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Speech Outline for 2000 Convention Regarding Rule 227J Hello, my name is Natalie Nelson and I am here today to ask the AQHA to eliminate rule 227 J. I am in no way addressing the entire "white rule" - but only ONE section! To allow a viable NATURAL solid color to be recognized. A color described by the AQHA rulebook as "commonly called albino" Can anyone in this room describe to me what an albino is? Did you know that there is NO albinism in the equine? Fascinating isn't it? Lets look at the current AQHA Mission Statement & the present rule, the facts and the benefits of changing this rule. MAIN TOPIC 1 - THE MISSION STATEMENT & THE RULE AQHA Mission Statement states: · To record and preserve the pedigrees of the American Quarter horse while maintaining the integrity of the breed.
Rule 227 J states: "No horse is eligible for registration which possesses all three characteristics which designate a horse commonly know as an albino: light (or pink) skin over the body; white or cream colored hair over the body; and eyes of bluish cast."* SUB POINTS - Alone Not Disqualifying traits None of these traits alone or paired disqualify a horse from registration - ONLY when all three are present! In fact there are many registered blue-eyed quarter horses and most white markings have underling pink skin. Yet, there has been the argument and misconception of blue eyes not seeing well and pink skin burning in bright sun light. I'm here to tell you that this is not so with the double dilutes. I live in the Sonoran Desert just outside of Phoenix, Arizona were record temperatures have reach 125 degrees! I do own a cremello who is in a 16x16 pipe-pen with a half shade and is exposed to the bright Arizona sun every day. He is the first one to spot anything coming and he DOES NOT burn anymore than a blazed face horse on his NOSE ONLY! Not only do cremellos/perlinos not burn; but their white hair coat reflects the sun's rays, which allows them to stay cooler than darker colored horses! I can ride 2 times farther before breaking a sweat on a cremello than I can on a sorrel! That's an added plus in my neck of the woods - and I ride a lot! After all recreational riding is the #1 interest of Quarter Horse owners! MAIN TOPIC 2 - THE FACTS SUB POINTS - Genetic Default? Back when this rule was put into place, albinism was considered a genetic default, and rightly so. However, since then via genetic research it has been found there is NO Albinism in the equine and that cremellos and perlinos are homozygous for the dilution gene! Here is a direct quote from an expert in the field of equine genetics from the book : EQUINE COLOR GENETICS, by D. Phillip Sponenberg, DVM, PhD published in 1996 and is considered to be the definitive work on horse color genetics and probabilities. Quote page 32, in the chapter on dilutes . . . "complete Albinism (in it's strictest sense) has not been reported in horses. Creams closely approach being albinos and result from a similar genetic mechanism, but they lack the extremely light coat color and eye characteristics that are typical of albinos in other species." SUB POINTS - Albino Assoc The American Albino Horse Association changed there name to the American White & Cream Horse Association. The American Morgan Horse Association lifted their white rule shortly after requiring DNA testing and recognizes the cremello and perlino colors. In fact ALL of the large breed associations recognize and accept with open arms the cremello and perlino colors except the LARGEST breed registry the world - the American Quarter Horse Association! Isn't time to change that? Ladies & Gentlemen of the Committee you have the power to do just that! And what a perfect time for change at the beginning of a new millenium! SUB POINTS - Dilutions But where do these cream colored horses come from, I can estimate that a large percentage of you have never even seen one! They are very rare. When you breed 2 diluted horses together - buckskins and palominos are dilutes - you have a 25% chance of getting a cremello. Diluted horses only make up a small percentage of the total number of horses registered with the AQHA, approximately 7% are palominos and only 3% buckskins AQHA recommends not to breed two diluted colors together due to the possibility of getting a non-registerable foal. * Hence these beautiful cream horses are very rare. MAIN TOPIC 3 - The Benifits SUB POINTS - Increase All Ready Large Numbers AQHA would not lose these full blooded SOLID double dilutes and their SOLID diluted offspring to other registries, as they are today. This would help generate growth by increasing memberships, transfers, breeder reports, Incentive Fund nominations, etc. It will even help retain members. I have come across in my efforts, several individuals who left AQHA because of this ruling. SUB POINTS - Demand For Color