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Effective December 1, 2017, the Maiden/Novice/Limit rule for the American Saddlebred horses changed to affect the entire division (Saddlebred) and not just sections (show pleasure, country pleasure, three-gaited, etc). The rule now limits a horse’s status by under saddle wins for under saddle classes and/or wins in driving for driving classes. However, under saddle wins do not affect driving wins and vice versa.

Below are some examples:

1. If a horse won three blue ribbons at USEF competitions in the ASB Show Pleasure section, that horse would be ineligible to show in any other ASB under saddle Novice section (like country pleasure, three-gaited, five-gaited, etc.). However, that same horse may be considered Novice in ASB driving classes.
2. If a horse won six blue ribbons in ASB Fine Harness, they would no longer be eligible for any ASB driving Limit class; however, they may be considered Limit for ASB under saddle classes.

Since there has been some confusion about the verbiage in the new rule, a clarification has been submitted to GR136.9.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the American Saddlebred liaison, Chuck Walker at cwalker@usef.org.

-- via American Saddlebred Horse Association