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July 24, 2009

AHYA Youth Making a Difference and Moving Forward

New AHYA Executive Committee celebrates their elections. From left to right, Austin Garrett, President; Katie Pelphrey, Vice President; Nikki Burns, Secretary; Amanday Kelley, Treasurer.

The 2008 Arabian Horse Youth Association (AHYA) Convention was marked with enthusiasm and excitement that matched its theme, AHYA On the Loose. New officers, a passed resolution, keynote speakers and a record breaking amount of registered delegates made the AHYA Convention a memorable one.

Officer elections are always on the mind of delegates, as they gather the day before the show starts, and this year they picked a great crew. Austin Garret was elected AHYA President, Katie Pelphrey, Vice President, Nikki Burns, Secretary and Amanda Kelley will be the upcoming Treasurer. Holding office in AHYA is a chance for these teens to gain a little bit of leadership experience and see what happens behind the scenes in an organization like AHA. Outgoing AHYA President, Annalise Himmel, explained a little about the approach she takes as a leader. "The work we do is about preparing for the future. It's about taking a focus, planning and setting stones for the kids behind us."

Pelphrey agrees with Himmel, "Being a part of AHYA is a chance to learn a little bit about how things happen at AHA. It isn't really about changing things right away. What we say today is going to be affecting people tomorrow," says Pelphrey.

Along with leadership skills, many AHYA delegates cite communications skills and public speaking experience as reasons they've chosen to get involved. "Plus you get to meet a lot of new, cool people," says Khristina Cates-Wilson, the Region 14 Vice Youth Director.

After years without bringing a resolution to the floor, Katy Pelphrey helped spearhead this year's resolution, which is compared to the United States Equestrian Federation's (USEF) "Rule 16." Essentially, the resolution states that during equitation classes, judges could ask exhibitors to switch horses as a way to break a tie. "Thoughts about this resolution started because so many other breeds have the option. We felt that since we compete at this level it was reasonable to ask for more challenging tasks." The resolution passed at the Youth Convention and will now move on the AHA Annual Convention in November. "The youth want to make a change that people will actually see," says Pelphrey.

Youth Convention's keynote speakers included Gordon Potts and Gene Holloway. Austin Garrett commented on Potts' speech, "Gordon was pointing us in a good direction for the future. He talked about how you don't always succeed, so you need to learn how to lose with dignity."

AHYA Youth of the Year, Kim Luebcke, agrees, "The younger kids should take the advice of Gordon and Gene-it will go a long way. I've learned so much since I started. Four years can make all the difference."

The activity of convention was coupled with some record-breaking numbers. This year there were 215 eligible delegates, 134 registered delegates and approximately 80 youth members actually participated in Convention.