AQHA’S QUARTERFEST IS FOR EQUINE CLINIC JUNKIES

America’s Horse, March 2, 2009 – If you’re a clinic junkie – someone who attends every horse clinic within 150 miles of home – you’ll want to circle May 1-3 on your calendar for QuarterFest: A Celebration of the American Quarter Horse at the Tennessee Miller Coliseum in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

We’ll have clinics all weekend long, with four AQHA Professional Horsemen and –women and two nationally recognized trainers: Julie Goodnight of Salida,Colorado; Curt and Tammy Pate, a husband and wife from Newell, South Dakota; Jeff Griffith of Gallatin Gateway, Montana; Christy Landwehr of Aurora, Colorado; and Bo Winslow of Estes Park, Colorado. There will be a limited number of spots available for people to participate in clinics with their horses. Participation with a horse will be at an additional fee to general admission, so you’ll need to reserve your space in the clinics of your choice when tickets go on sale in early March.

However, there are unlimited opportunities to attend clinics without your horse. If you want to audit any of the clinics, your general admission ticket will cover entrance. Visit www.aqha.com/quarterfest for the tentative QuarterFest schedule.

Fundamentals of natural riding, advanced equitation, improving your horse under saddle, and common equitation challenges and their solutions are the topics of six clinics being presented by AQHA Professional Horsewoman Julie Goodnight.

You know Julie as “The Horse Master” on her new RFD-TV television show. Through her varied background – riding and training horses in dressage, jumping, racing, reining, colt-starting and versatility ranch work, and wilderness riding – Julie has discovered the underlying principles important to all disciplines. She communicates clearly with horses and riders in any discipline and at any level. Julie travels coast-to-coast – and beyond – throughout much of the year to help horses and riders at horse expos, conferences, clinics and while filming for her television “makeover” show.

Julie has been featured in America’s Horse, The Trail Rider, Horse & Rider, Equus and Perfect Horse. Her syndicated columns appear in more than 15 regional publications throughout North America. Her interactive Web sites, juliegoodnight.com and horsemaster.juliegoodnight.com, and her channel on Youtube.comreach an even wider audience.

Julie is also the international spokesperson for the Certified Horsemanship Association, an AQHA alliance partner. She resides near Salida, Colorado, at her private horse ranch with her husband, Rich Moorhead, who is the CEO of Monarch Ski and Snowboard Area.

QuarterFest is a three-day, education-packed celebration of the American Quarter Horse Association’s 68^th anniversary where AQHA members and horse enthusiasts from around the world will gather in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, May 1-3 for fun, entertainment and festivities to honor the world’s most versatile horse – the American Quarter Horse. Our sponsors – Tractor Supply, B&W Trailer Hitches, John Deere, Justin Boots, Merial, Nutrena, Professional’s Choice, Bank of America, Montana Silversmiths and Wrangler – share our passion for horses and are an integral part of QuarterFest.

Visit www.aqha.com/quarterfest to enroll in the clinics and purchase your general admission, clinic and extravaganza tickets, and to reserve a spot for you and your horse in the clinics as soon as tickets are available in early March.

AQHA news and information is a service of AQHA publications. For more information on The American Quarter Horse Journal, The American Quarter Horse Racing Journal or America’s Horse, visit www.aqha.com/magazines.