20/08/2026
📖 RULE BOOK REFRESHER | ENCOURAGEMENT RIDERS
An Encouragement Rider is a competitor aged 17 years or older who has not won an Encouragement Campdraft or any open-age Campdraft.
For the purpose of this rule, an open-age Campdraft includes:
👉🏼 Maiden
👉🏼 Novice
👉🏼 Open
👉🏼 Ladies
An Encouragement Rider will lose their Encouragement eligibility after:
👉🏼 Winning one (1) Encouragement Campdraft, OR
👉🏼 Winning one (1) open-age Campdraft, OR
👉🏼 Placing three (3) times in open-age Campdrafts
A few important things to remember:
👉🏼 Where you start the weekend is where you stay. If you start the weekend as an Encouragement Rider, you remain an Encouragement Rider for that entire weekend. So, if you win a Campdraft during that weekend and break your Encouragement status, you still compete under Encouragement conditions and wear your helmet for the remainder of that weekend.
👉🏼 If you are 17 years old and have already broken your Encouragement status, you are still required to wear a helmet until you turn 18.
👉🏼 An Encouragement win does not change or break the status of the horse being ridden.
*Updating your status
👉🏼 If you break your Encouragement status through three open-age placings, you need to contact the ABCRA office to have your rider status updated.
👉🏼 If you break your Encouragement status through an open-age win, it is always a good idea to double-check that your status has been upgraded with ABCRA before competing the following weekend.
With plenty of competitors coming through our Central West drafts, we thought a few Rule Book Refreshers might be useful throughout the year. 📖🐴
