History
The American Quarter Horse Association was born at a meeting in March in Fort Worth. The original idea had come out of the articles published by Robert M. Denhardt during the 1930s about the history and characteristics of the quarter horse. In an article entitled "The Quarter Horse, Then and Now" in a 1939 Western Horseman magazine, Denhardt also suggested that those interested in forming a breed registry meet in Fort Worth to discuss the idea and hopefully act on the idea. About seventy-five people met on March 15, 1940 to talk over the proposals, with the eventual decision being to form a non-profit stock holding association in Texas to be the registry. Thirty-six people bought stock at the initial meeting. A board of directors and officers were selected.
For the first five years, AQHA was the only registry for American Quarter Horses, however there were controversies over which horses would be registered, as well as how much non-Quarter horse to allow in. Other disputes included the fact that AQHA only allowed stock owners to vote, and some breeders felt that this arrangement kept too much power in too few hands. Another contentious issue was racing, and how the association would support the needs of breeders and owners who raced their Quarter Horses. All three of these issues were woven together, for the racing interests were also desirous of more Thoroughbred blood being added to the Quarter Horse, and some racing breeders felt that the AQHA was too restrictive on what outside blood was allowed in.
The racing interests formed the American Quarter Racing Association (AQRA) on February 1, 1945. This group mainly was concerned with the operation of racetracks and their registration efforts were limited to what was needed for identification for racing purposes. They set the standards for racing, and set up a Register of Merit system to help with handicapping racing. They registered horses that were in AQHA's stud books, as well as Thoroughbreds. Even "Paint" horses, which at this time had no registry and would not for another two decades, were registered. Painted Joe, a foundation stallion with the American Paint Horse Association (APHA), was registered with the AQRA and ran against many of the early Quarter Horse racers.
Individuals who believed AQHA was too restrictive in its registration and membership policies formed the National Quarter Horse Breeders Association (NQHBA) in December 1945. Registration criteria in the NQHBA were much less stringent than AQHA, but yet were not exclusively focused on racing like AQRA. For example, Thoroughbred crosses were freely registrable in NQHBA, and they even registered Thoroughbreds.
Within AQHA, there was a recognition that three organizations were sapping the strengths of the Quarter Horse breeders and owners, and within all three organizations there were efforts to merge. In July 1949, AQHA offered to merge with both AQRA and NQHBA. The AQRA voted to merge with AQHA in September 1949, and the NQHBA did likewise in November 1949. AQHA absorbed both organizations and moved their records to AQHA's recently established headquarters off Interstate 40 in Amarillo.
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