New WCHS 2024 Qualifying Rules

Updated 2.23.24 to new governing body ESC.

***Effective, January 1, 2024 – The class schedule for all shows recorded with ASHBA must include at least 40% performance classes, i.e., three- and five-gaited, show pleasure, country pleasure, park, etc., to be counted as a qualifying show for the KSF World’s Championship Horse Show. Added performance classes will count toward the 40% requirement, but will not count toward qualifying. Splitting Academy classes will not count against the 40% requirement, i.e., a walk- trot class split into three classes will count only as one class. ***

• Effective, January 1, 2023 – Only two (2) classes per show will count toward qualifying for the KSF World’s Championship Horse Show, regardless of how many classes a horse enters in that show. The two (2) highest points earned at each show will be the only points added to the horse’s total points. Those two (2) classes will be the ones that contribute to the six (6) needed for qualifying. 
• To be recorded as a qualifying show for the KSF World’s Championship Horse Show, the prize list and/or schedule must be submitted with the American Saddlebred Horse and Breeders Association (ASHBA) Horse Show Application form and $50 fee at least one (1) month before the first date of the show, either electronically or physically to ASHBA. Proof of insurance, with ASHBA named as an additional insured, must be submitted before the start of the show. No exceptions. 
• Any class added to a show’s schedule after the prize list, class sheet or class schedule has been printed and/or posted on the show’s website, Facebook page, etc., or within 30 days of the show, whichever comes first, will not count as a qualifying class for the KSF World’s Championship Horse Show. 

1. All horses must qualify to compete in the American Saddlebred Show Pleasure, American Saddlebred Country Pleasure, and American Saddlebred Park Divisions of the 2024 Kentucky State Fair World’s Championship Horse Show. 

Horses will be entered in these divisions only if they have been shown in a minimum of six (6) classes, in three (3) or more different competitions, (not including the 2023 KSF World’s Championship Horse Show) in the same divisions in which they wish to compete at the 2024 KSF World’s Championship Horse Show, either under saddle or in harness, beginning July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024. At the 2024 KSF World’s Championship Horse Show the same horse may not enter and/or compete in the Junior Exhibitor and the Adult class, nor may it enter and/or compete in under saddle, driving, western and hunter or in more than one age division. 

Horses that are to be shown in Pleasure Driving will be required to qualify by showing in six (6) classes at three (3) shows in Pleasure Driving. If the Driving class at a show does not specify whether it is Show or Country Pleasure the class will still count, but four (4) of the six (6) classes for qualification must be in either Show or Country Pleasure. Park Pleasure driving classes and Open Pleasure driving will not be considered as qualifying classes. 

Classes and points earned in a division, such as Three-Gaited Show Pleasure, cannot be applied to another division such as Five-Gaited Show Pleasure, nor can classes and points in Western Country Pleasure or Hunter Country Pleasure be applied to saddle seat Three-Gaited Country Pleasure, nor can Three-Gaited Country Pleasure be applied to Western or Hunter Country Pleasure. This does not affect or change the rule that a horse can show in juvenile, adult, novice, local, or limit classes in a division for the points and classes to count toward qualification. 

Also, for purposes of qualification, a horse in the Show Pleasure or Country Pleasure Divisions cannot be shown by its trainer on behalf of the owner of the horse, nor may a horse be shown by any adult family member of the trainer of the horse (provided, however, that this does not preclude a family member of a trainer from showing a horse if the horse is owned by the trainer or by such family member). 

For purposes of potential Show Pleasure, Country Pleasure, and Park qualifying for the 2024 KSF World’s Championship Horse Show, points will not be accumulated at the KSF WCHS by horses competing in the 2023 KSF WCHS; performances at the 2023 KSF WCHS will be excluded from potential qualifying point totals for the 2024 show. 

1. Qualifying information for the American Saddlebred Show Pleasure, Country Pleasure, and Park Divisions, is on pages 31-36 of the 2024 Horse Show Premium Book. 

2. Each qualifying class in the American Saddlebred Show Pleasure Horse Division, the American Saddlebred Country Pleasure Horse Division, and the American Saddlebred Three-Gaited Park, has a maximum number of qualified entrants that will be permitted to compete in each class. 

For the 2024 show, the maximum number of qualified entrants for each qualifying class is as follows:

3. In the event the total number of entrants received for any qualifying class does not exceed the maximum numbers listed in #3 above, all entrants will be permitted to compete at the 2024 KSF World’s Championship Horse Show. 

