As the World Futurity Association grows, we continue to strive to promote our young horses into the career rodeo world. In that regard, we continue to work with our members and our judges to that end.  What is necessary to understand in our Futurity system and competitions, is that we look for horses that are just in their beginning trips of their career, and ideally, they will develop into solid bareback or saddlebronc horses which cowboys can win and place on, and, as they mature, can have the ultimate bonus of being selected for the NFR.  Judging them in our Association has to focus on this.  So even though our young horses may have some unruly infancy trips, their developing bucking patterns should mimic that of a career rodeo horse that cowboys will drive miles to get on. 

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This 2021 year, we are introducing a new system where we welcome judges into our Association that have the same focus we do:

*Official Judge* - these are judges who have purchased his or her Official Judge Member Card after being approved by the WFA judging committee.  Approval will be based on past experience, instruction on WFA requirements and feedback from that instruction.

*Year end awards* - there will be a top judge in both the Canadian and the American locations awarded based on membership votes, and those two judges will be eligible to judge at the Finale.

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As we build our Official Judge team, we will be posting them and their contacts here for selection at events.

 

 

 

 

 

Judging Criteria for the WFA - Rule Book excerpt

 

All WFA events will have four (4) judges to judge each horse. At least two (2) of those Judges need to be WFA Official Judges. Judge’s points (from 1 – 25 and marked in quarter point intervals) for each horse will be added together for a final score for that horse. Four judges (with at least two Official Judges) for the rider classes are required to mark the horse (from 1 – 25 and marked in quarter point intervals). Two of those judges must be designated to mark the cowboy, those marks will be added to the ½ half average of the total horse score and will make the final score of the cowboy.

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Judges will mark the horse based on the FULL six (6) seconds of competition time in the dummy classes and the FULL eight (8) seconds in the rider classes.

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Horses in the dummy classes shall be marked as equivalent to horses in the rider classes with the following notations:
  *Any fall in the dummy classes that would cause a reride in the rider events shall receive a zero (0) mark, meaning if they fall to their torso. A knee stumble would still be marked, but appropriate points deducted. If there is a fall AFTER the 6 seconds, the horse shall be marked as usual.
  *Horses in the dummy classes should be docked for turning back hard or spinning. The horse shall be marked in the same way as in the rider classes where the cowboy is able to put a spur ride on. The ideal dummy bucking horse will be bucking in a continuous forward bucking motion covering as little ground as possible, jumping and kicking out every jump.
  *Any horse competing that has an equipment malfunction in the dummy class that results in the release of flank and/or dummy before the six seconds shall receive a zero (0) mark. It is the member’s responsibility to make sure that all equipment is rigged and working properly.
  *Any horse competing in the rider classes that has an equipment malfunction will be marked for the full eight (8) seconds, but the rider will be given the option for a re-ride.
  *A minimum of two judges must be approved by WFA (Official Judges). Every effort must be made by both event producers and WFA Administration to ensure judges are schooled and aware of their requirements in judging WFA events. The focus of this Association is to promote bucking horses that will advance in the rodeo industry and bring cowboys to the pay window. This focus creates a level ‘playing’ field for all competitors.
  *Judges marks are final.