2024 AQHA Initiatives

The American Quarter Horse Association has made some significant progress over the past two years when I joined the AQHA team as CEO. As we dive into 2024 as an Association, we are looking at a new set of initiatives. We started this initiatives deal back in the spring of 2022 to create a strategic plan for the Association or another way of putting it, a plan to define our vision for the future and actionable steps to get there. The goal of sharing these initiatives with you, the members of AQHA, is so we are all aware of what is going on, what we are planning and then we can show the progress we have made at the end of the year.

As a reminder, when we are establishing our initiatives each year, the plan has three parts:

1. Establish the most important initiatives for the Association at the time.

2. Accomplish those key initiatives to the best of our ability, rather than take on too many initiatives and only reach partial completion.

3. Continue to strengthen our team, because the stronger our team is, the stronger the results will be and the better we can serve you.

Our initiatives are our strategic plan on how we can best serve our members.

These 2024 initiatives are:

1. Continue development and progress on MyAQHA.com, AQHA’s new business portal, to better serve members.

2. Update the new phone system.

3. Increase membership engagement and awareness of the benefits of being an AQHA member.

4. Engage AQHA affiliates and local equine groups.

Our primary focus is on these areas, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to work in other areas, including those that were initiatives in 2022 and 2023. Another goal of ours is to challenge staff to think critically and creatively about how we can better serve our members. This year, we are also refocusing our mission and vision. Our goal is still to preserve the integrity and welfare of the American Quarter Horse, but we are striving to be the global champion for the American Quarter Horse and the unmatched equine industry leader. This vision applies to all that we do and is a motivator that with each program and every new idea we generate we need to be at our absolute best.

Every day that I go to work with our staff at AQHA and work for our members and our American Quarter Horse is a privilege and one I don’t take lightly. Executing this strategic plan with our AQHA Executive Committee, Board of Directors, Standing Committees and council members and, of course, our affiliates representing more than 130 countries, is an exciting challenge we are ready to take on.

My open-door policy still stands, if you ever run into me at an event, please don’t hesitate to say hi and introduce yourself or schedule a visit to come see us down at AQHA Headquarters in Amarillo. Getting to know each of you is a perk of this job.

I am excited for another year of progress and promoting the American Quarter Horse we all love! Let’s get after it together.