The history of the Ohio Quarter Horse Association began in 1949 on a hilltop in Northeast Ohio - just north of Canal Fulton - at the Frontier Riding Arena. There, at a horse show, a group of Ohio horsemen was munching on barbecued beef and engaging in horse talk. George Pfaltzgraf, a horseman who had recently moved to the area from Oklahoma, mentioned "that new breed of horse, the Quarter Horse." There was a spark of interest, and before the show was over, a decision had been made to organize an Ohio association to promote interest in this versatile breed.
The association's first official meetings were held in the humblest surroundings - the F.W. Renner tallow and slaughtering plant. Early members recall the pungent smell of rendered tallow, cattle and meat scraps, which combined with the strong scent of leather that wafted from the saddle racks and tack trunks that lined the meeting room.
The first recorded business meeting of the Ohio association was held February 25, 1951. The 12 intrepid horsemen went right to work, reviewing by-laws from other state associations. They settled
on by-laws similar to those of Oklahoma. H.A. Renner was elected 1951 president and G.E. Pfaltzgraf, secretary-treasurer. At its second meeting, the group became officially incorporated as "the Ohio Quarter Horse Breeders Association," a name it never, or seldom used, for the early stationery and early references were always made to the Ohio Quarter Horse Association.
In subsequent meetings, the fledgling association concerned itself with convincing local open horse show associations to incorporate Quarter Horse classes into their shows, as well as sponsoring Quarter Horse races. In the early years, AQHA approved Quarter Horse classes at open horse shows for AQHA points. By 1954, the Midwestern Horse Show and Rodeo in Columbus had become the first horse show in Ohio to hold AQHA-approved classes, and the Ohio Quarter Horse Association provided trophies for those classes.
By 1955, an Ohio year-end award point system was put in place for halter, reining and western pleasure classes. In 1958, an Ohio Colt Futurity was inaugurated, and the year-end award point system was expanded to include all shows with AQHA approval regardless of the state in which they took place.
In its mission to provide educational opportunities about the Quarter Horse, the association hosted a two-day clinic in 1962 at the Ohio State University that included discussions on nutrition; breeding management; parasites; grooming, fitting and equipment; and demonstrations on showmanship, horsemanship, reining, roping and cutting. With the success of that event, other clinics soon followed.
With its activity and popularity now on the rise, the association lobbied and received approval to host the AQHA convention in Cincinnati in 1966. The event was one of the most talked-about conventions for many years, with its hospitality, jam-packed agenda and an unforgettable " Over the Rhine" themed cocktail party.
With its growing experience at holding clinics and hosting horse-related social events, the Ohio Quarter Horse Association soon found itself with a new project to consider. At the May 1966 OQHA board meeting, the late Blair Folck, owner of National Equine Sales and an OQHA past president, reported on his attendance at the Charolais Cattle Congress in St. Louis, Missouri. Folck raved about the success of the show, and stated that the enormity of the state-sponsored cattle event dwarfed any promotional events that the national association had ever done. He further predicted that the same type of program could be adapted to Quarter Horses and hosted by OQHA.
His idea was received with mixed emotions by the board. Many people were excited about the idea, but others were concerned about the financial liability. The OQHA had only $3,500 in the treasury, and in 1965 the directors had passed the hat to raise funds to buy the association a typewriter. An exploratory committee was established to review the feasibility of the project, and the board spent about six months considering the pros and cons of hosting the Congress. After deliberating and reviewing its options, the board agreed at an emergency board meeting in January 1967 to host the Congress under one condition: $10,000 was to be raised before May 1, 1967, or the show would be cancelled.
Dr. W.P. "Pete" Drake, OQHA president for the first three Congress shows, and Folck began presenting the idea of the Congress to individuals and groups, and worked on obtaining commericial exhibit agreements to attend the show. Numerous chairmen and committees began working in earnest.
With much more than the $10,000 goal in signed contracts, the association decided to proceed with the first annual All American Quarter Horse Congress, November 3-5, 1967 at the Ohio State Fairgrounds, Columbus, Ohio. Registration was $20 for three days, and $15 for Saturday and Sunday, and $5 for Sunday only.
"There would be no free rides," wrote Dr. Drake. "We had heard a report that the National Reining Horse Association had incurred a $4,000 debt in their effort to put on their first Futurity in 1966, and we surely did not want to duplicate their errors. We decreed that every trustee - working or not - must pay his own admission to attend. Everyone must also pay their own expenses, i.e., hotel, transportation, etc." More than 5,000 horsemen and women came to the first Congress, and the event was a hit, netting the association $15,000 over its three-day run.
More than 40 years old now, the Congress is still a hit, and its success has led to many additional services and events for the Ohio Quarter Horse Association. After Congress paperwork outgrew three rooms in Dr. Drake's Richwood, Ohio, home, office space in the Union County village was rented and eventually an executive secretary was hired to manage the show. As the Congress grew, so did the OQHA office staff, to its current nine employees.
A three-alarm fire swept through the association's offices in January 1995, destroying the magazine editor's and bookkeeper's offices. After taking a long, hard look at the cost of renting new office space, the OQHA board decided to purchase land and build its first permanent office building. The association's offices have been located at 101 Tawa Rd., Richwood, Ohio, since May of 1995.
