American Haflinger Registry Inspection and Classification

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR THE AMERCIAN HAFLINGER REGISTRY
VOLUNTARY INSPECTION AND CLASSIFICATION PROGRAM

POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR THE AMERCIAN HAFLINGER REGISTRY VOLUNTARY INSPECTION AND CLASSIFICATION PROGRAM:

(Revised August 17, 2005)

I. ELIGIBILITY:

Open to all purebred Haflinger mares, stallions and geldings registered in the American Haflinger Registry, and to Haflingers registered with the Canadian Haflinger Association that are owned by Canadian residents. All horses must be owned by members of the American Haflinger Registry.

A. Official Inspection and Classification

Open to all Haflingers age two or over.

B. Informal Evaluation

Weanlings and yearlings may be informally evaluated at a reduced fee by the three judges strictly to provide the owner with information via a written evaluation record. The informal evaluation scorecard will differ from the official scorecard in that each section will be marked as “very good”, “good” or “needs monitoring through maturity”, rather than actual point values. In addition, at the conclusion of each evaluation, the owner will receive the judges’ written and verbal commentary.

C. Applications

Only horses with correctly completed paperwork, including application form, copy of pedigree (front and back if necessary to show current owner), copy of DNA results, and full payment shall be eligible to be inspected. Stallions and geldings under the age of two years are exempt from providing DNA results, unless required by AHR registration rules.

II: CRITERIA:

A. For horses presented for Official Inspection and Classification, the 100-point system (see attached scorecard) will be used in conjunction with the published breeding objectives of the World Haflinger Federation and the American Haflinger Registry.

B. Horses presented for Official Inspection and Classification will be measured for height, girth and bone.

III: JUDGING:

Horses will be judged standing, walking on a small triangle, and trotting on the large triangle. In addition, they will be free-schooled at trot and canter. Informal evaluation will not include a free-school.

IV: JUDGES AND OFFICIALS:

A. A panel of three judges will preside at each inspection and classification.

B. One of the three judges may be of International stature.

C. The American Haflinger Registry must approve all three judges.

D. A judge may not preside at the classification of a horse that was bred by, owned by, sold by or handled as agent by him/her or members of his/her immediate family.

E. The judges will be responsible for verifying soundness as well as the absence of any genetic defects.

F. A representative of the registry will be present to examine pedigrees and to take a DNA sample to confirm identity.

V: SCORING FOR OFFICIAL INSPECTION AND CLASSIFICATION:

A. Horses will be given a mark out of 10 possible points for each of the following categories:

Type

Head

Neck

Forehand

Mid-Section

Hindquarters

Front Legs

Hind Legs

Correctness of Movement

Overall Movement

B. Individual marks shall reflect the following descriptions:

10 = Excellent
9 = Very Good
8 = Good
7 = Sufficient
6 = Not sufficient
5 = Poor

C. Each judge must mark his own worksheet with what he believes to be the correct mark. The final mark, however, will be the consensus of the three judges opinions following discussion. Each judge is instructed to include explicit written commentary on his or her worksheet which will be transferred onto the final official scorecard by the scribe, at the conclusion of the judging of each horse. All judges must sign the final official copy of the combined scorecard.

D. Overall scores will reflect the following descriptions:

Score / Description / Ribbon Color

81 points or above = Excellent Gold
75 to 80 points = Very good Silver
71 to 74 points = Good Purple*
69 to 70 points = Sufficient White

*stallions scoring 74 points or less will not be recommended for breeding
*mares scoring 68 points or less will not be recommended for breeding

VI: AWARDS AND RECORDS:

A. Each inspected horse will receive a certificate of inspection, including the horse’s name, total score,measurements and the names of the judges presiding.

B. The complete inspection scorecard, including all judges’ comments and marks in each category, will be kept in that horse’s permanent inspection record at the AHR Office, and copy of same released to the owner. See section IX, A, B for policy on re-inspection.

C. At the end of each horse’s inspection, the owner will be informed of his horse’s score. At this time, the judges will communicate verbally to the owner the ten scores on each of the ten sections and give comments. This is an educational step for the owner’s benefit. The judges’ decisions are final, and no arguing or questioning any decision will be tolerated. Limited questions from the owner will be permitted only for the sake of clarification. In the interest of time, no two-way discussion will be permitted.

D. When the judges’ critique is finished, the owner will be awarded the appropriate ribbon. It is desired that all scores be announced, however, the owner may decide to have his or her horse’s score announced or unannounced. If the score not announced, the owner agrees it can be published anonymously, in order to maintain complete Inspection records. Ho rses scoring 75 points or better will be encouraged to return to the arena at the termination of each inspection for the final parade and line-up according to score.

E. The actual score of any inspected horse will remain the property of the horse’s owner for as long as he/she owns the horse, and may only be published anonymously with AHR inspection results unless otherwise instructed by the written consent of the owner.
F. If an inspected horse is sold, the new owner is entitled, by request to the AHR office, to a copy of the horse’s inspection scorecard.

