Performance Award Scheme News 2024-2025

There will be a major change to the Performance Award Scheme with effect from the 2024-25 competition year starting on 1^st October 2024.   The Part-Bred category will be expanded to include over-height purebreds, thus bringing the Scheme into line with the BCPS shows.   This change does not apply to the 2023-24 competition year.

The rules for 2024-25 will be published in February;  in the meantime, please refer to the 2023-24 rules.   The problem with a competition that runs continuously is that there is never an ideal time for the PAS Committee to meet and review the rules;  in its early years, the Scheme only ran from 1^st February to 31^st October, which must have made the Committee’s life much easier!

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If you have a registered Connemara pony, do you:

• Do a few fun rides and perhaps the occasional Riding Club competition?
• Compete seriously in affiliated horse trials, dressage, show jumping, working hunter pony, endurance or driving?
• Go hunting?
• Take advantage of everything your local Riding Clubs, Pony Clubs or show centres can offer?

If your answer to any of the above was yes, then the BCPS Performance Award Scheme is for YOU!

The Scheme runs from 1st October to 30th September each year, and points are awarded for a wide range of competitions and non-competitive activities, which count towards trophies in the full range of disciplines.

The scheme is for everyone, no matter your experience, ability and competition standard. To make sure that we could recognise the achievements of those competing at a very high level while also offering a goal for those who want to have fun doing unaffiliated and non-competitive activities, we created the Bronze, Silver and Gold tiers:

• Bronze – Only unaffiliated points
• Silver – Either a total of under 4000 points (which can come from unaffiliated or affiliated competitions) OR a total of 4000+ points (but where less than 30% of that total comes from affiliated competitions)
• Gold – A total of 4000+ points, of which at least 30% is won at affiliated competitions

For more details on the competition, see the PAS Rules, which can be downloaded from this page.

Filling in your card

The full set of rules on which competitions/events you can claim points at, how to fill in your card and how to calculate your points can be found in the PAS Rules. But here are the most important parts of the card – if you don’t fill these in, then your points will automatically be disallowed:

First column: Date and name of show or event (please give the full names for Riding Clubs as abbreviations make checking hard)

Second column: Full details of affiliation must be given (even if already stated with the name of the show or event) – and please make sure that Riding Clubs and riding schools are affiliated on the date of the competition

Third column: The number of the dressage test or the height of the course must be stated

Seventh column: The Secretary’s signature must be with every class, including championships and qualifiers which must be entered on a separate line in the Points Card. If there is no signature, please provide proof of the result.

An example of a filled-in PAS card can be downloaded from this page.