National Championship Summer Ranking For New Competition at 2019 Sun Circuit
By: Kristin Spinning
The Arizona Quarter Horse Association is excited to announce the mid-year rankings for Showmanship, Horsemanship, and Equitation exhibitors in the lead up to the National Championship Tournament being held at Sun Circuit 2019. Each division lists the individuals, who were scored by the committee, as well as those currently leading the pack at this mid-point of the show year. However, there are still plenty of shows to go before the final list is compiled and eligible exhibitors to the Tournament are announced.
This brand new and exciting Championship Tournament format is creating a good deal of buzz around the show world. The hoopla of the Final Four competitions in each class will certainly be rewarding for exhibitors and entertaining for spectators. Additionally, the overall impact on showing in general could be enormous. The more an exhibitor shows throughout the entire year, the more exposure they have and the greater their opportunity is to be ranked.
The lists were formulated by compiling individual rankings from each National Championship Ranking Committee Member. This anonymous group is comprised of judges and trainers, who are actively involved in these industries throughout the United States. They were regionally selected to give fair and balanced coverage across the country to rank Youth, Amateur, and Select exhibitors in each of the three classes.
Exhibitors who placed in the top five circuit standings at participating major shows held between January 1 to July 10 were listed for Ranking Committee members to rank. Committee members could also choose to add any other exhibitor who they believed excelled in the event. The July list is preliminary, and exhibitors have the ability to rise or fall in the rankings based on show results for the rest of the year.
Final year rankings will be made in December of 2018. At that time, Ranking Committee Members will have the results from Top 20 participating shows, NSBA World Show, AQHA World Shows and Color breed World Shows. Individual Committee Member rankings will again be aggregated to produce the final ranking for the year. The list will name 64 exhibitors in each division. The top 25 will be ranked while the rest will be listed in alphabetical order.
All qualified individuals in the December rankings will be invited to compete in the National Championship Tournament at Sun Circuit, March 2-10, 2019. They will show concurrently with the corresponding regularly scheduled Sun Circuit classes to the first set of judges. Eligible Paints and colored horses will run in a separate draw immediately following the AQHA class. AQHA, APHA and NSBA ownership rules must be followed to exhibit in the classes. After the class, the high scoring 16 will be recognized and promoted via media as having achieved the Sensational 16 Award.
For the second round of the tournament, The Sensational 16, as well as all other exhibitors, will show to the second set of judges as a part of the regular draw at Sun Circuit. After the class, the high scoring Exceptional 8 will be specially recognized and promoted both in the arena and via Sun Circuit’s media channels and partners.
Round three of the tournament welcomes The Exceptional 8 back to the arena along with all the regular class entries showing to the third set of judges at Sun Circuit. The conclusion of those classes will recognize the high scoring Final Four and they will be promoted through all of Sun Circuit’s media channels.
All eyes will be on the National Championship rounds where The Final Four in each class and division will compete in a head-to-head format with the highest ranked remaining exhibitor competing against the lowest ranked remaining exhibitor and the second highest ranked remaining exhibitor against the third highest ranked remaining exhibitor. Then, the winner of those two battles will come back to compete against each other to be named National Champion.
There is still plenty of time to make it on the list or to advance one’s standing: just keep showing. The Tournament will be an event that no serious exhibitor will want to miss. With the building excitement of each round, the abundant recognition, and the ultimate goal of claiming the Championship, the Tournament injects a good deal of fun and fame to the horse show experience.
Individuals who did not appear on the summer ranking, but who feel they should be considered, may submit their current year show results and a letter of 100 words or less by email to the respective event accounts listed below. Emails must be submitted between Nov. 15th and Dec. 1st of the current year for consideration by the Ranking Committee.
Email address for each event are:
ShowmanshipNatChampionship@gmail.com
HorsemanshipNatChampionship@gmail.com
EquitationNatChampionship@gmail.com
Good luck to all exhibitors!
Click on the links below to view the current standings!
