Effective 1-1-09 and
amended 12-7-09, 4-10-10
Guidelines
for IHDA Trials and Events
EVENT SANCTIONING
Trials, Clinic and Fun Days may be sanctioned with IHDA. IHDA requires the event sanction form and a rough draft of the event flyer to be submitted prior to sanction approval. Each IHDA Sanctioned Event will pay IHDA 5 % of gross income to the IHDA Treasury. The IHDA Board of Directors will annually review fees, charges and expenses. Event producers are encouraged to discount entry fees to IHDA members.
The following pertains to Sanctioned events:
1. Event holder assumes all financial responsibility for the event, sets all charges. Event holders agree to pay IHDA 5% of the gross income of their trial.
2. IHDA will post information about the event including premium in the IHDA Newsletter or on the IHDA Website
3. IHDA will post results from the event in the IHDA Newsletter or on the IHDA Website.
4. IHDA Policy regarding injured or dead stock will be in effect
5. Event Holder agrees to abide by all IHDA policies and will be covered by IHDA insurance.
Events may be submitted for sanctioning with IHDA by the following procedure:
1. Event Sanction Request including a draft of the event flyer is submitted to the President at least 60 days prior to the event.
2. IHDA President negotiates conditions (as stated above or may be modified to suit circumstances)
3. IHDA President presents proposed events to the board.
4. A simple majority vote of the board is required for the event to be approved
If a participant's dog is the direct cause for the
death or damage of an animal, that dog's owner is responsible for payment for
the animal based on market value or resulting vet bills from the damage done. .
If an animal dies or is injured in the training ring, but not as a result of
the participant or his/her dog, then the club is responsible for paying present
market value on the animal or $500 whichever is lesser, to the animal's owner.
The IHDA Treasurer shall maintain a portion of the
Association funds for the purpose of reimbursing trial directors, stock owners,
and other IHDA members for losses at an IHDA sponsored event or clinic that are
not otherwise covered through IHDA’s insurance policy. In the case of
livestock damage or death payout must be proposed and seconded by the IHDA
Board of Directors, and approved by a majority vote of the board.
IHDA Clinics
Clinic hosts are fully responsible for any event
held at their property as far as hosting the event, recruiting help for
entries, stock handling, concessions, and advertising. Event holder assumes all
financial responsibility for the event sets all charges.
Fun Day hosts are fully responsible for any event
held at their property as far as hosting the event, recruiting help for
entries, stock handling, concessions, and advertising. Event holder assumes all
financial responsibility for the event and sets all charges.
IHDA
TRIAL INTRODUCTION
Dog
trials are our demonstration of the skills of our dogs and the ability of the
herding breeds. Anyone competing in a trial should remember that they are part
of this heritage and are spokespersons for our breeds and sport.
These
trials are intended to showcase the skills of the dogs as a herding animal.
While any dog may require assistance from its handler during a run and any dog
may have a bad run these trials are not intended to be training sessions for
the dogs. Any dog running in a trial should be under control and capable of
performing the work required by the course.
All people competing in IHDA sanctioned trials are expected to display
sportsman like conduct to the trial manager, judge, and other competitors. It
is expected that trial managers will make every effort to insure the trial is
fair to all competitors. It needs to be understood, however, that running a
trial is not an exact science and while every effort should be made to give
each handler a fair chance, bad luck happens.
Note:
The IHDA categories, guidelines and rules defined below are superceded when
said event is co-sanctioned by a National Trial Organization (i.e. USBCA, ASCA,
AHBA, etc…)
HANDLER CATEGORIES
Novice and Open Handlers
A handler that has never run a dog competitively
in any open class is considered a novice handler. An open handler is one who
has run a dog competitively in the open class. {Please note that “exhibition
only” open runs do not influence novice handler status.}
Junior Handlers
A Junior handler (17 years of age and under as of
January 1st) may run a dog in a novice class and earn points with that dog even
if the same dog is currently earning novice points for another handler. The
Junior handler may run the dog in a class lower than the Novice handler
according to the same rules that apply to a dog that changes owners. If the
young handler and dog are clearly too competitive in a given class, the trial
committee may require them to move to a higher class.
