AQHA 2015 Rule Book | Page 83

l) After a judge has accepted a judging assignment, exhibitors will not contact, by any means, nor attempt to contact, the judge pertaining to his/her judging of any horse at that show; m) No exhibitor will visit or socialise with a judge the day prior to, or day of, the show; n) Exhibitors will not approach the judge for any reason prior to the completion of the judging, unless the exhibitor has finished exhibiting and the request is made through the Ring Steward; o) No exhibitor will request information from the Judge, or the decisions made by that Judge, concerning any exhibit at a show, on the day of the show or within the immediate seven (7) days following the show. 77. FEES 77.1 Minimum pay for an Accredited Judge is expenses plus two hundred & fifty dollars ($250.00) for a day of nine (9) hours or less and twenty dollars ($20.00) per hour over the nine (9) hours in one day. 77.2 Minimum pay for an Associate Judge is expenses plus one hundred & fifty dollars ($150.00) for a day of nine (9) hours or less and twenty dollars ($20.00) per hour over the nine (9) hours in one day. It is further recommended that the judge work no more than ten (10) hours in one day. If the hours spent in judging are expected to run to an excessive length, the show management should consider hiring two (2) judges. 77.3 Minimum pay for an Accredited Trail Judge is expenses plus one hundred dollars ($100.00), for a day of nine (9) hours or less. 77.4 In halter classes, the use of more than one (1) judge is optional, provided however if multiple judges are used, all halter classes of the one (1) sex division must be judged by the same judge. 77.5 In a Trail class, the use of more than one (1) judge is optional. In all other performance classes, only one (1) judge can be used. (Exception multi judged AQHA approved shows) The AQHA has an approved Bit Gauge which must be used by an official at approved shows and for approved programs. 78. AUTHORITY 78.1 A Judge may: a) Disqualify a competitor who has not fulfilled the requirements of a class as described by the Associations Rules and Regulations; b) Require the backing of the finalists only in a class where backing is required; 78.2 A Judge will: a) Order any person or horse from the competition for bad conduct of one or both or may disqualify any exhibitor for excessive abuse of a horse; b) Refuse entry into the arena or remove an entry from a class for improper attire and/or equipment; c) Eliminate any horse/exhibitor, as an entry, which he/she feels is in violation of the intent of the Association’s conduct rules, or which he/she feels has not legitimately Page 83