PLEASE BE AWARE THAT CHANGES TO THE GRADE NAMES HAVE TAKEN PLACE AND WILL COME INTO EFFECT AS OF 1 JAN 2017. THESE HAVE BEEN AMENDED BELOW. NOTE: THIS DOES NOT EFFECT THE CLASSIFICATION.

The competitor’s mobility, strength and coordination are assessed in order to establish their Classification Profile. People with similar functional ability Profiles are grouped into competition Grades. The Grades range from Grade I for the most severely impaired, to Grade V for the least impaired. The competition within each Grade can therefore be judged on the skill of the individual competitor on their horse, regardless of the competitor’s disability.

Five grades of competition are offered.  Each grade reflects the rider’s physical ability:

Grade I - Walk only tests, and in Freestyle Tests may show lateral work.

Grade II - Walk and trot tests, and in Freestyle Tests may show lateral work.

Grade III - Walk and trot tests, and in Freestyle Tests may show canter and lateral work in walk and trot.

Grade IV - Walk, trot and canter tests and in Freestyle Tests may show lateral work and single flying changes.

Grade V - Walk, trot, canter and lateral work, and in Freestyle Tests may show canter half-pirourettes and 3 and 4 time flying changes.

Major events involve a Team test, Championship Test and Freestyle for all grades, these are scheduled over 3 days. There is now one Novice test for each grade that could be used in smaller competitions.