What Is ASHA of Canada and What Does It Do for American Saddlebred Owners?

ASHA of Canada is the American Saddlebred Horse Association of Canada, an organization whose stated object is the encouragement, development, promotion and regulation of the breeding of purebred American Saddlebred Horses in Canada. If you own, breed, register or show American Saddlebreds in Canada, it is the body that sets breeding standards, keeps records, preserves and publishes breeding documents, and carries out a system of registration under the Canadian Livestock Records Corporation (CLRC). It also runs a Versatility Program that offers incentives to exhibitors across a wide variety of activities and disciplines.

What ASHA of Canada does

The association describes its core purpose in terms of four functions:

• Encouragement and promotion of purebred American Saddlebred breeding in Canada
• Development of the breed and its community of breeders and owners
• Regulation of breeding activity
• Establishing breeding standards and maintaining the records that go with them

Alongside those, ASHA of Canada collects, preserves and publishes all documents relating to those breedings, and administers registration through the CLRC. The association notes that Canadian breeders have been producing top quality American Saddlebreds in Canada for over 60 years, and frames its role as encouraging and supporting those breeders.

Membership: what it gives you and how it works

Membership is the main way individuals take part in the association. According to ASHA of Canada:

• Memberships ensure the association can continue to safeguard the integrity of the American Saddlebred in Canada.
• All members are subject to the rules and regulations set out in ASHA of Canada's constitution.
• Members are eligible to hold office and to vote at the annual meeting.
• Memberships are renewed and sold through the Canadian Livestock Records Corporation.
• Membership fees help support the ongoing operations of ASHA of Canada.

If your goal is simply to register a horse or look up breeding records, that runs through the CLRC registration system. If your goal is to have a voice in the organization — voting at the annual meeting or standing for office — membership is the route, and the CLRC is where you renew or purchase it.

Breeding and registering American Saddlebreds in Canada

Registration in Canada operates under the CLRC. ASHA of Canada's stated role is to establish breeding standards, keep records, and collect, preserve and publish the documents relating to breedings, with registration carried out under the CLRC system. In practical terms, that means the association is the breed-side authority for standards and records, while the CLRC is the body through which registration and membership transactions are handled.

The Versatility Program

ASHA of Canada developed its Versatility Program to encourage members to continue to use and display the versatile American Saddlebred. Under the program, the association offers incentives to exhibitors of Saddlebreds in Canada for participation in a wide variety of activities and disciplines — not just traditional breed competition. If you show or use your Saddlebred in multiple disciplines, this is the program to look at for recognition and incentives.

Where to go next

The association's site is organized around a few main areas: Membership, Breeding & Registering, News, and the Versatility Program. Start with Membership if you want voting and office-holding rights, Breeding & Registering if your question is about registration or records through the CLRC, and the Versatility Program if you want to know how exhibitor incentives work. News is where association updates are posted, and it is also the natural place to look for contact details for questions the site does not answer directly.