The American Quarter Horse Association will distribute a record $4,000,447 of Incentive Fund money for the 2007 show season. More than 10,000 checks were mailed to recipients of Incentive Fund nominated horses, proving that it pays to show with AQHA.

In 2007, more than 7,200 foals and 2,700 stallions were nominated into the program. Enrolled horses earned 137,798 points during the year, with the top horse, Vital Signs Are Good, earning 605 points. The value of each point was $29.03, which is an increase of $2.54 from last year. Vital Signs Are Good is owned by Kristen N. Glover of Bixby, Okla. The 8-year-old red roan mare earned $17,563.15 through the Incentive Fund.

The Incentive Fund is a multimillion-dollar program involving stallion and foal nominations with paybacks to the stallion nominators, foal nominators and owners of the competing horses. The program is owned, managed and operated by AQHA. In 23 years of existence, the program has paid almost $60 million.

"We're delighted that our exhibitors and breeders can reap the rewards of owning an American Quarter Horse while continuing to show in a fun atmosphere," said AQHA Executive Vice President Bill Brewer.

The Incentive Fund utilizes AQHA-approved show points to determine paybacks. Each point earned at an AQHA-approved show in the open or amateur division by an Incentive Fund nominated horse is worth a specific amount.

At the end of every show year, the total number of points earned by Incentive Fund horses is divided by the total amount of money in the fund for that year. This establishes the dollar value for each point. The payout amount is determined by multiplying the value of each point by the number of points earned by a nominated horse.

The Incentive Fund pays 10% to the nominator of the sire, 10% to the nominator of the foal and 80% to the owner of the horse. The owner portion is paid to whoever owns the horse at the time the points are earned. Thus, there may be more than one owner check for some horses.

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