Class Catagories
Beginner
The Beginner Class is designed
to give inexperienced Novice handlers a level at which to start
competing. The class is open to handlers that have never competed before
with any dog that has never competed in a class higher then Novice with any
other handler. First year handlers may only compete in this class.
The course should be designed for success, a point will be given for each
course completion, and time will be kept for “Time-Out” purposes only. It
is suggested that trial managers set a course based on the Novice course
requiring two or more obstacles to be completed in a reasonable amount of
time. It is at the discretion of the trial coordinator as to when the
beginner class is run, before, after or in between other classes.
Handlers may compete in this
class for 1 trial season after which they will be moved up to the Novice level
of competition
Novice
The Novice Class is designed to give Novice
handlers a level at which to start competing with an inexperienced dog. The
class is open to novice handlers with any dog that has never competed in a
class higher then Novice with its current handler or Pro/Novice with any other
handler. Open handlers may not compete in novice.
Novice Handlers may compete in this class so long as they have not
achieved the Novice Year End High Point Award twice regardless which dog they
attained the honor with. (Revised
4-10-10).
The dog earning the highest number of
points at the end of the season shall move up to the Pro Novice level of
competition at the conclusion of the current trial season. (see "Schedule
of Points") (Revised 4-10-10)
Pro Novice
The Pro Novice Class is designed to give Open
handlers a level at which to start competing with an inexperienced dog. It is
also an intermediate level of competition for the Novice handler between Novice
and Open classes. This class is open to any handler with a dog that has never
competed in a class higher than Pro Novice with its current handler or Open
with any other handler.
The dog earning the highest number of
points at the end of the season shall be required to move up to the Open level
of competition at the conclusion of the current trial season. (Revised 4-10-10)
Open
The Open
Class is designed to give Open handlers and experienced dogs a competitive
venue that will challenge both themselves and their dogs displaying the highest
level of Stockmenship and Stock Dog expertise
GENERAL TRIAL GUIDELINES
To be a IHDA year end point
qualifying trial must meet the following requirements:
1. Trial dates and intentions must be agreed to by the Trial
Committee a least 60 days before the actual trial date. The Trial
Committee shall be the IHDA Board of Directors and/or any members in good
standing assigned to the Committee by the IHDA Board of Directors
2. The trial must be listed in the trial schedule appearing in
either the IHDA newsletter or on the IHDA web site. Method of judging or
placing the contestants must be listed as such (Point, Time, etc.).
3. Trial should offer minimum of Novice, Pro Novice and Open
Classes.
4. The trial director should, if possible, report trial
results to the Trial Committee within 3 business days of the trial, so that
results can be posted to the website.
5. The IHDA trial season ends on December 31st.or
on the day of the Finals, whichever comes first. Qualified trials
occurring after this date will be applied to the next trial season. (updated 12/09)
6. Trial directors may act as a representative of the IHDA
when questions of common courtesy and protocol arise
7. A trial may choose to have different judges for different
classes, each class must be judged in it’s entirety by the same judges..
8. A competitor who needs to have the course explained must
ask questions before his/her run starts. After the run has started,
explanations are entirely at the discretion of the trial judge or course
director.
9. A dog shall not compete in an IHDA event if it is sick or
injured, unless approved by the judge or course director.
10. A
handler being disqualified or retired must immediately cease working his/her
dog.
11. No
dog should be allowed to run competitively after having run in a lower class
non-competitively on the same field at that trial
12. It
is recommended that ties for first place should be run-off. In any event the
technique to be used to break all ties should be announced at the beginning of
the trial
13. Except
for running out of time, any run, which is prematurely terminated by the Judge,
should receive no score; exceptions are
at the Judges discretion and must be disclosed at the handlers meeting.
14. Any
handler retiring or leaving the trial course during a run will forfeit all
points for that run, unless previously announced.
