I’ve sat on seasoned eventers (lower levels, granted) that peeked HARD at hunter fill. Prime Tiger Hiding Bushes, hunter jumps.
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I event my horse but do hunter derbies for fun (and cute pictures, mainly that.) He has no concerns show jumping or cross country but he definitely looks hard at some hunter jumps. No issue jumping an actual hedge, but he’s convinced those hunter jumps covered in fake grass hide monsters.
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Of course, especially the greener ones who jump a “10”—or at least a very good flat session in the ring in the AM to “see” the jumps. My 6-year-old has a super jump and that comes largely from being very “no touchy” about the fill beneath him. Now, unlike OP’s horse, he’s clearly going to grow out of needing to see the jumps at the show but a good many of top show hunters need some prep in with regard to jump familiarity.
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Years ago had a former lower level dressage horse turned lower level jumper. One time at a horse show, the schooling ring was overrun with insanity so we just slipped into a nearby empty ring that was set up for hunters later in the morning to work on the flat and get warmed up. Tons of fill in all the fences. He could hardly trot around the ring for staring and snorting at the jumps. He was absolutely certain something was going to come popping out of that vegetation and come after him.
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I know it wasn’t clear in my post, but I was referring to horses like OP’s versus a horse who is green. I consider the two very different.
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There are also some that are very sensitive to the rider’s balance. I’ve had a couple - do not get forward, or they’ll stop. One was more forgiving (don’t jump up the neck), but my current guy doesn’t even want me to lean at the fence. So, what causes the stop can be particular to the horse. Find the right rider, and everything’s golden.
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I wonder if some looky horses have been poled?
Poling never made sense to me, is making horses fold their legs up better or jump higher, maybe, but also may make some horses doubt jumps are a safe place and start ducking or stopping. 
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Well, with at least one of the pros, the alternative was electric spurs. Damned if they do, damned if they don’t.
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Don’t think that that pro didn’t have an automated device for poling too. 
So, yes, you’re gonna get a zap in the belly going to the jump which may or may not whack you in the air, too. Pleasant.
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Never occur to me there were automatic poling gadgets.
My story on poling, I was young and new to the US and heard about it for the first time.
We had a nice jumper that if he would fold in front better could show as a hunter.
I thought great, poling may help him understand to pick his feet a bit more and I remember seeing a light bamboo pole in the shop.
I got pole out and, being before the internet and having never seen it done, was trying to figure how you may use it.
The more I thought about it, the less sense it made, so put the pole away and waited to find out more, then forgot about it.
Later I learned that it was controversial and was glad I never went there and to consider new ideas a bit more before trying to think how to implement them. 
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Eventing is making a whole lot more sense to me now… you guys approach those terrifying jumps on the premise that a horse will always leave the ground, while I never work under the assumption that a horse will always leave the ground. And yet we’re the ones accused of riding robots 
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Lets not forget the old standby, wire strung a few inches above the top rail…sometimes hot. Oh, far as manual poling, theres a reason some won’t go near a fence if anybody is standing near it….including ring crew at shows. Hurt them enough times, they don’t learn to tighten up, they learn to avoid jumps.
Caveat, those who make these a standard training method are in the minority, thankfully. But they are out there. As are those who turn training into abuse in other disciplines.
Bringing back these horses is difficult to unpack, most are never what they were before. You usually don’t realize they were routinely poled, run into a fence or went around with their head tied to their ankles until after you get them home either. Wish you could wave a majik wand to make it go away but it always lurks. They really are what we train them to be, scared, sour or both.
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First time posting and some of this is repeat from above but my ideas for a job for this horse never having seen him:
- Lesson horse for flat, poles, crossrails
- First horse for kid learning/showing poles/crossrails
- What breed is he? Is he a good mover? What about hunter under saddle classes?
- Older adult amateur who only shows flat classes
- I don’t say dressage b/c that seems a very specific skill set and type of animal so not sure if that would work
- Riding camps - always looking for safe horses to ferry beginners around arena and on trails
- Trail horse
- Handy junior looking for a project (are there any of these out there? not sure - would need to be in a program)
- Therapeutic riding center horse
- IHSA - there are so many flat classes at an IHSA show seems like he’d be ideal. Some schools have a purchase budget but wouldn’t be big bucks
None of these would bring in the big bucks but doesn’t sound like that is the goal anyway.
Don’t forget the shards of plastic inside the front boots.
Just FYI that was overruled with MW. It definitely happens, but was determined that he didn’t do it that day.
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I really don’t understand why we’re dragging the whole ugly underbelly of the sport into a thread about a low-level hunter that needs a specific ride the first time around.
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Since you haven’t put the horse on the market yet, I would consider adding to his resume a little bit before you do. Don’t expect buyers to assume the horse is suitable for other disciplines, it’s better the horse actually has done some other things. Consider having a dressage trainer school the horse a few times, do some trail rides/hunter paces, and even see how he does as a lesson horse (in a situation where he won’t stop over familiar jumps). People can be very quick to label and dismiss a horse with a stop, so you’ll want as much as possible to demonstrate the horse’s otherwise good character, willingness, talent, versatility. Then the stop can be a quirk, not his whole identity. No matter what, it is going to subtract a lot from his value, but I think having tested your horse out in some other situations you will have the best chance of finding a buyer who is a good fit.
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I have a young one who has a good peek at the first jump. Usually it’s just one jump and not all the jumps the first time. When I first introduced him to hunter flowers under cavaletti, he sometimes stopped or went off the side. I took the time to work on confidence in going. He may still act surprised and stick his nose between his legs the first time but he really does not want to stop anymore. He might jump me out of the tack though if he takes a hard look. Add tension of a horse show and he is more looky and jumps much harder not that he is actually scared of the jumps—he is not. I’ve had those stoppers and he is not one of those. He is just the “hunter type” where having a bit of a peek makes him jump spectacular. If he’s bored his jump is blah. So his first shows we did piles of poles and didn’t worry about jumping. He does ticketed schooling. We did dressage shows to work on confidence away from home without any jumps. He will have to “see the jumps” for a bit to learn the job away from home and work on relaxation. And he’s huge so I may need to enlist a taller person to help me in the beginning, since I got launched out of the tack over an 18” jump last weekend with a funky shadow. But at least he is learning to get to the other side always.
I have another horse who could not care less what the jump looks like, ever. He jumps water…might even jump fire. But his first shows in the US, he was very looky and over jumped all the stuff in the schooling area…you know, just a couple white rails. Never stopped but quite looky and exuberant. Super unlike him, and he didn’t do it at all in the show ring. He was also spooking at the trainers standing by the jumps. I suspect he had been poled at some point in Europe.
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This - I know 2 or 3 former hunter / eq horses that just didn’t want to do it anymore, which is what this horse feels like to me.
They’re now dressage horse carrying their riders up to 4th level very cutely.
I have a lot of PTSD from stoppers - granted all of them retired from jumping after I paid for vet work - they were hurting, I unfortunately was just crash test dummy for former trainers.
If horse isn’t hurting - then he’s also communicating that this isn’t his jam. Maybe he’d love half passing in the sandbox and maybe you find he wants to come to work everyday - even in new environments.
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This 
A landlord once gifted me an OTTB gelding that had been sitting in a field since he’d come off the track 2 years prior. I brought him to the eventing trainer I rode with for his introduction to civilian life. Horse was fine on the flat in the arena but really didn’t jump well. Trainer decided to take him out with the hunt one weekend. Whole different horse over solid obstacles. Brave, scopey, accurate, and clearly having a blast doing it.
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