The 2014-15 AQHA Executive Committee was elected at AQHA convention in New Orleans.
The American Quarter Horse Association March 10, 2014
President Johnny Trotter
Johnny Trotter of Hereford, Texas, has served as an AQHA director for 11 years. He has also served on the racing, nominations and credentials, and stud book and registration committees, as well as the foundation, ranching and racing councils.
Trotter is the CEO of Livestock Investors LLT and owns Bar G Feedyard, and serves as president of the Texas Auto Investors DBA Whiteface Ford in Hereford. His involvement in the American Quarter Horse industry is focused on racing, roping and horses used for ranch work and breeding. He is an avid team roper and participates in numerous ropings, including the World Series of Team Roping, having made the finals for this event the previous two years.
Trotter is very involved in his local community. He has served on the West Texas A&M University Foundation and has been a part of the West Texas A&M University Alumni Association Silver Phoenix group. He also served on the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Deaf Smith County Chamber of Commerce and the Kings Manor Methodist Retirement Home boards. He presently serves as the chairman of the executive committee of the Spicer Gripp Memorial Youth Foundation, a board member of First Financial Bank in Hereford and First United Bank in Lubbock, Texas, and an executive committee member at First Financial Bankshares Inc. in Abilene, Texas. Trotter is a former member of the Texas Cattle Feeders board of directors and was the 2006 recipient of the Tri-State Fair Western Heritage Award.
Johnny and his wife, Jana, have one son, Eddie.
First Vice President George Phillips
George Phillips of Sumrall, Mississippi, is a longtime breeder of Quarter Horses and past president of the Mississippi Quarter Horse Association. He has been an AQHA member for more than 30 years, has served as an AQHA director since 2002 and served on the public policy and membership services committees, and foundation, ranching, show and marketing and membership councils. Phillips is also a member of AQHA’s “Q-Contacts” group, which fosters relationships with members of Congress.
Phillips received his bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of Southern Mississippi and his law degree from the University of Mississippi. In 1980, he was named the U.S. attorney for the southern district of Mississippi. He also served as special counsel to Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran (R) for six years, and he was director of the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics before being named the state’s commissioner of public safety in 2005. In 2008, Phillips was appointed the Mississippi state director for USDA rural development.
Now retired, George and wife Nicole have three children: Garrison, Margaret and Mary.
Second Vice President Dr. Glenn Blodgett
Dr. Glenn Blodgett of Guthrie, Texas, became an AQHA director in 1991, and in 2011, elevated to director-at-large. Dr. Blodgett served on the AQHA Stud Book and Registration Committee and as its chairman. He also served on the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame Selection Committee and the American Quarter Horse Foundation, and the AQHA Ranching and Marketing and Membership councils.
Dr. Blodgett received his bachelor’s degree in animal science from Oklahoma State University and earned his degree in veterinary medicine from Texas A&M University, and has since been recognized as an outstanding alumnus by both universities.
In 1982, Dr. Blodgett became the resident veterinarian and manager of the horse division at the Four Sixes Ranch. In his tenure at the Four Sixes, which is located near Guthrie, Texas, the ranch has become an all-time leading breeder of both racing and performance American Quarter Horses, and in 1993, won the AQHA Best Remuda Award. In addition to its cattle, the horse operation raises racing, performance and ranch horses. Dr. Blodgett is the recipient of the 2011 AQHA Racing Council Special Recognition Award.
He and his wife, Karen, have two daughters: Buffie Guynes, who lives with husband Michael and daughters Catherine, Rebecca and Clair in Keller, Texas; and Brandie Mustian, who lives with husband Mike, son Maddox and daughter Myla in Weatherford, Texas.
Sandy Arledge, Member
Sandy Arledge of Encinitas, California, begins her second term as a member of the Executive Committee. She has been an AQHA director since 1997 and elevated to director emeritus in 2011. She has served on the membership, shows and professional horsemen, judges, stud book and registration and hall of fame selection committees. Arledge also served on the nominations and credentials committee and served as the committee’s chairwoman in 2010. She currently serves on the foundation council.
She received her bachelor’s degree from San Diego State University and her Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Diego School of Law.
Arledge is active in the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Association and California Horse Council. She owned and operated Sandy Arledge Quarter Horses and was a general partner and manager of Far West Farms, a full-service boarding facility in Del Mar, California. She has bred and trained numerous AQHA world champions and reserve world champions. She was named the 2010 Professional’s Choice Professional Horsewoman of the Year.
Ralph Seekins, Member
The newest member of the AQHA Executive Committee is Ralph Seekins of Fairbanks, Alaska. An AQHA director since 2006 for Washington/Alaska, Seekins has served on the AQHA marketing and membership committee, the Foundation Council and is currently serving on the AQHA Public Policy Committee.
Seekins began his association with American Quarter Horses in 1995 when his daughters convinced him and his wife, Connie, that they really needed horses. His early years with horses included ranch work and sprint racing. The first two horses for the Seekins family were home-trained and went on to earn AQHA open championships, AQHYA championships, AQHYA Supreme Champion titles and one youth versatility award.
For more than 13 years, the Seekins family has used their American Quarter Horses in the Helping Hooves therapeutic riding program for riders with disabilities.
Read more convention coverage, brought to you by The American Quarter Horse Journal, at www.aqha.com/convention.