ALL ABOUT VOTING

2020 has challenged us all do things differently. Whilst our current situation restricts our ability to celebrate in person, we have the opportunity to make this year special, bringing our entire equestrian community together with a virtual online celebration to include “on-home ground” video presentations, website announcements and social media communications.

Other changes have also been implemented as a result of ongoing improvement and member feedback:

• The Hall of Fame inductee will be determined by consensus of the Discipline Committees.
• The winners of the following categories will be determined based on a performance points basis:

– Horse of the Year (Dressage, Eventing and Jumping)
– Rider of the Year (Dressage, Eventing and Jumping)
– Young Rider of the Year (Dressage, Eventing and Jumping)
– Off The Track Horse of the Year (Dressage, Eventing and Jumping)
– Para Equestrian of the Year
– Carriage Driver of the Year
– AOR Dressage Rider of the Year

• The winners of the following categories will be determined by the Show Horse Discipline Committee due to the nature of the discipline and its classes. Nominations are still required for all Show Horse categories:

– Show Horse of the Year
– Show Horse Rider of the Year
– Show Horse Young Rider of the Year
– Off The Track Show Horse of the Year

• The judging process for all other award categories has been modified to introduce a member voting component (see ‘Judging detail below). Members will have the opportunity to vote online from a list of finalists determined by each discipline from the nominations received. One vote per category:

– Administrator of the Year
– Club of the Year
– Coach of the Year
– Event of the Year
– Groom of the Year
– Official of the Year
– Volunteer of the Year

• Prize money for the Off The Track Retrainer of the Year category will be increased by Racing Victoria as follows:

– Winner – $3000
– Runner up – $1000
– Second runner up – $500

A new award, Lifetime Service to Equestrian Sport Award, will be introduced in 2020. This award will recognise those who have contributed to the sport over many years but have not been in the spotlight through competition achievements. This category will be judged in the same way as other cross-disciplinary awards (non-performance points based) such as groom, event, etc. with nominations being sought from the public and finalists determined by each respective discipline.

Administrator of the Year | Club of the Year | Coach of the Year | Event of the Year | Groom of the Year | Lifetime Service to Equestrian Sport | Official of the Year | Volunteer of the Year

Nominations for the above categories will open on August 1. Members will have 1 vote per category (members must have been a 2019/2020 financial member to vote). All nominations will be reviewed in consultation with the discipline committees to determine a list of finalists – 2 per discipline.

Note:  the Coaching Committee will decide on the Coach of the Year top 8 finalists, with input from the Discipline Committees if required.

Horse of the Year – Dressage | Eventing | Jumping;   Rider of the Year – Dressage | Eventing | Jumping; Young Rider of the Year | Dressage | Eventing | Jumping; Off The Track Horse of the Year – Dressage | Eventing | Jumping; Para Equestrian of the Year; Carriage Driver of the Year

No nominations are required. Total performance points accumulated over the period 1 June 2019 to 31 May 2020 determined by each discipline. Equestrian Australia affiliated events only eligible for the points. Level of competition will be taken into account.

Show Horse of the Year | Show Horse Rider of the Year | Show Horse Young Rider of the Year |Off The Track Show Horse of the Year

The winners will be determined by the Show Horse Discipline Committee due to the nature of the discipline and its classes. Nominations are still required for all Show Horse categories.

Amateur Owner Dressage Rider of the Year

The Victorian AOR Rider of the Year is determined by the AOR Committee.

Off The Track Retrainer of the Year

Nominations for Off The Track Retrainer will open on August 1. All nominations will be reviewed by Racing Victoria, utilising a judging panel assessment. Finalists will be released prior to the event and the winner, first and second runner up will be presented and announced online.

Hall of Fame

The Hall of Fame Inductee will be determined by consensus of the Discipline Committees.

The following are the General Rules for the 2020 Equestrian Victoria Awards. For category specific rules, please see the individual category pages.

• Nominees are eligible to win an award on multiple occasions, i.e. winning an award category previously does not preclude winning again.
• All nominees must be Victorian based.
• Judging of all awards applies to the period 1 June 2019 to 31 May 2020 with the exception of Hall of Fame.
• Refer to individual nomination form for category any specific rules and criteria.
• All nominees must be financial members of Equestrian Victoria during the applicable judging period.
• All members voting on the finalists must have been financial during the period 1 June 2019 to 31 May 2020. Name and membership number information will be cross checked and verified against the database.
• Discipline committee members with conflict of interest are to be ineligible to vote on applicable nominations.
  Equestrian Victoria staff and board members are ineligible for nomination.

Nominations, judging, voting and announcement of winners will take place as per the timetable below:

Nominations open | Saturday 1 August 2020

Nominations close | Friday 21 August 2020

Nomination submissions sent to Discipline Committees | Monday 24 August 2020

Discipline Committees to provide finalist selections | Wednesday 2 September

Announcement of finalists | Friday 11 September 2020

Member voting opens | Friday 11 September 2020

Member voting closes | Monday 21 September 2020

Announcement of winners commences | Mid October 2020