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What Matters? Two Words.

Just as Missions Matter, Family Matters, Facts Matter, Progress Matters, and the Future Matters our communications matter. Each of these short combinations of words is simply stated, but they carry an important message. Many have had the opportunity to join together in meetings and forums throughout the off-season at both national and regional conferences to revisit last year's goals and accomplishments. Leaders have also had the opportunity to share exciting new things for 2020. The ASHA had a tremendous 2019 that we have been able to share via our Annual Report in both in-person meetings and through our What Matters communications, but sometimes important messages are better off simply said with Two Words…

"Sold Out." When going to a sale at a store, two words of disappointment. But when talking about the ASHA Youth Conference, those are two words of hope. Nearly 300 ASHA Youth will head to Lexington, KY this weekend to take part in educational activities, fun with friends, and once in a lifetime experiences with our American Saddlebred horses.

"Star Shows." As you've probably heard, this will be the first year of ASHA accredited Star Shows. This new show designation was created as a response to surveys and discussions with show managers and secretaries at shows throughout the country. It creates an accreditation governed under the Saddlebred rules of the USEF that allows horses to earn ASHA High Points, Champion points, and qualify for Louisville. In fact, only ASHA accredited shows (USEF, USEF Lite, and Star Shows) can grant you those three benefits.

"Professional Development." ASHA renewed its commitment to continuing education and professional development this past year, and it will continue into the future. At the convention in Lexington in February, Elisabeth McMillan from EquestrianProfessional.com and Chad Mendell from Equiseen Marketing provided over five hours of enrichment content to ASHA members and conference attendees in the areas of marketing and business planning. McMillian also mentors our ASHA Professional Development Grant recipients who are off to a great start learning more about creating and maintaining successful equine businesses.

"Claiming Classes." The ASHA is working to create a series of Claiming Classes that will allow horse owners to compete in claiming classes at certain shows. These classes will help horses that are "for sale" to compete against other horses in the same price range. Look for these classes to debut in 2020 at shows around the country.

"Trot Talk." This new podcast has been downloaded thousands of times and all over the world now. We'll continue to produce this podcast into 2020 so that we can attract more and more attention to the American Saddlebred. We look to expand the topics and the variety of people who we talk to.

"Look Forward." Two more words that are important to remember whether you're building a cathedral or helping to promote the American Saddlebred breed. We need to look forward. We need to plan forward.