Invest. Perform. Earn. It’s that simple when it comes to participating in the AQHA Incentive Fund.

In a nutshell, the Incentive Fund was created as a way to reward and encourage AQHA members for showing their American Quarter Horses. Those who nominate an American Quarter Horse stallion to the AQHA Incentive Fund by October 31, 2009, will be eligible to win a John Deere trimmer.

Stallions are enrolled on an annual basis for each breeding season, making their offspring eligible to be enrolled as well. The available money in the Incentive Fund is divided by the number of points earned by the enrolled horses in the open and amateur divisions of AQHA competition throughout the year, making each point worth a certain amount of money. The point value is then multiplied by the number of points earned by the horse to determine the accumulated amount for the year.

The 2008 show season saw a record-high in total points – 147,864 – earned by nominated horses, which is 10,066 more points than in 2007. The point value in 2008 was $22.35, which resulted in a 2008 payout of $3,305,489.51.

“I tell all of my customers that if they’re raising horses that will compete in AQHA shows, they’ve got to enroll them in the AQHA Incentive Fund. A majority of buyers won’t even look at show horses that aren’t in the Incentive Fund. That’s how important it is to the industry,” said Mike Jennings of Professional Auction Services in Leesburg, VA.

The earnings for each horse are split between the current owner when points were earned, the stallion’s nominator the year of the foal’s conception and the foal’s nominator in an 80-10-10 percent split. Currently, there are 351,587 horses enrolled in the fund, and $63,016,263.69 has been paid out since the first checks were written in 1986.

If a stallion is enrolled in the Incentive Fund, the owner will receive the following benefits:

Use of the AQHA Incentive Fund logo on all of your advertising

10 percent of all money earned by your stallion’s foals

Premium advertising options on www.aqha.com for the stallion

Added exposure for a business online

An investment that pays off

Stallions available for breeding must be nominated to the AQHA Incentive Fund Program by November 30, prior to the breeding season the nomination is for, in order to make foals conceived during that year eligible for participation in the program.

Learn more about the Incentive Fund at www.aqha.com/showing/awards/incentivefund or call 806-376-4811. It’s the longest-running and most affordable way to earn money in the show arena!