Twenty years ago, these American Quarter Horses received the first rodeo horse of the year awards from AQHA.

America’s Horse, October 27, 2009 — Back in the glory days of the American cowboy, the days of the open range prior to barbed wire, American Quarter Horses were the standard mode of transportation. No mechanical contrivance worked cattle as cheaply or easily as American Quarter Horses, then called “Steeldusts,” due to the influence of the famous stallion in the mid-1800s. Their level-headed disposition, lightning quickness and hardiness were ideally suited to the rugged lifestyle of the plains.

Little has changed on the ranches of America since the late 1800s as cowboys still ride American Quarter Horses when working cattle. But another breed of cowboy also rides American Quarter Horses to work each day – the cowboys and cowgirls of professional rodeo.

AQHA recognized this fact, and in 1989, set out to identify and reward the outstanding American Quarter Horses competing in professional rodeo timed events. The result was the American Quarter Horse Association-Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Horse of the Year program, which continues today. In the beginning, AQHA presented the owners of the winning horses with $1,000 and a Suzann Fiedler bronze during the PRCA awards banquet at the 1989 National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.

An award was given in each of the timed events in professional rodeo: calf roping (now called tie-down roping), steer wrestling, team roping (heading and heeling), steer roping and barrel racing. The job of selecting these outstanding horses went to the cowboys and cowgirls in the respective events. Sixty-eight horses originally received 250 votes, and the top three horses in each category were then voted on by the top 25 cowboys (or cowgirls) in that particular event.

Learn more about the first winners of this award – “The Originals,” we call them – in the November issue of America’s Horse, AQHA’s official member publication, and on the People and Horses channel of America’s Horse TV (americashorse.tv).

The 2009 AQHA-PRCA Horses of the Year will be featured in the December issue of America’s Horse.

AQHA news and information is a service of AQHA publications. For more information on The American Quarter Horse Journal, The American Quarter Horse Racing Journal or America’s Horse, visit www.aqha.com/magazines.