VII: IDENTIFICATION:

A. A copy of the front and back of the pedigree, showing current owner and original breeder, must be submitted with the registration form. This is for the purpose of identification and verification of registry with AHR by a registry official only. Judges are not permitted to see any pedigrees prior to inspection of horses. A copy of the DNA results is mandatory for all horses, including those to be presented for informal evaluation. Stallions under the age of two years are exempt from providing DNA results, unless required by AHR registration rules.

VIII: TURNOUT:

A. All horses must be presented barefoot, or in hunter plates only. No heavy shoes or artificial building of hooves permitted. This is to ensure equality of performance between horses.

B. Horses must be presented in a snaffle bridle or well-fitting halter.

C. It is recommended that excessively long facial hair, whiskers and long ear hair be trimmed, as well as the feathers and long leg hair at the back of the legs and fetlocks.

D. Manes and tails should be well groomed and left in a natural length, unbraided.

E. Horses ideally should be presented in good but not over fat condition.

F. Each horse will be given a bridle number, which must be worn during presentation.

G. Handlers should be neatly dressed. No blue jeans permitted. No identification of the farm, owner, trainer or horse should be indicated on the handler’s clothing or the horse’s equipment.

IX: RE-INSPECTION:

A. TWO TO FIVE YEAR OLDS: Due to potential differences in rate of maturity, all horses aged two through five years old may be re-submitted for re-inspection multiple times, at any time up to and including during his/her five year old year. At age 6 and over, as a mature horse, the horse is eligible for re-inspection ONCE ONLY through the appeals process. For all re-inspection, the owner must fill out a standard application form, and the full current fee will apply. The score and scorecard including comments at all re-inspections will be added to all previous records in the horse’s permanent file.

B. APPEALS: The judge’s score on all mature horses is final, and automatically entered into the horse’s inspection record. An owner will be permitted to appeal the judge’s decision on a mature horse age 6 or over ONCE ONLY. The appeal must be made in writing to the inspection committee. If the appeal is accepted, the owner must pay the appropriate current inspection fee, and the horse may be re-inspected ONCE ONLY at an inspection where at least one of the judges was not present at the horse's original inspection. In the case of re-inspection, the score and scorecard including comments will be added to all previous records in the horse’s permanent file. Scorecards that document a re-inspection due to an appeal will be designated as such after inspection and before entering a horse’s permanent file.

The following sections shall serve to recognize the ability of stallions to reproduce, as well as to identify and reward exceptional family lines of both stallions and mares.

X: Stallion “Proven” status:

A. General:

An additional mark for offspring will be given to stallions that are presented for the Proven” status with offspring.

Two scores (classification & offspring) are required to complete a stallion’s classification record: Inspected and Proven.

Stallions without the second score for offspring will be considered Unproven.

B. Requirements:

To obtain the Proven status for stallions, stallions age 6 or over will be required to present a minimum of 10% of their offspring of any age for examination to determine the stallion’s ability to produce quality offspring.
A minimum of three to a maximum of twelve horses is required. More horses than the required number may be presented at the owner’s request. If you are unsure of the number of horses required for presentation with your stallion, contact the AHR office to obtain a listing of registered offspring.
The offspring presented must represent a minimum of three different mares.
Stallions age 3, 4 and 5 years may be presented for classification without offspring, but may return at or after the age of 6 with the appropriate number of offspring in order to complete their classification record.

C. Scoring of Offspring

Each of the offspring presented will be examined standing, walking and trotting.

Marks will be given based on the overall impression of the group as a whole.

A score from 1 to 10 will be given in each of 4 categories, and converted to a percentage of total possible marks. The four categories are:
a. Type (as per breed standards)
b. General Conformation
c. Movement
d. Genetic Potency: Ability of stallion to pass on positive traits

The final mark in each case will be the consensus of the 3 judges.

A score of 69% or more is required to achieve “Proven” status.

XI: STAR, ELITE AND SUPREME STATUS FOR MARES AND STALLIONS:

A. Mares:

Star mares - classified mares that have had 3 or more offspring score “silver” ribbons or better at classification.
Elite mares - classified mares that have had 2 or more offspring score “silver” ribbons and one or more offspring score a “gold” ribbon at classification.
Supreme mares - classified mares that have had 2 or more offspring score “gold” ribbons and one or more offspring score a “silver” ribbon at classification.

B. Stallions:

Star stallions - classified stallions that have had 6 or more offspring score “silver” ribbons at classification.

Elite stallions - classified stallions that have had 4 or more offspring score “silver” ribbons and two or more offspring score “gold” ribbons at classification.

Supreme stallions - classified stallions that have had 4 or more offspring score “gold” ribbons and 2 or more offspring score “silver” ribbons at classification.

Star, Elite and Supreme status will be announced annually in the official publication of the AHR.

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