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 Canadian Members Are Committed to Welfare
Last weekend, Executive Committee member Stan Weaver and his wife, Nancy, and I made a trip to Red Deer, Alberta, to attend the Canadian Quarter Horse Annual Meeting and Industry Equine Forum. We enjoyed our Canadian friends' hospitality and a good crowd of equine enthusiasts, including, breeders, stable owners, veterinarians and university researchers.
CQHA President Haidee Landry and Past President Marnie Somers greeted us warmly and allowed Stan and me the opportunity to discuss state-of-the-industry questions and business activities going on within AQHA.
L to R top row: Marc Garner, Haidee Landry, Craig Huffhines, Stan Weaver, L to Rr bottom row: Marnie Somers, Wayne Burwash, and Nancy Weaver
Canada, with its nearly 20,000 members, represents 7 percent of all AQHA members and 44 percent of all of AQHA's international members. Alberta is the fourth largest among states and provinces in total horse numbers, with 109,000, and ranks sixth in total membership.
Stan, being a Montana rancher and revered breeder of athletic, good-minded ranch horses, has a passion for our Ranching Heritage Breeders program. He made a case to our Canadian audience that the Ranching Heritage Breeders program is geared for Canadians, particularly the strong ranching families in Alberta. The number of cattle operations in that part of the country is prolific, and there are several breeders who could qualify for the Ranching Heritage designation if they'd apply. My good friend, AQHA Director Dr. Wayne Burwash, brought up a very interesting question that touches on many things important to the welfare of our horse, the preservation of genetic diversity and ethics in Quarter Horse breeding. Wayne and I have been discussing the issue of genetic abnormality since our last visit at the Calgary Stampede in July. I agree with Wayne and his concerns about doing everything we can to increase the longevity and welfare of the Quarter Horse by upholding high standards in breeding.Last March, AQHA began printing the five-panel test results on the back of each registration certificate. So, if a foal is tested before it's registered, the UC-Davis test result is currently being printed on the paper. AQHA has not asked owners to return their papers for reprinting, but if a tested horse is transferred, the new owner will have results published on the new certificate. You can read more about these five genetic abnormalities and their effect on our breed at www.aqha.com/genetictesting. I explained to our Canadian members how the beef industry has navigated this problem. In the early 1950s and through the 1960s, the Hereford breed identified and propagated the dwarfism genetic defect, which was also a simple recessive lethal mutation. In those days, all breeders could do was mate sires to at least 20 daughters to determine a sire's carrier status. Long story short, the breed purged those genetics from the population, which were some of the top carcass and maternal genetics of the breed. It caused a panic, and it took many breeders out of business. Fast forward to the new millennium and scientific breakthroughs that have made the impossible possible. Billions of dollars spent on the human genome sequence project created the platform for developing both the bovine and equine mapping projects, which cost upwards of $53 million back in 2004. Scientists can now easily find those nasty mutations that cause these problems. Today, for the $85 cost of a test, we can be certain whether an animal is a carrier or not.
There are four key ways we can band together as an industry to encourage responsible breeding and work toward the prevention of genetic abnormalities:
- It is our responsibility as a breed association/registry and as breeders to publicly disclose the results of information that might affect the value of a pedigree and a horse. That disclosure is clearly printed on the registration papers and should be disclosed on consignments at public auction.
- We should focus breeding programs on using the most healthy and robust horses in our industry and should limit the breeding of carrier studs or be cognizant in our choice of carrier-free mares to prevent propagation of genetic problems. There are many great stallions outside their respective disciplines that would make great outcrosses to the popular lines being used in specific disiplines.
- As an industry, we should support an increased value of foals from breedings without genetic abnormalities. Using the test to manage the problem can be economically smart.
- If we ignore the benefits of genetic technology, we could run the risk of creating an epidemic of affected offspring exhibiting and suffering from these cruel diseases. Do we really want this problem winding up in social media spheres, causing harm to the longevity and welfare of our breed and subsequently sending the wrong message to those outside of the equine world? I don't think so.
I could tell that our Canadian membership is very passionate about our American Quarter Horse, and I know all of you are, too. I appreciated their hospitality and their commitment to responsible breeding, and I hope you agree with me that the Board of Directors should stand united in our commitment to the American Quarter Horse.
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 Craig P. Huffhines |
Visit our website for further information and the photo slideshow from the 2016 CQHA Annual General Meeting .
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We'd love to have you ...
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To view all CQHA-circulated media releases, please visit the CQHA news archives on our website.
The mandate of the CQHA, a national affiliate of the AQHA, is to address issues of concern to Canadian owners of American Quarter Horses; to be a communications vehicle for and with Canadian owners of American Quarter Horses; and to promote and market, both globally and within Canada, Canadian-bred and/or Canadian-owned American Quarter Horses.
The Canadian Quarter Horse Association is an Affiliate of the AQHA. Annual membership is FREE to current AQHA members. For more information, or to enroll as a member on-line, visit our newly updated CQHA website
 ---supporting grassroots AQHA programs in Canada!
Through AQHA Affiliate Grants, MBNA Canada supports grassroots programs in Canada that directly benefit AQHA members. Each year, AQHA Affiliates receive funding to enhance or develop services for shows, races, youth activities, educational programs, public policy and recreational riding. Financial support from MBNA Canada benefits virtually every member program offered by AQHA.
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