This April, APHA is sending out more than 1,200 awards to honor the hard-earned success of Paints and their owners and exhibitors. The association celebrates your success with awards not unlike your Paint: beautiful, useful and unique.
Year-end awards winners from the APHA-approved show and Paint Alternative Competition programs receive awards that both commemorate their accomplishments, but also come in handy for horse owners, Show Events and Awards Coordinator Christine Henry says.
“We work hard to listen to our members when selecting our awards items, and they’ve made it clear they value items that can be used on a day-to-day basis,” Christine said. “Awards such as jackets, bags and tack commemorate your success while also being useful in the time you spend with your Paint.”
An iconic staple of the horse industry, custom Gist Silversmiths trophy buckles are awarded to PAC category leaders, as well as Honor Roll champions and Top 20 winners in Open, Classic Amateur, Masters Amateur, Novice Amateur, Youth 13 & Under, Youth 14–18. Trophy buckles are also awarded to Solid Paint-Bred Top 10 in Open, Amateur and Youth divisions.
Youth and Amateur Rookies of the Year earn trophy buckles and custom Cowboy Bronze trophies painted in the likeness of their horses.
Other prizes—which are often tailored to niche disciplines—include trophy saddles, dress sheets,custom jackets, rope bags, arena bags, helmet and saddle cases, bronc-nose halters, dress sheets, trophy saddles and more.
“APHA employees are also avid horse lovers and exhibitors, so we use this to our advantage when selecting awards for our members—we brainstorm items that would be great to receive and would actually add a benefit to horse ownership,” Christine said. “Not to mention, we have an excellent group of sponsors and vendors who help us give our members the best awards possible.”
Are you receiving a 2013 Year-End award for your hard work? Share your excitement with the rest of your APHA family by snapping shots of you, your Paint and your new awards! Share the photo using #PaintsDoItBest and post it on the Official American Paint Horse Association’s Facebook page or tag @officialAPHA on Instagram and @APHAnews on Twitter.
“Nothing is more exciting to me than seeing APHA award recipients using and displaying their hard-earned buckles, jackets and other items,” Christine said. “We hope you’ll let us share in your excitement and help show why Paints do it best!”
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