NEWS

Following is a letter sent to the Kentucky State Fair Board from Donna Pettry-Smith, president of the American Saddlebred Horse Association, requesting the addition of Hunter Country Pleasure to the World's Championship Horse Show.

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December 1, 2017

Donna Pettry-Smith
American Saddlebred Horse Association
PO Box 1379
New Lenox, Il 60451

Kentucky State Fair Board
PO Box 37130
Louisville, KY 40209

The Kentucky State Fair Board,

I am writing on behalf of the American Saddlebred Horse Association Board of Directors and Immediate Past President, Bob Funkhouser, who have voted unanimously to request the addition of ASB Hunter Country Pleasure to the World’s Championship Horse Show. As members of the ASHA Board of Directors, it is our mission to “promote, improve and protect the grace, intelligence and versatility of the American Saddlebred." To that end, we feel the inclusion of the ASB Hunter Country Pleasure division at the WCHS is a logical next step to continue the expansion of our breed into additional disciplines and include our members that are not only interested in the more traditional use of American Saddlebreds in Saddle Seat competition, but Western and Hunt Seat as well.

The ASB Hunter Country Pleasure division has been a popular division at the grass root level for over thirty years. This division has gained more mainstream popularity in the past decade and has now been added to virtually every ASB competition across the country, including Lexington Junior League, Midwest Charity, Rock Creek, Blue Ridge Classic and the UPHA/American Royal National Championships. At all of the aforementioned shows, these classes have been consistently filled, and in most cases, among the largest classes at the show. The increased participation in this division across the country supports the overwhelming desire of our membership for the Board to request this division be added to the World Championship Horse Show as well.

I hope that we can all work together to do what is in the best interest of both the American Saddlebred Industry and the World’s Championship Horse Show.

Sincerely,
Donna Pettry-Smith
President, American Saddlebred Horse Association

-- via ASHA