The American Saddlebred Horse Association and American Saddlebred Registry, which will conduct their annual convention this week in Lexington, KY, announced audited results for the year ending December 31, 2007.

Prize program revenue increased a robust 15.1% to $610,375, well up from the previous year’s mark of $530,155. On a combined basis, 2007 net income for the two corporations was the second highest in history, at $175,982, dipping 9.4% from the previous year’s all-time high of $194,166, but slightly bettering 2005 results. Combined revenues increased over $74,000 from 2006, to $2,184,090, net of both the Registry’s gross revenues for prize programs, as well as unrealized gains on investments.

“Our membership as of February 1 remains at an all-time high of just over 8,800,” said Alan F. Balch, Executive Secretary and Registrar of the organizations, “but it appears to have reached a plateau over the last year. We’re continuing to see weakness in breed registration and transfer statistics, as are many other registered breeds, and that’s a major concern, of course. Under these circumstances, our organizational financial performance is remarkable, but we have to be very prudent in how we protect and manage our members’ financial contributions to the Registry and Association.”

The Association and Registry are headquartered at the American Saddlebred Museum in the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. The American Saddlebred Registry was founded in 1891 in Louisville, KY. The Association is organized under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, and safeguards the integrity of the breed, educating the general public in the exhibiting, use and history of American Saddlebreds, promoting interest in all matters relating to their breeding, exhibition or competition.