An American Quarter Horse Association Hall of Fame member and Western performance horse industry veterinarian is among the finalists for the 2019 Equine Industry Vision Award.
Dr. Tom Lenz, former resident veterinarian for L.A. Waters Quarter Horses, is one of four finalists for the award. Other finalists include horseman Monty Roberts, the Certified Horsemanship Association and the Right Horse Initiative.
Lenz, who was inducted into the AQHA Hall of Fame in 2018, worked on legendary performance stallions Colonel Freckles (Jewel’s Leo Bars x Christy Jay x Rey Jay) and Boon Bar (Doc Bar x Teresa Tivio x Poco Tivio). He is an advocate for horse welfare, and including through the AQHA Animal Welfare Commission.
Finalists were chosen from a pool of 15 nominees. The winner will be officially announced at the Equine Industry Vision Award Breakfast on May 31 during the American Horse Publications Equine Media Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The recipient will be presented with a trophy created by master artisan Peter Wayne Yenawine.
More on the finalists:
* Certified Horsemanship Association (CHA):It is an organization for safe, fun and effective horsemanship education and certification of equine professionals as instructors
* Dr. Tom Lenz: He is a veterinarian, past American Association of Equine Practitioners president, retired equine technical services lead at Zoetis, as well as animal welfare pioneer and one of the world’s most prominent advocates for the humane, sensible treatment of horses.
* Monty Roberts: Founder of Flag Is Up Farms and Join-Up International, Roberts is an internationally known horseman committed to improving the traditional ways of treating not only animals but also the people around horses.
* The Right Horse Initiative: The non-profit industry wide collaboration was created to innovate and implement resources and services for at-risk horses funded by the WaterShed Animal Fund.
The Equine Industry Vision Award is judged by the person or group’s vision and innovation, as well as its leadership, commitment and dedication. Originality and effectiveness of ideas, as well as moral, ethical and professional standards are also considered.
Previous recipients of the Equine Industry Vision Award are Alexander Mackay-Smith in 2002, Don Burt in 2003, the American Quarter Horse Association in 2004, John Ryan Gaines in 2005, Stanley Bergstein in 2006, David O’Connor in 2007, Sally Swift in 2008, Charlotte Brailey Kneeland in 2009, John Nicholson in 2010, Robert E. Cacchione in 2011, Equine Land Conservation Resource in 2012, Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship (PATH) in 2013, Patti Colbert in 2014, Gayle Ecker in 2015, Gary Carpenter in 2016, Sydney Knott in 2017, and David Jones, DVM in 2018.
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