Platinum Performance/USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Championships Debut New Format and Expanded Qualifying

Qualifying Changes Made to Platinum Performance/USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship

Lexington, Ky.—Feb. 22, 2023—The U.S. Hunter Jumper Association is excited to announce changes to the annual Platinum Performance/USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Championships and Platinum Performance/USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship for the 2023 competition year and beyond. With expanded qualifying and a more inclusive format, these changes allow a broader range of exhibitors the opportunity to compete August 15-19 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky.

The Platinum Performance/USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Championships will be held August 15-17 and feature two Championships—one for Green Hunters competing at 3'0" and 3'3" and one for Green Hunters competing at 3'6" and 3'9". New this year, all horses enrolled in the Green Hunter Incentive program are invited to compete and qualifying is no longer required. 

The 3'0"/3'3" Championship will see a change in the competition format, most notably in how horses will qualify for the Final Round. The First Round will consist of all eligible and entered horses. Horses that place first through tenth in the First Round will be awarded a ‘bye’ to the Final Round—those exhibitors may elect to compete or not in the Second Round at their own discretion.

The Second Round will consist of all horses from the First Round, including any of the First Round's top 10 exhibitors that elect to compete. The horses that place in the top 10 in the Second Round, based solely on that round's scores and excluding those that were in the First Round top 10, will be awarded a ‘bye’ to the Final Round.

Finally, the top 10 horses with the highest combined scores from both rounds, excluding those in the top 10 in the First or Second Rounds, will move on to the Final Round. Scores from the First and Second Rounds will not carry over and all 30 horses competing in the Final Round will start with a clean slate.

In both the 3'0"/3'3" Championship and the 3'6"/3'9" Championship, an additional 10 Tier II riders not already competing in the Final Round will compete over the same course for the Overall 3’/3’3” Tier II awards and the Overall 3’6”/3’9” Tier II awards. The Tier II Riders will be placed amongst themselves, regardless of if they are in the Final Round or the Tier II Round. 

The Platinum Performance/USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship will wrap up the week on August 17-19. As with the Green Hunters, the Championship will now be open to all horses enrolled in the International Hunter Derby program with no additional qualifying requirements.

Learn more about the USHJA Green Hunter Incentive at ushja.org/GHI. Visit ushja.org/IHD for more information about the USHJA International Hunter Derby program.

Photos: Terisé Cole/USHJA