Show hunter

The show hunter is a type of show horse that is judged on its movement, manners, and way of going. The horses are shown in hunt seat riding, and are often of Warmblood or Thoroughbred type.

Movement and Frame of the Show Hunter

The show hunter has long and low movement, meaning its strides are long and ground covering, and there is not much flexion of the horse's joints as it moves. The action of the field hunter is efficient: the horse does not waste energy bending its legs any more than it has to. This relates back to the hunt field, where the horse had to work for several hours on end, often galloping, and inefficient movement would tire the horse more quickly.

The show hunter moves smoothly and freely, pointing its toes as it floats over the ground. It should not have excessive knee action, nor should its strides be short and choppy, both of which would make its movement less efficient. The horse should be forward, so it could jump if needed, but no faster than necessary.

The horse must always be in a balanced frame. This, too, relates back to the hunt field, where a horse had to be balanced in order to cope with the changing terrain, sometimes sudden change of direction, and surprising fences. The frame of the show hunter differs from that of dressage horses, eventers, and show jumpers, as it travels in a long and low frame, with its head moderately extended. Its frame is more "stretched out" than horses competing in dressage, eventing, or show jumping, but the horse should not be on its forehand. The riders of show hunters often ride on a slightly looser rein than seen elsewhere to facilitate this type of movement, and the horse carries its head just in front of the vertical.

Although the horse is in a long and low frame, it should still be able to collect its stride when asked. The horse must also be proficient at lengthening its canter stride while still maintaining its tempo and rhythm.

The walk of the show hunter is free and ground-covering; the trot should be balanced and flowing. The canter should be moderately collected. The horse should have a long galloping stride (12 feet is the expected length), but it should still be balanced and rhythmic.

Jumping Form of the Show Hunter

A good show hunter must possess an excellent jumping form. The forearm should be parallel or higher with the ground, and the knees and lower legs should be even. The horse should not be lazy with its lower legs, but should tuck them under its forearm as it clears the fence, clearly bending its fetlocks and knees. The horse should not throw its body or legs to one side, but should stay perfectly straight over the fence. A good show hunter should show a great bascule, or roundness over a jump. This is often described as the horse taking the shape of a dolphin jumping out of the water, with the horse's back up, and its head reaching forward and down over the fence.

A show hunter often has better jumping form than many eventers and show jumpers, as the latter two disciplines do not judge on the jumping form of the horse, but merely whether the horse can get over the obstacle.

The Attitude of the Show Hunter

A show hunter is not only judged on movement, but also on temperament and manners. Thus, the show hunter should always be relaxed and calm, yet attentive to its rider. It should be responsive to invisible signals and look relatively easy to ride.

The Turn-out of the Show Hunter

Show hunters should be extremely well turned-out. Their coat should gleam with good care, and they carry a bit more weight than an event or racehorse. The horse is always bathed before the competition, with special attention paid to the white markings. The hooves are polished before the horse enters the show ring.

The horse's face is always trimmed, focusing on the whiskers around the muzzle, the hair of the ears, the bridle-path, and the horse's lower jaw. The legs are also trimmed, removing all fetlock hair and feathering, and trimming the pasterns and coronet. In the winter, show hunter are often given a full clip, removing all the body hair, to give them a neater appearance in the show ring. The mane is most often braided with yarn and pulled into neat buns on top of the neck.

The tail is left natural on the show hunter, as opposed to pulled and "banged" (trimmed) tails of dressage and event horses. The tail may be braided, although this is often only seen at the most important recognized shows. The mane and forelock of the hunter should always be braided when competing at a recognized show. This is best left to a professional braider if the groom is not proficient.

The Hunter Course

The course of fences a show hunter must jump is usually made up of 8-12 obstacles of natural type material. The fences are not brightly-colored as in show jumping, insted they are mostly brown, green, white, baige, and occasionlay black. They rarely get much taller than 3'6"-4' in height. The course may include verticals, oxers, gates, and fences with "natural" fillers, like brush or flowers. Open water jumps and liverpools, common obstacles in show jumping arena, are not used in a show hunter course. Although combination fences may be seen, they are usually only two elements, and have easier distances between them than those found in show jumping. Banks and ditches are not found on the show hunter course, nor are any major changes in terrain, and often times the horses jump on level footing in an enclosed arena.

The distance between fences is usually a set number of strides, with each stride 12 feet in length. Unlike a show jumper, the show hunter does not need to go to extreme lengths to collect or extend its stride to meet the distances correctly.

The show hunter should maintain a good pace throughout the course of fences, but keep an even rhythm, neither speeding up nor slowing down. The horse is judged on its smoothness around the course, its movement, jumping form, and whether it reaches each "spot", or the distance of takeoff in front of a jump, correctly. A poor spot would put the horse too close or too far back from the jump, so that it would either have to stretch and make a great effort over the fence, or have to jump more "up and down" rather than over the fence. A poor spot interrupts the rhythm of a course, and increases the likelihood that a horse will rub or drop a rail.

A good ride over fences will look easy, with the horse jumping from the correct takeoff spot, easily fitting the strides in between the jumps (as opposed to having to really stretch out or collect its stride), and cleanly making the flying changes required. Refusals, knocked rails, or rubs over fences incur a severe drop (faults) in the rider's score.

The Show Hunter vs. the Field Hunter

Although the qualities of the show hunter is based on those of the field hunter, the modern show horse is slightly different from its more rugged counterpart. The field hunter must be more durable and tough, with great stamina, to cope with the difficulties of a long day of hunting. The field hunter must also be extremely brave, as it often times has to jump solid objects, and other natural obstacles such as stone walls, ditches, banks, and hedges, and must occasionally go through water. In some countries, fences may be made of barbed wire. Unlike the show hunter, the field hunter must travel over varied terrain. In some ways, a good field hunter is more closely related to a good eventer, rather than a show hunter, as the cross-country phase of eventing includes ditches, banks, water, brush, and varied terrain.

Show Classes

There are several types of "hunter", or hunt seat, classes.

Equitation: judge the rider's ability to communicate with the horse.
Flat Classes: judge the horse's movement and manners on the flat. Jumping is not included.
Over-fences classes: Judge the horse's movement, manners, way of going, and jumping form over a course of jumps.
Pleasure classes: unlike the flat and over-fences classes, the horse's movement is not as important as its manners, temperament, and suitability for the rider.

Classes may be further divided by the horse or rider's experience, the height of the horse or pony, and the age of the rider.

Equestrian sports