The AQHA Select World Championship Show commenced in 2003.
AQHA first offered Select classes in 1997. Six years later, the first AQHA Select World Championship Show was held in 2003 at the Tri-State Fairgrounds in Amarillo. The event is the world’s largest, single-breed world championship horse show open exclusively to amateur exhibitors age 50 and over.
Adequan® (polysulfated glycosaminoglycan) came on board in 2010 as the title sponsor of the Adequan® Select World Championship Show.
In 2012, AQHA began recognizing the top three 70-&-over exhibitors in each event with AQHA Super-Select awards. Two years later, AQHA presented the first Gene Graves Super-Select Special Recognition Award. This award is presented at the end of the show to the team of a Super-Select exhibitor and his/her horse that has garnered the most points in multiple events. This award was named in 2013 after AQHA Past President Gene Graves (2012-13), who died June 14, 2013. Gene and his wife, Barbara, attended the Select World since its inception in 2003. Gene was also the driving force behind the Super-Select awards.
In 2019, the Adequan® Select World will move to the Will Rogers Memorial Center in Fort Worth, Texas. There it will stay until at least 2021, when the location contract is open for bid again.
