the History of the AQHA

the History of the AQHA

Excerpt from The First Twenty Quarter Horses

Most people know little about the early history of the AQHA and its sister registries, the National Quarter Horse Breeders Association (NQHBA) and the American Quarter Racing Association (AQRA). The AQHA was founded in 1940 during the Fort Worth Exposition and Fat Stock Show. People interested in preserving the Quarter Horse got together and discussed a charter for an organization that had been prepared by Bob Denhardt and others. This charter was the original organizational structure of the AQHA and contained rules for registering horses. It was during this meeting that the AQHA was formed. It was also decided to reserve the first twenty numbers of the registry for "foundation animals." Number one was to be awarded to the Grand Champion Stallion at the 1941 Fort Worth Stock Show, and number twenty was awarded to the first president of the AQHA, Bill Warren, to be given to one of his stallions. The other eighteen numbers out of the first twenty were to be awarded to stallions considered representative of what the founders were trying to preserve, whether in performance, conformation, bloodlines or siring ability. These horses were selected by a committee, which completed its work in 1943 with the publication of the second stud book.


Registrations for the AQHA started immediately after the AQHA was formed, and almost instantly created controversy. There were several inter-related problems. The original intent of the founders had been to preserve the 'bulldog' type of Quarter Horse, but the pressure to register the more leggy 'Thoroughbred' type was intense. Also, the early AQHA had little inclination or money to sponsor racing events. It was mainly a money problem, but a significant portion of the AQHA's founders were interested in cow-horses, not in racing. They viewed racing with suspicion, since it usually involved the Thoroughbred cross. Combined with this was the fact that many people felt that the AQHA was too restrictive, both in membership and in registration policies. The AQHA in its first years was a corporation, with voting restricted to stock owners. Registration required that a horse have Quarter Horse conformation, pedigree and performance, or at the very least two out of the three. Confromation involved an inspection, and most inspectors were looking for the bulldog type. Many people agitated for reform, especially of the registration policies.


One of the earliest attempts at reform involved splitting the registry into two sections, the Permanent and the Tentative. All horses that passed inspection were registered into the Tentative until they had produced a certain number of foals that were accepted for registration. When that number was reached, the parent could advance into the Permanent section. No change of number was involved, rather a new certificate was issued with a P in front of the registration number. This is why many of the older horses are listed as Wimpy P-1 or King P-234. If both parents of a Tentative registered foal advanced, the foal was eligible to advance, without needing to produce its quota. The problem was that this system didn't address the desire for racing, and it was still quite restrictive, since horses still needed to pass an inspection, and the inspectors were still looking for the bulldog type.


All of these problems simmered below the surface for a while, but finally burst forth in 1945. First, in February, the American Quarter Racing Association (AQRA) was formed. This organization was formed to conduct Quarter Horse racing and to identify horses for the purposes of racing. Their intent was merely to identify horses, so there were no bloodline, conformation, production, or performance requirements. They even accepted registered Thoroughbreds. All that was needed was accurate identification, although the AQRA did keep track of any bloodline information it might be given. Incidentally, it was the AQRA which introduced the Register of Merit, or ROM, later to be adopted by the AQHA. The AQRA does not seem to have published any stud books.


While this satisfied the desire for racing, many people still felt that the AQHA was too restrictive. Thus, in December of 1945 the National Quarter Horse Breeders Association (NQHBA) was formed. The major difference between the AQHA and the NQHBA was that the NQHBA was much less restrictive than the AQHA, both in registration and membership policies. Like the AQRA, the NQHBA accepted Thoroughbreds for registration. The NQHBA published two stud books, for registrations through 10,510. They continued to register animals after that, eventually reaching over 16,000, but there is no publication that lists their registrations after 10,510.


However, now there were three organizations splitting up people's money and time. Luckily, people in all three organizations recognized this, and soon after the formation of the AQRA and NQHBA the AQHA started reforming itself and putting out feelers to the AQRA and NQHBA about a merger. Talks continued for a number of years, and in July 1950 a formal proposal was offered to both the AQRA and the NQHBA. The AQRA accepted in September of 1950. The NQHBA accepted in November of 1950, after requesting and receiving a few modifications to the original proposal.


The Old Appendix was created as a result of these mergers. The Old Appendix was designed as a place to register horses before they had proven their performance capabilities or had passed a conformation exam. Once this had been done they were advanced to the Tentative Registry and were issued a new number. Advancement to the Permanent registry continued as before, but the production requirement was raised. Due to the merger, horses previously registered with the AQRA were considered Old Appendix and horses from the NQHBA were considered Tentative.


In 1952, due to the mushrooming growth of the Old Appendix, a rule was passed requiring any horse to have one parent listed with the Tentative, Permanent, or NQHBA before it could be registered into the Old Appendix.


The last major change occurred in 1959. It had become obvious that the above system was cumbersome and there also was a desire to finally close the stud books. Many proposals were put forward and evaluated but finally a compromise was reached. The major outlines were the same as the current system under which Quarter Horses are registered today. This meant that the Old Appendix was closed, and the New Appendix was formed. Also, the Tentative and Permanent designations were scraped. This was also when the stud book was announced to be closing as of 1 January 1962. After that date, the only outcross allowed was the Thoroughbred. With a few minor modifications, this is the same system that is in use today.


Note - for more infromation on the early history of the AQHA you should read They Rode Good Horses or Quarter Horses: A Tale of Two Centuries or articles in these books Legends: Outstanding Quarter Horse Stallions and Mares and Foundation Sires of the American Quarter Horse. Premier Publishing Equine has most of these books available for sale.