Hunter and Jumper information sought

[Intothesunstudio]

I wanted to find a way to exercise my horses this past summer and myself as well. I made a jump out of PVC pipes. My mini mare was the only one decent at jumping. My other two horses are old and enjoyed trotting over poles alot more.

My mare seems to enjoy jumping and is actually pretty good at it. I may never get into showing, but in the event that I do someday, I'd like to know as much as possible about hunter and jumper classes. How to train, what to wear. Any help would be appreciated. I went looking in the info section on Lil Beginnings but I couldn't find the links to hunter and jumper information that it said was listed.

Here are pics of my mare jumping this past summer. I couldn't find one of my PVC pieces and was using a soft stick in the meantime! A new 5' pole has since been purchased! Please excuse how blurry they are. My mom took these!

:

Thanks in advance.

Corrie and "Trouble"

 

[Kim]

Hi Corrie,

Hunter is one of my favorite classes. If you want, PM me and I will help you with any specific questions you may have. Just a quick note from looking at your pictures...you should put a pole on the ground a few inches in front of the jump (called a 'ground pole', not surprisingly!), to help your horse judge where the jump is and when to take off.

 

[modernroadster]

Hunter/Jumper

Hunter is based upon ease of going/smoothness and faults. You want to maintain a single gait throughout the entire course as well as clear all the jumps. There will never be a jump-off for a hunter class. You will trot for soundness before the class is pinned. A hunter course is often trickier to navigate as the judges want to see how smooth you can clear it. You are allowed to carry a whip in hunter (not in jumper). It also may be appropriate to braid your horse’s mane and/or tail. You can for jumper, but not as important.

Jumper is based upon accuracy and speed. Time is only kept in a jump-off. Your first round will determine those that qualify for a jump-off. Those without any faults (or do not knock any jumps) will all jump-off. Sometimes, if there are less than the number of horses that they place that make it into the jump-off for first and others tie for the next rank, they will also jump-off. It kind of depends on the show management.

I typically wear slacks and a nice slinky or blouse. Some people jump in their tennis shoes, but I do not like the picture that it portrays for the judges and thus jump in my boots.

 

[Kim]

I think that the previous poster is talking about AMHR. You will find that each registry's rules are a little bit different from each other, so I just wanted to add a bit to the previous post.

In AMHA you are not allowed to carry a whip in Hunter, but you can in Jumper. The highest that you will jump in Hunter is 24 inches. In Jumper the jumps get raised each round. If a horse has a clear round, it will go on to the next round, if not, its faults are tabulated, and once the class is over, the horse with the least amount of faults wins, and the other horses are placed accordingly. There are no timed jump-offs--the class is based solely on height jumped.

There are many other details to be aware of when showing - it's best to read the rule book thoroughly.

Good Luck!

 

[modernroadster]

Yes, I was referring to AMHR. Sorry, I shouldv'e referenced that. I've always shown AMHR, and I sometimes forget that there is another registry! If you have any other specific questions, I will be glad to answer them specifically.

 

[Intothesunstudio]

Thank you Kim and ModernRoadster for your help.

I knew the difference between hunter and jumper with full size horses, but was not sure exactly what it meant for miniature horses. I've never shown and have never been to a miniature horse show at all so I'm pretty clueless!

I would most likely start off with hunter classes. What type of a halter would I need for this type of class? I've looked at images in Miniature Horse World and they seem to be western style halters with silver. I do have one of these for my mini.

What is the best way to train for an event like this? Are their specific training methods? What is the general height of hunter jumps? All 24" and under, all the same height or it depends on the registry or show?

My mare is jumping about a foot and a half right now and that is with no training. Just my exercise routine for her a few times a week.

Also where might i find the rule books for AMHA and AMHR? Are they on the websites? I would most likely be showing in AMHA as there are a few shows in the area that friends of mine showed their mini's at.

 

[stormo41]

when i had my gelding we used to tare up the jumping ring offten leaving with the first place ribbon :bgrin

the most important thing is that the horse likes to jump if not then you might get in the ring and you will get a refusal. When fisrt starting, you should make a few more jumps try them one by one (they should all look differnt). Make one of them soild looking, in hunter you are offten asked to jump a wall. In hunter never jump with the horse, always go off to the side. when your horse is jumping everything my it's self then put 2 together in a line, get your mare used to jumping 2 in a row the first one should always be lower then the second one. then put together a small course and jump it with her. By then you should know what your horse's strong and weak points are, when you school your horse work on the weak points, and with the strong points so you end on a good note. just remember to not push your horse to hard, some horses just can't jump that high, some horses take a longer time with the soild looking jumps, just take your time and you should have a good jumper. i got lucky and got a natrual jumper, who would drag me to jumps :lol:

-storm

 

[wsf]

You are allowed to carry a whip in hunter (not in jumper).

Actually, you are not allowed to carry a whip in hunter in AMHA or AMHR. You can carry a whip in jumper.

 

[Intothesunstudio]

I won't be using a whip. I don't even own one!

Thanks for the additional tips. A friend has some mini jumps they made and I have extra supplies here so I will make a few different jumps.

Does anyone know where I can find pictures of mini horse jumps? I'd like to try and make a few that my mare might see at a show. She's good about obstacles as I set a mock trail class for her this past summer with cones, plants a little bridge and she was great about everything.

 

[Feather1414]

You might try the training tips part of my website.

www.baaababyminis.1colony.com

 

[midnight star stables]

When I get some time, I'll send you pictures of Midnight Jumping. He's 28 years old.. but he loves to jump.. He's 35" tall, but can 'fly' pretty high.. I have to slow him, so he doesn't pull something.. We love the jumper class, I'll also send you a jump corse layout.

 

[stormo41]

for photos of differnt jumps you can google images. use search words like "miniature horse jumps" or something like that keep changing it up to get different resluts.