By Mary Cage with Matt Arias
Breeding season is right around the corner and along with it are opportunities for stallions through APHA’s Breeders’ Trust program. Subscribing your stallion is an easy way to continue your return on investment when it comes to breeding; stallion subscribers net 20% from eligible foal earnings each year. But the advantages go beyond just that. We’re here to tell you what the Breeders’ Trust has in store for your stallion and his offspring—and the rewards it can provide you as a stallion owner.
What is the Breeders’ Trust?
The Breeders’ Trust was established in 1994 to provide added incentive for Paint Horse owners to exhibit their horses in the show pen or on the racetrack. The program pays cash dividends for points earned by nominated horses at APHA-approved events. This program is designed to reward everyone responsible for the success of an outstanding foal—from the stallion subscriber and foal nominator to the horse’s recorded owner.
The Breeders’ Futurity and Breeders’ Trust Pleasure Stakes programs were both created to complement the Breeders’ Trust. These provide select classes at the APHA World Championship Show exclusively for Breeders’ Trust nominated horses with BIG cash payouts. These two unique programs further add value to nominated foals.
4 reasons to subscribe your stallion to APHA’s Breeders’ Trust
- It adds value to your stallion and his offspring.
Many mare owners look for stallions that are in the Breeders’ Trust to add value to their foals. Their foals also become eligible for exclusive classes at the APHA World Show that are open only to Breeders’ Trust-nominated horses (pending other requirements). Foal owners enjoy greater marketability when their horses are eligible for programs associated with Breeders’ Trust, like the Breeders’ Futurity and the Breeders’ Trust Pleasure Stakes.
- Being sired by a Breeders’ Trust-subscribed stallion gives foals access to BIG payouts.
A foal must be sired by a Breeders’ Trust-subscribed stallion to become eligible for exclusive purses at the World Show, including Breeders’ Futurity classes as well as the prerequisite for the Breeders’ Trust Pleasure Stakes classes. At the 2018 World Show, these classes paid out more than $300,000 !
3. The Breeders’ Trust is affordable for stallion subscribers.
You’ll never pay more than your stallion’s stud fee is if the payments are made on time. The two payments are split by January 31 and November 30 of the breeding year for which your stallion is subscribed to the Breeders’ Trust.
4. Stallion subscribers are rewarded for their involvement with the program.
Each year, stallion subscribers receive 20% of eligible Breeders’ Trust-nominated foal earnings for their stallion’s progeny (calculated by Amateur and Open points at most APHA-approved events). Therefore, you are rewarded for your part in making these horses eligible for this program.
Get Started
APHA, American Quarter Horse Association and Jockey Club stallions are eligible to be subscribed into the Breeders’ Trust. Stallions must be subscribed for each individual breeding year, making the subsequent foal crop eligible to be nominated. When those foals begin competing in APHA events at the Open and Amateur levels, the stallion owner will receive 20% of that crop’s eligible Breeders’ Trust earnings. As long as those horses are showing and earning points at APHA-approved events, the stallion owner will continue to receive payouts.
APHA modified the stallion subscriptions in 2017 to make them more affordable for stallion owners. The initial payment is due by January 31 of the breeding year, and the cost is $150 for Paint stallions and $300 for Quarter Horse or Thoroughbred stallions. This essentially ensures that the stallions subscribed for that particular breeding year will be advertised in the Breeders’ Trust sections of aphaonline.org and select issues of the Paint Horse Journal.
The second subscription payment is due by November 30 when stallion breeding reports are due and is based on the number of mares that that particular stallion has bred that year. The second payment is $100 per mare on the breeding report for APHA stallions and $200 per mare on an AQHA or Thoroughbred stallion’s breeding report. This second payment will cap at the highest advertised stud fee submitted at the beginning of the breeding year.
The cost of enrolling a stallion is never more than a stallion’s stud fee, as long as it’s paid on time. You can also always late-subscribe a stallion into the Breeders’ Trust—even after the breeding year—although late fees apply.
Subscribe Your Stallion
- Fill out the printable Breeders’ Trust Stallion Subscription Form by January 31 of the breeding year for the initial payment
- The stallion subscription must be made in the exact name of the stallion’s owner or the lessee on record with APHA.
- Stallions standing for the first time have until March 31 of the breeding year to pay the initial enrollment fee without penalty.
- Make your second payment by November 30 of the breeding year.
- Enjoy the rewards and added marketability!
Complete guidelines for the Breeders’ Trust/Breeders’ Futurity can be found in the brochure at apha.com/showing/breederstrust.
##
[Reprinting all of part of this story is permitted, so long as credit is given to the Paint Horse Journal and a link provide back to apha.com.]
About APHA
The American Paint Horse Association is the world’s second-largest international equine breed association, registering more than a million horses in 59 nations and territories since it was founded. APHA promotes, preserves and provides meaningful experiences with Paint Horses.