2009 SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

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MAKING DREAMS HAPPEN

The American Quarter Horse Foundation helps youth members go to college.


Ashley Wiek Princeton, Minnesota $8,000 Youth Scholarship	Nikeela Crater Kennewick, Washington $8,000 Racing Scholarship

Dakota West Marlow, Oklahoma $12,500 Farm & Ranch Heritage Scholarship	Nikki Lipske Ironwood, Michigan $8,000 Youth Scholarship

Jamie Sutton Finley, California $8,000 Youth Scholarship	Royce Quintana Boone, Colorado $8,000 Youth Scholarship

Brentney Maroney Guthrie, Oklahoma $8,000 Youth Scholarship	Zane Pluhar Amarillo, Texas $8,000 Youth Scholarship

Chelsea McKeehan Maineville, Ohio $8,000 Youth Scholarship	Amanda Wendt Macedon, New York $5,000 James F. and Doris Barton Scholarship

Cody Sheppard Pearl, Illinois $8,000 Youth Scholarship	Casandra Einhorn Plymouth, Indiana $8,000 Youth Scholarship

Cora Davidson Dakota City, Nebraska $500 Christopher Junker Memorial Nebraska QHY Scholarship	Dana Hicks Warsaw, Indiana $1,000 Indiana Quarter Horse Youth Scholarship

Destin Heath Norman, Oklahoma $8,000 Racing Scholarship	Hannah Ribera Canyon, Texas $8,000 Youth Scholarship

Jane Stuckey Auburn, Alabama $10,000 Telephony Equine Veterinary Scholarship In memory of Alene T. Haines	Marisa Julian Fallon, Nevada $8,000 Youth Scholarship

Jennifer Rapp Amarillo, Texas $8,000 Youth Scholarship	Reba Rogers Lipan, Texas $500 Guy Stoops Professional Horsemen's Family Scholarship

Jessica Peters Vallonia, Indiana $12,500 Farm & Ranch Heritage Scholarship Courtesy of the Charles B. Wang Foundation	Taylor Duncanson Raymond, Maine $8,000 Youth Scholarship

Kari Merrick Sayre, Oklahoma $8,000 Racing Scholarship	Lindsay Galliher Bowcawen, New Hampshire $8,000 Youth Scholarship

Kayton Ellison Bessemer, Alabama $8,000 Youth Scholarship	Kelsey Ketner Yukon, Oklahoma $2,000 Oklahoma Quarter Horse Youth Scholarship

Lane Smith Ward, Arkansas $8,000 Swayze Woodruff Memorial Mid-South Scholarship	Lexya Oulton Olds, Alberta $8,000 Youth Scholarship

Matraca Meyer Edgar, Nebraska $2,000 Nebraska Quarter Horse Youth Scholarship	Megan Arnold Ashland, Ohio $8,000 Youth Scholarship

Ashleigh Ortega Bushland, Texas $500 AQHA Family Scholarship	Jocelyn Tanner Webster, New Hampshire $8,000 Youth Scholarship

Lauren Halvorson Guthrie, Oklahoma $8,000 Journalism or Communications Scholarship Courtesy of AQHA Publications	Sarah Matthews Quinton, Virginia $500 Ray Melton Memorial Virginia Quarter Horse Youth Scholarship

Shelby DeMars Dillon, Montana $8,000 Youth Scholarship	Shelby Vohsen Warrenton, Missouri $8,000 Youth Scholarship

Terry Mitchell Jupiter, Florida $1,000 Joan Cain Florida Quarter Horse Youth Scholarship	Taylor Jeane Valley View, Texas $25,000 Excellence in Equine & Agriculture Involvement Scholarship Courtesy of the Charles B. Wang Foundation

Since its inception in 1976, the American Quarter Horse Foundation scholarship program has given more than $4 million in financial assistance to more than 900 youth members. Each year, the Foundation awards almost 200 scholarships ranging from general youth awards to regional and career path awards.

These awards would not be possible without the generous support of Foundation donors.

Several scholarships are contributed through memorial funds, while others are made possible by individuals who believe in the importance of education as the basis of success. State affiliates also contribute their share of funds to assist youth members from their regions in their quest for knowledge.

Career path scholarships promote pursuits in agriculture, journalism, communications and veterinary medicine with the goal of producing a successful group of highly motivated professionals with ties to the Quarter Horse industry.

The Foundation selects scholarship recipients based on financial need, academic merit, equine involvement and civic activities. These individuals are today’s students and tomorrow’s leaders. With an education, great mentoring and a love of the Quarter Horse, these young people will become the industry’s next generation of owners, breeders, trainers, journalists and veterinarians.

With the rising cost of tuition and housing, monetary awards such as these are essential to college students’ successes. Tuition and fees at four-year private colleges have gone up 14 percent in the last five years, and there has been an average 6.6 percent increase in tuition and fees at public four-year universities during the 2008-2009 academic year.

These continued increases in college educational costs are forcing students to rely more and more on financial aid to pay for their college career. The Foundation is proud to have funded these educational endeavors for 33 years and counting. Now more than ever, the Foundation is seeking donors to contribute funds to the scholarship program.

Donors can either support a current scholarship or create an endowment of their own. Scholarship programs created by donors may be generalized and available to any qualified applicant, or they can be tailored to a certain major, background or career interest.

AQHA, the Foundation and its donors are honored to have created a legacy of support for its youth members. These scholarship recipients will be the individuals who carry with them a passion and dedication to the American Quarter Horse as they begin their careers. They are the faces of AQHA’s next generation.

For more details, contact the Foundation at (806) 378-5029 or at foundation@aqha.org.