Nancy Eidam, AMHA Director Emeritus named recipient of the 2020 Oregon Horse Council Lifetime Achievement Award!
(Announcement below as printed in the Northeast Morgan News Electronic e-mail blast on 01/15/2021.)
Nancy Eidam is well known as a great promoter of horses and the Morgan breed in particular. She is constantly at the forefront of the youth scene, organizing Youth of The Year contests, and introducing children to the Morgan breed.
Nancy started Crown Morgans in 1964 and has bred over 150 horses to carry her Crown prefix. Many of them have become Regional and National champions. Crown horses have been successful in the show ring in all disciplines, for carriage, the sport horse disciplines, for use in other breeding programs, and especially for use as all around family horses.
Nancy is now a retired USEF/AHSA “R” judge after serving in that capacity for 40 years. She has judged shows from coast-to-coast as well as throughout Canada, in England, New Zealand, and Australia. She has been a participant and developer of the AMHA Judging Seminar where her slide show on Morgan type and conformation has educated many a judge. She has served on Convention panels and given clinics and seminars throughout the country, and again in Canada, England, New Zealand, and Australia. She was an Oregon Horsemen’s Association Judge in 14 divisions for 18 years.
Nancy has served in numerous local clubs including as a Director of the prior Oregon Horsemen’s Association. She was the founding director and creator of the Oregon Horse-A-Fair and had total responsibility for creating, writing, and directing the main Showcase Extravaganza which featured more than 350 horses representing 48 breeds. In the Northwest she wrote, organized, directed, and produced the creation of a video celebrating the Morgan Bi-Centennial. It was based on the history of the Morgan horse with all Regions of AMHA competing. The Northwest won. She has also dedicated her time to the Northwest Horse Expo, and the Hermiston Horse-A-Fair. She has served as the President of the Blue Mountain Morgan Horse Club, President of the Pacific Northwest Morgan Horse Club, and has remained an important contributor and Director of the Morgan Horse Association of Oregon. For 27 plus years Nancy was the leader of the Just-in Juniors which was an AMHA recognized youth club that won multiple championships and awards.
Nancy’s contributions to the American Morgan Horse Association include almost a quarter of a century as a Northwest Regional Director along with service to many National committees and one term as Chairman of the of the AMHA Morgan Standards committee, and on many other committees including the Morgan Horse Grand national committee. She was chairman of The Morgan Horse magazine steering committee for 13 years and watched the magazine become a front-runner among equine publications, garnering many awards. She organized a breeders’ committee and became its first Chair. Additionally, she served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the American Morgan Horse Institute and the Museum Council of the National Museum of the Morgan Horse. She used her artistic skills to create the Morgan Activity booklet for youth that is used to this day to teach kids about Morgan horses and everything equine.
Other contributions to the Equine industry are simply too numerous to cover. Through the years, Nancy has earned almost every honor the American Morgan Horse Association can bestow including:
1980 AMHA Youth Person of The Year
1989 Woman of the Year
1998 Hall of Fame
2000 Golden Reins Award
2002 Cecil R. Brown Memorial Sportsmanship Award
2008 Breeders' Hall of Fame
2010 Honor Roll for the Women In Our Industry
Nancy’s herd has now been dispersed and she has retired but plans to continue to support the Morgan horse thru her service as a Director on the Board of the Morgan Horse Association of Oregon.
Thank you, Nancy for all your many contributions!