Arabian Horse Club of America

The Arabian Horse Association (AHA) is the single national organization that is the only breed registry that registers Arabian horses in the United States. It also works with the United States Equestrian Federation to sanction horse shows and license judges for Arabian horses.

The AHA was formed by a merger between the International Arabian Horse Association (IAHA) and the Arabian Horse Registry of America (AHRA) in 2003. AHRA was the older of the two organizations, a breed registry founded in 1908. IAHA, founded in 1950, organized to "meet the breeding, competitive and recreational interests of all Arabian horse owners," and also maintained a Half-Arabian and Anglo-Arabian registry.

AHA shows are for purebred Arabian, Half-Arabian, and Anglo-Arabian horses only. The shows consist of Arabian Community Shows that allow exhibitors to get a start in the show ring, followed by "Class A" shows rated by the United States Equestrian Federation and the AHA, which qualify riders to go to larger regional and national competition.

There are four separate national competitions: U.S. Nationals, Sport Horse Nationals, Youth Nationals, and Canadian Nationals. There are also some significant non-national shows that draw large numbers of horses, including the "Buckeye" show in Ohio and the Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show, the annual show of the Arizona Arabian Horse Association.

The U.S. Nationals, held each October, were held for many years every other year at Louisville, Kentucky and Albuquerque, New Mexico. However, beginning 2008, the U.S. Nationals moved permanently to Tulsa, Oklahoma. The Youth Nationals is held in Albuquerque, New Mexico at the end of July. Youth Nationals currently draws about 2100 horses. The youth also have their own Association, the Arabian Horse Youth Association (AHYA), who bring the youths' voices to the AHA. In addition to regular classes, Youth Nationals also hosts several "fun classes" such as the dog races, dog costume contest, and most famously, the golf cart parade.

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