The American Quarter Horse Association is always looking for new ways to promote their horses. Many judges, trainers and exhibitors have noticed how well conformed many of our performance horses are. After all, they have to be or they wouldn’t make such great performers. Ranch classes have also become very popular and some of the best horses are bred for the ranch and not the ring.
As of January 2007, there are two new classes that you can participate in with your American Quarter Horse. The first is Performance Halter. This class is designed for horses that are normally only entered in performance classes but have excellent confirmation. Cutters and reiners are known for their great conformation and many judges have mentioned how they would like to see those horses in the halter classes. Well, this is their chance. To compete in performance halter, the horse must have earned a performance Register of Merit in that division. Divisions available are youth, amateur and open. Racing Register of Merits will also be accepted in open classes. When you go to show your horse in this class you will need to provide a personal copy of the Register of Merit of certificate. Register of Merits can be printed on the aqhamembers.com site. The association will also be mailing them to owners of horses that are still competing. Horses that are also transferred and have a performance record will also be eligible.
Ranch sorting is the second new class for 2007. Ranch sorting is timed event class where two riders will sort ten head of cattle from one pen into another in a designated sequence. The team that does this in the fasted time is the winner. The cattle are numbered from 0 to 9. There will also be two unnumbered cattle. The order of sorting will be determined by picking a random number. That cow must be sorted first. For example, if the announcer/timer chooses number 5, that cow must be sorted first and then cow 6, 7, 8, 9, 0 and 1.
These classes will offer new opportunities for owners and exhibitors to explore different classes without the competition of horses that are trained specifically for that class. The performance horses will be competing with other performance horses and will not have to compete with the bulked up halter horses. Ranch sorting will allow the versatile ranch horse to show off his sorting and cutting skills. These are great opportunities and exhibitors should take advantage of them.
