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Congratulations to our newest 2025 ILQHA Hall of Fame Inductees!
ILQHA Hall Of Fame Inductee: John Boxell
John Boxell, of Rochester, Illinois, is the 2025 inductee into the Illinois Quarter Horse Association’s prestigious Hall Of Fame.
Born in Princeton, Indiana, John was one of five children in the family. With his father, Billy, serving as a banker and his mother, Betty, as an industrial engineer, John explained that his parents saw horses as a way to keep their children out of trouble. The family raised 30 colts per year, and horses became a way of life for John. He notes that he attended his first horse show at nine days old and never looked back.
John operated a training business for several years until in the fall of 1995, he was hired as manager and trainer at John and Sandra Narmont’s Richland Ranch, in Auburn, Illinois. During his time at Richland Ranch, John oversaw such stallions as Zippos Mr Good Bar, Coats N Tails and Impressive Review, among many others, and managed one of the largest Quarter Horse breeding facilities in the Midwest.
Within the first few years of working for the Narmont’s, John was asked to serve on the ILQHA board of directors. He served several years on the board before being named vice president, and later served on and chaired the Show Committee. He also served several years as ILQHA president.
Among John's contributions to ILQHA are helping the Futurity Committee revamp the ILQHA Futurity rules to reflect the changing times that saw the emphasis changing from foals and young Halter horses to incorporating more riding horses and classes. He was also instrumental in helping to raise purse money and develop slot classes at the Gordyville Spring Show, which grew to include Trail, Western Pleasure and Showmanship slot classes.
John is an accredited judge with the American Quarter Horse Association, American Paint Horse Association, National Snaffle Bit Association and the World Conformation Horse Association. He has judged many prestigious shows including the AQHA World Show, NSBA World Show and the All American Quarter Horse Congress multiple times. He also currently serves as a national director of the American Quarter Horse Association.
In recent years, John has become more involved in the show management side of the industry. He worked as part of the show management team with An Equine Production for several years, and last year started the show management company AB Management Services with his partner, Allison Board. The new company has already managed shows from North Carolina to Pennsylvania to Michigan, and recently added Virginia to its 2025 show schedule.
“You need to give back to what your living comes from,” John said recently. “I’ve never really worked a day in my life, and I love what I’m doing. The horse industry is all I’ve ever known, and it’s been a great life.”
BMQ Stop For Traffic 2025 ILQHA Hall Of Fame
BMQ Stop For Traffic, owned by Brad Kearns, of Dallas, Texas, is a 2025 inductee into the Illinois Quarter Horse Association’s prestigious Hall Of Fame.
The 2004 brown gelding by BMQ Legacy (by Deck Of Stars) and out of BMQ Traffic Stopper (by Traffic Breaker) was bred by Annette Kamphaus of Nevis, Minnesota. Originally shown around Minnesota, ‘Merlin’ had AQHA points in Open Hunter Under Saddle, Pleasure Driving, Western Pleasure and Performance Halter Geldings, as well as Amateur Select Hunter Under Saddle and Hunt Seat Equitation, prior to joining the Kearns family.
However, Merlin’s show career accelerated after Brad purchased the gelding as a Hunt Seat Equitation partner for his daughter, Nya, in February of 2015. Together, Nya and Merlin would earn three AQHA world championships in Youth Hunt Seat Equitation and two world championships in Amateur Hunt Seat Equitation.
Brad said “I remember seeing Merlin at the AQHA World Show and noticed what a nice mover he was, and he had this look in his eye like Clifford The Big Red Dog. I told Rick Klaus if he ever came up for sale, I’d be interested in buying him.”
That opportunity Merlin happened a few years later. “I drove up to Minnesota to see him and we took him home on Sunday, and by Wednesday we were on our way to Gordyville with him, and Nya showed him for the first time.”
Merlin has earned 345.5 lifetime AQHA Performance points, and AQHA Superior awards in Open Hunter Under Saddle, Youth Hunt Seat Equitation and Youth Hunter Under Saddle as well as an AQHA Amateur Performance Register of Merit. The gelding also earned $6,177 in total lifetime earnings.
“It’s hard not to love him,” Nya said of her long-time show partner. “He’s very sweet, and he loves to go to horse shows. He can be a little testy at home, because he’ll almost tell you ‘I know what I’m doing, why do we have to practice?’
“You ride him off of feel – he doesn’t have a lot of complicated buttons. It’s rare that you have a horse that you trust 100 percent of the time. If you get nervous, he’ll just be calm and let you know we’ve got this. Some horses feed off of your nerves, but not Merlin. He honestly helped me become a more confident rider.”
“It’s a special thing between Merlin and Nya,” Brad said. “I knew he was a good horse, but I never imagined he’d win the world five times. He’s been such a great horse for us. We’re very excited for him to be in the Hall Of Fame. He is a great representative of Illinois. In our minds though, he’s not old enough to talk about that, because we don’t see him as 20 years old.
“We still consider Illinois home, because he and Nya grew up there. We have so many great memories of showing at Gordyville with Nya and her friends, doing Ride A Buck and so many other things.
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