Come visit the American Quarter Horse Heritage Center & Museum and get involved. You'll enjoy many hands-on, interactive exhibits, fascinating artifacts, dramatic video presentations, live demonstrations, and breathtaking works of art. There's even a research library for serious owners and enthusiasts. This beautiful and friendly facility is located right next to the American Quarter Horse Association headquarters in Amarillo, Texas.

Everything in the Heritage Center has been designed for your enjoyment, entertainment, and education whether you're a horse expert or novice, starting with the orientation show in the 70-seat Theater of America's Horse. Through the latest laser technology available, this exciting presentation combines action, music, lighting, and sculpture in a moving overview of the American Quarter Horse's development and history.

Take a walk through time in the Heritage Gallery. Chronologically aranged exhibits trace the development of the American Quarter Horse from colonial racing days to the present. A touchable scale-model horse, an actual equine skeleton, related hands-on informational displays, even a vintage chuck wagon, bring the history of America's horse to life.

The exhibits and artifacts in the Performance Gallery will give you a real feel for the tremendous versatility of the American Quarter Horse, from racing and rodeoing to ranching and showing. That's especially true of the starting gate from the original All-American Futurity. Here, you can mount a fiberglass replica of "America's Fastest Athlete," and imagine what it's like to ride in the world's richest American Quarter Horse race.

The Performance Gallery also includes the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame, a special area dedicated to the people and horses who've helped make the American Quarter Horse the most popular breed in the world. Interact with touch screen computers to learn about the Hall of Fame members on the way to the Performance Theater. With a choice of six videos and authentic saddle seats, this interactive mini-theater is fun and educational for Heritage Center visitors of all ages.

Discover a lifetime of fun and learn more about the family aspects of owning and riding an American Quarter Horse in the Recreation Gallery. Visit the stable where you can choose brief video topics about buying, feeding, grooming, and more. The little ones in your family can have fun in their special play area. A full-size cutaway horse trailer shows visitors an example of equipment used by members of the American Quarter Horse Youth Association in shows and contests.

During the summer months, don't be surprised to find a live American Quarter Horse in the outdoor Justin Arena adjacent to the Museum. As part of its educational programming, theMuseum invites area volunteers to show their American Quarter Horses in action during brief exhibitions. Visitors relish the opportunity for petting and picture taking.

If shopping is your bag, check out the Heritage Center's store, Quarter Horse Outfitters. The shop fittingly offers many Western and Southwestern gift items and has an impressive selection of books, video and audio tapes, accessories and AQHA logoed items.

The Museum's temporary exhibitions are becoming one of its hallmarks. In 1993, it mounted "Hoofbeats on the Pitchfork Ranch: Photography by Bob Moorhouse." After leaving the Heritage Center, the exhibition was featured at seven stops in Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma, including the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. Through 1996, the exhibition's 30 images of modern ranch life on the historic Pitchfork Ranch will be available at seven more venues including the Phippen Museum of Western Art in Presscott, Arizona, March 15 through April 28, 1996.

Easily accessible at exit 72-A, Interstate 40 East, the Heritage Center is open daily through Labor Day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and Noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. From Labor Day through April 30, the Museum operates on a winter schedule five days a week.

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