Youth Merit

Rules

Youth Exhibitor:

1. Open to all Belgian draft horse youth exhibitors. Note: Age group range will be determined by the age the youth exhibitor is as of January 1st of the current point’s session.
2. There is no entry fee or sign up necessary to participate.
3. Canadian youth exhibitors will be recognized in the same manner as the American Youth Exhibitors and are eligible to participate.
4. It will be the responsibility of the youth exhibitor and their parents to monitor their points through the show season on the Corporation’s website and address all concerns and questions to the Corporation immediately.

Participating Shows:

1. The Youth Merit Program will follow the same guidelines as the Belgian Merit Program and will be held in conjunction with the Belgian Merit Program.
2. Following are the current recognized state/regional shows:
   
   1. State shows: Georgia National Fair, Idaho, Illinois State Fair, Indiana State Fair (National Belgian Show and National Belgian Futurity), Iowa State Fair, Kansas State Fair,  Keystone International Livestock Expo, Michigan Great Lakes International, Minnesota State Fair, Mississippi Valley Fair (Davenport), Missouri State Fair, New York State Fair, North American International Livestock Expo, Ohio State Fair, South Dakota State Fair, West Virginia, Wisconsin State Fair
   2. Regional shows: LaPorte Draft Horse Show (LaPorte, IN), Wilmington Classic (Wilmington, OH)

Points Awarded:

1. The first five youth of each class will get the following awarding of raw points:
   
   1. 1st gets 10 points
   2. 2nd gets 7 points
   3. 3rd gets 5 points
   4. 4th gets 3 points
   5. 5th gets 2 points
2. The following 10 classes will supply points to aid in overall point totals for youth exhibitors:
   
   1. Youth Showmanship: 10-14
   2. Youth Showmanship: 15-18
   3. Youth Cart: 10-14
   4. Youth Cart: 15-18
   5. Youth Team: 10-14
   6. Youth Team: 15-18
   7. Youth Decorating: 10-14 (Double points class)
   8. Youth Decorating: 15-18 (Double points class)
   9. Youth Judging: 10-14
   10. Youth Judging: 15-18

*The Youth Decorating class counts as a double point class. This is to help aid in participation in this class to gain the foundation of prepping a horse for shows.

*Merit shows that have combined youth shows are able to count toward the overall program points. The points will be calculated based on the number of Belgian youth exhibitors showing and the points will be calculated based on Belgians only. Example: 5 youth and 2 are showing Belgians, 2 points will be awarded to the top Belgian youth and 1 point to the next Belgian youth.

* The participating shows must have classes to match those of the Belgian Youth Merit Program for points to be awarded.

3. If a show has Overall showman: additional points will be awarded for achieving this:

a. Overall Youth- 10-14: 2 Additional points
b. Reserve Overall Youth 10-14: 1 Additional point
c. Overall Youth 15-18: 2 Additional points
d. Reserve Overall Youth 15-18: 1 Additional point

4. These overall raw points will then multiplied by the index of the show to give the youth exhibitor the total points earned at that show.
5. Index multipliers are determined by the number of youth exhibitors at that show that year. The index of the show will not be known until the completion of the show. The index is determined as
follows:
• Index of 9 if > 17 Belgian Youth Exhibitors
• Index of 8 if 15-16 Belgian Youth Exhibitors
• Index of 7 if 13-14 Belgian Youth Exhibitors
• Index of 6 if 11-12 Belgian Youth Exhibitors
• Index of 5 if 9-10 Belgian Youth Exhibitors
• Index of 4 if 7-8 Belgian Youth Exhibitors
• Index of 3 if 5-6 Belgian Youth Exhibitors
• Index of 2 if 3-4 Belgian Youth Exhibitors
• Index of 1 if 1-2 Belgian Youth Exhibitors

Show Season:

1. The show season will run from January 1st to November 25th of each year.
2. As soon as the points are received by the Belgian Draft Horse Corporation office and tallied they will be posted on the Corporation’s website for viewing. No additions or changes will be accepted after November 25th.
3. It is the responsibility of the youth exhibitor and their parents to proof their points as they go through the show season and address any concerns or questions to the Corporation immediately. Results furnished with “entry” rather than the name of the youth exhibitor will not
   be listed.

Recognition:

1. The recognition of the top three individuals of each class will be done at the annual meeting of the Belgian Draft Horse Corporation.
2. The top three youth exhibitors per class/per age category will receive a gold, silver, or bronze award. There will be an additional award for the Overall Youth 10-14 and 15-18 and a Reserve Overall Youth 10-14 and 15-18.
3. The gold, silver, and bronze winners for each class will be featured in the Belgian publications with the honorable mention youth team members being listed as well.
4. In the event of a tie it will be broken by adding the total points earned at shows where the two youth exhibitors were shown against each other and the youth exhibitor with the most points will be declared the winner of the tie. If the tie cannot be broken by this method both youth exhibitors will be recognized as a true tie and awarded in a similar manner.

Recording of Points:

1. The points for the current year will be recorded and tallied on the Corporation website for viewing and inspection.
2. At the conclusion of the year the points for each and every youth exhibitor will be transferred to an overall youth record.
3. All points earned in a youth’s show career will be stored on their record.