EVALUATIONS
The purpose of an independent Evaluation Committee is to assess and score horses applying for European Brabant Stock QM and European Brabant Studbook status free of bias or prejudice. The Evaluation Committee members are selected by the Board of Directors and are national collegiate Horse Judging Team coaches. The evaluators are provided in-depth training, standardized operating procedures and precise guidelines per designation. Although students participate in the scoring process, the highly qualified coaches decide the horse’s final score. The three Teams’ scores are averaged to determine if the horse passes the Breed Standard Evaluation.
A TRIPLE WIN
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Coaches will use evaluations as a teaching tool, while also impressing upon their students the importance of conformation, health, genetics and careful breeding.
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After the EBRA administrative fees are deducted, the remainder of the evaluation fees are equally divided amongst the coaches to be used for their Horse Judging Teams’ travel and continued education.
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Where possible, the EBRA provides logo-branded apparel for the Horse Judging Teams thereby supporting the teams and promoting the breed at the same time.
THE PROCESS
European Brabant Qualified Mares (QM) and “Breed Up” European Brabant applicants must be >24 months of age at the time of evaluation. Evaluation applications are submitted to the Evaluation Committee on a quarterly basis. Deadlines for applications are January 1st, April 1st, July 1st and October 1st. Judging independent of each other, each evaluator is provided an anonymous application survey, still images and video from which to score each horse applicant. Once complete, the surveys are returned to the EBRA Registrar and tallied. Based on the required minimum score, the horse applicant is either approved or disapproved. Evaluation results will be provided February 1st, May 1st, August 1st and November 1st. Unforeseen delays may impact the timeliness of evaluations, therefore the result dates should be considered approximations.
Note: An evaluator must recuse themselves if there is a direct link to a horse or horse owner.
CONTEST RULING & RE-EVALUATION POLICY
Upon request, the horse owner may be provided copies of the evaluation surveys, which includes the evaluators’ reasons for disapproving a horse. An applicant has ninety (90) days to contest the Evaluation Committee’s ruling. If the applicant formally contests the ruling, they have two courses of action: A Re-Evaluation or Member Review.
Every applicant may request one Re-Evaluation by the Evaluation Committee per horse. The re-evaluation will be scheduled and conducted no sooner than one year after the initial evaluation and the horse owner must resubmit an up-to-date application with new photos and video, plus the evaluation fee. The EBRA suggests waiting for young horses to mature before scheduling the Re-Evaluation to ensure the most accurate reassessment of the animal. The Re-Evaluation decision is final.
Alternatively, the horse owner may request a Member Review free of charge, which is conducted within six months of the contest filing and Member Review request. A Member Review is a live evaluation conducted during a quarterly EBRA meeting where EBRA voting Members review the evaluators’ surveys, the registration application, photos, videos and other supportive documents and vote to uphold or overturn the Evaluation Committee’s decision. Only a two-thirds vote may overturn the Evaluation Committee’s ruling. All decisions are final.
PRE-EVALUATION REQUEST
Applicants may request a preliminary evaluation of their horse, which will be conducted by the Board of Directors. They will provide feedback whether they believe the horse meets breed standards. Based on the Board’s opinion, the applicant may choose to move forward with the QM Broodmare or European Brabant Studbook application. The preliminary evaluation is voluntary and the Board’s opinion is a recommendation only, not the final decision.