C. W. “Bill” Englund Jr.

From AQHA

AQHA is saddened to hear of the death of AQHA Past President C. W. “Bill” Englund Jr. A full obituary will be posted here when those details are available.

Bill was AQHA president in 1992 and was inducted into the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame in 2002.

Bill was born in 1937 in Hollywood, California. His family moved to Salinas, California, when he was a young child. He grew up on a small stock farm and was involved with all kinds of livestock. His passion for Quarter Horses began when he was 9, when he got his first horse, a mare named “Ginger.” Bill was in 4-H and FFA, and at one time was feeding 500 hogs, the sale of which paid for his college education.

Bill’s mare, Ginger, became the foundation of his breeding program. He took many of her offspring into the show ring. In fact, he showed until he joined the AQHA Executive Committee in 1988.

Bill began judging in 1971. With his ability to speak Spanish, he judged shows in Mexico, Argentina and Uruguay. He also judged in Canada and Australia, and worked with the Swedish Quarter Horse Association to put on an exhibition of equestrian events. Bill also judged both the AQHA and AQHYA world shows.

In 1976, the native Californian became an AQHA director, which led him to serve three years as vice chairman of the Show and Contest Committee, followed by three years as chairman.

During his time on the AQHA Executive Committee, the committee worked to enhance the Association’s marketing efforts to improve the decline that AQHA had been experiencing since 1986. He continued striving toward this goal during his presidency. Since that time, AQHA has registered more than a million horses and expanded riding programs and show and racing opportunities.