The new Fabulous Futurity Program passed by the Paso Fino Horse Association's (PFHA) Board of Directors is open to all breeders and owners of Paso Finos. The board of directors approved a motion to allow late nomination of weanlings to the Fabulous Futurity program. Prior to this motion being approved, a weanling had to be nominated by November 1 of its weanling year. If he was not nominated by that time, the owner's only option to nominate it into the program was anytime prior to July of its two-year-old year at a cost of $1,500. The passing of this motion allows a late nomination of foals through their yearling year up to November 1 of their yearling year at double the weanling nomination fee. This means that this late nomination will cost the owner $150 instead of $75. The rest of the fees will remain the same.

Also, weanlings that are not nominated by December 31 of this year will be able to be nominated prior to the scheduled yearling payment in November of next year for double the fee ($150). However, yearlings that are not nominated by December 31 of this year will have the $1,500 nomination as their only option.

Owners of all previously nominated yearlings that had a payment due November 1, 2007, will now have a until December 31 to make this payment. The PHFA office will be sending a statement to all entries.

After the initial nomination, the owner needs to make yearly payments until the horse is three years old in order to maintain its eligibility to participate in one of the three Fabulous Futurity Classes (Fino, Performance and Pleasure) for three year olds. The program's goal is to attain a total purse of $20,000 for each of these three classes. The ability to obtain this size purse will depend heavily on the number of horses that are nominated to the program by their owners. A good sign of the current interest in this program is the fact that the total purse for the 2008 classes, the first year for this new program, is expected to be between $40,000 and $50,000.

This new program replaces the previous program in which members had to purchase a two-year-old Paso Fino at a special auction to be able to enter in one of the Fabulous Futurity Classes during the Grand National show. Nominations to this new program for this year's (2007) two-year-old horses, the ones that will be competing in the Fabulous Futurity classes in 2008, is already closed. The time for nominating weanlings and yearlings into the program is closing December 31, 2007. Make sure to take advantage of this last opportunity to nominate your foals. Weanlings can be nominated for a $75 fee, while yearlings can be nominated for a $175 fee (the total of the weanling and yearling fees). The only other opportunity for these foals to be nominated is anytime prior to July 1 of their two-year-old year for a $1,500 fee, a substantial increase from the early nominations.

To nominate your foal, please mail the proper form, which can be found on the PFHA website with your payment to the PFHA office. The reverse side (page 2) of this form includes the rules for the Fabulous Futurity program. You can also find additional information and forms at the PFHA website at www.pfha.org. If you have any questions on the program, please contact Mary Rizo-Patrón, Chair of the Futurity committee at [email protected], or any other member of the committee.

Don't miss this opportunity to earn money for your young horses.

Reminder: If your horse is already signed up for the Futurity program, a payment is due by December 31, 2007.