| August 2009 ASIYP is again planning to hold it’s Annual Competition in conjunction with the U.P.H.A. Chapter 10 Saddlebred Fall Horse Show. The show is held October 3 and 4, 2009 at the Ledges Sporting Horse Complex in Roscoe, IL. Several portions of the Competition are conducted online, only, and are open to youth anywhere in the United States and Canada. 2008 was the first year to do any of the testing online and it worked well. In addition to the Competition, ASIYP and Chapter 10 will be conducting several other fun activities during and before the show and two of these are also open to youth anywhere in the U.S. and Canada. Many ASHA Youth Clubs have been working on the various ASIYP Achievement Badges. The badges are available to any youth and cover a range of equine care and use topics. Learn more about them in the Special Programs section. |
ASIYP had its beginnings in late 1987. There was a need for new youth programs and activities within the American Saddlebred Horse Association and it’s Charter Clubs throughout the country. Melinda and Carleton Huntoon developed the program from materials they had developed for their lesson program, which included classes for a local university. They presented their plans to ASHA, which donated the initial funding for the program. ASIYP is still operated by the Huntoons, in cooperation with ASHA. It is mostly self-supported. It holds a 501c(3) charitable not-for-profit status with IRS. The educational levels were started with the original funding and the fees for the levels cover the costs of printing and purchasing the educational materials and the postage costs. The badge program was started with donations from private individuals. It costs about three hundred dollars to develop a new badge. Once a badge is created and available to the youth, the charge for ordering the badge you want covers the eventual re-order costs. The art, essay and related competitions conducted periodically by ASIYP are also made available by donations, which cover the cost of promotion, printing and awards. For information on donating to the various projects of ASIYP, please return to our home page and contact us by e-mail. |