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Minnesota Hunter & Jumper Association

YEAR END AWARDS PROGRAM & SECTIONS

2025 MHJA Year End Awards Program

For a PDF copy of this document, CLICK HERE

Each year, the MHJA offers a year end awards (YEA) program consisting of overall high point awards for several sections in Equitation, Hunters, and Jumpers. Our intention is to reward members who regularly participate in MHJA-approved horse shows. Members must abide by the requirements put forth in this document. Points will only be awarded for horse shows approved by the MHJA. For information on horse show approval see the MHJA by-laws.

The MHJA competition year begins December 1 and ends November 30.

Participation in the program commences on the date an individual membership becomes active in the MHJA.

Date of membership is recorded by the Membership Chair. It is activated in one of three ways; 1)

the postmarked date of an application and payment sent by mail, 2) the date listed on the online

application and payment received listed on MHJA Pay Pal account, or 3) the date the application

and payment are received by a representative of the MHJA, for example by a show secretary at a

horse show. In the event the payment is non-negotiable for any reason, the membership application is not complete and will not become effective until all fees and any penalties charged to the MHJA resulting from the non-negotiable payment are made good.
 

For any section that has a YEA, MHJA membership is required as described below:
 

• For Hunter and Jumper classes, the owner of the horse or pony, and the rider (if different) must be competing member(s) of the MHJA prior to the time of competition. This holds tru if a horse is leased, unless the lease is recorded with USEF, in which case only the lessee (and rider, if different) needs to be a member of MHJA. If the owner of the horse is a Stable/Farm/Corporation, one owner of the Stable/Farm/Corporation must be a member of the MHJA.

• For Equitation, the rider must be a competing member of the MHJA, prior to the time of competition.

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It is a member’s responsibility to notify the MHJA of any changes of horse name, rider name, or

ownership. It is a member’s responsibility to notify MHJA of any leases where the owner of the horse is not an MHJA member.

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At MHJA approved horse shows, points for all classes shall be accumulated according to the following scale:

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Points will count for YEA regardless of the number of entries in a particular class or section, as long as the horse show holds the class or section.

A section, either combined or split, must be held at a minimum of three MHJA recognized horse

shows for a year end award to be given.
 

Equitation classes are scored on the rider, regardless of the horse shown.
 

Hunter and Jumper classes are scored on the horse, regardless of the rider.
 

Points accrued from Blue Ribbon Jumper classes will not count for either YEA or special trophies.
 

Points accrued from general or section-specific Hunter Classics will not count towards YEA.
 

All sections for YEA will be awarded, provided there is a valid candidate for the award and all other requirements have been met.
 

Specifications for classes cannot be more restrictive than those required for MHJA YEA to be

awarded points. Entry requirements for classes cannot be so broad as to make the intent of the

section meaningless. The MHJA will try to check prize lists and let members know which classes will meet MHJA specifications.
 

For Hunter sections, points for under saddle and over fences classes shall count equally. Where

there are ties for YEA, a tie for any place will be broken with the higher placing given to the horse

with most points accumulated over fences.
 

For Jumper sections, ties will not be broken.
 

For Equitation sections, flat and over fences points shall count equally. Ties for YEA shall remain

tied and will not be broken by the number of points over fences. Medal classes do not count

towards Equitation Awards.
 

For all sections, a complete set of Champion, Reserve Champion, and 3rd – 8th place ribbons will be awarded (assuming enough qualified participants). This means that duplicate awards and ribbons will be given for ties where applicable.

Year-to-date points will be posted on the MHJA website.

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If discrepancies or questions regarding points are found, please contact the Points Committee

Chairperson, Jeni McDermott at jeniamcd@gmail.com or (909) 559-6180. Any questions concerning points will be addressed as covered by sections 2.7 and 2.8 of the by-laws.

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       2025 MHJA Year End Awards Sections

       The following sections will be awarded MHJA Year End Awards (YEA) if there are valid

       participants. All MHJA horses and/or riders are eligible provided they have followed the

       requirements set forth in the MHJA Year End Awards Program.

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Opportunity/ Outreach Classes

1. Opportunity / Outreach Hunter

2. Opportunity / Outreach Equitation

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​Equitation Divisions

1. Open Equitation, 11 and under

2. Open Equitation, 12–14

3. Open Equitation, 15–17

4. Adult Amateur Equitation, 18 and over

5. Modified Children’s / Adult Equitation

6. Low Children’s / Adult Equitation

7. Long Stirrup Equitation

8. Short Stirrup Equitation

9. 2’3” Equitation

10. MHJA Medal

11. MHJA Mini-Medal

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• Equitation sections 1–3 may be combined for YEAs if there are fewer than 6 qualifiers in each section.

