After nearly 20 years of dormancy, the Canadian Quarterhorse
Association has reawakened.
The Canadian group is now an affiliate of the American Quarterhorse
Association based in Texas.
Canadians still use the American organization for horse registrations,
show rules and horse breeding regulations. However, as a separate
Canadian division, it is able to join Equine Canada, an umbrella group
representing all Canadian horse associations.
Thirteen Canadian directors selected on the basis of horse population
per province represent Canada in the American association.
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“We felt it was time to become active again and start having a voice in
the Canadian horse industry,” said Marnie Somers, interim president of
the Canadian association. The current board is developing a modern
constitution and a new board will be elected later.
“We were out of the loop,” she said. “The Quarterhorse is the largest
breed in Canada and has the largest membership. Equine Canada was
equally anxious to have us counted in their organizational structure to
have more influence with the federal government.”
Equine Canada addresses uniquely Canadian issues of animal health,
ownership, transportation issues and border crossings, as well as
environmental questions such as manure and pasture management.
More than 17,000 Canadian members own about 214,000 Quarterhorses.
Nearly half are in Alberta.
