Eligibility for Silver Circuit Awards

1. The horse owners and riders/drivers/handlers must be current NWSA members in good standing.  If a horse has multiple owners, at least one owner must be a member.

2. Points will begin to accrue on the date that NWSA receives a completed membership application with payment.

3. An official lease of a horse shall be construed as bona fide ownership, and a copy of such a lease must be on file with the Silver CircuitSecretary stating the lease period.  Any Silver Circuit award won by a horse is made to the owner/lessor as shown on NWSA files at the time the horse earns his last point in competition.

4. Ownership of a horse may be transferred during the year without loss of Silver Circuit points, provided that the new owner is a member or becomes a member of NWSA within ten days of acquisition and notification is given to the Silver Circuit Secretary prior to horse show participation.

NWSA Silver Circuit Approved Horse Shows

Silver Circuit points may only be obtained at NWSA Silver Circuit approved shows.  Silver Circuit approval is available to any horse show that meets the Silver Circuit approval criteria outlined below, pays the approval fee, and is held in UPHA/ASHA Region 2.  This geographic region includes Oregon, Washington, Northern California, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming as well as British Columbia and Alberta, Canada

NSWA Silver Circuit Horse Show Approval Agreement.pdf

NWSA Cooler Program

At each Silver Circuit approved horse show, one class will be designated as an NWSA Cooler Class, in which the highest placing NWSA member will receive a cooler sponsored by the NWSA.  

• As with year-end awards, the owner of the horse (for performance classes) or the rider (for equitation classes) must be a current member of NWSA in good standing in order to be eligible for these awards. If no NWSA members are entered in the designated class, the cooler may be presented in a different class where NWSA members are competing, at the discretion of the show management and/or NWSA board.

Silver Circuit Year End High Point Awards

1. NWSA members may accumulate points at all Silver Circuit approved shows, and these points will be tabulated throughout the season to determine year-end award recipients.  

2. All scores of members exhibiting in NWSA approved shows will be kept on file, and respective standings may be made available through publishing of Silver Circuit standings on the NWSA website or by contacting the Silver Circuit Secretary.  

3. Show results from official show report sheets will determine all standings for Silver Circuit awards.

4. Restricted classes will count for points and will be assigned to the most appropriate category. Examples include: Five Gaited Novice horse will count in the Open Five Gaited category; Three Gaited State Restricted will count in the Open Three Gaited Show Pleasure Novice Rider will count in the Adult category, and so on.

5. Classes that eliminate a horse/rider from competing further after winning a blue ribbon, or classes that require additional membership affiliations, will not count, such as Saddle and Bridle's Shatner Western Pleasure, UPHA Challenge Cup, USEF Medal classes, and others.

6. NWSA will not be liable for failure of a show to provide properly annotated results to the Silver Circuit Secretary. If there is a discrepancy of any kind, the responsibility of submitting burden of proof rests entirely with the owner and/or exhibitor.

In order to be eligible for a champion or reserve champion award in any division, a horse (or equitation rider) must have competed IN THAT DIVISION at THREE separate Silver Circuit approved horse shows during the season.

Click here to download the NWSA Point System