It seems to vary by region (and fence height). In Aiken, everyone seemed to walk (though a lot, you could tell, weren’t actually counting anything) up here in Virginia, maybe half the class walks, sometimes less. In NC I only saw people walk when the fence height was higher than a meter. Florida was a mixed bag, probably because everyone was coming from out of state anyways.
Really? Thats interesting. I’ve never NOT walked my course!
I’ve never even noticed because I just go out and walk it lol. For my proposed class, no distances posted, either! Just go in and ride it.
You guys are walking hunter courses??? Have never seen or done that. I guess maybe done in a Derby. In the smaller hunter divisions, the lines are set shorter than the 12 foot striding. As they should be, for greener horses and riders, and smaller jumps. If I want to walk a line in a hunter course, I walk it outside the ring fence (can’t do the diagonals of course- but it gives ya some idea how all the lines are set.) These days, they usually post the distances on the course. One of my most ridiculous horse shows involves a schooling show, where after the first class (where my green horse placed “second”), the judge called me over to the judge’s stand when I came in for the next class’s round. She said, “I love your horse, so cute. However, you are making a mistake which is so very dangerous, and if you continue to do that, I can’t place you again.”. When I asked what that mistake might be? (As the previous round had felt just fine to me). She replied that “You took a stride out down that line. It’s a six, and you went in five”. I looked back at her, and said, “It’s a five, we went in five because that’s how long it is”. But the course was marked with the distance for the six, indeed. But my horse is a metronome, his stride is exactly what it should be, and it rode perfect in five. “It’s a five” I told her. She shrugged, and I went and jumped the next round, doing the line again in five. And left the arena. Next was a call on the announcing system, calling the jump course designer to the judge’s box. They brought out the measuring tape, and re-measured the distance down that line. Turned out that the jump course designer had made a last minute change of mind, and had set the distance at a 5 instead of a 6, but had not changed the measurement printed on the posted course. Since I’m old, I don’t even look for distances printed on courses, I just ride it how it should be ridden. Moral of the story is “Don’t try to teach your granny how to suck eggs”.
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No one walks a hunter course at a rated show in the U.S. Distances are posted on the course map.
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Now, before you lambast me for not being a “horseman,” I do this, quite regularly and with success. But it is not easy. Don’t make it sound like your average rider can or should just go to the track and pick a horse to have clocking around the hunters in a year or two, because they can’t.
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Height and length of stride are individual. I ride anything from 13.2 Welsh Sec A to 17.2 fox hunters and some big horses have a surprisingly small stride and some small ponies ride and jump like a horse three hands taller. Part of training is to improve adjustability. Two poles on the ground, measured at six strides then go again for five, or seven or four strides on demand. Yes, there are ponies (less than 14.2) who struggle to make a course set for bigger horses but generally they have less problem getting round than the big ones on a course set for ponies.
Height isn’t everything. The legendary Stroller, who won the silver medal in Mexico 1968, gold in the women’s World Cup in 1965 and then silver in 1970, was only 14.1.
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I mostly event, and almost everyone walks the course at those even at 18", but there hasn’t even been a break or opportunity to walk other than maybe the lunch break at any of the local shows I’ve been to. Schooling starts as soon as it’s light and then the classes run straight through except for 5 minutes here and there to adjust fences.
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the flip side of that, is that todays warmblood has a huge stride, and if they galloped like we did in the old days, you would be leaving strides out. Trust me on this one! The stride appears to be slower, and it is, but it is covering more ground per step.
Strides have been a thing since I was a pony rider in the 70’s, well before the introduction of the WB to American show rings
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happens in the handy hunter phase of the rated divisions at every horse show
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I’m not “lambasting” anyone! I am encouraging those who are not billionaires to learn, and advance their skills with experience, so that the sport is not TOTALLY reliant on billionaires ALL the time. Billionaires are great, and a handy part of the sport, for sure. But not ALL the sport, not the ONLY part of the sport. Yes, many people, if they try, if they learn as they go, CAN do this. If they don’t TRY, if they are told it is “difficult” or “impossible”, the sport industry we know and love is finished. Because it can’t survive on billionaires alone. And it isn’t surviving as it is. Because people who have not “made” their own competitive show horse before are told how “hard” it is, and that they will probably “fail”. There’s a learning curve, for sure. And not just “any” horse will do. But one develops an eye, and an opinion, then you put your money where your mouth is, and do it. TRY to do it. Learn as you go. That’s how horsemen are made, not by simply buying a made horse and sitting on it. Without “horsemen”, the equine industry is DONE.
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It appears to me that a lot of trainers don’t have the ability to bring one along, either.
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No, it does not. Truly scratching my head, because that’s just not true. The handy is going to jump essentially the same lines as all the other classes, working off posted measurements on a course map.
If you read the post that kirbydog was responding to, she was saying that hunter riders ride the handy hunter class at every show without walking the course. I disagree with you that they jump the same lines as the other classes; they absolutely do not do this. The handy course has broken lines, roll backs, and a trot jump, none of which are found in the other jump classes in hunter divisions. There is usually only one line of related distances in a handy course that is the same as the other classes. I’m talking about the big rated shows; maybe you’re speaking locally?
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I agree with not filling AO sections outside the big circuit shows. Alternatively, they could take an approach like with pony hunters. Regional shows where I grew up rarely filled all 3 pony sections to run them independently, so they would have a combined pony hunter class(es) that encompasses whatever combo of ponies were entered (ie 3 larges, 2 stalls, and a medium). With that said, adjusting distances involves more work and time, and I wouldn’t be surprised if shows balk at that idea.
If they make the adjustment for adults, presumably the same should be done with the small juniors?
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I think you are misunderstanding me; my comment was in reply to the poster saying that she couldn’t imagine NOT walking a course. My response is that we do handy rounds all the time without walking them
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That is exactly what I was saying!
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for many of the small juniors, esp the 3’6 variety, shortening the distance would be dangerous. I have 3 in my barn, all under 16h, with huge strides. Shortening the distances to make it “fair”, would actually penalize the stridey, nice horses, as well as making the distances too short
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This.
A hunter is supposed to be a conveyance to hounds-the easier the horse goes over the ground, and the better his manners, the better the jump, the more fun you have riding to hounds.
During the summer, I showed my field hunter, usually an OTTB under 16 hands. Our country is steep and tight, with open galloping opportunities scarce. The small, handy horse suits our country best.
For me to make the distances with my smaller horse, I had to ride a little more forward, and be very accurate with my track out of the corner. If I kept my leg on, and was dead on straight out of the corner, my athletic little horse could get the step. If I made a bad turn, I would create an add situation for my horse. So, in theory, my small horse was “harder” to ride than a horse with more step, because my horse wasn’t able to compensate for a mistake on my part.
Practically speaking, in our Carolina foothills, give me that handy compact ride every time.
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Yes, sorry, I did misunderstand what you were replying too!
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