Discussion: Criteria for
Pony /Horse of the Year Awards
Ronaele Carpenter, March 13, 2009
Registries: AMHR, ASPC, ASPR, NSPR
Areas: Halter & Performance
To discuss new criteria for the
selection of Pony/Horse of the Year (POY/HOY) for all registries under ASPC/AMHR.
·
Establish
objective criteria that is not subject to committee review and approval
·
Establish
an easier method of calculating POY/HOY points
·
Enable
owners to track POY/HOY status on line
·
Reward
“all-around” or horses and ponies who show in multiple divisions (open, youth,
amateur)
·
Reward
performance ponies who show in classes other than (just) driving.
Rulebook of the American Shetland Pony,
American Miniature Horse Registry, American Show Pony Registry, National Show
Pony Registry, 2008 Version
Section XII National Shows, Award
Programs, Awards & Incentives
Part 5 The Modern, Modern Pleasure Pony,
Classic, Show Pony and Miniature Horse of the Year in Halter and Performance.
Part 5 –
The Modern, Modern Pleasure Pony, Classic, Show Pony and Miniature Horse of the
Year in Halter and Performance
A. Purpose: (1)
To honor the top pony or horse showing the halter division and the top animal
in the performance section of each division of the Modern, Classic, and
Miniature Horse. (2) A single animal will be honored in both the Pleasure Pony
and Show Pony Division by combining the halter and performance section of these
divisions.
B. Method: (1)
All-Star points divided by (2) number of shows shown at times (3) number of
different Judges divided by (2) number of shows shown at times (4) number of
horses/ponies beat divided by (2) number of shows shown at times (5) number of
Grand Champions divided by (2) number of shows shown at.
C. The final results will be reviewed by a committee which shall be appointed by the president and should consist of members from registry administration and the breed committees.
Note: Each division,
except NSPR, offers two awards: Halter
and Performance
|
·
AMHR “Under” ·
AMHR “Over” ·
Foundation |
·
Modern Pleasure ·
Modern ·
ASPR ·
NSPR
(performance only) |
1. Establish objective criteria that is
not subject to committee review and approval
YES. This method meets this criteria, except that
a means of resolving ties would need to be established.
2. Establish an easier method of
calculating POY/HOY points
YES. This method would be much easier than
the current method.
3. Enable owners to track POY/HOY status
on line.
NO. HOF points can be tracked on line, but there
is no cumulative list for comparing HOF points between horses/ponies as there
is for All-Star points. Either a system
change would need to be made, or owners would need to pull up HOF information
on every competitor individually to see their standing.
4. Reward “all-around” or horses and
ponies who show in multiple divisions (open, youth, amateur)
NO. This does not meet this criteria as no HOF
points are only given for the “Open” division in halter.
5. Reward performance ponies who show in
classes other than (just) driving.
NO. Many performance classes do not receive HOF points. Shetlands receive HOF points only in driving classes.
Hall of Fame
does reward in part based on the number of entries in the class, but it is not
consistent. Here is an example:
·
Pony
A wins first in an open halter class where it is the only entry receives 1
point.
·
Pony
B wins second place in an open halter class where there are 3 entries. Pony B beat more ponies than Pony A, and yet
Pony A gets points, where Pony B does not.
Conclusion: HOF does not
consistently reward horses/ponies who win against competition. A horse/pony can win over other horses and
receive no points, where a horse/pony who is the only entry in a class does
receive points.
1. Establish objective criteria that is
not subject to committee review and approval
YES. This method meets this criteria, except that
a means of resolving ties would need to be established.
2. Establish an easier method of
calculating POY/HOY points
YES. This method would be much easier
than the current method. However,
because the ASPC/AMHR website posts All-Star points by class, and not by All
Star division, owners will have to do some calculations themselves. Never the less, (almost) all information
needed to do the calculations is contained in the on-line Results and owners
would only have to add up scores, not use a complicated formula, to keep track
of their POY/HOY points.
