Members of the American Quarter Horse Association gathered in Kissimmee, Florida, for the its annual AQHA Convention March 5-8. On March 8, the AQHA Board of Directors elected the first international president for the Association, Johannes Orgeldinger of Grosswallstadt, Germany.
Orgeldinger has been involved with American Quarter Horses for more than a quarter of a century and has volunteered his time and talents to the AQHA Executive Committee for the past four years. He was first elected to the AQHA Executive Committee in 2006.
He divides his time between Germany and a ranch in the United States. As the international registry of the American Quarter Horse, AQHA is a world-wide organization, and Germany is the ninth-largest AQHA affiliate with 6,675 AQHA members – only seven other states and the Canadian province of Alberta have more members. Kansas ranked 10th with 6,567 members in 2009. After the United States and Canada, Germany ranks third on the list of countries by American Quarter Horse population.
The American Quarter Horse was developed in the United States, but its versatility has made American Quarter Horses popular around the world. Orgeldinger is a perfect testament to this reach, having bred American Quarter Horses for more than 25 years. AQHA has many affiliate branches across the globe, and the total international population of American Quarter Horses was 136,198 in 2009.
Orgeldinger has been very involved with AQHA. He has served on the affiliate council as well as the stud book and registration and nomination and credentials committees. He also served as the discipline manager of reining for the 2006 World Equestrian Games.
With his wife, Astrid, Orgeldinger owns and operates a gravel and stone company and JOMM Ranches in Grosswallstadt, as well as Main River Quarter Horses in Gainesville, Texas.
Peter J. Cofrancesco III of Sparta, New Jersey, was named first vice president. Cofrancesco is chairman of the Grinnell Group of Companies, which includes several entities such as solid waste and recycling, real estate and concrete products manufacturing. He was American Quarter Horse Youth Association president in 1991 and is the first youth president to serve on the Executive Committee.
Gene Graves of Grand Island, Nebraska, was elected second vice president. Graves is an auctioneer with Diamond G Auction Co. and is a Realtor for Century 21.
Two new members – Johne Dobbs of Champaign, Illinois, and Johnny Trotter of Hereford, Texas, – were also named to the Executive Committee. Dobbs, a director from Illinois, owns Johne Dobbs Equine Insurance. Trotter, a director from Texas, is president and chief executive officer of Livestock Investors Ltd.
These individuals all volunteer their five years of time to serve on the Executive Committee.
BYLAW CHANGES
The AQHA Board of Directors approved two bylaw changes that were recommended by the AQHA Nominations and Credentials Committee.
The first change lowers the age for a director to be eligible to be elevated to director emeritus from 70 to 65. The second lowers the cumulative terms of service on the board of directors to be eligible to become a Director-at-Large from 20 years to 15 years.
The five-member Executive Committee will meet in April in Amarillo to finalize the committee reports. At that time, the Executive Committee will review rule changes that were approved by the Board of Directors at Convention. The Executive Committee has the final word on all rule changes except changes to the Association’s bylaws and any rules and regulations pertaining to registration of horses, which are approved by the Stud Book and Registration Committee and finalized by the Board of Directors. Also at that time, all of the rule changes that were approved at the Convention will be available on www.aqha.com. To see the Stud Book and Registration Committee’s report, click here.
Member Recognition
Each year at the AQHA Convention, AQHA members are recognized for their achievements with their American Quarter Horses and the Association. In Kissimmee, the AQHA Professional Horsemen’s Association named its Horseman of the Year and Horsewoman of the year.
The 2009 AQHA Professional Horseman of the Year is Jeffrey Pait of Sparta, New Jersey. Pait has been involved with AQHA in many different aspects – from breeding and training, to teaching youth and judging world class events. He has shown in western pleasure, western riding and reining, before he decided to specialize in halter. An original member of the AQHA Professional Horseman Committee, he is passionate about the American Quarter Horse and has been a judge for the past 15 years. He holds judge’s cards with AQHA, NSBA and the new World Conformation Horse Association. He has judged at such prestigious events as the Built Ford Tough AQHYA World Show, the AQHA World Championship Show and the European Youth World Cup. He’s been the trainer at Cofrancesco Farms for the past 25 years and has had 11 AQHA World Champions, three Congress grand champions and trained many youth and amateur world champions.
The 2009 Professional Horsewoman of the Year is Dianne Eppers of Grayslake, Illinois. Eppers has been an active member of the American Quarter Horse Association her entire life. She won five high-point titles, including the All-Around Youth award. She has accumulated more than 15 AQHA World and Reserve World Championships and has coached six riders to All-Around and reserve All-Around titles. She helped to develop the National Snaffle Bit Association and is a past president of NSBA and also helped to form the Midwest Pleasure Horse Association and the Midwest Reining Horse Association. She currently serves on the AQHA judges committee and is the executive director for the NSBA.
The AQHA Lifetime Achievement award is presented to American Quarter Horse professionals whose life work has had a great impact on the American Quarter Horse industry. This year’s winners are Nancy Hughes of Damascus, Maryland; Don Burt of Rancho Palos Verde, California, and Don Manuello of Sterling, Colorado.
Laura Rose of Kamuela, Hawaii, received the Professional’s Choice Most Valuable Professional Award.
The American Quarter Horse Foundation honored Laurel Walker Denton of Skull Valley, Arizona, as the recipient of the Merle Wood Humanitarian Award. The award annually recognizes an individual who exemplifies the humanitarian qualities most revered – one who is compassionate, charitable and giving – and who displays these qualities within the American Quarter Horse family and industry. The award is named after the late Merle Wood, a gentleman who distinguished himself both in the American Quarter Horse lifestyle and in his local community.
HOW CONVENTION WORKS
The AQHA Convention is a chance for breeders, trainers, owners and horse lovers of all kinds to get together to talk about issues affecting the industry and discuss proposed changes to the way AQHA does business.
* Committee agenda items – to be eligible for consideration by a standing committee, a member’s proposed agenda item must be submitted using the rule-change proposal form. All proposals for the 2010 convention were due by December 31, 2009. Proposals for the 2011 Convention, which is scheduled to be held in Texas, are due by the end of 2010.
* All AQHA members (having a membership for at least 60 days prior to the first day of convention) have voting rights at the AQHA Convention.
* All standing committee meetings are open to the general membership. The only exceptions to this rule are meetings denoted in the convention program as being closed, or portions of meetings that are conducted in closed session because of personnel, legal or other sensitive material.
Members are always welcome to share their views and comments regarding issues that affect or pertain to AQHA. The Board of Directors are elected to serve the members and the number of directors are assigned according the horse population. The list of directors is available at www.aqhamembers.com. An important aspect of Convention is the election of AQHA directors.
Click here for more. AQHA news and information is a service of AQHA publications. Get more information on The American Quarter Horse Journal or America’s Horse.
