Counting strides...why??

[IPEsq]

[QUOTE=whbar158;7810818]
As someone who had a 15.1h QH with a questionable stride, but has also ridden others with no problems with strides, I still think its silly. the whole “What about the in and out” trust me unless I were to chip the first I wasn’t adding in the in and out most horses can make the in and outs fine but when the line is set at 85’ for a 6 stride the little lost every stride starts to count more and while the ponies do have the children’s pony division the Children’s horse division is still pretty competitive and you sure can’t add in it and expect to place either. You have to step all the way down to pre-child/adult and even then some judges still aren’t ok with it. Now if a judge wants to take two equal rounds and give the one who had a bigger stride and did the “number” the placing over the one who added that is ok, but no I do not think someone with a chip/missed change etc beat out someone who had a really nice round but added smoothly. Of course it is my opinion and it doesn’t matter if anyone agrees, I really enjoy the challenge of the hunters and love riding a nice relaxed round nailing all my distances and corners and it being very smooth, since that is the goal for me![/QUOTE]

I disagree that most horses could make an in and out fine versus a longer line if they don’t really have the step for either. I rode a 14h large who had a medium pony step, and it was scary trying to do an in and out set at rated pony distances. We had to run and pray and thank goodness he was scopey with no stop, but one strides in particular were hairy. We had more of a chance to make the step in a longer line where we could GALLOP, though we would typically opt for the add. I didn’t show him in the A/AA rated larges because he didn’t have the step, but when I did a local medal finals, they set the distances that way even though all of our qualifying classes were set on a 12’ step (and no combinations). That was a disappointing surprise.

[SmartAlex]

Question from a bystander trying to appreciate the technical aspects of distance and stride count:

Does it ever happen that a horse or pony is “one sided” and can make the required stride count easily on one lead, but in a longer line on the less suitable lead will end up having to add a stride? Or by the time they are show ready have they become adjustable enough to over come this?

If you had a one sided horse could you strategically overcome this by using the suitable lead on any straight line and only change on the turns?

[harrisburgrules]

[QUOTE=SmartAlex;7812062]
Question from a bystander trying to appreciate the technical aspects of distance and stride count:

Does it ever happen that a horse or pony is “one sided” and can make the required stride count easily on one lead, but in a longer line on the less suitable lead will end up having to add a stride? Or by the time they are show ready have they become adjustable enough to over come this?

If you had a one sided horse could you strategically overcome this by using the suitable lead on any straight line and only change on the turns?[/QUOTE]

i would imagine that if there was THAT much difference, it would be an issue of soundness. every horse has an easy side and a hard side, but it shouldn’t make that much difference.

[equisusan]

[QUOTE=SmartAlex;7812062]
Question from a bystander trying to appreciate the technical aspects of distance and stride count:

Does it ever happen that a horse or pony is “one sided” and can make the required stride count easily on one lead, but in a longer line on the less suitable lead will end up having to add a stride? Or by the time they are show ready have they become adjustable enough to over come this?

If you had a one sided horse could you strategically overcome this by using the suitable lead on any straight line and only change on the turns?[/QUOTE]

I actually think this can make quite a big difference. To me most horses that are significantly different one way than the other can have a shorter step their “bad” way or be crooked which will have the same result in a line.

You would definitely resolve this prior to competing at large shows but even watching Harrisburg this week you can watch a fair number of crooked horses having trouble in the amateur hunters especially in the bending line. The camera viewpoint is excellent for assessing straightness from above but not so great at showing us the jumping style from the side.

A lot of horses will already land on their strong lead and often you only need to do a lead change from their strong lead to their weaker lead. It is a great sign when a horse will land evenly on both leads.

Underneath all the weak side and strong side is sometimes some unsoundness but can also be conformational or even early development prior to them being ridden.

[Midge]

[QUOTE=kdow;7810889]
That looks so much more enjoyable to try (from the outside looking in) than a lot of what I’ve seen posted as videos for hunters now.[/QUOTE]

I think a lot of the speed perception in a situation like this is the difference between film and video. Film always seemed slightly fast to me. I would look at my rides in Super 8 and think, ‘Was I going that fast?’ Looking at video, I know I wasn’t going that slow. I remember watching a video of a class in which I circled because I was pretty much being run away with. When the video started, I thought the videographer had cued up the wrong class, because I was NOT very fast.

On a separate note, we have been counting strides for 35 years now. It is not going to change. I basically have no problem with it because it is a part of the standard a horse must meet to be considered a good show hunter.

[doublesstable]

The topic of counting strides ventured off into today’s Hunter vs a more forward Hunter… which I think should happen especially in the pro classes… however I ran across this video of a AO rider with a horse that I just think looks like so much fun. As an ammy I really think this type is nice… Also maybe why I love the Handy rounds…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J76-pTg6S8

[equisusan]

[QUOTE=doublesstable;7812935]
The topic of counting strides ventured off into today’s Hunter vs a more forward Hunter… which I think should happen especially in the pro classes… however I ran across this video of a AO rider with a horse that I just think looks like so much fun. As an ammy I really think this type is nice… Also maybe why I love the Handy rounds…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J76-pTg6S8[/QUOTE]

I love that horse I’ve been coveting it all week.

[doublesstable]

[QUOTE=equisusan;7813195]
I love that horse I’ve been coveting it all week.[/QUOTE]

I put this video up and said this is what every girl wants for Christmas! I want this horse so bad… coveting too!!!