Official American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) Black Type Systems

AQHA has approved three black type pedigree systems:

  1. Race Black Type
    1. Catalog Examples: Heritage Place Sales, Ruidoso Select Sales
  2. Performance (General) Black Type
    1. Catalog Examples: NCHA, NRCHA & NRHA Futurity Sales
  3. Barrel Black Type (Combines Race + Performance + Barrel)
    1. Catalog Examples: [2023] BFA & BBR Futurity Sales

Race Black Type Rules:

  1. UPPER CASE BLACK TYPE: First in an official AQHA, Jockey Club or APHA stakes race.
  2. Upper/Lower Case Black type: Second or third in an official AQHA, Jockey Club or APHA stakes race.
  3. Finalist information only appears when a race was graded.

Original Performance Black Type Rules: apply to all performance disciplines for foals born prior to 2020 (barrel) and 2021 (all other disciplines):

  1. UPPER CASE BLACK TYPE
    1. *World Champion [qualifying world-caliber shows]
    2. †AQHA-APHA Champion, Versatility Champion
  • †AQHA-APHA Superior Award
  1. NCHA Bronze, Silver, Gold & Platinum Award
  2. Earnings of $ 10,000 or more
  1. Lower Case Black Type:
    1. *Reserve World Champion [qualifying world-caliber shows]
    2. AQHA Select World Champion
  • †Color Club (PHBA, IBHA, ABRA) Champion
  1. †AQHA-APHA ROM award
  2. Earnings of $1,500-$9,999

Updated [General] Performance Horse Black Type Rules implemented on January 1, 2024 apply to all performance disciplines except barrel racing and pertains to foals born in 2021 and later. Rules are as follows:

  1. UPPER CASE BLACK TYPE
    1. *World Champion [qualifying world-caliber shows]
  • †AQHA-APHA Champion, Versatility Champion
  • †AQHA-APHA Superior Award
  1. Earnings of $15,000 or more
  1. Lower Case Black Type:
    1. *Reserve World Champion [qualifying world-caliber shows]
    2. AQHA Select World Champion
  • AQHA World Level 2 Champion [no change except in documentation]
  • †Color Club (PHBA, IBHA, ABRA) Champion
  • †AQHA-APHA ROM award
  1. Earnings of $3,000-$14,999

**Updated Barrel Horse Black Type Rules implemented by the Barrel Racing Industry Alliance (BRIA) on January 1, 2024 apply to foals born in 2020 and later with only the speed event codes on the performance lines in the QData Database (halter classes ignored):

  1. UPPER CASE BLACK TYPE
    1. Total lifetime earnings of $50,000 & above
    2. Winning a Grade 1 Barrel Race (regardless of earnings)
  • Earning an AQHA Superior Barrel Racing award
  1. Lower Case Black Type:
    1. Total lifetime earnings of $25,000-$49,999
    2. Placing 2nd or 3rd in a Grade 1 Barrel Race (regardless of earnings)

**If a barrel horse also shows in other events and qualified for black type under the General Black Type System, it earns the General System black type.

*Qualifying World Shows must attract exhibitors and/or horses from the U.S. and foreign countries. Examples are AQHA World Show, APHA World Show, NSBA World Show, All American Quarter Horse Congress. Simply calling a show a “World” does not qualify it for the black type system.

†If the non-AQHA information is manually provided to the information producer.