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The 2022 AQHA / CQHA Canadian Summit was hosted at the Keystone Center in Brandon, Manitoba from March 25th to 27th, 2022.
CQHA hosted a strategic planning meeting for the association on the 25th, which was facilitated by CQHA president Dr. Gilles Seguin and offered CQHA members to participate both in-person and virtually. Additionally a Special Members meeting of the association was called at this venue to table the CQHA Bylaws vol. 5 as first presented by the Governance committee at the 2021 AGM, this meeting was also facilitated through the association’s Zoom platform to accommodate members who could on attend in person.
Equestrian Canada also presented an information session on the Canadian National Equine Identification Program. All meetings were well attended and were recorded. Interested persons may view the strategic planning meeting and Equine ID info session on the association’s Instagram platform at @cndquarterhorseassoc. Minutes of the Special Members meeting can be obtained by request to admin@cqha.ca.
AQHA formally welcomed all in attendance on Friday evening with a social event which included a reception and a reserved box seat for the Brandon Wheat Kings Junior A Hockey game. Saturday kicked off a full day of discussions and presentations around the business of the Quarter Horse Industry.
The AQHA was represented at the event in person by Sierra Kane – Director of International Activities, Paula Newman – Chief Operating Officer, and Joanne Sapuder – Manager of Multilingual Resources and Communication. Justin Billings, AQHA Chief Show Officer joined us virtually. Presentations were made by the AQHA International department, the show and contest department, and Paula Newman provided an updated strategic overview of AQHA operations as they pertain to their international affiliates. A roundtable discussion was also facilitated on various topics of concern to the industry, such as competitions and rules, membership, animal welfare, and communications.
Saturday evening CQHA hosted its very first awards banquet and presentation, in order to present the 2022 CQHA Annual awards and introduce the 2022 Honourees of the CQHA Horse of Merit Program. This evening was hosted in-person by CQHA president Gilles Seguin, and the virtual portion of the awards presentations was hosted by 2nd vice president Brad Bowie. Special guest International Long Rider, best selling author and star of the international award willing documentary The Long Rider, Filipe Leite joined us virtually to premier the trailer for his full length documentary film and introduce the winner of the 2022 CQHA Horse of the Year.
The summit wrapped up Sunday with the Education Day on equine health and welfare presentation by Keynote Speaker Dr. Gillian Dobson.
AQHA has indicated that it would like to hold a summit in Canada every two years. The previous Canadian summit prior to 2022’s was held in Saskatoon, SK February 14-16, 2020.
CQHA would like to thank the staff at the Keystone Center for their hospitality and attention to detail. We would also like to thank AQHA International Department’s Melyna Bencosme, for all her assistance in helping to plan the event.
Finally thank you to the AQHA/CQHA members who joined us both in person and virtually, your contributions to our association help us create a more informed and inclusive Canadian Quarter Horse community.