3. Enable owners to track POY/HOY status
on line.
YES. See above. Points are available on line.
4. Reward “all-around” or horses and
ponies who show in multiple divisions (open, youth, amateur)
YES. All-Star points are tracked for
all classes and therefore available for POY/HOY Awards.
5. Reward performance ponies who show in
classes other than (just) driving.
YES. Unlike HOF points, All-Star
points are tracked for all performance classes and therefore available for
POY/HOY Awards.
Concern: There are no stake classes for some performance classes, and thereby giving performance horses and ponies show in driving, hunter, and jumper and advantage over horses who show in liberty, halter obstacle, driving obstacle, versatility, etc.
All Star Points
are rewarded based on the horse’s/pony’s placing, and not based on the number
of competitors that horse/pony won over.
For example, a pony who wins third place in halter at an “A” show is
awarded 15 points, regardless if whether there were 3 or 33 in the class. Likewise, a pony who wins a halter class is
awarded 30, even if it is the only entry.
Conclusion: While All Stars does not take number of
entries into consideration, it is consistent in the way that it awards points.
Part 5 – The Modern,
Modern Pleasure Pony, Classic, Show Pony and Miniature Horse of the Year in
Halter and Performance
A. Purpose: (1) To honor the top halter show pony or horse and
the top performance show pony or horse in the following divisions: Foundation,
Classic, Modern Pleasure, Modern, American Show Pony, National Show Pony,
Miniature Horse “Under” and Miniature Horse “Over”.
B. Method: Every All Star point earned in any class
(Open, Amateur, Youth, etc) during the current competition year will count
towards either the Halter Pony/Horse of the Year or the Performance Pony/Horse
of the Year Award. Halter Horse/Pony of
the Year will be awarded to the Horse/Pony who earned the greatest total number
of All-Star points in all halter conformation classes. Performance Horse/Pony of the Year will be
awarded to the Horse/Pony who earned the greatest total number of All-Star
points in all classes that do not count toward the Halter Horse/Pony of the
Year. Where horses/ponies are allowed to cross-enter to another division
because a specific class is not listed in the Rule Book, points from that class
will be counted as if it had been earned in that horse’s/pony’s division. For example, Foundation ponies can earn
points towards the Foundation Pony of the Year by entering Classic Liberty
because there is no Foundation Liberty class.
While points earned by Foundation ponies who compete in Classic Country
Pleasure Driving will be credited only to the Classic Pony of the Year award,
not Foundation Pony of the Year, because Foundation Country Pleasure Driving is
an official class offering (even though it may be not offered at all shows). Preliminary rankings for Pony/Horse of the
Year will be posted on the Official website, and participants will be given a
reasonable amount of time to submit corrections.
D. Method – Breaking Ties: Ties
will be broken in the following manner:
(1) The pony/horse with the greater
total All Star Points in “Grand” or “Stake” classes in their division will win.
(2) If the tie still remains, the
pony/horse earning the greater total number of Hall of Fame “Grands” against
competition during the current competition year will win.
(3) If the tie still remains, the
committee representing the division where the tie exists (e.g. the Classic
Committee) will set a quantifiable criteria for breaking the tie before
examining the show record of the tied horses/ponies. (Examples of quantifiable
criteria would be number of horses/ponies competed against, or number of judges
shown under). An explanation of how the tie was broken will be published on the
Official ASPC/AMHR website.
A few items that still need to be ironed out:
1.
What to do with Showmanship. It is a performance class (if done right!),
but points are earned by the owner, not the horse/pony.
2.
What
to do with Color. It is not a halter
“conformation” class and therefore falls under.
Where does it count? (I was trying
to limit the exceptions to make this as easy as possible).
3.
While
more objective than the current system, does this system just reward those with
the money and time to go to more shows and enter more classes?
4.
Will
people feel that stallions are at a disadvantage because they cannot
participate in some classes (e.g. some youth classes)?
5.
A side
benefit: This might increase
participation in classes that normally have few entries.