• Applicants must have been an APHA member-in-good-standing
  for one full year prior to applying to become a judge.
• There is a $50 application fee. This fee is nonrefundable.
• As soon as your application is received at the APHA office, you
  will be sent an open-book APHA Rule Book test. This test must be
  completed and returned before your application can be processed.
• Judge applicants are required to submit a completed application
  and a minimum of 10 references. Six of the 10 references must be
  from currently-carded APHA or AQHA judges who have witnessed
  you judging. The remaining four references must be from show
  management personnel who have hired you to judge. (Note: A reference
  may be used only once on an application, meaning that the
  same name cannot be used both as a judge and a management reference.
  Also, a husband and wife count as only one reference.)
  Applicants who are approved AQHA judges are required to submit
  a minimum of five references; three references from APHA or
  AQHA judges who have witnessed you judging and two references
  from show management personnel who have hired you to judge.
• Urge your references to complete and return their evaluations as
  quickly as possible. All references must be received by the APHA
  before your application can be submitted to the Judges Committee.
• Applicants who are applying through the Apprentice Judging Program
  will have their file automatically forwarded to the Judges Committee
  once they have completed apprenticing under a minimum of four
  judges and have attended the APHA Educational Judges Academy.
  No other references are required. Additional references are optional.
• Provide a recent, full-length photo of yourself in the attire you would
  wear to judge a horse show. (The photo will remain with the APHA.)
• All applicants’ names will be published in the Paint Horse Journal
  a minimum of 30 days prior to the Judges Committee review.
• Periodically, the judge applicant will receive a letter stating the
  number and type of references still needed to complete the reference
  requirement. It is up to the applicant to either send in new
  references—indicating the type of reference being submitted—or
  to ask that reference letters be re-sent to names on the original list.
• An incomplete file cannot be presented to the Judges Committee
  for consideration. However, you may submit additional references
  at any time prior to submission of the file to the committee.
• Once the references have been received by APHA, the judge’s file
  will be held until the next scheduled meeting of the Judges
  Committee. To be eligible for consideration, a judge applicant’s
  file must be ready for the committee review one month prior to
  the committee’s meeting. The Judges Committee meets three times
  a year—at the International Equine Judges Seminar in January, at
  the APHA Workshop in June and at the APHA Convention in
  October.
• The Judges Committee reviews the completed files and selects
  applicants to be invited to the applicant school.
• Successful applicants will be notified of the date and location of
  the applicant school. The applicant must attend this school in
  order to become an approved APHA judge.
• The scores earned at the applicant school will be presented to the
  Judges Committee at their next scheduled meeting. At that time,
  the committee determines if an applicant is approved for judging
  on a temporary status, or if the application will be denied
  approval.
• If you are approved for judging status, your name will appear in
  the Paint Horse Journal as an approved judge. All approved judges
  must maintain their membership in the APHA. Your name is also
  added to the list provided to those who are seeking the names and
  addresses of approved judges. The list of approved judges is also
  printed in the Journal each January.
• If your application is denied, you may resubmit an application
  one year from the date of denial. A second filing fee must be paid
  at that time.
• A statute of limitations applies to applications. A file must be
  complete and ready for review no later than two years from the
  date the applicant’s name appears in the Journal. Failure to complete
  the application process within this time will result in the file
  being declared void, and require that the application process,
  including repayment of the application fee, be started over.

For more information, contact APHA Director of Judges Candy Cain by phone (817) 834-2742, extension 416 or by e-mail at ccain@apha.com.