AMERICAN QUARTER HORSE ASSOCIATION—MARCH 24, 2021—The AQHA convention annually brings together AQHA members, who assemble to discuss member-driven rule changes and industry topics. 

AQHA is led by members, including those elected to committees, councils, directors and, ultimately, the five members of the AQHA Executive Committee. 

This leadership provides expert guidance, including those committed to the racing committee and racing council. 

At the 2021 AQHA Convention, held March 18-22 in San Antonio, AQHA Racing Committee Chairman Mark Brown stepped down after completing his three-year term of service. G.R. Carter Jr. was elected as the new chairman. 

“We can’t thank Mark enough for the hard work he has done,” said AQHA Chief Racing Officer Janet VanBebber. “He has gone above and beyond to serve our industry and to help it flourish. 

“We are excited to have G.R. step into the role with all the experience and leadership he has to offer,” she added. 

Carter is the sport of American Quarter Horse racing’s all-time leading jockey by both money earned and wins, with more than $75 million in mount earnings and 3,900 wins. He was named champion jockey 10 times in his career before he retired at the end of 2019. 

He served on the AQHA Racing Committee before accepting his position as AQHA Racing Council chairman. 

He also served for many years on the board of the Jockeys’ Guild, and currently works with Jockeys and Jeans, which raises money for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. 

Here are five questions with Carter: 

Tell us a little about what you’ve been up to since you retired from race riding.

• I thought in retirement you slow down, but I’ve heard people say you end up doing a lot more, and that seems to be true (laughs). I’ve been roping a bunch, building on my place. 

  I’ve got that business, Arrowhead Pipeline Services, I’m not real active with it, but I’ve taken on a new business. My dad had an Indian smoke shop in North Tulsa, and after he passed away last year, I ended up taking it over. I’ve been awful busy.

Why did you decide to step into leadership within AQHA? 

• I’ve always been involved in groups that I had a connection to, like the Jockeys’ Guild and the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. I’ve even been active in some form with AQHA for quite awhile, but since I retired, I have more time to focus on issues with AQHA. 

  This business has been so good to me, I feel the need to give back. I rode races for 35 years, that was my sole source of income. There’s nobody the business has been better to than me, and I realize that. I want to keep it good, and keep the Association going in the right direction. 

What is the good news for Quarter Horse racing? 

• The good news for Quarter Horse racing is we’re able to run after COVID last year! It was so dicey of a year last year, whether we were even going to be able to run. Places like Remington Park, Ruidoso (and many others) really stepped up to the plate, stuck their necks out there and set a precedent on how they could run during a pandemic. 

  Now they’re reopening the casinos, and that’s what generates the day-to-day purse money. It’s just a good thing they’ve got it back open. And the yearling sales remained strong despite COVID. Things are really looking up this year. 

What do you think are the most pressing issues facing the Quarter Horse racing industry? 

• Staying ahead of the curve on medication violations and things of that nature. That’s the biggest issue right there. Always has been, always will be. 

What are your main goals for AQHA’s racing governance in the next three years? 

• I’d like to see continued growth in Quarter Horse racing, with the number of racing opportunities and purses. And, of course, I’ve got a strong connection to this, and we made a presentation at the committee meeting at convention. The Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund has really been handicapped in getting any kind of permanent revenue income. It has been completely dependent on donations over the first nine years of its existence. 

  There’s a push to get like a checkoff system, where the winning horse in a race would donate a really small portion (of its winnings), like .001%, toward the PDJF to go toward taking care of the guys who have been disabled. That’s something that I’d like to see happen to benefit the guys who gave their health permanently for the benefit of horse racing. 

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AQHA News and information is a service of the American Quarter Horse Association. For more news and information, follow @AQHAnews on Twitter and visit aqha.com/news.