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Young Horse Development Project

The AQHA Ranching Heritage Young Horse Development Program offers AQHYA members the chance to earn scholarships and further their education of horse training, care and health.

The American Quarter Horse Journal
July 27, 2012

AQHA Young Horse Development Project photo by Kellie Carr

Young Horse Development Project applicants must be AQHYA members, and applications to receive a foal for this year’s selection are due September 14, 2012. (Photo by Kellie Carr)

The American Quarter Horse Association recognizes the importance of engaging youth within the equine industry, and the Association values the responsibility and education that a young horseman gains through raising a horse. Those realizations were the fuel behind creating the AQHA Ranching Heritage Young Horse Development Project, a program conceived by the AQHA Ranching Council and the American Quarter Horse Youth Association.

The Young Horse Development Project offers AQHYA members the chance to earn scholarships, plus further their education of horse training, care and health. For the project, accepted AQHYA members purchase a nominated weanling from an AQHA Ranching Heritage Breeder. From the weanling to yearling years, the AQHYA members work with and train their foals, then exhibit the foals at an AQHA show. Ultimately, the project participants have the chance to win back their investment in their foals through scholarships.

Youth applicants must be AQHYA members, and applications to receive a foal for this year’s selection are due August 24th, 2012.

The weanlings enrolled in this program, which will be purchased by the project participants, are all bred by AQHA Ranching Heritage Breeders. To be eligible for Ranching Heritage Breeder status, ranches must be members of AQHA and their ranch remudas must consist of Quarter Horses, which must be used primarily to work ranch cattle. The ranch must own at least five Quarter Horse mares that are used to produce the remuda, and the ranch must have received at least an AQHA 10-year breeder award.

Interested youth applicants must complete enrollment and waiver forms and submit those to AQHA by no later than September 14. In the case where project applicants outnumber the enrolled foals, a lottery-style drawing will be used for the selection process. The advisory committee made up of AQHA Youth Activity members and AQHA Ranching Heritage Council members will notify applicants of their eligibility.

Once participants have been selected, the AQHYA members will be sent a list of participating ranchers. Members will have from September 1 to October 15 to visit, select and purchase a foal.

The AQHYA member is responsible for foal pickup from the rancher. At the time of pickup, the member must: (1) provide the rancher with a check for half the balance of the foal, less the deposit and (2) a separate check, made out to the AQHA Ranching Heritage Youth Horsemanship Project, for half the price of the foal. The rancher will forward the project check to AQHA for deposit. The established cost per foal is $700.

“The benefits of the Young Horse Development Project are endless,” said Jim Bret Campbell, AQHA senior director of marketing and publications. “This program showcases the colts being bred by our Ranching Heritage Breeders, and it offers AQHYA members the chance to network with and learn from those breeders.

“When the youth participants apply for academic scholarships, college and jobs, they will have a wide range of skills and abilities they’ve gained through this project they can hang their hats on,” Campbell added.  

In 2011, 11 AQHYA members were selected to participate in the inaugural year of the Young Horse Development Project. Over the last year, those youth horsemen were required to:

  • Complete a project book, which documented their training, health care, nutrition and management practices.
  • Exhibit their project yearling in a halter or showmanship class at any AQHA show (Novice and introductory shows included) in their respective state or province prior to August 15, 2012. The youths’ placings with their project yearlings bear no weight on their scholarship chances.
  • Have a member of the show management verify their entry by signing an achievement form. 
  • Write a 500-word essay about their experience at the show with their yearling.
  • Schedule a mentoring and evaluation session with an AQHA Professional Horseman in their area to discuss and get tips on competing, health care, training and management of their yearling. The Professional Horseman will complete a checklist provided by AQHA, which provide the Professional Horseman with a chance to comment on the youth’s strengths and weaknesses and provide three priority areas the youth should focus on with his/her foal.  
  • Submit their achievement form, signed by a show manager; project book and Professional Horseman checklist to AQHA by September 1 for judging. The forms will be judged by the AQHA Ranching Heritage Council, and the results will be announced on October 1.

The 2011 project participants are vying for $5,000 in scholarships and prizes.

  • 1st place: $2,000 scholarship and a Montana Silversmiths belt buckle
  • 2nd place: $1,500 scholarship and a pair of Justin boots
  • 3rd place: $1,000 scholarship and a $100 Wrangler gift certificate
  • 4th place: $500 scholarship and a $100 Wrangler gift certificate

The deadline to apply this year to participate in the Young Horse Development Project is September 14. The project application and waiver form are available for download.

To learn more about the Young Horse Development Project, visit www.aqha.com/aqhya.

About AQHA Ranching Heritage

Highlighting the efforts of American Quarter Horse ranching breeders and their heritage to AQHA is the reasoning behind the AQHA Ranching Council and its three initiatives.

The AQHA Ranching Council's three initiatives are:

  • AQHA Ranching Heritage Breeders
  • AQHA Ranching Heritage Challenge
  • AQHA Ranching Heritage Young Horse Development Project

To learn more about the AQHA Ranching Council and its initiatives, visit www.aqha.com/ranching.

AQHA news and information is a service of AQHA publications. For more information on The American Quarter Horse Journal or America’s Horse, visit AQHA Publications.