What is a stallion incentive? A stallion incentive is a program designed to give breeders some very good reasons to breed their mares to specific stallions. One good reason (incentive) is: the foals sired stallions in an Incentive program are eligible to win a significant amount of money (bonuses) that other stallions' progeny aren't eligible to win. For example, the Pro Elite Sire Incentive anticipates a $50,000 payout in 2009. The payout should grow exponentially as more stallions enroll and their results progeny are nominated.

How are the bonuses won? The progeny of PESI stallions, which become top performing horses and have been enrolled in the PESI, will receive bonuses when competing in select WPRA Pro Futurities and Pro Futurity Derbies throughout the season. The followng bonuses will also be paid to top performing/PESI enrolled horses when they are used as a member's primary mount throughout the regular season, qualify and compete at their circuit finals or the NFR ($500 at Circuit Finals / $2500 at NFR - must run in a minimum of 3 performances / $5000 for World Championship and/or winner of the NFR Average). Several more categories will be included as the program grows. For example, WPRA member's enrolled team-roping horses or break-away horses may be eligible for bonus payouts as the program grows.

Is the program just for enrolled stallions & their progeny? Yes. When a stallion is enrolled, every existing foal by him may be "grandfathered" into the PESI program, plus every foal crop conceived during a stallion's enrollment in PESI, which also benefits the breeders of the foals. All bonus payments are split 70% to the owner of the progeny, 20% to the breeder, and 10% to the sire owner.

Who, exactly, is the "breeder?" A breeder is most often the owner of the mare that a stallion is bred to. However it could be someone else, for instance someone who leased the mare for breeding. The breeder is listed on the horse's registration papers. That's another good "incentive" to breed mares to stallions in the program.

Do stallion owners receive bonuses when an enrolled stallion competes? Yes. Stallions who are enrolled in the program may earn bonuses for their owners when they themselves compete successfully. Another good "incentive" to enroll a stallion in the program.

How do stallions get into the program? What is "nominating?" An owner must "nominate" his stallion to be in the program. This means, he must send in a pre-determined amount of money by a certain deadline so that his/her stallion will be considered for enrollment into the program. Anyone can nominate their stallion by getting an application form and sending it to the program administrator. For this program, a first payment of $500 is due by February 1st of the enrollment year in order for a stallion to be "nominated."

What exactly, is an "enrollment year?" An enrollment year is Jan. 1-December 31. For example, if a stallion is nominated on or before February 1, 2009, and paid in full by April 1, 2009, he is enrolled in the program from Jan. 1 of 2009 through December 31 of 2009.

Will all stallions be accepted into the program? Yes.

What is the cost to get a stallion into the program? The fee per year is $1000. You must pay a "nomination" fee of $500 by February 1, 2009. Then the final fee of $500 must be received by April 1, 2009. You may pay the total fee on February 1, if you prefer to make just one payment. After a stallion has been enrolled for three consecutive season the annual enrollment fee will be reduced to $750 per year.

What happens if we don't make a payment on time? Each stallion who nominates will be asked to guarantee their contract with a credit card. Should the stallion owner miss a payment the credit card will be charged for the amount of the payment missed. If the credit card is declined and the payment is not brought to date by the end of the 10-day grace period a $100 fine will be imposed. Stallions who are not paid in full by May 1, will be dropped from the program and will not be allowed back in without first paying a $200 fine and all future enrollment fees in full at the time of nomination.

Why not just ask for the total fee instead of accepting payments? Some owners will nominate numerous horses to several programs. The nomination option helps to spread out payments over several months or in the case of progeny nominations, several years.

What does it mean to "sustain"? This term applies when more than one payment is made to maintain a stallion or his progeny eligibility for a program. Let's say you have ten weanlings, but only six of them are by stallions who were enrolled in PESI at the time they were conceived. ("at the time they were conceived" is important-you'll see more about that later.) This means that those six are eligible to be in PESI.

You could pay the total fee of $150 per weanling, by December 31 of their weanling year, and be done with it. They are in for life. Or, you could send in just $50 per weanling by Dec. 31 of their weanling year, and they would be "nominated." Buying a nominated or enrolled foal is important to a growing segment of buyers.

If you still own those foals when they become yearlings, you would need to "sustain" their nominations by paying another $50 each by Dec. 31 of their yearling year, followed by another $50 payment by Dec. 31 of their two- year-old year and another $50 payment by Dec. 31 of their three-year-old year. Thus, it costs a total of $200 to be enrolled for life using the nomination/sustaining fee method.

If a breeder and/or owner sell a prospect during the nomination/sustaining process, the new owner has the option to continue to "sustain" the nomination if they so desire.

What happens if I miss a payment to sustain progeny nomination? There is a late fee of $50 that must be paid with the payment you missed before the next payment due date. If you do not pay the late fee, your missed payment, and the next payment on time, you will be dropped from the program. There are no refunds. Your money becomes part of the bonus money account for other owners to compete for.

Can all the horses sired by an enrolled PESI stallion be in the program? Yes. This part is very important to understand. When a stallion is nominated for the program, his owner will be required to submit the stallion's breeding report to the PESI administrator who will contact the those breeders each season to provide them with information so everyone understand the benefits of the program.

