InStride Edition is proud to present Premier Paint Sires, an exciting new program for APHA registered stallions and their offspring. Established by Claire Binkowski and Mike Hachtel, Premier Paint Sires was designed to enhance the breeding prosperity of APHA stallions by giving the offspring of eligible stallions the opportunity to compete for a significant cash prize.

“As a stallion owner I feel it is important to make sure that we participate in programs that allow breeders to not only showcase their foals but also help them see a return on their investment. When I sat down to evaluate the options and decide where my money would be best spent I was pretty disappointed in the options that were available. The programs that existed were costly, requiring mare owners to nominate mares and foals even after the stallion had been enrolled, were restrictive, allowing only a limited number of offspring to participate, provided little return for the stallion owner and most importantly neglected the vast majority of people who breed and show,” says Binkowski. “Since the program I was looking for didn’t exist, it made sense to create a completely new program.”

Premier Paint Sires was created from the ideas and opinions expressed by many within the industry. “I spent a lot of time listening to people far smarter than I am and learning from problems current programs had run into,” Binkowski says. “The end result is an exciting new program that I believe meets the needs of all of our stakeholders – stallion owners, breeders, exhibitors and trainers.”

Premier Paint Sires is open to 30 stallions. All offspring by nominated stallions, both regular registry and solid paint bred, will be eligible to compete for a $100,000 payout (based on 30 stallions). Premier Paint Sires will host a three-year-old limited horse, limited rider class at three shows in 2014 – UPHC Paint-O-Rama in South Jordan, Utah in May, Color On The Coast in Williamston, North Carolina in July and The Iowa Breeders Futurity in Des Moines, Iowa in September. For a minimal entry fee of $150, exhibitors will be able to compete for $25,000 at each of the three shows with an additional bonus paid to the highest placing non-pro exhibitor. A $10,000 bonus will be paid to the highest placing horse that shows in all three classes. $2,500 will be paid back to the sire of each of the three class winners and the overall champion.

Upon hearing about Premier Paint Sires, InStride Edition quickly signed on as the presenting sponsor. “Thanks to InStride Edition’s commitment, we are able to give the participating stallions a significant return on investment through advertising and press releases. By holding three classes instead of one, we not only give the stallions greater exposure but also give people in all areas of the country a chance to participate and benefit,” Binkowski stated.

The Premier Paint Sires classes will be open to limited horses and limited riders. To be eligible to participate, horses cannot have earned more than $5,000 or 25 points and may not have placed in the top 3 in any western pleasure class at the APHA World Show. Rider eligibility requirements state that open exhibitors cannot have lifetime earnings exceeding $15,000 and non-pro exhibitors may not be on the NSBA open non-pro riders list. Additionally, an exhibitor may not have finished first or second in any western pleasure class at the APHA World Show in the last 2 years or won an AQHA World or Reserve World Championship in western pleasure in the last 3 years.

“The horse show industry and many of the programs that exist cater only to the top one percent and exclude the greater group of people that we need to keep involved in order for our industry to be sustainable. The fact that our industry has put itself in a position where a significant number of people feel as though they can’t compete anymore is a big problem. Most people can’t afford a $50,000 horse or take the time off of work to go to a horse show every weekend or travel across the country to the World Show. By making classes for limited horses and limited riders and spreading the money out into three different regions of the country, we want to give these people a fair chance to compete for a significant payout,” says Binkowski.

Although only launched a few weeks ago, Premier Paint Sires has already gained support from many of the industry’s leading trainers and stallion owners, including multiple World Champion Mike Hachtel. “Mike was instrumental in designing and launching this program,” says Binkowski. “He has dominated the slot classes over the years so I think his support and enthusiasm, considering he is ineligible to compete based on the limited rider criteria, speaks volumes about this program and the goals we had in mind.”

“This program is built to support the owners of APHA stallions,” says Hachtel. “What we do all starts with breeding horses. This program is all about the people that own APHA stallions and the mare owners that are breeding APHA horses. Our intent is to give those individuals a chance to recoup some of the investment they have to make in getting that foal on the ground, whether by raising and showing or selling it. This program is designed to promote APHA stallions and maximize the value of horses by eligible sires.”

With another week left to submit nominations, an impressive group of stallions have already enrolled. Participating stallions will be posted online by March 1^st. You can also find information on sponsorship opportunities and a complete list of rules regulations by visiting the program’s website or Facebook page. Also worth noting is that 100% of funds collected from stallion nominations, entry fees and sponsorships will go directly back into the program.

“We have some great sponsors who have already joined us but we can always use more support to make this program an even bigger success,” says Binkowski. “We have a great group of stallions signed up and a ton of interest from mare owners and exhibitors. I think I speak for both Mike and myself when I say that we are very excited about this program and the impact it will have on our industry.”

If you are interested in enrolling a stallion, becoming a sponsor or have other questions about Premier Paint Sires, please contact Claire Binkowski at (608) 235-4804 or Mike Hachtel at (920) 220-9405 or email us at PremierPaintSires@gmail.com