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David Stanley Ford

At American Quarter Horse Association World Championship Show, time out for health

By Aaron Crespo    Comments Comment on this article1
Published: November 16, 2008


Janely Pham checks Judee Alex’s blood pressure during a free health screening at State Fair Park. photo by Steve Gooch, The oklahoman

Some of the healthiest horses in the world were on display this week during the American Quarter Horse Association World Championship Show at State Fair Park.

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IF YOU GO

AQHA world championship show

→Where: Jim Norick State Fair Arena at State Fair Park in Oklahoma City.

→When: The show continues through Nov. 22. Events begin each day at 9 a.m., with the final event of the day starting at 7 p.m.

→Tickets: General admission is $7. For tickets, call OK Tickets at 948-6827.

On Saturday, the association made sure members were taking care of their own health, too.

The organization partnered with the OU Health Sciences Center to offer free health and cancer screenings to exhibitors and vendors .

"A lot of the people who compete at this level are on the road quite a bit,” said Tom Pereschino, marketing director for the association. "They give their horses such pristine care, but they probably don’t take a lot of time for their own health sometimes.”

For many, showing horses is a full-time job and a small business. Travel and training limit the time exhibitors spend on their health, and high premiums make insurance prohibitively expensive.

"You probably find very little health insurance in the horse industry because you can’t get it or can’t afford it if you could,” said Mary Jo Simpson, who takes care of horses.

‘We wanted to give back’

Tracie Anderson is clinical operations director for the health center. She also shows horses and helped organize the screening. The association has been raising money for the Shirley Bowman Nutritional Clinic at the OU Health Sciences Center.

"We wanted to give back to them,” Anderson said.

More than 3,500 members attended the show this weekend in the Jim Norick State Fair Arena.

More than 100 people were expected to receive health screenings, Pereschino said.

The health screening operation may expand next year, he said.

Blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar were checked, and oral cancer screenings were provided. Flu shots were available. State residents were able to schedule colonoscopies or mammograms at no charge. The screenings were limited to members of the quarter horse group.

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David Stanley Ford



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kelly, Oklahoma City - Nov 17, 2008 at 9:48 am

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