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Minnesota Hunter & Jumper Association

CLASS SPECIFICATIONS / AWARDS

2024 MHJA Year End Awards Program

Each year, the MHJA offers a year end awards (YEA) program consisting of overall high point awards for several sections in Equitation, Hunters, and Jumpers. Our intention is to reward members who regularly participate in MHJA-approved horse shows. Members must abide by the requirements put forth in this document. Points will only be awarded for horse shows approved by the MHJA. For information on horse show approval see the MHJA by-laws.

The MHJA competition year begins December 1 and ends November 30.

Participation in the program commences on the date an individual membership becomes active in the MHJA.

Date of membership is recorded by the Membership Chair. It is activated in one of three ways; 1)

the postmarked date of an application and payment sent by mail, 2) the date listed on the online

application and payment received listed on MHJA Pay Pal account, or 3) the date the application

and payment are received by a representative of the MHJA, for example by a show secretary at a

horse show. In the event the payment is non-negotiable for any reason, the membership application is not complete and will not become effective until all fees and any penalties charged to the MHJA resulting from the non-negotiable payment are made good.
 

For any section that has a YEA, MHJA membership is required as described below:
 

• For Hunter and Jumper classes, the owner of the horse or pony, and the rider (if different) must be competing member(s) of the MHJA prior to the time of competition. This holds tru if a horse is leased, unless the lease is recorded with USEF, in which case only the lessee (and rider, if different) needs to be a member of MHJA. If the owner of the horse is a Stable/Farm/Corporation, one owner of the Stable/Farm/Corporation must be a member of the MHJA.

• For Equitation, the rider must be a competing member of the MHJA, prior to the time of competition.

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It is a member’s responsibility to notify the MHJA of any changes of horse name, rider name, or

ownership. It is a member’s responsibility to notify MHJA of any leases where the owner of the horse is not an MHJA member.

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At MHJA approved horse shows, points for all classes shall be accumulated according to the following scale:

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Points will count for YEA regardless of the number of entries in a particular class or section, as long as the horse show holds the class or section.

A section, either combined or split, must be held at a minimum of three MHJA recognized horse

shows for a year end award to be given.
 

Equitation classes are scored on the rider, regardless of the horse shown.
 

Hunter and Jumper classes are scored on the horse, regardless of the rider.
 

Points accrued from Blue Ribbon Jumper classes will not count for either YEA or special trophies.
 

Points accrued from general or section-specific Hunter Classics will not count towards YEA.
 

All sections for YEA will be awarded, provided there is a valid candidate for the award and all other requirements have been met.
 

Specifications for classes cannot be more restrictive than those required for MHJA YEA to be

awarded points. Entry requirements for classes cannot be so broad as to make the intent of the

section meaningless. The MHJA will try to check prize lists and let members know which classes will meet MHJA specifications.
 

For Hunter sections, points for under saddle and over fences classes shall count equally. Where

there are ties for YEA, a tie for any place will be broken with the higher placing given to the horse

with most points accumulated over fences.
 

For Jumper sections, ties will not be broken.
 

For Equitation sections, flat and over fences points shall count equally. Ties for YEA shall remain

tied and will not be broken by the number of points over fences. Medal classes do not count

towards Equitation Awards.
 

For all sections, a complete set of Champion, Reserve Champion, and 3rd – 8th place ribbons will be awarded (assuming enough qualified participants). This means that duplicate awards and ribbons will be given for ties where applicable.

Year-to-date points will be posted on the MHJA website.

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If discrepancies or questions regarding points are found, please contact the Points Committee

Chairperson, Jeni McDermott at jeniamcd@gmail.com or (909) 559-6180. Any questions concerning points will be addressed as covered by sections 2.7 and 2.8 of the by-laws.

GLOSSARY

Division – A particular type of discipline within the horse show world. Hunters, Jumpers and

Equitation are all considered divisions.
 

Section – A sub-group of classes under a division with particular characteristics. Pony Hunter,

Equitation 12-14, and Junior Jumper would all be considered sections. Sometimes “section” also

refers to splitting a large group into smaller groups as in “The Adult Amateur Hunter division was so big, they split it into two sections.”
 

Class – a single performance unit within a section. As in “an “A” rated section will have 4 over

fences classes and one under saddle.” A group of classes makes up a section.

Division and Section are frequently used interchangeably, you may hear someone say “my horse was champion in the High Performance division,” when they actually mean section. Sometimes “section” refers to groups after a class has been split. (See above.)
 

High Point – High point refers to the horse or rider who accumulates the most points in a section over the year end award qualifying period. High point awards may also be awarded across several sections, in which case the high point horse or rider is the one that accumulates the most points in their respective section as compared to the other sections.
 

YEA – abbreviation for Year End Award.

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For a PDF copy of this document, CLICK HERE

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