The winter months have been busy ones for the judges department at AQHA. After the AQHA World Championship Show we conducted a judging seminar in Argentina, the Judges Conference in Irving, Texas and the judge educational seminar in Raleigh, N.C. The next few months will bring the Versatility Ranch Horse World Championship Show in Houston, Texas, the European Judges Seminar in Germany and the Judges Qualifying Exam in Gainesville, Texas.
As many of you know, the AQHA Convention will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada from March 9-12, 2012. I encourage all of you to attend the convention and be a part of AQHA’s governance system. All meetings have an open session for member comments so even if you are not on a committee, you have the opportunity to hear about suggested rule changes and offer your comments on interested items. Along with the meetings, you can also attend the Awards Banquet and Hall of Fame inductions which are always special nights. Make your reservations today!
Suggestions:
1. Rule 448(d) (4) in the 2012 handbook is incorrect. It states:
Effective August 1, 2011, the following horses may be shown with an Allowed Lip Chain in open, amateur and youth divisions.
(i) Mares 1 year of age and older; and
(ii) Geldings 1 year of age and older
This is incorrect. The rule should read:
Effective august 1, 2011, the following horses may be shown with an Allowed Lip Chain in amateur and youth divisions.
(i) Mares 1 year of age and older; and
(ii) Geldings 1 year of age and older
Mares and geldings in the open division are not allowed to use lip chains. The rule is the same as the memo you received in August 2011. Because of the misprint in the handbook, AQHA would like for you to be fair in your application of the rule. If an open exhibitor enters the arena with a lip chain on a mare or gelding, you should have your ring steward approach them and ask them to remove the lip chain. Do not disqualify them unless they refuse to remove the lip chain. This mistake has been amended in the online handbook. With that, if you are questioned, you can refer the exhibitor to that version for the correct ruling. It can be found at www.aqha.com.
2. Rule 441 (c), “Inhumane Treatment” has two significant additions in the 2012 handbook. Whips are no longer legal to use in showmanship training at AQHA shows. Likewise, war bridles or like devices or any type of wire or rope over a horse’s head will not be allowed. Furthermore, applying excessive pressure on or excessively jerking of a halter lead shank or an allowed lip chain is prohibited. Judges should stop any inhumane treatment that occurs in the show arena and should have their ring steward or show manager handle any inhumane treatment they witness outside the show arena. Any inhumane treatment witnessed by the judge should be noted on the show report.
3. Ranch Horse Pleasure is a new class at AQHA shows. The ranch pleasure horse should simulate a horse riding outside the confines of an arena and that of a working ranch horse, demonstrating a horse working at a forward, working speed while under the control of the rider. Failure to show forward movement in any gait should be penalized. Horses will work a pattern individually and will be scored from 0-100 with 70 denoting an average performance. Required maneuvers are the walk, jog and lope, both directions and the extended jog and lope at least one direction. Additionally, the judge must select three of the optional maneuvers to be included in the pattern. The judge may draw their own pattern or use one of the four patterns listed in the handbook. Note: patterns 2, 3 and 4 in the handbook do NOT have a “walk” but one direction. If you use one of these patterns, make sure you add the walk both directions. Score sheets can be found at www.aqha.com. From the home page, scroll to the bottom and click on “Find Forms Here.” Then scroll down to all score sheets. On the score sheet, you will see the boxes for walk, jog, extended jog, lope and extended lope are divided into two halves. Use the top half to score the gait the first direction and the bottom half to score the gait the second direction. A “check”, “plus” and “minus” system will be used to score each maneuver. You can utilize more than one “plus” or “minus” if the maneuver merits a higher or lower score. The “check” equates to a zero maneuver, the “plus” equates to a plus 1 maneuver and the “minus” equates to a minus 1 maneuver. Like other scoring systems with this scoring system, you can also use the “check/plus” for a plus one-half, or the “check/minus” for a minus one-half maneuver score. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions on how to judge or score this class.
4. From time-to-time, there are rule changes implemented in the middle of the year. (Like the halter lip-chain rules last year) Because of this, the online handbook will become the official handbook. You can find it on www.aqha.com. You will be notified in the Judges Update, or by memo, of any rule changes that may occur mid-year but you can always refer to the online version for all up-to-date changes.
5. As AQHA implements the leveling program, AQHA will require its judges to place to 15 in which classes are held concurrently. In 2012, the only classes which may be held concurrently are the rookie classes with the corresponding novice or green class. If rookie classes are offered, Show management has the option to hold these classes separately or run them concurrently with the corresponding novice or green class. In order ensure enough horses are placed to recognize each level, we will require our judges to place to 15, i.e. rookie Amateur western pleasure held concurrently with the novice amateur western pleasure ,place to 15 , Rookie open western pleasure held concurrently with the green western pleasure , place to 15. New placing cards with 15 placing slots are currently at the printer. Until they are distributed, please add onto the bottom of the existing judges’ card when 15 placing’s are required.
Thank you in advance for your assistance as we gradually transition into the new leveling program
Quote: “The heaviest thing you can carry is a grudge.”
