Hunter or jumper?

[Erickson Miniature Horses]

Hi! I'm new to jumping and was wondering how to tell if your mini is a hunter or jumper?

 

[Field-of-Dreams]

A hunter horse has to go steady around the course- no break in gait, jumps smoothly and quietly, obedient and willing. A jumper just has to clear the jumps.

Any horse can be a jumper if he jumps clean and doesn't refuse, but he has to have "style" to be a hunter!

 

[amysue]

I like the above comment and agree whole heartedly. In jumping, the primary goal is to clear the obstacle. The horse who jumps the highest with the fewest faults and best time wins. In hunter however, the horse must maintain a consistent speed and gait, approach, follow through and recover flawlessly and possess the body type and build of a traditional "hunter". Both disciplines are fun and rewarding and you can best choose which to compete in by assessing your horse's assets and abilities.

 

[Miniv]

For hunter it's one time through the course and all about style. The horse/handler have to follow the course accurately and clear all the jumps, looking good.

For jumper, it doesn't matter how the horse looks making the jumps as long as he clears them. The jumps keep get raised in height for each run through. The final horse who's made the jumps is the automatic winner.

 

[targetsmom]

If you are only planning to do local shows, there is no real reason that you can't do both, although the horse may do better in one than the other. We train ours to trot over the low jumps and may remind them between jumps with a "trot" command. You want a nice smooth run, nice corners, jumping in the middle of the jumps, and tucking knees and showing nice form. Some of that can't be taught, but training can help.

For jumper, we use a different cue to let them know they can canter, and since i am not young (as long as the course is not timed) I might stop them between jumps. You really won't know how high they can jump until you raise the jumps! The other thing is to make sure you keep it fun so they want to jump.

 

[oakrunfarm]

targetsmom,

Could you tell me how best to "keep it fun?"

My plan was plenty of pats and praise, not pushing too hard or working too long, and ending on a good note, but that was about it.

I don't normally hand feed treats, and was just wondering other ways than that and the above to keep jumping fun for the horses.

Thanks!

 

[targetsmom]

OK, I confess, our jumps are in the backyard where they can be seen from the turnout(s). After a jump session (of about 10 minutes max) we let them have a few bites of grass. We also don't punish them for anything - like if they knockdown a jump or refuse, they are just taken over it again. If they are still having trouble, we lower that jump and do it again so we always end on a good note. Another trick we have found is that if they don't "get" it right away when you first set up a cross rail - that is, if they don't refuse but haven't figured out they need to JUMP - we have them follow another horse over the jump! Sounds silly but it seems to work quite well. We have never found one that doesn't like to jump but maybe that is because we are breeding for performance horses so we select for conformation and attitude that won't hinder them. Our 2 weanlings have already jumped 18 inch jumps in the backyard - and NO, NOT because we asked them to!!! They were running and playing, and one at a time, came to the jump and cleared it with no problem and in nice form. I guess they were watching from the turnout too. We have since taken the jumps down so they won't do that again.

We also move the jumps around, change directions (and the ground pole), and decorate them with different things to keep it interesting. It sounds like you have the same ideas that we use. We don't hand feed treats either. Ours literally stand in line at the fence waiting their turn, and obviously the weanlings are already interested!

 

[FurstPlaceMiniatures]

My best piece of advice to keep it fun is not to over do it. When your horse is comfortable at a height, stay at it for 3 more training sessions then bump it up. Too many horses are screwed up by jumping too high too fast! I also love running courses over ground poles instead of jumps to practice "courses" without overworking the horse.

Also, few horses really need to "practice" jumping a lot. After a horse's confidence is built up, and they "get" striding, I rarely jump them. I used to show 3' to 3' 6" hunters/jumpers/eq. We only ever jumped maybe 2x a week? We did A LOT of ground pole courses though! We rarely ever did the height we did at shows at home, however, I was blessed with a mare that could jump the moon and she knew she could do it, and she would often seriously consider jumping out of the ring, you had to make it VERY clear every time you came to a corner at a canter that was NOT what you wanted. I almost think she looked forward to show day, because then she could really GO!

With my mini, I jump only the week before show, and maybe a time or two in between shows - I swear by ground pole courses! He knows his job, he loves that job, I want to keep it fresh and new! He knows what he's doing, no sense in drilling it into his little skull!

 

[dannigirl]

I have watched many hunters and jumpers go thru their courses when I announce shows. I realize this may not hold up for AMHA classes because I announce mainly AMHR shows so this is what I see in AMHR competitions. I know that one horse can do both, but if you watch, you will see that each horse is much better suited for one or the other. For jumper, your horse has to willingly move quickly beside you and not shy away from much of anything. You also need to be able to make close turns to cut time for the timed round. Jumping classes really need the horse and the exhibitor to be working as one and know what to expect from the other for maximum effect. For the Hunter classes, speed is not necessary but the horse needs to be willing to stay by your side and listen to cues to jump neatly over the jumps. They also need to not shy at various things like walls, flowers and, on one occasion, a chicken coop with chickens in it.

There are not many horses that can do both flawlessly. Just like people, some will move very quickly thru jumps willingly and others would rather move more slowly.

 

[oakrunfarm]

Thank you very much, everyone!

Really excited to try this next year. Now, I just need a horse!

 

[Sandee]

If you are showing in AMHR, it is more "how fast YOU can run" and "oh, by the way the horse needs to jump". If you haven't guessed I'm not fond of the rules in AMHR jumping. In AMHA, jumping is more about the horse. The jumps are raised as high as (I believe) 40", if necessary, or until only One horse jumps a "clean" round. That, IMO, is the way a jump class should be done.

After all that my mare does both. She has cleared 36" in an AMHA show, even though she only measures 34" herself and is 2 points short of her HOF in

AMHR hunter. She naturally likes jumping and did jumper first. It wasn't until the grandkids showed her and I "aged" a bit that she learned to slow down and control herself for hunter.