Craig Huffhines, Executive Vice President of the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) has been elected to the American Horse Council’s Board of Trustees. Jim Shoemake, Past-President of AQHA and previous Chairman of the AHC Board, has also been elected a Trustee Emeritus.
“To be elected to the American Horse Council Board of Trustees is an honor,” said Huffhines. “I am humbled to sit in the company of such esteemed leaders in the industry, and I look forward to what we can accomplish working together for the horse. Representing the equine industry in Washington is a great privilege, and I’m very committed to our work to improve the health of the entire industry.”
Huffhines’ enthusiasm is contagious and his knowledge and passion for the agriculture and livestock industries is quickly recognizable. He graduated with a bachelor of science from Texas A&M University and received a master of science from Colorado State University. After college, he began working at the American Hereford Association where he was the director of feedlot and carcass programs and director of Certified Hereford Beef before he was elevated to executive vice president in 1997.
In April 2015, Huffhines accepted the executive vice president’s position at the world’s largest equine breed organization–the American Quarter Horse Association. Huffhines brings 17 years of experience with him to the association. He has recorded success in turning around a 30-year decline in registrations and beef breed popularity, balancing budgets during lean years, developing a new branded-beef enterprise, executing and revising governance structure to meet the demands of the 21st century and reinvigorating the interest among youth, while growing the Hereford Research and Youth foundations and managing the American Hereford Association staff.
“The American Quarter Horse Association has been actively involved with the American Horse Council since its formation in 1969,” said AHC President Julie Broadway. “Over those many years, the legislative issues facing horse owners and our industry have changed dramatically and now more than ever it’s critical for us to be involved in Washington. We are pleased to have another trustee working in yet another capacity to keep our industry strong.”
Craig and his wife, Mary Jon, have recently relocated with their sons, Seth, Cole and Miles, to Amarillo, the home of AQHA’s international headquarters.
As the national association representing all segments of the horse industry in Washington, D.C., the American Horse Council works daily to represent equine interests and opportunities. Organized in 1969, the AHC promotes and protects the industry by communicating with Congress, federal agencies, the media and the industry on behalf of all horse related interests each and every day. The AHC is member supported by individuals and organizations representing virtually every facet of the horse world from owners, breeders, veterinarians, farriers, breed registries and horsemen’s associations to horse shows, race tracks, rodeos, commercial suppliers and state horse councils.
