The American Quarter Horse Foundation's (AQHF) Young Investigator Award was created in 2009, and has awarded over $704,260 in funding to eligible applicants.

Who is Eligible?

• MS or PhD level graduate students
• DVM/VMD level residency interns
• Postdoctoral researchers in training

Research performed must be mentored by a graduate level advisor, major professor or senior faculty PhD or DVM/VMD mentor. Graduate or residency students wishing to apply must be currently enrolled in a graduate sciences program.

Research Projects

Proposals must have a focused scope and objectives in the field of equine research. Research should be completed within a one-year period with a viable outcome leading to publication following project completion. Project proposals should be developed with special attention to AQHF's identified areas of research interest and the following programmatic objectives:

• Enhance the well-being of the American Quarter Horse.
• Advance impactful research for practical application.
• Produce research innovation through basic and applied sciences.
• Promote findings to peers, clinicians, and industry stakeholders.
• Foster education and training of future researchers.
• Increase collaboration within the research industry.

Project Funding

Funding requests should not exceed $25,000. Grants are awarded annually for the funding period of October 1 through September 30. Please be advised of the following budgetary limitations:

• AQHF will fund graduate student salaries or tuition at the resident rate, provided more than 50% of the student's time is being spent on the project and documentation accompanies the grant's full proposal (i.e., must include copy of tuition and fees for graduate students from the university catalog).
• To increase graduate student participation within the proposed research, AQHF choses to support graduate travel stipends in place of related overhead expenses. Stipends in the amount of $1,500 for domestic travel or $2,000 for international travel may be requested per student, with a maximum of $5,000 available for student travel.
• AQHF will support the lease of equipment. Justification must be provided within the full proposal regarding terms and length of the service contract.
• AQHF will fund consumable supplies, service contracts and publication costs.
• AQHF will fund the purchase, lease, and care of horses. If horses are purchased, salvage value must be documented and deducted from the cost. Additional requirements regarding the use of client-owned horses are outlined within the AQHF Equine Research Program Guidelines.
• AQHF will not fund indirect costs such as facilities and administration costs, etc.

Research Expectations

With programmatic objectives to promote research findings and foster education, graduate student travel stipends will be awarded with the expectation that upon completion of the research, student(s) have an abstract accepted and present their findings at scientific conference (i.e., AAEP Laminitis Symposium, Equine Science Society Symposium, Havemeyer Horse Genome Workshop, etc.) with appropriate acknowledgement of AQHF's support.

Deadline for submission of pre-proposals is November 1. Pre-proposals should conform to the Foundation’s designated research application format. Questions may be directed to the American Quarter Horse Foundation at (806) 378-5022 or foundation@aqha.org.