Craig Huffhines, Executive Director of the American Quarter Horse Association issued the following letter today regarding the potential move of the AQHA headquarters from Amarillo, Texas to Fort Worth:

AQHA Exploring Possibility of Relocation

The debate over the location of AQHA Headquarters is as historic as the Association itself. While the headquarters was ultimately established in Amarillo, the initial meetings organized to form the Association were held in Fort Worth, Texas. Conversations regarding the possibility of moving the Association from Amarillo to Fort Worth have been held in barn aisles and boardrooms ever since.

Today, these conversations have been rekindled. Efforts from key industry stakeholders, external to AQHA staff, to raise funds to support a move to Fort Worth have accelerated. Recently, AQHA staff members and I were invited to meet with these key stakeholders and a project planning group in Fort Worth so we could be briefed on their project.

While there remains a great deal of business case evaluation and economic considerations for such a proposal, it is important that we keep you informed as details become available. You may hear of stakeholders, external to AQHA staff, commencing business planning and fundraising activities that will be necessary to make such a proposal financially feasible.

The idea of this proposed opportunity is interesting, but is secondary to AQHA’s internal operating goals. Our primary goals as a staff, under the leadership of our Executive Committee, is to continue the hard work of rolling out new registry computing technology that will improve our service levels to the membership. We are currently testing new computing technology that will be rolled out in the coming weeks. 

This heightened level of work has temporarily stressed our daily work flow and turn-around time, which we know has delayed members’ paperwork recently. This has been much like a road construction project on a metropolitan interstate highway that has momentarily slowed down traffic. The investment in this new technology is designed to open up the freeway, increase efficiency and turn-around time, while improving the AQHA customer experience. 

AQHA is a business in transformation, and we look forward to rolling out new member conveniences soon. We remain focused on improving our service levels to a modern expectation, and we are excited for you to see these improvements deployed in the coming months. 

In the meantime, we will keep you informed as more information and understanding of this most recent development regarding Fort Worth evolves. 

We appreciate your continued commitment to the Association and the horse, as we work together to reimagine the future of AQHA.

Craig P. Huffhines 
AQHA Executive Vice President