I understand what medals and classics are and all, I’m just a bit confused. After a division on this horse show’s prize list, it said “M&S”. I saw a post saying somebody won the classic, which was “Hits Hunter 1 M&S”. But I’ve also seen classes where M&S appears to be a medal. I know M&S stands for Marshall and Sterling but i’m a bit confused as to whether it’s a medal or a classic.
Edit: while you’re at it, would anybody mind explaining what a “WIHS” and especially what an “NAL” classic is? I assume the WIHS classic gives you points to WIHS but I have no idea what NAL is. Thanks!
I believe they have both classes. So it just depends on what classes the individual show chooses to offer.
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Marshall and Sterling offers ‘finals’ in many divisions and classes. Some hunter, some jumper and some equitation. Check out the HITS website and click on Marshall and Sterling League. They have a list of classes and divisions they follow and what the current standings are as of a certain date.
WIHS is an equitation class where the finals are held at the Washington horse show. It has certain specs, a certain number of people have to participate for it to fill and qualifiers for the finals compete against each other in October at the Washington horse show.
NAL stands for North American League. Points, specs and standings can be found on Ryegate’s website. They offer finals in children’s hunter, jumper, adult hunter and jumper. Those finals are held at Harrisburg in PA in October.
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Thanks so much - that helps a lot! Would you recommend entering in an NAL Classic even if you’re not a part of the organization, more just doing the classic for the experience, prizes, etc?
So the way the NAL hunter Classics typically work at the horse shows these days…let’s say the division offers four over fences classes…one of those jumping classes will be designated as the first round of the classic…so you are basically doing your ‘class’ round and your first round of the Classic in one class (if you also entered the Classic…you will tell the ring starter when you enter the ring that this will also be a classic round). When you leave the ring, you will be given a numerical score. If your score is in the top 12 of all the people who entered the classic, you will then compete in the final round and that is when people put on their shadbellys and have the opportunity to perform their second (final) round. If you don’t have a score in the top 12, you are done. You just paid for two classes in one round and can not compete in the Final round.
BUT to be honest with you (and this is my opinion-some people may disagree with me on this), even the final Classic round is typically held in the same ring, almost immediately after your hunter division ends, is typically held over the same type of course (side, diagonal, side) and is judged the same way as any other hunter class. The classics used to be special and offered people the opportunity to showcase their horses. So to answer your question; unless you are trying to qualify, they are just another hunter round that are more expensive to enter (but do offer prize money) and are similar to the other 4 hunter rounds you just did in the division. They have lost their uniqueness. If you want to compete over another 8 to 10 jumps for experience…yes, enter the Classic.
Now people show in Hunter Derbies and they are a tad more interesting and offer a different experience than regular hunter classes. If you want to break out of the mold of a typical hunter class, I’d aim for a 2’9” or 3’ derby (which are getting offered more frequently). I find them to be much more fun!
The jumper Classics are a different story. Typically the horse show always offers a jumper Classic as part of the division and that classic could be affiliated with NAL (offering those who have joined NAL, the opportunity to accumulate points if they get a ribbon in the Classic). So, you enter the Classic because it is part of the division, it offers prize money and it’s typically a more interesting and challenging course. If you get a ribbon, you get NAL points (if you are a member). But the Classic in the jumper Shows is a totally separate class and is part of the division.
It’s all what you want you want to accomplish.
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All of the above are super helpful - I will say that you can still get zone/state points for the classic so if you’re trying to get qualified for zone finals or ribbon at your state level, the classics still help.
M&S has its own finals in September for these classes so the M&S distinction there is mainly points for that event.
What i I will say is if you have a child/adult hunter, WIHS takes the top 28 or so each year, so if you’re local to DC and want to make it to the Tuesday night finals, definitely do the classic.
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