Why is it so IMPORTANT for all these people to know a stallion is in the program?
1. Most breeders considering a stallion for the upcoming breeding season will be very pleased to know that the foals they raise are eligible for lifetime PESI bonus payouts. A growing number of buyers consider this a very positive thing for their barrel horse prospects.
2. All horses by a specific stallion foaled prior to that stallion's PESI enrollment are instantly eligible to be "grand-fathered" into the program. There is a window of opportunity to enroll these horses for the very reasonable fee of $150 for a lifetime of potential bonus payouts.?-The window begins when a horse's sire is nominated to PESI. (The stallion must also be accepted into the program and fees paid by the deadline.) To enroll progeny during this window of opportunity, a horse owner needs to send in an application, a copy of both sides of its registration papers, and $150 BEFORE December 31 of the enrollment year in which the newly enrolled stallion is nominated. What if I miss the window of opportunity to Grandfather my horse in? Owners of existing progeny of Newly Enrolled Stallions who miss the window of opportunity to Grandfather their horse in can still enroll for a fee of $2500. So, you can see that it is very important for sire owners to contact owners of previously sired foals by their stallions, and it's important for progeny/horse owners to check Women's Pro Rodeo News and www.wpra.com to see if their horse's sire is in the program. If you want your horse in the program, you may want to call its sire's owner to encourage him/her to enroll the stallion.
3. Breeders will want to know that a stallion they have used in breeding for a foal is in the PESI so they have the opportunity to enroll his offspring into the program. They will also want to let potential buyers know that their foals are eligible to be in PESI. Remember that the breeder of an eligible foal receives a bonus, as well as the progeny owner and the stallion owner!

How do I know if a prospect is PESI nominated/enrolled? Beginning in 2009, PESI will maintain a list of these horses on the WPRA website. Nominated and fully enrolled progeny will be listed by sire and year of birth, in alphabetical order. Horses who have been nominated and still owe sustaining payments will show (N) under the status column. Horses that are paid in full and enrolled will show (E) under the status column. This way stallion owners, breeders and contestants would actually be able to go to the website and see how many horses by each stallion are in the program. If an (N) shows up in the status column, owners and prospective buyers can call PESI to see how much has been paid and when the next sustaining payment is due.

How do I know if my horse's sire is in the program? A complete list of stallions currently enrolled will be available at www.wpra.com. The PESI administrator will maintain the list of stallions who drop out of the program but who were previously enrolled and have sired nominated and/or enrolled progeny in the PESI program. Remember, a nominated sire must be totally paid up ($1000) by April 1 of the year he is nominated or he will be removed from the PESI website listing of participating stallions.

Does a stallion have to pay the fee every year? Yes, a stallion owner pays $1000 every year for the opportunity to promote that his stallion is in the PESI.

How do enrolled Sire's foals get into the program? A foal or horse by a PESI stallion is nominated by its owner by filling out an application and making an initial (nomination) payment of $50 by December 31 of its weanling year. OR- an owner may fully enroll the foal by making a one-time payment of $150 by December 31 of its weanling year. A foal's sire must have been in the Incentive program the year of its conception. (Exceptions: See the above policy for existing progeny of newly enrolled stallions, and the fee schedule, below, for progeny not nominated as weanlings)

To sustain a foal's nomination:
$50 by December 31st of its weanling year. (1st payment)
$50 by December 31st of yearling year. (2nd payment)
$50 by December 31st of 2 year-old year.(3rd payment)
$50 by December 31st of 3 year-old year. (4th payment)

Remember, the $50 late fee that must be paid if you are late with a payment and that missing a payment or not paying late fees will result in being dropped from the program. No refunds will be made if you are dropped from the program. No progeny substitutions can be made.

What if a foal is not nominated when it s a weanling and its sire is not a "newly enrolled" stallion? (The Grandfather clause does not apply in this situation.) Foals conceived during an enrollment year by a PESI stallion may enroll in the Incentive even though they were not nominated as weanlings by paying the one-time fees listed below:
Yearlings:$250 due December 31 of yearling year
2 year olds: $500 due December 31 of 2 year old year (eligible for bonus as 3 year old & older)
3 year olds: $750 due December 31 of 3 year old year (eligible for bonus as 4 year old & older)
4 year olds: $1500 due December 31 of 4 year old year (eligible for bonus as 5 year old & older)
5 year olds: $1750 due December 31 of 5 year old year (eligible for bonus as 6 year old & older)
Over 5 years old: $2000 due December 31 of the year prior to competition.

Remember, once a one-time payment, or completed futurity payment schedule is completed, enrolled progeny of PESI stallions can compete for bonus payouts in this program for life.

Stallion Benefits
Listing/Photo in Women's Pro Rodeo News--Pro Elite Stallion Edition
Listing/Photo on www.wpra.com
Weblink to stallion website from www.wpra.com
Stallion listed on PESI brochures
Opportunity to showcase stallion at Pro Futurity Finals
Stallions who are enrolled and they themselves compete in qualifying events are eligible for bonus payouts during the years(s) in which they are enrolled.
Stallion Owners receive 10% of bonus payments earned by enrolled progeny.