(Revised March 2008)
ALL rules will be strongly enforced.
- Proper footwear (boots with a heel) is mandatory. Running shoes is not permitted.
- Western hat or approved helmet must be worn for all the events. If hat falls off and lands behind the starting line, a five-second penalty will be added. If the hat falls off in the ring during an event, a $2.00 fine will be imposed. Anyone under the age of 18 must wear an approved helmet at all times while mounted on a horse.
- Two riders will be allowed to use the same horse but only in separate categories. In the event of two riders in the same category, they may ride one horse but only one rider per event per horse. Both riders must pay full entry fee.
- Youth division 17 years of age and under as of January the 1st. Birth certificates will be mandatory. Youths must state what Division they want to go in, either youth or open, at the beginning of the year and must stay in that division for the year.
- Anyone 17 years and under as of January 1st must be accompanied by a parent; legal guardian; or trainer while in the gymkhana. A written letter of permission from parent will be needed otherwise.
- Any form of abuse to horse or other riders will result in disqualification from that event and/or day.
- If any event containing a jump, anyone 17 years or under must wear an approved helmet.
- Any form of abuse; physical or verbal to officials or other contestants will result in disqualification for the day. (Committee decision)
- If a dispute occurs, officials will have final say. If a contestant is not satisfied, he/she can register an official complaint to the executive of that day. A $25.00 non-refundable amount must accompany complaint.
- Riders have 2 minutes to get their horse into the ring after announcer calls them in or they will be disqualified.
- Electronic timer is set to horse’s chest and this will be official time. Hand timers are for verification and in case of a defect in the electronic timer.
- A horse may be led into the holding ring, but after that no assistance is permitted.
- Any horse crossing the finish line before completing the pattern will be disqualified.
- Western saddles are mandatory for all contestants.
- Over-unders and bats are permitted for the open division only and only if used properly. (Discretion of the executive). Reins will not be allowed to whip the horse.
- Good, clean and safe tack must be used.
- Anyone not registered 15 minutes prior may not run the first event.
- All horses must leave the ring 15 minutes prior to the first event or at the discretion of ring announcer.
- Mandatory dress for the following: Western Hat or Safety Helmet, Western short or long sleeve shirt, and jeans.
- Members must show membership card if requested or pay non-member fee.
- No one 17 or under as of January 1st are not permitted to handle stallions.
- Points are awarded to the horse for which division it is ridden in that day. (i.e.: Youth rider points stay in Youth division, Open rider points stay in Open division.) In order for points to count for the day, both “owner and rider of horse must be members.
- Year end, Overall High points are awarded for the most points in all (4D) divisions.
- Year End High Points for an event, must be slotted in the same division (minimum of four gymkhanas) to qualify for a year end award.
Gymkhanas are held at the Murillo Fair Grounds.
All Gymkhanas are held rain or shine.
Youth begin at 9:00 am.
Open division to follow.
GYMKHANAS
At every gymkhana, the LLHA runs 6 events:
- Barrel Racing
- Quadrangle Stakes
- Keyhole
- Pole Bending
- Flag
- Mystery
A description of the 5 main gymkhana events is featured below for your convenience. The Mystery event is not considered a main gymkhana event. The pattern for the Mystery event is a “mystery” or unknown to the competitors until it is time to run this event and then it is explained to the competitors before they run the event.
Barrel Racing
Riders must wear hat across start line or will be charged a 5 second penatly. Riders races around the inside of the 1st barrel, clover leaf pattern around inside of 2nd barrel, up and around outside of 3rd barrel, then race straight between the middle of the frist two barrels and across the finish line. May start on either side. May touch or steady barrel while remaing in riding position.
Quadrangle Stakes
Riders must wear hat across start line or will be charged a 5 second penatly.Race around inside 1st pole, clover leaf pattern around inside of 2nd pole, cross ring on diagonal and go around inside of 3rd pole, race straight across and around outside of 4th pole, then race straight through the middle of the pattern and over the finish line. May start on either side. Five second penatly for each pole knocked down. Disqualified for missing pattern or touching the pole with hand(s).
Keyhole
Riders must wear hat across start line or will be charged a 5 second penatly. Race straight into keyhole, spin around and race out over the finish line. Stepping on or over the line disqualifies rider.
PoleBending
Riders must wear hat across start line or will be charged a 5 second penatly. Race in straight to last pole. Go around last pole and weave to first pole. Go around 1st pole and weave back to last pole. Go around last pole and race straight out over finish line. Five second penatly for each pole knocked down. Disqualified for missing pattern or touching the pole with hand(s).
Flag
Riders must wear hat across start line or will be charged a 5 second penatly. Race to 1st barrel and remove flag. Race around second barrel, put flag back in the first barrel and race out, rider can pick it up before crossing the finish provided he/she doesn’t put their feet on the ground. Rider may not cross pattern or will be disqualified. May start on either side.
4D System
The purposal of a 4D system is to promote the gymkhana sport by providing competitions in which each horse and rider has an equal opportunity to be competitive at their own level.
Our goals are to increase the number of participants, improve the quality of events and to provide incentive to keep those participants coming out to compete at each gymkhana.
We proposed to have seperate categories which will be the Youth and the Open. The Youth division will be 18 years of age as of January 1st. They will be ran in the same manner as they are running now. Youths have the opportunity to run in the Open division but must declare if they wish to run Youth or Open before the first run of the year. The Youth division will run all of their events list followed by the Open division.
For Open division, the fastest penatly free time will determine the time brackets based on three second intervals.
eg. All contestants have made their barrel run and the fastest time is 18.0 seconds.
1D – All contestants running between 18.00 and 20.99 seconds.
2D – All conestants running between 21.00 and 23.99.
3D – All contestants running between 24.00 and 26.99 seconds.
4D – All contestants running 27.00 seconds and up.
Knocked over barrels or poles will have a 5 second penatly added after time. Actual time without penalties will slot contestant into an appropiate division first and then penalties added on.
eg. Actual run is 19.02 seconds and one barrel is knocked over. As per above time example, contestant will be slotted into 1D fist and then penatly of 5 seconds is added. Final time will be recorded as 24.02.
Flags and keyhole runs 0 will have recorded time to slot into an approprivate division but missed flag or a step on the keyhole line will be given a no time.
Only one mystery event will be run at each gymkhana. Persons hosting the gymkhanas must have timed events for the mystery category.
Every gymkhana starts with a clean slate therefore contestants could place in any of the four divisions throughtout the season but must be slotted in the same division four times to qualify for year end awards. Points will still be awarded to 6th place.
Payouts will be set up as following:
30% of entry fees goes to the club.
70% of entry fees is the payout to contestants.
The 70% will then be paid out as the following:
40% to the winner of the 1D division.
30% to the winner of the 2D division.
20% to the winner of the 3D division.
10% to the winner of the 4D division.
eg. Payout based on 50 riders.
First in 1D – $26.25
First in 2D – $19.68
First in 3D – $13.12
First in 4D – $6.56
If there should be no contestants in a division, payout in that division goes back to the club. Payout will be awarded to only first place in each division but points still awarded to 6th place. The payouts will be available at the following gymkhana.
Thank you for your consideration and good luck in the new season.