4. In the event the total number of qualified entrants received for any qualifying class exceeds the maximum numbers listed in #3 above by five (5) horses or less, the KSF WCHS reserves the right to permit all qualified entrants to compete in a qualifying class; but if the number entered exceeds the maximum number by more than five (5), the number of entries will be reduced to the original maximum number (e.g., if there are sixty-six (66) entries in Adult Show Pleasure, only sixty(60) will be allowed to show). The horses that will be eligible to compete in such qualifying class will be chosen based on a point system tabulated and verified by the American Saddlebred Horse and Breeders Association (“ASHBA”), as follows: 

• Show Pleasure, Country Pleasure, and Park horses must have qualified as described in #1 above (6) classes, at (3) shows in the same division. 
• Qualifying (i.e., 6 classes at 3 shows) is not required for junior horses showing in Park and Park Pleasure. 
• All American Saddlebred horses competing in any show listed on ASHBA’s database, will be eligible for consideration. For a non-licensed show to be listed on ASHBA’s database, a representative of that show must complete ASHBA's Horse Show Application with dates, location, and contact person of the show, pay the $50 fee, and submit the prize list and/or schedule at least one (1) month before the show is to be held. Proof of insurance, with ASHBA named as an additional insured, must be submitted before the start of the show. The secretary or the manager of said show is responsible for sending the results to ASHBA within ten (10) days after the show and by the closing date of the qualifying period. Results will not be accepted (regardless of the postmark, meter date or electronically) by ASHBA that are received in the office after the closing date of the qualifying period (June 30, 2024). The only exception to this rule will be shows that have a start date on June 30 or a start date a few days prior to June 30. In this case, the closing date for results to be submitted will be the first few days of July.
• All ribbon winners in classes of six (6) or more entries will receive the following points - 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (8 for 1st, 7 for 2nd, and so on) - based on number of ribbons awarded; a class with five (5) entries from first place through fifth place, as follows: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1; a class with four (4) entries, from first place through fourth place as follows: 4, 3, 2, 1; and a class with three (3) entries, from first place through third place as follows: 3, 2, 1; and a class with two (2) entries, from first place through second place as follows: 2, 1. A class with one (1) entry, will receive one point; only.
• Points will count in the following Divisions: Show Pleasure Three-Gaited, Five-Gaited, and Driving; Country Pleasure Three-Gaited, Western, Hunter, Five Gaited and Driving; Park – Three-Gaited. Points will not be allocated in the following classes for qualification at the 2024 KSF World’s Championship Horse Show: Open Pleasure, Open Hunter, Walk/Trot Pleasure, English Pleasure, Saddle Seat Pleasure, Open to All Breeds, and Opportunity. ASHBA National Select Series, TBA or classes built into a schedule that may be purchased (buy a class) will not count, nor will any class other than Park that the horse can be shown by a professional. The KSF WCHS reserves the right to make a determination to exclude a class from inclusion that does not qualify as an American Saddlebred competition.
• Points will not be allocated in Show Pleasure, Country Pleasure, and Park Division (as noted in #1) at the 2024 KSF World’s Championship Horse Show.
• To break any tie necessary to determine the eligibility list, preference will be given to the entry with the larger number of points earned from classes with six (6) of more entries.
• Only points accumulated during the qualifying period in the division in which the horse is entered in at the 2024 KSF World’s Championship Horse Show will count toward qualifying for the KSF World’s Championship Horse Show. Points accumulated during the qualifying period remain with the horse, regardless of any change(s) of ownership.
• The ASHBA will tabulate the points accumulated by each horse, and points will be posted on the ASHBA website at www.saddlebred.com. The results for shows that are listed on the ASHBA website will be used to determine points for eligibility and must be in the ASHBA Office for tabulation by the end of the qualifying period (June 30, 2024) regardless of postmark, metered date or electronically.
• The KSF World’s Championship Horse Show reserves the right to resolve any dispute as to the accuracy of the point total used to determine which horses are deemed eligible to compete.
• The first and second place winners only (i.e., Champion and Reserve Champion) in a championship or qualifying class for Show Pleasure – Three-Gaited, Five-Gaited, and Driving; Country Pleasure – Three-Gaited, Western, Hunter and Driving; Park – Three-Gaited at the 2023 KSF World’s Championship Horse Show shall be eligible to compete in the same division in 2024 for which the championship or qualifying class was held, provided that such horses also showed in a minimum of six (6) classes, in three (3) or more different shows (not including the 2023 KSF World’s Championship Horse Show), in the same division in which they wish to compete at the 2024 KSF World’s Championship Horse Show, either under saddle or in harness during the period beginning July 1, 2023, and ending June 30, 2024. 

5. The KSF World’s Championship Horse Show reserves the right to decide to exclude a class from inclusion that does not qualify as an American Saddlebred competition, such as any of the following: 

“Open English Pleasure”; “Open Western Pleasure”; “Open Hunter”; “Pleasure Prospect”; “Open to All Breeds”; “Opportunity classes”; “Buy A Class”; TBA or classes built into a schedule that may be purchased; Park Pleasure will not count or any class other than Park Division classes in which a professional trainer is permitted to show a horse. 

6. The KSF World’s Championship Horse Show is a member of the ESC, and is therefore subject to all ESC rules and regulations. 

7. The KSF World’s Championship Horse Show reserves to itself, without limitation, the sole and unconditional right to interpret any questions or dispute regarding the interpretation of the above, including any ancillary questions, without further recourse, and its decision shall be final.