Region 1 Youth Report
March 19, 2025
Gabriella Gomez
Hello! My name is Gaby, and I am the Region 1 Youth Director. I would like to start off by saying thank you so much to the Region 1 Board Members and to everyone who made it possible for me to make it to Denver! I appreciate you all so much - thank you again!
Our AHYA Board of Directors Spring Meeting in Denver, CO last weekend was both eventful and productive. We kicked off the weekend by attending four amazing tours on Friday morning and afternoon. Our first stop was Transwest (Truck, Trailer, RV), where we learned about the different kinds of brands and products that they make and sell. We toured several livestock trailers, horse trailers, living spaces, and even a goat and pig livestock trailer! Most of us agreed our favorites were the horse trailers with the living spaces. Our next tour took us to the CSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital, where we visited the sick stalls for horses, X-Ray rooms, CT Scan rooms, and anesthesia rooms. In addition, we (unintentionally) got to see a sheep’s leg when we were looking at an examination room – not everyone enjoyed that part of the tour! After surviving the sheep’s leg, we headed for our third tour – the CSU Equine Reproduction Lab. Here, our group learned about the stallions and a bit more of the process that goes into collecting the semen, including the in-depth analysis that is done on the semen to help make the breeding process as successful as possible. We also learned about the mares, including what they do to make sure they are healthy, how they retrieve the eggs from the mare, and more about surrogate mares and the process involved in transferring the fertilized egg (or sometimes the already growing embryo). Our final tour of the afternoon was the CSU Equine Center and Temple Grandin Center, where we learned about behavioral science and what an Equine Behavioral Scientist does. We also learned about CSU, what they offer, and some tips on what to do if we were to pursue a career that involves horses. Overall, it was a very educational and enjoyable day that also allowed me to spend time and get better acquainted with my peers!
Saturday morning was our formal AHYA Board Meeting. We kicked off the meeting with a brainstorming session, starting with the presentation for the AYHC by Bug (AHYA President) and Hannah (Youth Director). Hannah then led us in a roundtable to discuss fundraising ideas and techniques. We settled on these four main steps for fundraising:
- Know your audience.
- Try to make it profitable.
- When doing a 50/50 raffle: go to the person, making it easier to participate.
- Get the word out – social media, word of mouth, online, posters, or mail (online or in-person).
We further discussed creating presentation that would talk about the steps for fundraising and “sneaking in” a slide about how fundraising helps with scholarships, grants, activities, and learning opportunities (such as judging).
We also brainstormed fundraising and activity ideas, including:
- Chuck-a-Duck game (prizes could be polo wraps or other kinds of tack and supplies) – proceeds could be split between AHYA funding and participant prize money.
- Friendship program – connecting kids and forming friendships around the shared love of horses (could lead to more youth involvement in the AHYA.
- AHYA mentorship program – new members get connected to AHYA members to help them engage, become more comfortable, and help them branch out a bit/find more friends and connect with others.
Before ending our roundtable, we all shared how we started riding, how we met Arabians, and how we came to be part of the Youth Board.
We then joined the AHA Board of Directors at their meeting. During our time together, we discussed the Arabian horse image and what other people think of them, namely that many people have a discriminatory view of the Arabian horse and see them as “crazy”. We brainstormed ways of helping change that negative perspective, including reaching out via social media (Tic-Toc and Instagram) or in-person (such as a presentation or seminar at Nationals) and educating people with accurate information. We also discussed the possibility of using interesting and humorous videos (an example was a video from Scottsdale that got a lot of views) to try to show people just having fun with the Arabian horse, doing podcasts about the Arabian horse, and having a reel/video contest between regions to show off the beautiful characteristics of the Arabian. We all agreed that the adults might be harder to convince than the kids, as kids can sometimes be more open-minded due to their limited exposure to the negative beliefs about Arabian horses. It was suggested that we find a way to excite and rally the “bill payers”, ie the parents, as they often want to do what makes their children/family happy.
We reconvened after lunch to continue our AHYA meeting, at which time we did additional introductions, approved the agenda, had the treasurer’s report, and finally heard the Regional Reports (Regions 1, 3, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, 14, and 15 all gave their reports).
Unfinished Business Discussed:
- Fundraiser t-shirts – majority took it with the Heather Purist Blue color
- Activities/Schedules – All-Youth Party; games to include Corn Hole, Giant Jenga, and Deck of Cards; confirmed the presence of a DJ
- All-Carts Parade – Wednesday night
- Youth Nationals – new arena being built; old arena will be practice arena
- AHYA Convention – hybrid this year (in-person with virtual voting); possibility of having an informative and fun seminar to educate anyone new to the convention
- Then & Now Pictures –picture of the first time on a horse or at Nationals, and most recent picture of riding a horse or at nationals.
- Décor – Disco or 80’s music leading up to now with 2020’s music
- Fundraising – Song selection for class (QR code to put in request?), raffle drawing with regional raffle prizes, boxes (grooming) & grooming stall lights (for Youth Nationals)
- Silent Auctions – donated/inexpensive items for silent auction
New Business Discussed:
- AHYA Scholarships and the requirements.
- Career Webinar requests: Equine Veterinarians, Equine Chiropractor, Farriers, Equine Vet Assistant, etc.
Important Dates for 2025 Announced:
May 28th – Youth Nationals Sponsorship Incentive Forms due
June 1st – T-shirt sponsors due (Starting now)
June 15th – Executive office Applications Due
July 16th – AHYA Board meeting at YWL; Written Regional Report
Respectfully submitted,
Gabriella (Gaby) Gomez
AHYA Region 1 Youth Director |
