NEWS

Tasked with protecting the welfare of equine athletes and ensuring the balance of competition, the US Equestrian Federation (USEF) Equine Drugs and Medications Program consistently monitors new products and product claims. From time to time, new products appear on the equine supplement market claiming to enhance a horse’s performance. Over the last several years, cannabinoids have gained increased attention and have become nearly mainstream. In 2018, Congress passed the Agriculture Improvement Act, also known as the “Farm Bill," which defines “hemp” as both the plant Cannabis sativa L. and any derivatives of cannabis with less than 0.3% delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). With

The 27th Annual Youth National Arabian & Half-Arabian Championship Horse Show will be held at State Fair Park in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, July 21-27. Entries for the competition are due June 4. For more information, click here. -- via Arabian Horse Association

US Equestrian has announced that the application period for the 2019 Youth Sportsman’s Award is now open. The award serves to identify future leaders across US Equestrian’s 29 recognized breeds and disciplines and to distinguish outstanding youth for their achievements. Active members aged 17 years and younger as of December 1, 2018, and in good standing with US Equestrian and their recognized national affiliate/international discipline associations are eligible to apply. The winner will receive a commemorative trophy; a $1,000 grant payable to the educational program of their choice; and a nomination to the US Equestrian Junior Equestrian of the Year award. The reserve winner rec

The enrollment fee for the Arabian and Half-Arabian/Anglo-Arabian Cutting Horse Futurity has been reduced from $1,040 to $740, if paid by June 1 in full (or by June 1, July 1 and August 1, if enrollment is being made with payments). Late fees may apply.  Additional information regarding the Performance Futurity/Maturity Program National Performance Futurity/Maturity Enrollment application For more information, call Competition Services at 303-696-4500, option #4. -- via Arabian Horse Association  

Time To Ride, a program of the American Horse Council's Marketing Alliance, is now accepting applications for its 2019 pilot program. The new Time To Ride program is designed to introduce school-age children to horseback riding and horse care in a safe, welcoming environment. The goal is to familiarize school-age children with horses through an initial series of lessons that include basic horse care as well as riding. Equine facilities and instructors must meet specific requirements to be considered for the pilot program. All instructors must either hold a current professional membership with one or more national breed or discipline associations, be certified as an instructor through a recognized program such as Certi

The Arabian Breeders Sweepstakes will offer the following new Jackpot classes that will have $15,000 in prize money available for each class: Arabian English Pleasure AAOTR Arabian Reining AAOTR HA/AA English Pleasure AAOTR HA/AA Reining AAOTR Payout for the Arabian Yearling Sweepstakes Classes at U.S. Nationals will be $25,000 per class: Champion - $5,000 Reserve Champion - $3,200 Top Ten - $2,100 Arabian Yearling Sweepstakes Classes at the Regional level will be held as open and not AAOTH. These classes will still be restricted to Breeding Entries only. There will be no Open Arabian Yearling Breeding/In-Hand Clas

The Rancho California Arabian Horse Association and the Arabian Horse Association of San Joaquin Valley have announced that the Spring Arabian Horse Show will be held March 28-31, at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center in Burbank, California. A full schedule of classes, including sport horse and dressage, are offered in this Region 1 and Region 2 dual region qualifier. It also will be home to the Region 2 Offsite Sport Horse and Dressage Championships. The Spring Arabian show is a qualifying show for United States, Youth, Sport Horse and Canadian Nationals. -- via RCAHA and AHASJV

Results from the Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show can be found online here.

Distance Nationals is heading back to Alanna & Gunnar Franks Ranch in Vinita, Oklahoma, from October 25-27. The American Saddlebred Registry (ASR) has joined the growing list of AHA's partnered breeds, which include the Appaloosa Horse Club (ApHC), Paso Fino Horse Association (PFHA), Performance Shagya-Arabian Registry (PShR), American Morgan Horse Association (AMHA), and the Akhal-Teke Association of America (ATAA). Along with all of the National Championships offered, there are multiple Open Owl Hoot Spook 25 Mile LD’s and 50 Mile rides along with an Open Owl Hoot Spook 100 Mile ride and an Open CTR. These open rides do not require qualifications or membership and are open to any breed. T

The Arabian Horse Association has announced that enrollment is available from January 1, through October 15, 2019, for the Last Chance Buy-In for Sweepstakes. This program is for any horse(s) that was/were not entered into the Sweepstakes Program. This one-time nomination makes a horse eligible to compete at the 18 Regional Championship Shows, Canadian Nationals, Sport Horse Nationals and U.S. Nationals in Sweepstakes designated classes and Jackpots (qualifications may be required in some classes). The only classes not eligible to the Original Entry category are the Sweepstakes Yearling Halter classes which are reserved for Breeding Entries only. The Original Entry category is open to any horse that is regi

** Following is an open letter released by the Arabian Horse Association to its members ** Dear Fellow AHA Members, The Regional Restructure Task Force was formed by AHA President Nancy Harvey last summer to review our current organizational structure, decide if changes might be needed, and if so, create a proposal to present to a future Annual Convention for consideration. We have held several conference calls and conducted a forum at Convention seeking input from the delegates in attendance. An observation that we made, and was also brought up at our forum, was that our current governance structure creates a 29-person AHA Board, and that is rather large. We have compared our structure to other member-based, hors

** Following is an Open Letter Released to Arabian Horse Association Members ** Dear Members, After receiving and carefully considering an abundance of feedback from a variety of viewpoints, the Arabian Breeders Sweepstakes Commission has decided to revise the decision from the recent Convention and return the three Purebred Yearling Sweepstakes classes to being held as Open classes rather than Amateur at U.S. Nationals.  The commission also decided to increase the pay out in these three classes to $25,000. This means the Champion in each class will win $5,000, the Reserve Champion will receive $3,200, and each of the remaining Top Ten winners will receive $2,100 each. All other Sweepstakes In-Ha