Grading/Levels/Upgrades
For competition purposes both riders and horses are graded according to their experience. As their experience grows they may enter longer distances and ride at greater speeds. The entry level with no qualification required is GREEN. You can work your way through the levels up to our top level of competition which is BLUE level.
|
GEEN LEVEL
Entry level. No qualification required
|
RED LEVEL
2 x 20 mile & 1 x 30 mile rides completed
|
WHITE LEVEL
RED level + 1 x 30 + 1 x 40 mile rides completed
|
BLUE LEVEL
RED level + WHITE level + 1 x 40 mile + 1 x 50 mile rides completed
|
Qualifying rides in each category (red, white and blue) can be completed in any order, but a member or horse may only progress one level per season.
Ride classes may be Limited Speed (LS), Free Speed (FS) or Endurance Ride (ER). The qualification to ride FS classes is White level, but riders not at this level may ride some FS classes provided there is an endorsement on their colour grading. Completion of 6 rides at 20 miles or above qualifies for an endorsement of 20FS and completion of 6 rides at 30 miles or more qualifies for an endorsement of 30FS.
So, the possible grades for rider or horse are:
|
Grade
|
Classes qualified to enter
|
|
Green
|
20LS, 30LS
|
|
Green 20FS
|
20FS, 30LS
|
|
Red
|
20LS, 30LS, 40LS
|
|
Red 20FS
|
20FS, 30LS, 40LS
|
|
Red 30FS
|
20FS, 30FS, 40LS
|
|
White
|
All distances FS or ER to 50 miles
|
|
Blue
|
All FS or ER classes any distance
|
To enter any class both rider and horse must be qualified and the horse must be a minimum of 5 years old in the current calendar year to enter LS classes and 7 years old for FS and ER classes.
It is the rider’s responsibility to ensure that both they and their horse have the official grade for the class they enter – it is not sufficient just to have done the qualifying rides. To upgrade, a request must be made to the office where the qualification will be verified and an upgrade awarded.