PG . 18
AQHA FEATURE
CONGRATULATIONS ,
Gordon Nash !
50 Years an AQHA Judge
ARTICLE BY : LYN HOFFMANN © 2021
GORDON Nash , lives in Forbes , Victoria , and remembers well when , in 1972 , he attended Australia ’ s first AQHA Judging Convention . The seminar was excellent and was run by Leon Harrel & Clive Robinson , and was well attended . People in the industry today would recognise the names of some of the people who went along , people like Greg & Lori Lougher , Robert Baldwin & Max McTaggart , just to name a few .
Back in those days ,’ Gordon begins . ‘ You couldn ’ t just decide to become a Judge , you had to be nominated for the position of an AQHA Judge . I ended up being nominated by Robert Baldwin . I ’ d enjoyed competing and showing in many different disciplines & events and had successfully shown my first Quarter Horse , a Vaquero gelding called Red Adair , from 1969 , and also bred quite a few good horses at our property , Quamby Horse Stud . So , I was happy to become an AQHA Judge , as I felt I knew my events well .’
Gordon also remembers , as one of the many of the earlier AQHA Judges , regularly driving many hours to judge various events , and often flying out to many different locations all across Australia to judge Quarter Horse shows and numerous events .
‘ I flew on the TAA Airlines way back then and always felt very comfortable flying with them , because , back then the
Gordon Nash - 50 Years Judging air hostesses all wore the western-style Akubra Hats , and were all pretty good sorts , too .’
Gordon says he met some wonderful people on his travels , judged many great horses and witnessed some outstanding runs . He has some great memories of his early Judging days , but one show that always stuck in his mind was in 1973 , his first big show , held at Whittlesea , in Victoria .
‘ There were three of us officiating as the show ’ s Judges ,’ Gordon says . ‘ Myself , Wally Woods , who was a great
AUSTRALIAN QUARTER HORSE ASSOCIATION - WWW . AQHA . COM . AU