2020 Platinum Performance/USHJA Hunter Week Is Approaching

Platinum Performance/USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Championships and Platinum Performance/USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship Held August 11-15 at Kentucky Horse Park

Lexington, Ky.—Jul. 15, 2020—The U.S. Hunter Jumper Association is excited for the 2020 Platinum Performance/USHJA Hunter Week, featuring the Platinum Performance/USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Championships and Platinum Performance/USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship. Held at the Kentucky Horse Park on August 11-15, the annual Hunter Week brings together the best Hunters for a thrilling week of competition.

"We look forward to once again hosting these Championships," said Hugh Kincannon, competition manager for Kentucky Horse Shows, LLC and the Bluegrass Festival Horse Show. "While the Championships may look different this year, we are committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of our exhibitors and encourage everyone to familiarize themselves with the USEF and state COVID-19 protocols."

As a result of the pandemic, strict protocols have been put in place by USEF as well as Kentucky Horse Shows to protect all exhibitors and staff at the event. The USHJA advises all who attend to review these guidelines prior to the event. The USEF COVID-19 resources can be found here, and the Kentucky Horse Shows protocol can be viewed here.

Kicking off the week will be the Green Hunter Incentive Championships, held August 11-13. Once again, two Championships are offered for the green hunters—one for those competing at 3'0" and 3'3" and another for those competing at 3'6" or 3'9". Each Championship consists of two rounds offered at both heights, and riders declare the height at which their horse(s) compete. All horses compete in the first round, in which they receive numerical scores. In the 3'0"/3'3" section, the 30 horses with the highest scores from the first and second round then advance to the final round, where they start with a clean slate. The 3'6"/3'9" section final round will see the 30 horses with the highest scores from the first round.

Finishing off the week will be the International Hunter Derby Championship, held August 13-15. All entered horses will compete in the first round of competition over a Classic Hunter course featuring International Hunter Derby style fences, including height options. Based on scores in the Classic Hunter round, horse-and-rider combinations advance to one of two possible second rounds: 1) the Handy Hunter Round or 2) the Derby Challenge.

For the Handy Hunter Round, riders are grouped into two tiers based on their amount of Derby money won in the last three years—Tier I or Tier II. The top 20 overall horse-and-rider combinations from the Classic Hunter round will be invited to compete in the Handy Hunter Round as part of Section A, and will be eligible for 80 percent of the prize money and the title of USHJA International Hunter Derby Champion. The top 20 horses ridden by a Tier II rider from the Classic Hunter round, including those invited as part of Section A, will be invited to compete in the Handy Hunter Round as part of Section B and will be eligible to win 20 percent of the total prize money. Tier II riders in Section A are eligible for prize money in both Sections A and B.

The Derby Challenge is open to all horses that did not qualify for Section A or Section B of the Handy Hunter Round. Each horse starts the Derby Challenge with a clean slate, where no scores from the Classic Hunter Round carry forward. Horses compete for $10,000 in prize money with the top 12 horses taking home a share of the prize money.

For 2020 only, all horses enrolled in the Green Hunter Incentive Program and eligible to compete in a Green Hunter Incentive class are invited to participate in the Green Hunter Incentive Championships and all horses enrolled in the International Hunter Derby program and eligible to compete in an International Hunter Derby are invited to participate in the International Hunter Derby Championship. Horses must be enrolled in their respective program prior to entering the Championships, and the class entry fee must be submitted with the entry forms. Entries must be received in the Bluegrass Festival Horse Show office or postmarked by July 22, 2020.

While spectators aren't allowed at the venue due to COVID-19 protocol, wall-to-wall live streaming coverage of the week-long competition will be available through Horse & Country TV, the official broadcaster of the 2020 Platinum Performance/USHJA Hunter Week, on the USHJA TV channel. Coverage includes expert commentary on the final rounds, course visualization and live scoring.

The USHJA thanks the sponsors who helped to make these championships possible, including CWD, the Official Saddle of the USHJA; Parlanti International, the Official Riding Boot of the USHJA; Rood & Riddle, the Official Equine Hospital and Veterinary Pharmacy; Platinum Performance, title sponsor of the Green Hunter Incentive and International Hunter Derby Championships; The Clothes Horse, the Official Cooler of the Derby; Horse & Country TV, the Official Host Broadcast; Hunter Championship Award Sponsors Charles Owen, Inc; Human Touch Massage Chairs; Boy O Boy Bridleworks, Essex Classics; FITS Riding; and Shapley's; and Supporting Sponsor Windsor Stables. 

Learn more about the USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Program and USHJA International Hunter Derby Program, enroll, and find entry information at ushja.org/GreenIncentive and ushja.org/IHD.

In addition to Hunter Week and it's Championships, Kentucky Horse Shows, LLC, is also hosting the East Coast iterations of the 2020 USHJA Pony Hunter Derby Championships on July 28-August 2 and the 2020 USHJA Gladstone Cup Equitation Classic, presented by Intermont Equestrian at Emory & Henry College, on August 23 at the Kentucky Horse Park.