From My Saddle

I have recently returned from American Horse Publications annual convention in Baltimore, Maryland. This was a trip rich in stimulating ideas, resources and wonderful colleagues. It was located in a corner of our country that is rich in history. I had the pleasure of visiting Sagamore Farm where Native Dancer spent his later years standing at stud. I enjoyed touring the amazing fox hunting fields of Hunt Valley and our nation's capital.

I've always come back from this convention with a load of ideas and anxious to try out some of the latest things I've learned. One of the things we've been missing at NWHS is consistent input from our readers. This month I will begin publishing "Letters to the Editor". We believe it is important to have an ongoing dialog with our readers, and to share various perspectives. Keep the letters coming!

This month our magazine focuses on one particular charity. In this issue you will find a story about a woman who has met tragedy and turned it into an opportunity to help others.
My hat goes off to those of you who spend your life in the service of others.

Have a great August, enjoy the summer weather and remember to ride!

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Dear Editor:

Hats off to your magazine and to Sharon Aller for her recent article about the significance of AQHA's Open Supreme Champion Award and her recognition of AQHA'S only living Open Supreme Champion stallion, Lucks Easyfanta Boy. It is credit long overdue to a magnificent horse who best personifies the three essential qualities which AQHA'S original founders set forth in 1940 as the requirements which the ideal American Quarter Horse should meet: conformation, speed and versatility across a wide range of working and pleasure disciplines.

To put "Fantaboy's" Supreme accomplishment into perspective, 44 out of the 46 AQHA Open Supreme Champions earned their titles between 1966 (when the Award Program was introduced) and 1979. Since then only two horses have possessed the combination of grand champion conformation, real speed and versatility needed to earn the Quarter Horse world's highest honor. The outstanding gelding Gotum Gone earned his title in 1995 followed by Lucks Easyfanta Boy in 1997.

Gotum Gone and Lucks Easyfanta Boy are unquestionably the finest living examples of what the real American Quarter Horse was originally bred to be…the one horse who can do it all! They both carry the blood and dominant genetics of an elite group of proven Supreme Champion producers. Unfortunately for the Quarter Horse world, only one of them is still equipped to pass that blood along. Jim Wells and his crew at Cedar Creek Ranch deserve the thanks and appreciation of Quarter Horse people everywhere for their determined efforts to keep that blood alive until our breeding industry and the AQHA itself get over their collective fascination with producing and promoting one-dimensional (event-specific) horses and get back to breeding horses that once again live up to AQHA'S self-professed vision of what the real Quarter horse should always be…the one horse who really can do it all!

Thank you for having the courage to tell your corner of the world what the AQHA should be telling us all. Keep up the good work and please let Mr. Wells know that he's not alone.

Sincerely,

Dan Manrique
Ocala, Florida