Julie Hickie of Cache Canadians in Rimbey, Alberta and her stallion Phenom
CHHAPS is an international organization with members often located a long distance from other members, making it difficult or impossible for sufficient numbers to be in one place in order to compete in CHHAPS breed shows. Because of this, early in our history we decided to create award programs that would give recognition to members’ horses that were located anywhere and everywhere. These programs recognize members’ Canadian Horses for their participation in shows or events of any and every kind.
Robert Shannon’s stallion Luca.
Canadian Horses are renowned for their versatility. The Versatility Award Program recognizes those horses trained and used in a variety of disciplines, whether or not they compete in organized or sanctioned shows. A Canadian Horse used for lessons, parades, farming, logging, gymkhanas or what have you can still qualify for a Versatility Award.
The Performance Award Program is for those Canadian Horses competing in specific disciplines, whether English or Western, Dressage or Reining, Driving or Competitive Trail, etc. They can compete in open shows and classes in their own geographic area and submit the results to be counted in the CHHAPS program. Either they can select a single discipline (e.g. Dressage or Eventing) or choose to combine all of their disciplines to count towards an award.
Lois Shaw’s Willow posing with RCMP musical ride
For details about both programs, visit the main CHHAPS website page devoted to Awards. The awards are administered by long-time CHHAPS member and volunteer, Susan Arthur from Barriere, BC. She and Lois Shaw, another long-time member from Vancouver Island, worked very hard over several years to design and refine each program into a workable format that suited the Canadian Horse. In a future article, we’ll take a look at how the programs work, and at horses that have achieved recognition through the programs.
We’ve now made it easy for CHHAPS members to register their horses in these awards programs by putting the registration forms and online payment links right on this site. Note that these programs are open to CHHAPS members only. Not a member yet? Join here.
Interested in enrolling your horse in the program? Visit CHHAPS Versatility and Performance Award Program online registration page.