The 2022 AQHA leveling program point ranges are now available online, and exhibitors and horse owners can begin to determine their eligibility for the 2022 show season.
View the 2022 leveling point ranges.
“The AQHA Executive Committee, Show Committee and Council, Board of Directors and AQHA membership approved the convention rule-change proposal to exclude 2020 points from the leveling range calculations, due to the impact of the pandemic on sanctioned show participation,” said Justin Billings, AQHA chief show officer. “The leveling ranges utilize statistical measurements – such as means and standard deviations – to set the point thresholds. The result is an objective handicapping system that assigns exhibitors and horses to competition levels, which levels the playing field for all AQHA competitors. While this change affects the ranges, individual points earned by exhibitors and horses in 2020 will still count toward their own eligibility.”
Point ranges identify the levels that exhibitors and horses are eligible for when competing at AQHA shows. Owners and exhibitors can view the 2022 point ranges and compare their show record for an approximation of the levels they will be eligible for in the 2022 show season. Points earned through October 31, 2021, will be used to determine the level at which an individual competitor or horse will fall within for the 2022 show season.
The online level verification system for exhibitors and horse owners to look up their class-by-class level eligibility will be updated prior to January 1, 2022, for the 2022 show year. Points are tabulated from November 1 through October 31 in accordance with SHW250 so that level eligibility will be available for shows starting in January.
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. In the future, the three-year leveling point ranges will continue to exclude 2020 from the equation to determine the point thresholds for the year.
AQHA points earned are not the only factor taken into consideration when determining level eligibility; awards won are also taken into account, including alliance partner points and earnings. Money won in other equine organizations or associations also affects eligibility. It is the responsibility of the exhibitor to update their Level 1 eligibility annually.
Exhibitors who win classes at the AQHA 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 can continue to show in that class in Level 1 competition. Refer to Rule SHW245.3 in the AQHA Official Handbook of Rules and Regulations for more information.
Rules SHW245 and 250-252 further address level eligibility and how it is affected by awards won.
Visit www.aqha.com/leveling to learn more about how level eligibility is determined and 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.
