Major supporters help make APHA event largest Paint Horse show on earth

PRESS RELEASE
For more information, contact:
Alisha Smith, PR & Marketing Specialist
(817) 834-2742, extension 220
E-mail: asmith@apha.com

FORT WORTH, Texas—American Paint Horse Association (APHA) partnerships with Coors Brewing Company, Lucchese Boots, Purina Mills and several other organizations have helped make the 2007 World Championship Paint Horse Show the most rewarding on record.

This year’s show will boast more than $400,000 in cash and prizes. The incentives offered at the event are a result of several special partnerships APHA has formed with various national brands and other sponsors.

Purina Mills focuses on nutritional education
Purina Mills has also formed a new partnership with APHA. As a result, Purina Mills is the official sponsor of the Purina Mills Color of the West Arena, located in the Colors of the West gift show. The arena will host daily entertainment, clothing and product fashion shows and various educational clinics by top horsemen and –women. Purina Mills will host seven, 20-minute seminars at which experts will discuss important nutritional information for today’s active horses and other animals. The Purina clinics will also discuss their new marketing campaign, Better Animals.

Better Animals was developed as a two-part program—to educate the public through a television series and connect dealers with easily accessible training information. Purina Mills has produced the television series, Animal Makeover TV, which highlights stories of different animals and owners. The series, which airs weekly on Tuesdays at 7 p.m. on RFD-TV, shows that “animals make better people and people make better animals,” according to Purina Mills.

Coors and APHA brew up a party
In an effort to continue to remain committed to the community and local events, Coors Brewing Company has teamed up with APHA as the sole sponsor of the 2007 World Show All-American Fourth of July Fireworks Celebration and Exhibitor Party. New to World Show this year, this celebration allows Coors Brewing Company to connect with the community and be a part of the festivities.

Coors and APHA have partnered to present an evening full of family-oriented events, including hamburgers and hot dogs, live entertainment and a silent auction. All proceeds raised from the silent auction will directly benefit the American Paint Horse Foundation (APHF). Coors is proud to be part of fundraising at the World Show, since it goes hand-in-hand with its efforts to give back to the community. For example, Coors was a charter member of the “Two Percent Club,” which is a group of companies that pledge to give two percent of pre-tax profits back to the community.

Lucchese Boots wrap it up
Lucchese Boots will be headlining the final evening performance of the 14-day World Show. As a sponsor of the “Best Moments of 2007” video, Lucchese shows a strong commitment to advancing American Paint Horses and the people associated with the breed. The company is proud to be part of a competition where experience and skill is necessary to finish on top, similar to the production of its sought-after line of cowboy boots.

The final evening will also include team penning, freestyle reining, bridleless western pleasure, as well as an awards ceremony honoring the top horses of the 2007 World Show.

Additional sponsors
APHA has teamed up with several other companies in order to host the richest World Show to date. This year’s World Show sponsors also include Bailey Hats, Big D Products, Blue Ribbon Custom Tack, Charlotte’s Saddlery, Jerry’s, Kiser, Metro Golf Cars, Paint Horse Journal, Paint Racing News, SmartPak, S.R. Gold, UlcerGard and Western Horseman.

The partnership with SmartPak marks the first Western-oriented equine event the company has sponsored. SmartPak creates one-of-kind, custom-made daily-dose supplement packs, which are labeled with your horse’s name and delivered automatically every month. They provide a hassle and mess free way of feeding horses daily.
APHA’s Corporate Sponsors also play a big role in the success of the event. These sponsors include Barnmaster, Chase, Hart Trailers, HorseCity.com, Gist Silversmiths, Markel Insurance Company, New Holland and Pro Orthopedic.

Hodges Badge Company, the National Reining Horse Association and the National Snaffle Bit Association have also joined APHA has Affiliate Sponsors.

More about APHA
Currently, American Paint Horses are being registered at APHA’s Forth Worth, Texas, headquarters at a rate of about 40,000 horses each year. APHA has registered nearly 900,000 horses in 49 nations and territories since it was founded 45 years ago, and now serves approximately 100,000 active members around the world. Among its many activities, APHA works to preserve bloodlines and maintain the outstanding characteristics of the American Paint Horse breed.

For more information about APHA, contact the association at 817-834-2742, or visit  “http://www.apha.com” apha.com.