15. Training
devices are not allowed on the trial course. Such devices include, but
are not limited to, electric shock collars, prong collars, choke chains,
leashes and ropes that are not detached before the run, and any other devices
designed to cause pain to or distract the dog while working.
16. A
dog may not compete with two different handlers at the same event, unless one
handler is a Junior Handler, or if an exception was previously announced.
17. Trial
coordinators and/or course directors may take appropriate actions should unsafe
circumstances develop involving a dog, a handler, livestock, or spectators.
18. Any
run which threatens the welfare of the dog or the livestock should be
terminated by the judge and/or trial manager.
The
Trial Committee can vote to remove IHDA qualifying status from any trial that
does not follow what are considered standard/accepted practices; or where
conditions are not conducive to the health/welfare of all animals involved.
The trial secretary may not give out
information about any individual’s run until the score is posted, and the judge
has reviewed the score sheets. By the end of the trial, all scores are to
either publicly posted, announced or made available for all to see.
General Handler Guidelines and Trial Conduct
1. Handlers may at their discretion move a dog up to a higher
class prior to pointing out of a lower class.
2. If a handler and dog are clearly too competitive in a given
class, the trial committee may require them to move to a higher class.
3. Handlers may petition that a dog may be moved down one
class if a dog does not earn any points during two consecutive trial seasons
and having entered no less then 75% of the approved trials.
4. A competitor shall not intimidate, attempt to intimidate,
or argue with a judge, course director trial coordinator or timekeeper.
5. No competitor or person shall use any form of misconduct or
harassment toward the trial management, judges or IHDA officials.
6. Abusive language is not permitted on the trial course.
7. No instruction or distractions will be tolerated during competitive runs.
SCHEDULE
OF POINTS
A dog earns points based on the placing within each class based on total number
of entries in each class, as follows:
:
|
Number of Entries |
1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
5th |
6th |
7th |
8th |
9th |
10th |
|
1-3 |
.5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
4-5 |
1 |
.5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
6-9 |
2 |
1 |
.5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
10-15 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
.5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
16-19 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
.5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
20-29 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
.5 |
|
|
|
|
|
30-39 |
6 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
.5 |
|
|
|
|
40-49 |
7 |
6 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
.5 |
|
|
|
50 – 59 |
8 |
7 |
6 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
.5 |
|
|
60 and over |
9 |
8 |
7 |
6 |
5 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
.5 |
Year End Awards
At the
conclusion of the trial season IHDA will recognize with awards the high point
earning dogs in the following divisions Open, Pro Novice and Novice.
Certificates will be issued to the highest point earning beginner handlers.
FINALS
When
the IHDA Board of Directors deems it financial able the Trials Committee will
organize a Finals Trial.
To be eligible to compete in the finals
the handler must have been a member of the IHDA prior to points being
awarded that would qualify the handler/dog for the finals.. (updated 12-09)
GRIEVANCES
AND PROBLEMS
In the event that a handler has a problem at a trial
that cannot be resolved by the trial manager that the handler feels concerns their
novice standing they may appeal to any member of the Trial Committee at the
trial for clarification. While a member of the Trial Committee might be willing
to discuss the problem with the trial manager the final decision is up to the
trial manager.
If a handler feels that these rules have been broken in
such a way that some remedy is required they may apply for such a remedy to the
Trials Committee, which will consider the request.
If a handler would like any of these rules waived for
them they may apply to the Trials Committee, which will consider the request
and give the handler their recommendation.
If a IHDA Trial had followed all of these guidelines,
but still has a problem that can not be satisfactorily settled between the
trial manager and Trial Committee then the sanctioning of that year's trial
will not be affected, but the next years trial may not be a IHDA Trial at the
discretion of the Trials Committee.
If a trial that was advertised as being a
IHDA trial does not meet these guidelines in such a manner that the Trials
Committee feels that it should not count in the points tally, then that trial
may not count even though it has already been run (i.e. Fails to submit
results, fails to provide a judge, etc.), in this event all fees or funds paid
to IHDA shall be non-refundable.