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ALL-CANADIAN RULES/PROCEDURES AND
REGULATIONS
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Eligibility in the All-Canadian program is
determined entirely by placings at the designated shows listed on the next
page. The top four Belgians in each class at AA level shows, the top three
at A level shows, the top two at B level shows and the class winners only at
C level shows are eligible to be entered in the All-Canadian Contest. The
horse must earn a qualifying placing in the open class at one of the
recognized shows. Placings in bred & owned and/or other specialty classes do
not qualify. Qualifying placings are the official class placing only,
regardless of breed, age or sex eligible to enter the class. For example, in
a mixed sex foal class, a stallion foal placing 2nd behind a filly would not
qualify as the 1st place stallion foal. Likewise, a Belgian placing 2nd in a
mixed breed class behind a Percheron would not qualify as the 1st place
Belgian. All mares and stallions must be registered with the Canadian
Belgian Horse Association or Belgian Draft Horse Corporation of America.
This includes foals. Grade geldings are currently the only non-registered
horses accepted in the contest.
When entering, be sure that your placing was
in one of the qualifying classes at a qualifying show. There are eleven
classes which qualify for the All-Canadian Contest:
Geldings (any age),
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Stud
Foals,
Yearling Stallions,
2-Year-Old Stallions,
Aged Stallions (3
&
Over)
Filly Foals,
Yearling Mares,
2-Year-Old Mares,
3-Year-Old Mares,
Yeld Mares
and
Brood Mares. |
You must list all qualifying placings in ALL qualifying
classes. Placings in futurity classes, bred & owned classes, etc. do not
qualify for the Contest, however, any championships SHOULD be included. (Why
list all the qualifying places? This contest is meant to be an accurate
historical record of the year’s events. Inclusion of only the first place
finishes does not accomplish that goal.)
To make a nomination, you will need
the following:
1. An un-retouched, unaltered color photograph, any size, of
the horse standing only, and taken during the current year show season. No
photos in harness or in motion will be allowed. Photos altered in any way
will cause an automatic disqualification. We can not use photographer’s
proofs. Do not crop or cut photos.
2. A copy of the certificate of pedigree,
both sides, with the exception of grade geldings. American horses are no
exception.
3. The completed All-Canadian Nomination Form, which follows the
list of qualifying shows. Use one form per entry. The form must be signed
and dated by the owner of record, the lessee or the exhibitor.
You may make
copies of this form, download and print additional copies or call the
Association office for additional forms. Junior and Senior Foals must be
designated as such for those shows offering both divisions. There is no
entry fee. Your entry must be received by the Committee by November 15th,
except for those exhibiting at the Canadian Western Agribition. Agribition
qualifiers need to be in our hands by November 30th, complete with copies of
the pedigree and photos. ENTRIES RECEIVED AFTER THIS DATE, AND INCOMPLETE
ENTRIES WILL BE RETURNED!
Please make sure that your entries are
properly completed and signed. We will not hold up the contest and
publication of either magazine for late entries or photos.
The Belgian All-Canadian Committee
will check all the entries and show results. Erroneous entries will be
excluded. The Committee will advise The Draft Horse Journal of any
disqualified entries. Any exhibitor that accumulates a total of three
disqualifications for any number of infractions, will immediately and
thereafter become ineligible to participate in the Contest.
This means that if one exhibitor has three horses disqualified in this
year’s competition, none of their entries will be accepted for this year, or
any year thereafter. Reasons
for disqualifications include, but are not limited to: use of a photo taken
other than during the current show year or a photo which has been altered in
any way; the listing of
inaccurate show winnings, entry of a non-registered foal, etc. |
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Further, we will bring to the
attention of the Board of Directors, exhibitors who habitually claim false
winnings in the All-Canadian Contest. In short, check your entries
carefully, then check them again. If you won the placing, claim it ... If
you did not, don’t enter it.
The pictures of all nominees and their
winnings will be published in The Canadian Belgian Banner. Prior to this,
these pages will be mailed to the judges of the designated shows in the form
of a ballot. Each judge will be asked to place the top half of each class,
and return his/her ballot form to The Draft Horse Journal for tabulation.
The horse in each class with the highest points will be the All-Canadian and
the second highest will be the Reserve All-Canadian. A reasonable number of
Honorable Mentions will also be designated by The Draft Horse Journal, based
on the tabulated results. There will be no set number of Honorable Mentions
named–Some classes warrant several, others none at all.
The Draft Horse Journal will award $50
to the owner and $50 to the breeder of each All-Canadian; and $25 to the
owner and $25 to the breeder of each Reserve All-Canadian.
The Canadian Belgian Horse
Association will also present certificates to each All-Canadian and
Reserve All-Canadian owner and breeder at the Annual Meeting. In addition to
publication in The Canadian Belgian Banner, The Draft Horse Journal will
carry the All-Canadians, Reserve All-Canadians and any Honorable Mentions in
their Spring issue.
What Happens If You Don’t Follow
the Rules? “
Three Strikes, You’re Out” policy
arose from annual questions and complaints about inaccurate placings
included in the All-American breed ballots. The questions frequently came
from contest judges. They would note that two competitors were claiming the
same placing in the same class at the same show. The complaints also came
from fellow exhibitors that were upset that a horse appeared in the ballot
with a placing that they did not actually receive; oftentimes that they had
won with their animal. At the time this misinformation was discovered, it
was too late to recall the ballots as they were already in the hands of the
judges. In most cases, the discovery was not made until after the contest
results were already published. Whether or not these inaccurate placings had
any bearing on the contest results is unknown, but it did call the integrity
of the program into question and, as the ballot serves as an historical
record of the show ring for the year, a desire for accurate results was
certain. A policy was developed that stated that exhibitors claiming false
placings or otherwise not following the rules should have the horse’s entry
in question disqualified and that a single exhibitor’s third offense (three
disqualifications) would exclude him/her from competing in the contest in
the future, or “three strikes, you’re out.” Each breed association accepted
the responsibility of reviewing the nomination forms for compliance and
issuing “strikes” or disqualifications as they determined appropriate for
their breed as it related to inaccurate placings and other instances not in
accordance with the contest guidelines. The best advice is to read the
contest rules in the respective breed publications, follow the instructions
for nominating horses, ask if you have any questions and, as the grade
school teachers always point out, double check your work. Since the
inception of the policy, relatively few animals have been disqualified and,
to date, no one has “struck out.”
WARNING – NO ALTERED
PHOTOGRAPHS!
Any entry submitted with a photograph
that has, in the opinion of the All-Canadian Committee, been altered in any
way will be disqualified and the person who submitted it will receive one
strike against him/her. What are considered alterations? Alterations
include, but are not limited to, the following: Cutting, cropping, removing
or manipulating anything, such as the handler, another horse, halter, or
anything else appearing in the photo. Distorting, changing, adding or
deleting the color, highlighting any portion of a photo or changing the
background is considered an alteration. No matter how we say it or define
it, we simply do not allow altered photos in the All-Canadian Contest.
Return all entries by November 15th*
to:
Mark Lindquist
All-Canadian Belgian Committee
4501 Highway 35, RR #2 Cameron,
Ontario K0M 1G0
*
Canadian Western Agribition exhibitors
have until November 30th to submit their nominations.
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