2020 Presidential Commission Review of Restricted Registry Proposal from Breed Integrity Committee
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2020 PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSION REVIEW OF RESTRICTED REGISTRY PROPOSAL FROM BREED INTEGRITY COMMITTEE COMMISSION MEMBERS John Boxell Brad Perkins Peggy Cummings Gavin Pope Cindy Gattis Travis Titlow Linda Gordon John Weaver Ashley Griffin Jerry Wyrick Jamie Howard-Chairman SITUATION ANALYSIS The APHA Presidential Commission was established to first assess the viability of the Restricted Registry and to create an independent and objective review the Restricted Registry Proposal (Appendix A) against alternatives which might be less costly and more effective in growing the American Paint Horse breed. The commission has spent five meetings and 250-man hours researching the proposal. Representatives of the commission have inquired with various groups such as the Rock Solid World Tour, APHA International Committee and other Paint Horse-related groups and individuals. In addition, commission members inquired with leadership from the Appaloosa Horse Club to understand the impact of solid-horse programs that they’ve implemented over the years. The Commission reached out to these groups as a way of fulfilling the following charge granted to them by the APHA Board of Directors: • Assess the Breed Integrity Restricted Registry proposal for viability and impact on the entire Paint Horse breed, including both show and non-show communities. • Assess whether the Breed Integrity Restricted Registry proposal can be implemented economically, if at all. • Assess whether the Breed Integrity Restricted Registry proposal would be best implemented through show regulation rather than breeding regulation. • Assess other ways, if any, of providing opportunities to SPB horses in APHA events. COMMISSION ANALYSIS/ RECOMMENDATION • Assess the Breed Integrity Restricted Registry proposal for viability and impact on the entire Paint Horse breed, including both show and non-show communities. o Considering the APHA show community represents approximately 8% of the entire association and the Breed Integrity Restricted Registry will impact 100% of the association, the commission concludes the complexity of the proposal imposed on the entire membership will cause confusion and frustration in the non-show world which, most likely, will negatively impact APHA (Appendix B). The commission believes that much of the confusion will revolve around the breed-back and multi-generational aspects of the rule, which are not widely understood and will require significant staff and member training to create widespread understanding. The same outcomes of greater opportunity for SPB can be achieved through other and less-complex means proposed by the Commission for consideration by State Directors. • Assess whether the Breed Integrity Restricted Registry proposal can be implemented economically, if at all. o The commission determined the proposal cannot be implemented economically. After closely analyzing all data available, the commission believes the cost to implement in technology development and employee training to exceed what APHA would generate in new revenue. Another point of confusion is the development of a third registry, the Restricted Registry, which adds another layer of complexity for Paint Horse breeders to understand. o Best estimates from IT professionals familiar with the proposed addition of a new registry would cost a minimum of $40,000-$60,000 in improvements to APHA’s computing system to secure and create the Restricted Registry—automation of full proposal requirements is not feasible in the current system. Even with the additional technology the generational requirements to meet the Restricted Registry requirements would require significant manual intervention, increasing the manpower demands of implementing this registry. Much of the cost of implementation is tied to the fact that a Restricted Registry would impact nearly every portion of the total Paint Horse computing system, including registration, competition and online services, among other areas. o It is also unclear to the commission that the addition of the Restricted Registry would yield enough new registrations to pay for the additional cost of computing technology and staff. A significant percentage of Solid Paint-Bred foals with at least one paint parent fall under the RG-070.E genetics-based entry, further depleting the number of Solid Paint-Bred foals that would even qualify under the Restricted Registry proposal. o In addition, the Restricted Registry proposal reduces the choices available to Paint Horse breeders because the proposal requires the foal owners to exhibit their horse in Regular Registry competition, eliminating their choice to consider entry into SPB classes, further reducing the number of SPB-eligible horses. o The Restricted Registry proposal also deviates from APHA’s commitment to advance genetic color testing, which the commission believes could reduce significantly the color-producing genetics available to maintain color in the breed. • Assess whether the Breed Integrity Restricted Registry proposal would be best implemented through show regulation rather than breeding regulation. o The Breed Integrity Restricted Registry proposal attempts to address an equity imbalance between Regular Registry and Solid Paint-Bred Horses that is visible in the show pen. The Restricted Registry will unnecessarily impact those who either do not exhibit their Paint Horses in APHA events or those for whom breeding Paint Horses is their only commercial activity. The more logical approach is to adopt rules that permit Solid Paint-Bred horses to exhibit alongside Regular Registry horses without unnecessarily complicating the registration process. Because this existing proposal will significantly complicate the registration process, the commission determined that the issues that the Restricted Registry proposal attempts to address through registration would best be resolved through the development of appropriate show rules. • Assess other ways, if any, of providing opportunities to SPB horses in APHA events. o The commission strongly recommends the idea of a rule change allowing the Solid Paint- Bred horses with the opportunity to purchase an annual competition license to show in the same classes as the regular-registered APHA horses. This license opportunity would allow all SPB horses the same opportunity to show with Regular Registry horses. Other findings • The Commission also strongly urges members, committees, state directors and other interested parties to follow APHA’s established rule-making processes through which rule changes can be properly vetted through the Board of Directors and/or the State Directors. The Commission is concerned that efforts to circumvent the bylaws-based system through the use of social media-cultivated confusion in the industry and left members with an unclear understanding of the details related to the Restricted Registry. • The Commission has assessed other breed associations that do not have color requirement issues and found that they too have declines in show numbers. Statistics have shown that APHA is at a 7.27% decline in show entries and AQHA is at a 13.54% decline in show entries. The Commission strongly believes that this Restricted Registry proposal will have no positive effect on declining show numbers. Appendix A Text of the Restricted Registry Proposal Submitted By The APHA Breed Integrity Committee ELIMINATING APHA BREEDING RISK, ENCOURAGING PRODUCTION OF APHA HORSES, AND EXPANDING INVENTORY OF APHA HORSES. 1. Alleviate APHA breeding risk. 2. Incentive breeding of APHA horses. 3. Increase participation at APHA competitions. 4. Monetize underrepresented APHA horses. 5. Proliferate colored horses in future generations. 6. Expand inventory of APHA horses in the registry. This proposition seeks to create a uniform platform for all APHA horses and reduce the risk of raising and promoting Paint horses, in a manner which addresses the changing equine market, the issues facing APHA breeders, and the entire lifecycle of APHA horses, ideally serving as a permanent solution to the issues that ail the Association. It is important to recognize the primary target audience for this proposal: breeders of American Paint Horses. This group is assuming immense risk in endeavoring to produce horses that may be relegated to showing in underrepresented Solid Paint-Bred (“SPB”) classes at APHA- sanctioned events, or open shows. These horses (referred to herein, for simplicity, as “Solids”), if given an opportunity to compete at a high level, could enjoy tremendous success. Such success would, in turn, increase the value of such Solids and encourage the horse owner to consider breeding his or her Solid. Pursuant to this proposal, all Paint horses will be given an opportunity to compete together. Horses with qualifying white will, as usual, receive Regular papers, while solid horses will be granted Restricted papers, provided such horses’ pedigree contains an APHA registered horse in two or more generations of ancestry. For purposes of clarity all horses qualifying for APHA registry will continue to do so, no change nor restrictions is being proposed to limit or eliminate any existing conduit into the APHA registry. The impetus for this rule was to grant Restricted registry status only to those horses who have no other viable avenue, the single-registry Solid. After much deliberation and consideration, however, it was determined that Restricted registry should encompass also those solid AQHA horses, eligible for APHA registration, provided such horses are the result