AQHA 2015 Rule Book | Page 79

SECTION FOUR (4) JUDGING 70. All rules pertaining to Judges as contained in this Rule book, and any supplementary rules will be implemented by the Association. 70.1 Designation as an AQHA Judge is a privilege, not a right, bestowed by the Judging sub-committee, and ratified by the Board of Directors of the Association, according to procedures formulated by the Association, to individuals whose equine expertise and personal character merit the honour. An individual’s conduct as a member, exhibitor and judge, and his/her ability must be exemplary. 70.2 All AQHA approved Judges must officiate at a minimum of two (2) AQHA approved shows or programs per show season or otherwise a letter of explanation is required for review by the Judging subcommittee. 70.3 No Affiliate or organisation, that has gained show approval from the AQHA, can use the same Judge for two (2) shows in a row. 70.4 After acceptance of a judging commitment, a judge will endeavour, with all reasonable effort, to judge the show, and will timely communicate to show management any inability to do so, as to allow show management maximum time in which to seek a suitable replacement. If a Judge cannot fulfil their commitment, then it is the responsibility of that Judge, in liaison with the organisation that has hired them, to find a replacement Judge. Additionally, the judge will immediately file with the Association, a written explanation of such inability to meet the commitment, specifying the date and manner in which they communicated it to show management. 71. DEFINITIONS a) An Accredited Judge is defined as a person who has met all the criteria required to hold an accredited judges ticket as approved by the Judges Committee and can officiate at “A”, “AA” or State or National Show level; b) An Associate Judge is defined as a person who has met all the criteria required to hold an Associate judges ticket as approved by the Judges Committee and can officiate at “A” level only; c) An Accredited Trail Judge is defined as a person who has passed all of the criteria as approved by the Judg W0