Lexington, KY – The Arabian Horse Breeders Alliance (AHBA) will be unveiling a new judging and scoring system for Arabian halter classes to help establish a better marketing opportunity for competition. This new scoring system will be showcased at the first annual Arabian Breeders World Cup in Las Vegas April 20-22, 2007.

With this new scoring system, the AHBA hopes to enhance the Arabian horse experience by unifying the standard in the halter show ring; invite the participation of world competition; increase the quality of horses; better inform owners of their horse’s placement in a class and as a result of all of this, help to ignite the marketplace for Arabian horses.

Using a modified European style of judging, this new scoring system will emphasize a more natural way of preparing, presenting, and showing the horses so that their true Arabian spirit will shine. In addition, the system will create a more unified standard and is more transparent since each judge is required to display the scoring results to the audience after each horse is judged. As a result, the spectator can be more involved and can better understand and appreciate the attributes that the judges are rewarding and those that they are not.

The 20-point scale system evaluates the horses in six categories: Type; Head; Neck and Shoulder; Body and Topline; Legs and Feet; and Movement. Each category is weighted equally for a total possible score of 120. Horses will be judged individually at the walk, trot, and at the standup presentation. Following the showing of each horse, the score will be presented to the audience.

The AHBA is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the Arabian horse and seeks to unite breeders in an effort to enhance their experience with Arabian horses, encourage Arabian horse ownership among others, and generate positive growth and appreciation of the Arabian breed through education, judicious competition, and selective promotion and publicity.

For more information, visit their website www.ArabianBreedersWorldCup.com or contact Janice McCrea Wight, Public Relations and Media Coordinator, at (602) 741-5830 or via email [email protected].
~~~For more information, please contact Stacey Meier, Director of National Marketing, at (859) 225-6974, or via e-mail at [email protected].