well, and double your rewards!

AQHA started a fun activity several years ago to provide a way for our trail-ride lovin' folks to get together and have some fun. They call them "Rides" and they are, quite literally, big trail rides! Each year ASQHA sponsors a Ride in both Anchorage and Fairbanks. These are usually in the fall and proceeds go to local charities. Last year's Rides supported the Food Bank of Alaska and Breast Cancer Research. For those of you enrolled in the Horseback Riding Program, you get double hours for participating in a Ride!

The Alaska State Quarter Horse Assn. puts on four circuits each summer. Two are in Fairbanks, and two in Anchorage. We used to have a circuit in Soldotna and would love to get back there someday. (We haven't forgotten about you Peninsula folks!) Our shows are AQHA-sanctioned which means we use AQHA-approved judges and AQHA rules. Each weekend "circuit" runs three days: Friday, Saturday and Sunday. At our first Anchorage and our first Fairbanks circuit, that first Friday is devoted to our Novice riders, but on all other days, we run all 133 ASQHA-approved classes each day with a different judge. Each day/judge, in Quarter Horse lingo, is called a "show." We also have two special show days (one each in Anchorage and Fairbanks) that we like to call, "double judged." This means that two judges are in the arena at the same time and pin the classes completely independently, allowing exhibitors to place twice. Two separate placings means two separate sets of points and double the Incentive Fund* money. All together there are 12 regular shows and two novice-only shows. Generally, on novice show days, the competition ends in the early afternoon and the judge stays for a very economical clinic.

We, of course, specialize in QH classes, but we know that some of you have those "other" breeds and want an economical place to show, too. So, we offer two All-Breed divisions. One for Level I riders, and one for Level II Riders. A Level I rider is someone who considers themselves a novice or beginner rider. This division is intended for riders with limited or no showing experience. It gives folks a place to start where there isn't a lot of pressure and where the other competitors are at a simliar level of "show anxiety." Level I riders may NOT have earned more than 36 ASQHA points in classes requiring cantering or loping or won any high point at ANY show that included cantering or loping, unless that division was specifically for beginning riders. If you have never shown before, but you've been riding all your life, it may be inappropriate for you to be a Level I rider, but the decision is up to you. No rider may cross-enter between the levels, although your horse can with a different rider. A Level II rider is everything the Level I rider is not. You have enough experience in the show ring to feel out-of-place competing against beginners. You may have earned more than 36 ASQHA points, or you may have won a high point in a non-Novice/Beginner/Walk-Trot division. If you are a trainer or have ever taken money or any kind of remuneration for instructing a rider or training a horse, you MUST show in Level II. Again, if you have no official show record, the choice is yours. Please choose appropriately so all our competitors feel comfortable and confident where they are. Show management reserves the right to challenge any Level I rider who appears over qualified.

*The AQHA Incentive Fund is an amazing program! Quarter horses can be nominated into this program as youngsters, and once they're in, they earn cash back for their owners, breeders, and sire owners for the rest of their lives. Each point you earn on an American Quarter Horse that has an "Incentive Fund" sticker on its registration papers, will be worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $20 (10% to stallion owner, 10% to breeder, and 80% to the owner.) Checks usually arrive in February. It's a nice little bonus for owning an American Quarter Horse! For more information go to AQHA.com.

Our ASQHA annual awards program is one of the best in the state. We have a division for everyone and award silver trophy buckles to every gold level winner and monogrammed gear to every silver level winner and reserve gold level winner. Our goal has been to spread our awards done as far as we can in order to celebrate as many of our successes as we can. This year, we will be awarding etched glassware to our other placers. In addition to the individual state champions, there are the coveted All-Around awards for the Youth, Novice Youth, Amateur, Novice Amateur, Open, All-Breed Level I, and All-Breed Level II horses winning the most total points in each divsion each year. Now THAT'S a Quarter Horse! Included with the Year-end awards are special trophies for our high point Horseback Riding Program riders, along with the opportunity for HBR lifetime benchmark awards from both ASQHA and AQHA.

In addition to the end-of-year awards, we offer individual show awards. Each weekend of shows, or "circuit," comes complete with its own High Point Circuit Awards. These are either awarded at the end of the circuit itself, or they are presented at the next circuit. High Point Circuit awards are presented to the top point-earning Youth, Novice Youth, Amateur, Novice Amateur, Open, All-Breed Level I, and All-Breed Level II winners.

And don't forget about annual Sportsmanship awards. There's one each for our most beloved youth and adult member. These are the folks who work hard, laugh often, and give always. Last year's winners were Danielle Long and Kimball McIlvain!

AQHA also offers a multitude of awards and incentives for its members, including Youth and Amateur Rookie of the Year, Incentive Fund money, and AQHA Championships. Skim through your Rule Book some night and check it all out!

AQHA has recently formed an alliance with USDF through a new awards program for Quarter Horses competing in USDF-approved shows. Scores of participating shows are converted to points and not only can individual horses earn AQHA points and incentive fund money (?), but Regional awards as well. Here at ASQHA we're following suit and offering a new Dressage Performance Horse division. Here's how it works.
1) Join ASQHA ($30) & ADA ($35) or your local dressage association. (No ASQHA Recording Fee required in 2010.)
2) Compete in at least two shows earning at least 4 scores at Training Level or above. Submit photocopies of your highest 4 score sheets in each division. These scores are converted to ASQHA points based on the AQHA system outlined below.
3) Compete in at least 5 classes of Dressage Performance Horse at any ASQHA circuit earning regular ASQHA points.
4) The highest points earned wins a pair of Sterling Trophy Irons courtesy of Anita Tigert and Echo Creek Ranch.

DRESSAGE SCORE CONVERSION

	SCORE	SCORE	SCORE	SCORE
	60-65	66-70	71-75	76+
CONVERSION	POINT	POINT	POINT	POINT
Training Level	1	2	3	4
First Level	1.5	3	4.5	6
Second Level	2	4	6	8
Third Level	2.5	5	7.5	10
Fourth Level	3	6	9	12