Taking Hunters International - Yay or Nay?

October 26, 2007

There’s a new debate in the world of hunter/jumper showing: should hunters go international? In the July 2007 issue of Practical Horseman, the “In the News” section included a spot by Nancy Jaffer entitled, “Hunters To Go International?”

Discussions are underway about taking hunter competition in a new direction that could “raise the bar” and eventually lead to making it an international discipline.

“We are actively pursuing it,” said Louise Serio, a founder of the American Hunter Jumper Foundation and a director of the US Hunter Jumper Association, which has formed a high-performance hunter committee and investigated the subject at a post-Devon Horse Show Retreat.

“The short-term goal is to go on the model of the the jumpers a little bit,” said USHJA President Bill Moroney.

Instead of the current First-Year Green, etc., hunters could have levels, as the jumpers do, based on fence height. “So if you have a three-foot-six horse who is not a three-foot-nine or a four-foot horse, but a professional rides it, that horse has a place to stay for its entire career. There’s a lot of things to think about in this.”

In Bill’s view, “the Working Hunter is really our ‘grand-prix’ horse.” That line of thinking leans toward greater emphasis on special classic-style competitions, offering more natural jumps like those that are found in the hunt field.

As a rider with background in the hunter ring, I was excited to read about the possibility of the hunter style going international. I love to watch showjumping and very much appreciate the intricacies of a carefully-planned clean course and a powerful, intelligent jumper, but I don’t have much desire to try it myself. I also love to watch a horse and rider pair that are trying to go around a course and look as relaxed and pretty as possible while doing it. So, I was quite disturbed by a reader response published in the September 07 Practical Horseman (I’m a little behind in my reading)…

No International Hunters!
I was devastated by the intention of the US Hunter Jumper Association for hunters to become “international.” I sincerely hope the FEI will refuse this offer.

Do we really want a discipline where we ask riders to stay quiet and not move around courses that are very often all the same? A sport where judges have too much influence and too many who aren’t competent? A sport where only specific horses can win at higher levels?

Hunter classes are good for beginners to learn about pace and distance. Unfortunately, we see too many trainers keep their students in the hunters instead of teaching them to deal with various patterns and various approaches and to RIDE as jumpers, instead of being passengers. If you want to jump, the jumper classes should be the goal.

I’m fuming.

First of all, this is like saying that only speedskating should be included in the Olympics and no figure skating. Figure skaters try to perform their movements as flawlessly and as “posed” as possible. They are victim to subjective judging (Who can forget the judging scandal of the 2002 winter games and the Canadian and Russian pairs?). There is a certain body type and look that will be more appealing as the skaters perform their routines. But speedskaters are based on time, no subjective judging there. Nobody cares how they are built as long as they are fast and able. Should that make them more valuable as a sport? I don’t think so.

I think this letter to the editor shows an ignorance of the value and true horsemanship involved with riding hunters. He is focusing on a stereotype of a hunter rider, rather than what actually should, and frequently does, happen.

Do we really want a discipline where we ask riders to stay quiet and not move around courses that are very often all the same? Hunter riders strive to stay quiet around a course to display the superior training of their horse and their ability to invisibly ride that horse. It’s not easy to come into the ring at a working trot with a perfect bend; ask for an immediate canter transition; keep your horse straight and balanced and at a consistent speed with enough impulsion and collection to jump a fence with back and neck round, knees up and even, forlegs parellel and perpendicular to the ground; land on the correct lead; maintain the canter rhythm established; adjust stride to hit a good spot without that adjustment being visible; stay straight between fences; avoid spooking at the judges stand — all without anyone being able to see the riders aids. And I haven’t even mentioned the perfect position the rider needs to nail over and between fences. Doesn’t sound so trivial to me. I agree, there are young riders who are trained to only pose in the saddle and not actually ride their horses, but that is a problem with their training, not the objective of the sport.

And Working Hunter courses may not be all that varied, but check out the equitation classes. Those courses include short lines and long lines and roll-backs and broken lines and in-and-outs just like the jumpers.

A sport where judges have too much influence and too many who aren’t competent? That sure sounds like a problem with the judging, not with the sport to me. Instead of lambasting hunter riders and barring them from competing internationally for something they can’t control, fix the judging system! Give them a rating system to use like that in dressage or figure skating or gymnastics or diving and other subjective sports. Create more stringent guidelines for certifying and hiring judges. Don’t penalize competitors because the nature of their sport is subjective.

A sport where only specific horses can win at higher levels? Isn’t this true of any sport, horse related or not? Certain people’s bodies are built to be football players and some are built to be baseball players. Certain bodies are more athletic or flexible or coordinated or musically talented. Just like people are built for different things (both physically and in their personalities), so are horses! Who complains that Quarter Horses aren’t used in the jumper ring or long-distance racing? Horses with a certain conformation and movement are more suited to the hunter ring. Like Nancy Jaffers said, hunters are great for highly-talented horses who aren’t quite capable of jumping the bigger jumper heights. And horses that do well at B and C rated shows aren’t always talented enough to place in the top at A shows. That’s the nature of life whether you are human or animal.

I ride hunters and enjoy riding hunters and intend to keep riding hunters, but I have the deepest respect for showjumpers. Both styles have their merits and weaknesses, and we need to learn to respect different styles and each other’s preferences. Just because this reader’s own goal is for the jumpers, doesn’t mean that every rider’s goal has to be. Riding hunters is a necessary step for moving up to the jumpers, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we all have to make that move.

Posted in Jackie's Thoughts, Riding and showing