• Equitation sections 4–7 and 9 may be split into age sections for YEAs if there are 6 or more qualifiers in each age section.

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​Hunter Divisions

1. Combined Green Working Hunter

2. Combined Performance Working Hunter

3. Amateur Owner Working Hunter

4. Junior Working Hunter

5. Combined Pony Working Hunter

6. Children’s Working Hunter Horse 14 and under

7. Children’s Working Hunter Horse 15–17

8. Children’s Working Hunter Pony

9. Adult Amateur Working Hunter 35 and under

10. Adult Amateur Working Hunter 36–49

11. Adult Amateur Working Hunter 50 and over

12. USHJA Hunter 2′

13. USHJA Hunter 2′3″

14. USHJA Hunter 2′6″

15. USHJA Hunter 2′9″

16. USHJA Hunter 3′

17. Low Adult Hunter (USHJA Low Adult Hunter) 2′6″

18. Low Children’s Hunter (USHJA Low Children’s Hunter) 2′6″

19. Thoroughbred Hunter

20. Long Stirrup Working Hunter 17 and under

21. Long Stirrup Working Hunter 18 and over

22. Short Stirrup Working Hunter

23. Low Junior/Amateur Working Hunter

24. Starter Hunter

25. Master/Rusty Stirrup Hunter

26. Modified Adult Hunter 2′9″

27. Modified Children’s Hunter 2′9″

28. Baby Green Hunter

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• Hunter sections 1–4: 3′6″ sections may be split for YEA if there are 3 qualifiers at that height.

• Hunter sections 5–8 may be split for into size sections for YEA if there are 6 qualifiers in each size.

• Hunter sections 6–11, 17–18, 20–21, and 24–27 may be combined, as allowed by section specifications, for YEAs if there are fewer than 6 qualifiers in a section.

• Hunter sections 1–18 are Zone Year End Award Sections. They are governed by either USEF rules or USHJA Zone 6 rules.

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​Jumper Divisions

1. 0.70–0.75m Jumper

2. 0.80–0.85m Jumper

3. 0.90–0.95m Jumper

4. 1.0–1.05m Jumper

5. 1.10m Jumper

6. 1.15m Jumper

7. 1.20–1.25m Jumper

8. 1.30m and above Jumper

9. Pony Jumper (USEF specs)

10. Modified Junior Jumper 0.85–0.90m

11. Modified Amateur Jumper 0.85–0.90m

12. 1.00/1.05m Junior Jumper 1.0–1.05m (USHJA Zone 6 specs)

13. 1.10/1.15m Junior Jumper 1.10–1.15m (USHJA Zone 6 specs)

14. 1.00/1.05m Amateur Jumper 1.0–1.05m (USHJA Zone 6 specs)

15. 1.10/1.15m Amateur Jumper 1.10–1.15m (USHJA Zone 6 specs)

16. 1.20m or higher Junior / Amateur Jumper (USEF specs)

17. Thoroughbred Jumper

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• Jumper section 16 may be split for YEAs if there are 6 qualifiers in each section.​

• Any section, in any Division, may be split for YEAs using a California split if there are 30 or more qualifiers.

GLOSSARY

Division – A particular type of discipline within the horse show world. Hunters, Jumpers and

Equitation are all considered divisions.
 

Section – A sub-group of classes under a division with particular characteristics. Pony Hunter,

Equitation 12-14, and Junior Jumper would all be considered sections. Sometimes “section” also

refers to splitting a large group into smaller groups as in “The Adult Amateur Hunter division was so big, they split it into two sections.”
 

Class – a single performance unit within a section. As in “an “A” rated section will have 4 over

fences classes and one under saddle.” A group of classes makes up a section.

Division and Section are frequently used interchangeably, you may hear someone say “my horse was champion in the High Performance division,” when they actually mean section. Sometimes “section” refers to groups after a class has been split. (See above.)
 

High Point – High point refers to the horse or rider who accumulates the most points in a section over the year end award qualifying period. High point awards may also be awarded across several sections, in which case the high point horse or rider is the one that accumulates the most points in their respective section as compared to the other sections.
 

YEA – abbreviation for Year End Award.

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