ASHBA High Point Awards Program
The High Point Awards Programs seeks to recognize the achievements of all horses registered with the American Saddlebred Horse and Breeders Association competing in all disciplines at all levels. Additional goals include:
- Improve competition opportunities for every American Saddlebred and Half Saddlebred owner
- Provide incentives for additional registrations and transfers
- Identify and attract new members
Overall point totals are updated weekly on Sunday.
Questions about the High Point Awards Program should be directed to programs@saddlebred.com.
Horse and Rider Eligibility
- The horse owners and trainers/riders/drivers/handlers must be current ASHBA competing members in good standing. If a horse has multiple owners, at least one owner must be a competing member in good standing.
- All horses registered with the American Saddlebred Horse and Breeders Association Registry, Half Saddlebred Registry of America or recognized by any foreign American Saddlebred registries are eligible. No other nomination or fee is required.
- All participants agree to abide by the ASHBA High Point Program rules and regulations as posted on the ASHBA website.
- Records the American Saddlebred Horse and Breeders Association Registry will determine ownership, transfers, and certificates of eligibility.
- American Saddlebreds Competing at Breed Shows: Region is determined by the location of the competition. The horse (or Rider in Equitation) must compete in a chosen class at least three times in at least three different competitions with the same region (for Regional Standings), which are recorded with ASHBA.
- Half Saddlebreds Competing in Breed Shows: Regions are determined by the location of the competition. Points are allocated to multiple regions if the horse competes in multiple regions. Horses/Riders are eligible to be awarded titles in more than one region.
- Sport Horses (American Saddlebred and Half Saddlebred): Regions are determined by the horse owner’s address and are aggregated into that region. All other verified sport horse results submitted to ASHBA within the competition period will be included as well.
Competition Eligibility
Breed Shows: All competitions must be recorded with the ASHBA each year in order for exhibitors to earn points in ASHBA High Point Awards programs. The ASHBA Horse Show Application must be received by the ASHBA at least one month prior to your show’s dates (the earlier the better). The show manager or representative is also responsible for submitting results to ASHBA within ten (10) days following the competition and within the qualifying period. Results received by ASHBA after the qualifying period will not be accepted.
Sport Horse Competitions: The requirement of competition recording does not apply to the sport horse disciplines; verified sport horse competition results may be submitted independently by ASHBA members. Examples of verified results include the Incentive Program reporting form signed by a competition secretary and copies of posted results from an association's website (USDF, USEF, USEA, etc.).
General Rules
- The annual qualifying period is December 1 to November 30th
- Point Standings are available and updated weekly on the ASHBA website.
- Questions about prize lists should be directed to show management prior to the competition. It is the exhibitor's responsibility to understand and abide by each competition's rules.
- All reports of errors discovered in show results or point standings must be submitted to ASHBA no later than November 30. It is each owner's responsibility to check for accuracy. No changes will be made after the competition year has ended. Unless a violation of rules has occurred, and changes are supported by a rule infraction by a governing body (i.e.: USEF).
- All disputes will be resolved by the American Saddlebred Horse and Breeders Association.
- Grievances should be addressed in writing to the ASHBA Executive Director.
- Regions are determined in the following ways:
- American Saddlebreds Competing at Breed Shows: Region is determined by the location of the completion. The horse (or rider in Equitation) must compete in a chosen class at least three times in at least three different competitions within the same region (for Regional Standings), which are recorded with ASHBA.
- Half Saddlebreds Competing in Breed Shows: Regions are determined by the location of the competition.
- Sport Horses (American Saddlebred and Half-Saddlebred): Regions are determined by the horse owner’s address and are aggregated into that region.
Category Specific Rules
American Saddlebreds and Half-Saddlebreds Competing at Breed Shows
- Classes that require additional membership affiliations will not count, such as UPHA Challenge Cup, USEF Medal Classes, and others. This does NOT apply for sport horses.
American Saddlebreds Competing at Breed Shows
- Certain restricted classes will count for points and will be assigned to the most appropriate category. Examples include: Ladies, Junior Horse, Division by Sex of Horse, Divisions by Height of Horse, State Restricted, etc., Five-Gaited Junior will count in the Open Five-Gaited category; Three-Gaited 15.2 & Over will count in the Open Three-Gaited category; Three-Gaited Show Pleasure State Restricted in the Combined All Ages category, and so on.
- Classes that are listed specifically as Adult or Juvenile classes will count for points in their corresponding category. Classes without the specific listing as Adult or Juvenile will count for points in the Combined All Ages category. Examples include: Show Pleasure 18 & Over will count in the Show Pleasure Adult category; Country Pleasure 14-17 will count in the Country Pleasure Juvenile category; Five-Gaited Show Pleasure will count in the Five-Gaited Combined All Ages category.
Please review the full rules and program guidelines for more information:
- High Point Rules
- Map and Region Listings
- Sport Horse Report Forms
High Point Award Past Winners:
- 2023 - National and Regional
- 2022 - National and Regional
- 2021 - National and Regional
- 2019 - National and Regional
- 2018 - National and Regional
- 2017 - National and Regional
- 2016 - National and Regional
- 2015 - National and Regional
- 2014 - National and Regional
- 2013 - National and Regional
- 2012 - National and Regional
- 2011 - National and Regional