NZ Standardbred Breeders' Association

Showing your Standardbred

Standardbred Showing

Showing your Standardbred

The Standardbred ring has its own paperwork, its own grading system and a few rules that catch people out in their first season. This page is the whole lot in one place, written so you can find the answer at seven in the morning in a wet float park.

Subject to review. The rules and information on this page are under active review by NZSBA.

1

Carry your Showing Passport

Every competitor, in hand and ridden, at every show. Shows have been asked to refuse entry without it.

2

Carry your RAS Height Certificate

Required for all ridden sections and any class defined by height. It is also where your wins are recorded.

3

Know your status

Novice until six wins in conformation and six in paced and mannered. Novices go in a snaffle bridle.

What you have to carry

Two documents, no exceptions, at every show. Stewards can ask for either at any point.

NZSBA Standardbred Showing Passport

Your horse's identity document for the ring. It confirms the horse is a registered Standardbred and that the details in front of the steward match the horse in front of them. It applies to in hand and ridden competitors alike.

The passport is now issued digitally as a card in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, so it is on your phone rather than in the bottom of a gear bag. Apply for a passport on the Forms page.

RAS Height Certificate

Required for every horse competing in a class defined by height, and for all ridden competitors. It is also the document that records your wins under the Breed Section, which is what moves a horse from Novice to Open. If your horse holds Open status, the certificate will show it.

For measuring dates, rules and how to apply, see the RAS website.

No passport, no entry

Shows have been asked to refuse entry to any class where an NZSBA Showing Passport is not presented or carried. It is your responsibility to have both documents with you, not the show's responsibility to chase you for them.

Novice and Open status

This applies to the Ridden Section of the Standardbred show ring. For other RAS sections such as Park Hack, Hack or Riding Horse, check the RAS rules instead.

How the grading works

Every Standardbred starts its ridden show career as a Novice. A Novice is an exhibit or rider that has yet to win six classes in any division at an A&P show or affiliated event.

  • Six wins in conformation and six wins in paced and mannered are counted separately.
  • Once six wins are reached in a section, the horse can no longer enter Novice classes in that section.
  • Novice horses are still eligible for Open classes, and a Novice that wins an Open class is eligible for the Open Championship.
  • All wins, Novice or Open, at every RAS affiliated show or event including Horse of the Year, must be recorded on the RAS Height Certificate until six wins are reached in both sections.
  • Wins go in the Breed Section of the certificate.
  • Novice horses must be shown in a single bridle with a snaffle bit.

Height certificates and where wins are recorded

Since 2022, wins are recorded on the RAS Height Certificate rather than on the passport.

Where your wins live

Your wins go in the Breed Section of your RAS Height Certificate, and they stay there. The certificate is issued and held by RAS, so it is not affected by the NZSBA passport register being rebuilt. Carry it at every show and make sure each win is recorded before you leave the grounds.

NZSBA is no longer transferring historic wins from old-style passports onto height certificates. The certificate is an RAS document, so anything to do with what is recorded on it, including older certificates without a breed section and replacement certificates, goes to RAS.

Measuring dates, rules and applications are all handled through the RAS website.

Change of ownership

If you buy or sell a horse, both NZSBA and RAS need to know. The horse is not eligible to compete until the records are straight.

Where this sits right now

The passport register is being rebuilt from scratch for the digital rollout, so the old paper process no longer applies and any change of ownership request already sent to us will not be processed. Whoever owns the horse now should simply apply for a passport in their own name.

A fully automated change of ownership form is built and will be released later in the year. When it goes live, the horse keeps its passport number, the new owner's details succeed the previous owner's in our master record, and the previous owner's digital card is voided. Full detail on the Forms page.

Still to do at your end

  1. NZSBA. Apply for the horse's passport in the current owner's name, or if the horse already holds a 2026/27 digital passport, email us for the change of ownership form link.
  2. RAS. The height certificate is separate and RAS handles it. Download the RAS change of owner form from the RAS website and post it with the horse's RAS Height Certificate so their records are updated too.

NZSBA rules and conditions

The full set, grouped by who needs them.

⚑ The horse

  • Age is taken as at 1 August.
  • Every Standardbred must carry an official Harness Racing brand, or an official Harness Racing sequenced microchip registered with Harness Racing New Zealand.
  • Novice horses must be shown in a snaffle bridle.

✉ Your paperwork

  • NZSBA Showing Passports must be carried at all times for identification. A strict no passport, no entry policy is in place at every show.
  • RAS Height Certificates must be carried for all ridden sections and any class defined by height.
  • Wins are recorded in the Breed Section of the RAS Height Certificate.

⚖ The classes

  • Only Open conformation and the Open Champion and Reserve are Horse of the Year qualifying classes.
  • Qualifying classes require horses to be asked to walk, trot and canter on both reins.
  • A Ladies' and Gentlemen's class may be added if a show wants more classes, but it does not count towards Champion and Reserve Champion Ridden Standardbred.

✎ For show societies

  • Standardbred schedules go to NZSBA for approval, not RAS. Email [email protected]. A schedule that goes live online without approval forfeits the section's sponsorship.
  • NZSBA sponsors shows holding a Horse of the Year qualifying section at $100 + GST, and $200 + GST for Royal shows.
  • Judges must be RAS listed for all RAS shows and events. NZSBA asks that these horses are judged the same as any other RAS section, on conformation, not on breed type.

Whisker, eye and ear hair trimming ban

In force since 1 January 2022 across all affiliated A&P shows and kindred events.

The rule

Trimming a horse or pony's whiskers, eye hair or inner ear hair is banned for any horse or pony exhibiting or competing at an affiliated A&P show or kindred event. RAS introduced this alongside Equestrian Sports New Zealand, NZ Pony Club and the FEI, under RAS rule GR6, Abuse of Exhibits.

Why it matters

Whiskers, properly called vibrissae, are a sense organ rather than untidy hair. They sit around the eyes and muzzle, carry a rich nerve supply, and compensate for the blind spots a horse has directly in front of its face and underneath its nose. Removing them takes away information the horse cannot get any other way.

Inner ear hair protects the skin of the ear from insects, sun and debris. You can still tidy a horse up: fold the ear closed like a taco and run the clippers down the outside edge. Leave the inside alone.

What else counts as abuse under GR6, and how to raise a concern

RAS defines abuse as intentionally acting in ways that cause an exhibit pain or discomfort. Examples given, and the list is not exhaustive:

  • Whipping or beating an exhibit excessively
  • Subjecting an exhibit to any kind of electric shock device
  • Excessive or persistent use of spurs
  • Jabbing the exhibit in the mouth with the bit
  • Remounting or attempting to remount an obviously exhausted, lame or injured exhibit
  • Rapping an exhibit anywhere, inside or outside the grounds of the event
  • Hyper-sensitising any part of an exhibit
  • Leaving an exhibit without adequate food, drink and exercise

If you witness abuse, use the RAS Resolution Process. For illegal trimming specifically, file a protest form with the affiliated show or event citing rule GR6 b. Every affiliated show has a template protest form available through that process.

Still not sure?

Email [email protected]. Nobody is born knowing this, and the question you think is too basic to ask is usually the one three other people are also wondering about.