With the 2017 AQHA class level point ranges now available online, exhibitors and horse owners can begin to determine their eligibility for the 2017 show season.
View the 2017 level point ranges.
Point ranges identify the levels that exhibitors and horses are eligible for when competing at AQHA shows. Owners and exhibitors can view the 2017 point ranges and compare their show record for an approximation of the levels they will be eligible for in the next show season. The online level verification system, which allows exhibitors and horse owners to look up their class-by-class level eligibility, will be updated toward the end of 2016.
Level eligibility is effective January 1 of each year, and exhibitors and horses maintain eligibility through December 31, regardless of the number of points earned during the year.
“All points earned by all horses and all exhibitors in all classes at all AQHA shows in the past three years are tabulated to calculate the level point ranges. From there, commonly used statistical measurements – such as means and standard deviations – are applied to point-earning horses and exhibitors,” said Patti Carter, AQHA director of shows and Professional Horsemen. “The result is an objective handicapping system that assigns exhibitors and horses to competition levels.”
Points earned are not the only factor taken into consideration when determining level eligibility; awards won are also taken into account.
“For instance, exhibitors who win classes at the Level 1 Championships are no longer eligible to compete in that class at any future Level 1 Championships. However, if an exhibitor is Level 1-eligible, he or she may continue to show in that class in Level 1 competition,” said Carter, referring to Rule SHW245.3 in the AQHA Official Handbook of Rules and Regulations.
Rules SHW245 and 250-252 further address level eligibility and how it is affected by awards won.
Learn more about how level eligibility is determined and visit www.aqha.com/leveling for more insight on AQHA levels, which range from Rookie for beginning competitors to Level 1 for the minimally accomplished, Level 2 for the moderately accomplished and Level 3 for the highly accomplished.
