Judging
In both the English and Western divisions, the riders are judged on their equitation, meaning that each rider is individually judged on his effectiveness as a rider, his ability to look aesthetically pleasing (i.e. posture and positioning on the horse), and his ability to make riding a horse seem easy and effortless. In "regular" shows riders can choose to compete in equitation shows, in which the rider is judged rather than the horse. To greater level the playing field, riders compete against people of similar experience level as determined by an IHSA questionnaire.
IHSA shows are unlike "regular" horse shows. A host IHSA team organizes each show and invites the other member colleges in its region to attend and compete. The show usually takes place at the host team's facility, or another nearby. Competitors are not permitted to ride their own horses. The horses used at an IHSA show are horses that are already provided by host stables, "donated" for the day from other teams, coaches, and/or area equestrian facilities. Each horse is schooled (warmed-up) before the classes begin by non-competing riders, while competing riders watch to discover particular attributes of each horse. Riders participating in the competition are not allowed to choose the horse they would like to ride. Each rider is assigned a horse, partially through random selection and partially through a matching of the horse's abilities with those needed for horses participating in certain classes. (It would not be appropriate for a horse that does not do over fences to be placed in an over fences class. The same goes for reining horses for western.) The rider mounts the horse he has been assigned just before his class is scheduled to begin. Competing riders are not permitted to warm-up or get used to their assigned horse. One of the goals of the IHSA is to provide all riders with an equal chance of performing well in their class; by not allowing riders to compete on horses that they are comfortable with judges can accurately rate the ability of the rider to effectively control the horse and ride well.
Individual ribbons correspond to points, which combine for a team score. Each team can only have one point rider per division and the lowest score on the card is dropped. Thus, larger teams are not given an advantage. A cumulative team score of 49 points for english or 42 for western would be a perfect card. Also to keep the divisions fair, a rider can only score a given amount of points before they must move up to a more difficult level. The points correspond as follows:
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- 1st place: 7 points
- 2nd place: 5 points
- 3rd place: 4 points
- 4th place: 3 points
- 5th place: 2 points
- 6th place: 1 point
In order to qualify for regionals, a rider needs to accumulate a certain number of points. Thirty-six points, which can be accumulated over a number of years but less than 5 years, are needed to point out of every division except for open. Open riders need to acquire only twenty-eight points to qualify to regionals. Once a rider has qualified for regionals in a certain division, she must compete the rest of the year in the next division. The other exception is walk-trot and walk-jog divisions. You are only allowed to be in this division for 2 years. Then you must move up to the next division.
Read more about this topic: Intercollegiate Horse Show Association
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