The demand for color is ever increasing. I was once told by a trainer, and former AQHA World Show Judge "Don't confuse the show ring with the sale ring." All too many times, we put emphasis on the show ring, but only a small percentage of AQHA members show. Ask yourselves, the person sitting next to you, or any other AQHA member "what is your favorite color" - I bet it has a golden base! Many first time horse buyers want a horse like their heros on TV. Ben Cartright, Matt Dillion and even Kevin Costner in Dances With Wolves rode buckskins, Roy Rodgers and Zena - palominos, The Lone Ranger, a white horse! My love for buckskin horses led me to the AQHA, I would never dream of owning a buckskin that wasn't a registered quarter horse! Due to the cremello and perlino horses being homozygous for the dilution gene, they can contribute to adding buckskin and palomino colors WITHOUT harming the integrity of the breed. In turn attracting the first time buyers to the American Quarter Horse Association! SUB POINTS - HYPP & Color Bare with me on this point - it's a little off topic but it does tie in. Back when HYPP was such a HUGE debate the AQHA finally came to the conclusion to warn and educate the public and to list HYPP as a genetic defect. The ONLY genetic defect allowable in the halter ring. AQHA also took the stand to allow the membership to chose whether or not they wish to breed HYPP positive horses or not. I emailed Dr. Phillip Spongenburg asking if there was any known physical defects associated with the double dilutes. Here's his reply . . . "I don't think there are any. Some feel that they don't see as well, but I don't think this has been documented. Certainly they are used in performance endeavors, so any defect cannot be that severe. " Cremellos and Perlinos are NOT geneticly faulty. Infact Hollywood White is a FULL quarter horse of the wrong color, is a multiple NRHA World Champion with earnings exceeding $60,000! A perlino stallion RFF Starbuck was the 2000 APHA Hi-Pt Breeding Stock Halter Stallion, out of quarter horse parents. The Cremello stallion True Blue McCue has a full sister Sandys Top Choice a palomino mare that was the 1996 NFQHA National Champion Mare. Invest In Rodeo a perilino, by the great Invester has a buckskin daughter that was HIGHLIGTED in The San Antonio Weekend Select Sale! (ad in Jan & Feb QHJ). Blue Eyed Paradise a cremello, is a half brother to a buckskin stallion who had over 30 grands and reserves in the AQHA show ring, an AQHA World Qualifier in Halter, stood 3rd in the ABRA World and a 3/4 brother to a palomino filly who was the 2000 AZ Sun Country Circuit Res Ch Yearling Mare (the Az Sun Country is the LARGEST AQHA circuit in the World and bigger than the Congress!) THE ONLY DIFFERENCE of these cremello/perlino horses to their buckskin/palomino counterparts, is that they carry 2 copies of the dilution gene and are homozygous for that gene! Do these horse sound faulty to you folks? Shouldn't the membership have the same privilege to register and breed double dilutes as they are to register and to breed HYPP positive horses, a KNOWN genetic default? These beautiful cream colored horses are a NATURAL SOLID color of the American Quarter Horse, that have been mislabeled and misunderstood before genetic research! They can be and would be an asset to the registry! MAIN TOPIC 4- Proposals Drop Rule 227 J and include cremello and perlino colors in rule 228 Grandfather all genetic verified cremello and perlino horses into the registry. No genitic verification - no registration. OR allow as breeding stock only with restricted privelages, registering offspring that meet current color requirements with full privelages. (Grandfathering genetic verified cremello and perlino horses) If none of the above is approved we would like to request a committee appointed to study the genetics of the cremello and perlino colors and to list documented reasons why the cremello and perlino is unacceptable for the AQHA registry. CONCLUSION AQHA says there are no white Quarter Horses* - this is a FALSE statement! In reality there are but AQHA refuses to recognize them! I was raised never to make a decision simply because that is they way it has always been done, but to look and evaluate new ideas. I would like to challenge the committee to do the same. Ask yourself if one copy of the dilution gene is good, then what makes two copies bad? If albinos do not exist, and there are no associated defects with double dilutes, then why does 227 J exist - is it because that is the way it's all ways been done? The rule is outdated, with scientific and genetic research to back that and the benefits are real. So join me in my effort to have AQHA eliminate Rule 227 J and accept a viable natural SOLID color of the American Quarter Horse - the cremello and perlino colors! Thank You.
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