NOMINATION RULES
If your horse is sired by one of the Pink Buckle Stallions, your horse is eligible for nomination.

Only ONE nomination payment is due per calendar year per horse. Nomination payments are non-transferrable (meaning you cannot transfer payment to another horse) and non-refundable.

All horses need to be nominated every year to remain eligible to compete at the Pink Buckle Barrel Races.

NOMINATION SCHEDULE:
$220 due by Aug 1 OR $350 due by Dec 1
If you do not pay your foal in by the Dec 1 deadline of the year they are born, they will only be eligible for nomination into the Pink Buckle by utilizing the missed nomination payment option if they are under 5 (see below).

HOW THE NOMINATION PROCESS WORKS:

For the entire life of your horse, if you wish to run at the Pink Buckle Barrel Races, they will need to be paid in yearly. (Example: Weanling $220 + Yearling $220 + 2 yr old $220 + 3 yr old $220 + 4 yr old $220 + 5 yr old $220 = $1320 + Entry Fee for the Pink Buckle Barrel Race)

Any horse nominated into the Pink Buckle will need to pay $220 yearly to remain eligible to run at the Pink Buckle Barrel Races for future years.

$220 nomination for all horses are due by Aug 1.  If you miss this deadline the fee will be $350 due by Dec 1. AQHA registration papers are not needed at the time of nomination, but we require that you email a copy of the papers to [email protected] when you get them.

In the case of stallions leaving the program or dying –> Within any given year, if you have nominated your horse and continue to pay your nominations yearly, your horse will always be eligible to run in the Pink Buckle Barrel Races.

Example — > ‘Stallion X’ sired horses are eligible to run at the Pink Buckle Barrel Races as long as they are nominated into the program each year starting in 2018 or each year of their life. If ‘Stallion X’ drops out of the Pink Buckle Stallions list, your foal will be eligible to run at the Pink Buckle Barrel Races as long as ‘Stallion X’ was Pink Buckle eligible the year your foal was conceived. Foal must be nominated based on schedule outlined above.

If your horse is sired by a new stallion that has been added to the Pink Buckle, you will be able to nominate horses of any age sired by these ‘new’ stallions within the year they are added to the program ONLY. $220 Nomination Fee is due Aug 1 or $350 by Dec 1.

OTHER NOMINATION OPTIONS

MISSED NOMINATION PAYMENT OPTION

This missed/late payment nomination option for horses that were not nominated the first year of eligibility or have missed a nomination payment. Horses must be late paid before the start of their futurity year & must have never competed in any barrel race. Yearly nomination payments will be due to maintain your horse’s eligibility to run at the Pink Buckle Barrel Race.

$2,000 / due by Nov 1 (of their 3 yr old year)
$3,000 / due by Nov 1 (of their 4 yr old year)
 

(New in 2026) 9 & OLDER MISSED NOMINATION PAYMENT OPTION

This missed/late payment option is for horses that have never been nominated, OR have missed a yearly payment AND the horse is 9 years old OR older.  This fee CANNOT be paid until the horse is 9 yrs old or older.  The option is good for any horse sired by ANY past or present Pink Buckle Stallion. Yearly nomination payments will be due following this payment to maintain your horse's eligibility to run at Pink Buckle Barrel Races.

$4,000 / due at time of entry OR by Dec 1
 

RACETRACK SPECIAL NOMINATION OPTION

If not previously nominated to the Pink Buckle, horses that have had an official 'start' on the track or are a sale graduate of Heritage Place, Ruidoso, or Los Alamitos sales are eligible for nomination the year of purchase at a discounted rate as listed below:

$600 due for yearling

$900 due for 2-yr-olds

$1200 due for 3-yr-olds

$1500 due for 4-yr-olds

*Nomination must be received by Dec 1 in the year of purchase from sale. Please note that you will need to continue nominating yearly to remain eligible to compete for Pink Buckle Barrel Race payouts in future years.

NOMINATION EXCEPTIONS

UNREGISTERED HORSES

In the case where a horse is not/cannot be registered: a DNA test will need to be provided by the horse owner with nomination/entry form(s) & the stallion owner will be contacted by the Pink Buckle office to verify parentage and confirm that all breeding payments have been made to the stallion owner.

REBREEDS

If you are wanting to nominate a foal that is the result of a rebreed to a stallion who is no longer enrolled in Pink Buckle you will need to provide a copy of the breeding contract and a letter from the stallion owner verifying that the foal was a result of a rebreed from the year the stallion was enrolled in Pink Buckle.

FROZEN EMBRYOS

Frozen embryo eligibility is based on year of conception not year of transfer (implantation to recipient mare).  Proof of date of conception will need to be sent in with nomination form.

All decisions made by the Pink Buckle are final – we reserve the right to refuse entry to any horse or individual. Any rules herewith can be changed, added to, or denied at the discretion of Pink Buckle LLC.  Pink Buckle LLC will have the final word in interpreting or supplementing the rules and conditions of the Futurity if the need arises.

If you have any nomination questions, please email [email protected]