Hi guys, this is my first post so go easy on me 
Anyways, I was wondering if anyone has an advice for a hunter switching to jumpers? Any comments would be appreciated! Thanks!
Horse and/or rider switch? I think either way, the important thing to remember is that just because itās jumpers, does not mean you need to run like a bat out of hell. At the lower levels, unfortunately the scary ones that run their horses off of their feet tend to be the ones that get ribbons, but they are the ones that crash and burn when they try to move up. Start by being neat and efficient first, worry about fast later. Think of it like riding a medal course while you are getting your feet wet.
And above all, if you want to make the switch successfully, work with a qualified professional that can help you reach your goals.
[QUOTE=Denzel;8175383]
At the lower levels, unfortunately the scary ones that run their horses off of their feet tend to be the ones that get ribbons, but they are the ones that crash and burn when they try to move up. Start by being neat and efficient first, worry about fast later.[/QUOTE]
Couldnāt have said this better! Donāt be discouraged if it takes a while to click but once it does youāll have a blast.
Take your time learning about the tables and appreciating why the course is designed the way it is - youāll learn to recognize areas where you can shave precious time off the clock and play up your horseās strengths. Jumpers let you figure out the best plan of action for you and your horse. Maybe youāre not as fast flat out as others, so learn to beat them in the turns. Turns and straightness win classes more often than just plain speed.
Most importantly, have fun!
Make up time in the turns! I like to ride my round like a slightly compact eq course to feel out turns conservatively, then compress my turns where I can in the jump off. Make sure you can lengthen and shorten strides quickly; itās nice to have a horse who quickly responds from a gallop on the straight-away to get collected for a turn to a fence. It is similar to collection for a tight line, but more extreme IMO.
I would work on getting your horse (and you) comfortable with seeing distances and hitting fences at angles, which can come in handy in the jump-offs to shave off seconds and set you up for a tighter, smoother approach to the next fence.
I am immediately thinking about the next fence the second my horse has locked onto the jump so I can estimate how I need to ride on the backside of the first fence; while this is true in the hunter ring as well, that next fence can come up a little faster in the jumper ring.
Careful, precise, and thinking one step ahead will get you a long way in the jumper ring. Youāll have a blast!
Thanks guys! All this is great stuff 
Iām in the process of switching mounts to a jumper. Iām super excited!
If you want to move up the jumper levels, be prepared to āride to loseā in the lower levels. Ride clean and smooth with efficient but safe turns.
To quote a great jumper coach I knew āFast isnāt fast, smooth is fastā He had ridden successfully all the way to open jumper and knew his stuff.
I made the switch a couple of years ago. Jumpers are very different from hunters - I bet you will find them quite liberating, actually!
I am not a fan of the turn and burn strategy, so you can obviously completely dismiss this if you want, but it worked for meā¦
Donāt be discouraged if you have time faults the first several times that you show. Donāt be focused on the time. Be focused on building your confidence, your horseās confidence in your skills as navigator, and having smooth rounds that follow the strategy that youāve laid out for yourself during the walk. That said, give yourself options - and you may not be used to that since you only have hunter experience. If X happens, I will do Y. If Y happens, I will do Z. Once you have consistently smooth rounds that resemble your original plan, you can focus on shaving off time based on your horseās strengths (i.e. turning quickly, collecting quickly, etc.).
One more suggestion - if youāre doing the lower levels, realistically it doesnāt do you that much good to sit and watch a bunch of grand prix classes. Go spend a day watching the low adults - you will learn A LOT about what kind of rider you want to be, what to do, and what not to do.
[QUOTE=KandC;8176056]
ā¦ Make sure you can lengthen and shorten strides quickly; itās nice to have a horse who quickly responds from a gallop on the straight-away to get collected for a turn to a fence. ā¦
ā¦I am immediately thinking about the next fence the second my horse has locked onto the jump so I can estimate how I need to ride on the backside of the first fence; while this is true in the hunter ring as well, that next fence can come up a little faster in the jumper ringā¦[/QUOTE]
The horse I have now is the first horse Iāve ever shown in jumpers. These two things mentioned by KandC are the things I have struggled with the most.
The local schooling show series uses āoptimal timeā for its lower level jumping classes rather than fastest time. You still have to keep up a good pace, but itās not a speed race.
Itāll be great going from hunters first, I feel like thatās what should always happen. This way you know how to ask your horse to lengthen and shorten as opposed to just rushing around everything.
Now personally, I went from Hunters/EQ to jumpers and am now back to hunters. let me tell youā¦ its much harder to go from jumpers to hunters, I forget that it needs to be slow and pretty. Itās been hard training myself to not āride up to the jumpsā but to stay in my half seat and make the cues invisible. Good luck!
I made the switch last summer and do find it liberating (for me). Learning the course and riding to āplanā are very important, I still have a hard time with this bc it feels like there is so much to remember. Give yourself time to get used to it too. I agree with the above poster that fast isnāt about galloping like a loon, its about a consistent ride with good angles (be straight to the fence) and time made up in smart turns. You might need to experiment with body angles as you donāt want to be on your horses neck at all; maybe more contact than youāre used to. Just my experience. I hope you love it!
I started as a hunter rider as a kid then did hunters and jumpers then exclusively jumpers and now Iām back to exclusively hunters. My first love!!
The thing I wish I would have done when I had my last jumper was chill about all the perfect smoothness things of the hunters. So he cross-cantered sometimesā¦ so we chipped sometimesā¦ and got crookedā¦ and he was a spookā¦ I should have worried about all that less and just focused on jumping the jumps clean on an efficient track. Over time we did get it smooth but I could have enjoyed it more earlier with him if Iād focused on how you really win which is leave the jumps up and do less steps with a more efficient track than anyone else.
I agree with all those that say donāt run at the low levels but really good course designers should be creating courses where efficiency is the winner. If they donāt then choose not to do the flat out gallop in hopes of moving up to a higher level. Nothing wrong with leaving out a step but the flat out flailing is a little much at 3ā or 3ā6" even.
The above advice is good- accuracy, line over speed, efficient over pretty.
Then you can enjoy knowing that success is up to you and your horse. It doesnāt matter who your trainer is. Doesnāt matter how much your horse cost,or who you bought it from. Youāre wearing last yearās trendy stuff? No problem. The rails fall or they stay in the cups. The clock stops when it stops. You know where you stand when you leave the ring.
What could be more fun?
