AHBA JUDGES REQUIREMENTS

The following are the requirements for obtaining or retaining an AHBA judge license.  Please note that these are minimum requirements for application.  Merely meeting the minimum requirements as specified does not guarantee acceptance as a judge.  A waiver may be requested and granted based on circumstance, but is the unilateral option of AHBA to grant.  Failure to comply with terms of a granted waiver may result in loss of a license to judge.  Most waivers, if granted, are time-limited.   

The provided references and other information from additional individuals familiar with the applicant’s judging views will be considered in determining acceptance of the application.  It is not the AHBA’s intention to mandate a single method of judging, however, rules regarding courses and AHBA’s judging philosophy, general good sportsmanship and honest judging are required.  Judges who fail to judge in an unbiased honest fashion in accordance with AHBA rules may be removed from the AHBA judges list.

Please also note that if we do not have a record of the level III title showing two judges and two qualifying scores, copies of your scoresheets will be requested to verify the title, not a copy of a certificate.

Below are the current AHBA judges’ minimum requirements:

1.  Applicant must have at least five years of herding experience.

2.  Must have been participating in AHBA trials for at least three years, at no fewer than two different trial venues.

3.  Must have at least two advanced herding titles in AHBA (level III).  The first Level III title can be on any of the AHBA courses or on any of the allowed livestock.  The second Level III title must be on a course or stock type different from the first.  The intent is for judges to show they understand more than one course type and also that they have at least some exposure to more than one single stock type.  A waiver to this requirement may be provided on a case by case basis following the applicant / judge providing evidence of experience in the other types of livestock and courses including (but not limited to) student judging, scribing or scorekeeping with another AHBA judge who has experience in such courses and/or livestock, practical livestock handling experience.

4.  Must provide evidence of education (list of magazines, books, videos, seminars attended).

5.  Must student judge or scribe at no fewer than two AHBA events.  These events must be on separate occasions and on at least two different courses. The date of event, sponsor, name of official judge, and course must be provided.  It is recommended but not required that a judge seminar on how to grid a course, etc. be attended.   

6.  Must have the recommendation of three judges currently approved by AHBA.

7.  All approvals are provisional for the first two years or until the individual has judged at least twice, whichever comes last.

Comments from the herding public will be considered in providing full approval. A provisional judge may take any assignment. Fully approved judges are subject to following the AHBA judging provisions and may be removed if sufficient evidence of inability to judge according to AHBA rules is provided.

AHBA encourages our judges to be participants in the AHBA program.  This is one of the reasons the rules allow noncompetitive runs.  It is also one of the reasons why AHBA does not require that a club host a trial but allows individuals, if sufficiently experienced, to do so.  We try to make it reasonably easy to attend and run in an AHBA event.

For an application and additional information on applying for judging credentials, email the AHBA Secretary, Karen Trimbel, at:  karentrimble1965@gmail.com