Novice Working Hunter

[CarolineB1962]

Hi, does anyone know if there is an age limit for a Novice Working Hunter? I have a 13 year old hunter who has never been in a working hunter class in his life. Today we went to a local show to see what he would make of the jumps as he can be a very spooky chap. He went clear in the showjumping and beautifully in the showing section. He gave the judge one of the best rides she had but when she came to the final judging she put him 7th out of 8 because of his age! The schedule itself only said "horses not to have been placed first in a working hunter class" and nothing about age. If I had know there was a restriction on age he wouldn't have been in that class but as he had not been in workers before we didn't know what to expect.
Would appreciate any help here.

 

[TelH]

Different shows do it different ways, sometimes it's not to have come 1st before the current season, sometimes it's not to have won x amount in prize money etc. You do often get the younger horses in novice classes but if it's just a local show and it doesn't stipulate the age on the schedule (like sometimes you get 4/5/6yo classes) it really shouldn't matter