NPBA How to Earn Points

How to Earn Points

To Earn and maintain points, a competitor must be a NPBA member in good standing. NPBA points will start accumulating as soon as the NPBA membership is received in the NPBA office. If a member joins NPBA at a local sanction show, points will be awarded beginning the date of that show. The competition year for the 2025 season will be from January 1st – July 31st. Starting with the 2026 season and every year after that, the competition year will be from August 1st – July 31st.

 

NPBA Membership Family

NPBA members (Youth and Open) may accumulate points in only one state during the competition year noted on their membership application. NPBA members will be assigned to the state where they live unless the NPBA Office is notified on the application that they wish to compete in another state. If a NPBA member changes states during the NPBA calendar year, the points from the initial state do not transfer to the new state; therefor those points are lost. The NPBA member will begin earning points in the new state the date of change. There will also be a $50 charge to move state during the middle of a season.

 

 

Place/Points

  • 1st – 100
  • 2nd – 91
  • 3rd – 83
  • 4th – 76
  • 5th – 70
  • 6th – 65
  • 7th – 61
  • 8th – 58
  • 9th – 56
  • 10th – 55

Divisions

Divisions are Determined by time brackets for all NPBA shows. The fastest time in the class will set the time for the awarded points. First place will always earn 100 points regardless of the number of entries. From first place, the point values per place decrease by {9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1}.

NPBA Will Award Points as Follows

  • 25 entries & Under: 5 places
  • 26-50 entries: 6 places
  • 51-75 entries: 7 places
  • 76-100 entries: 8 places
  • 101-125 entries: 9 places
  • 126 + entries: 10 places

*Nonmembers will be skipped when awarding points.
*NPBA will not award points to members more than 10 places down in standings of any division.
 

  1. Points will be given on horse and rider combination. You may accumulate points on as many horses as you would like. When entering, you must use the same name for horse and rider. You may use the horse’s registered name or nickname, but the same name must be used throughout the season for both horse and rider. If you use different names at different shows for the same horse or rider, the points will be split up applying points to the separate names as though they were separate pairs. We strongly encourage the use of registered names for clarity and so that results submitted to other organizations such as incentive programs, earning trackers etc. are processed accurately. It’s the responsibility of the members to use the same name for themselves and their horse at every show. It will be the responsibility of each member to check and verify their points as they are posted. Any point discrepancy must be resolved with the office prior to State Finals. There will be NO CHANGES made to correct points after a State has held its State Show. If a state does not have a state show all discrepancies must be submitted to the Home Office prior to August 1. It is from these standings that Top Dogs will be determined.
  2. We will count your best 14 shows per horse/rider combination, per division, to determine Top Dogs and year end standings. These 14 shows DO NOT include State Finals. A state’s points will end July 31st with the exception of a State Finals. A show that will be used to hand out awards but does not award points for the season ending must be labeled as an “Awards Show”. Awards can, however, be handed out at “State Finals and Awards Show” (See State Finals and Awards Show)
  3. All points will be awarded on a 3-D format. 1-D: Fastest time in the class and those who qualify in this division. 2-D: Fastest time in the class plus 1 second that qualify in this division. 3-D: Fastest time in the class plus 2 seconds that qualify in this division.
  4. Points will not be awarded for knocked over poles.
  5. In case of a tie, both contestants will receive points for the highest position they tied for. Example: If they tied for 2nd/3rd, they both would receive 2nd place points. The 4th place person would then get 4th place points.
  6. Substitutions: Are only accepted due to injury, death, or sale of horse. One (1) substitution is allowed per season (change of horse) unless you go back to your original horse then you must stay with that horse. Notification with vet release, transfer or death certificate MUST be sent to the NPBA office in writing (Fax or e-mail) by Monday following the show in which you have substituted. Substitutions turned into as states director, representative or show producers are invalid. After the results have been posted, NO CHANGES will be made. Regular Season Substitution may only be a horse that you have not received points on for the year it is being substituted in.
  7. A class must be 100% completed for points to be awarded. If a show is interrupted and the remaining classes are not able to be completed, only the completed classes will receive points.