In the past I saw a few Quarter horse hunter competitions but apart from that I have no idea what makes a hunter and what to look for when breeding hunters.
Could someone please explain this to me?
Thank you.
USEF hunter shows are very different from what the AQHA calls “hunter” or “hunt seat”. At the USEF shows, we want a horse who moves long and low, with no knee action. Some suspension is ok but not as extreme as some of the dressage horses. While the introduction of hunter derbies has brought back some of the prestige to the “high performance” horses, the largest demand in this country is for a horse that jumps well over 2’6-3’ and is quiet enough and tolerant enough for a child or amateur to ride. Very few Americans are willing to pay the bills on a horse solely for their trainer to compete in professional divisions. We want a hunter with a big stride, who can make it down the lines set on a 12-14’ stride easily. We want him to be slow off the ground, with his forearms at least level if not higher, with his knees up and even, and we want him to be tidy below the knee; no draping hooves. We want him to land straight and be able to do a lead change. It helps if the horse is physically attractive and a good size; 15-15.3 is a deal breaker for most people and 16-16.3 is ideal, with equitation horses falling at the upper end of the spectrum or even bigger. While we often lament this and wish that judging would be more lenient, hunters tend to go around relatively “monotone” - any head shaking, playing in the corner, or heaven forbid bucking tends to be scored harshly.
Hope this helps.
Thank you Anne, that is very helpful and informative. Should a horse be a light and elegant type?
Depends on what light and elegant means, what you are comparing it with. Generally the ones with the desired movement and jump needed in Hunters are not particularly light and elegant and certainly not heavy and unrefined but somewhere in the middle. SF for example, Dutch, Belgian or others with a higher percentage of blood and refinement- I like refinement here rather then elegant as a descriptive- along with a good body. You might see a heavier bodied TB too.
They do need a level to only slightly uphill build to have the kind of shoulder and hip angles to allow that tight front end with the neatly folded forelegs, abilty to round over the fence and low, ground covering stride. Of course, even if they have “the look” they may not have that jump so selecting prospects can be tricky.
Probably more art to it then selecting a Jumper.
I have seen adverisements of a place that is buying hunter type horses to sell them to North America, that is why I am wondering.
Also do I have a TB colt that is soon going to be inspected by the A. E. S. studbook and if they licence him I was wondering if Icould also market him for hunter breeding.
A nice Dutch warmblood mare crossed with a quality TB stallion?
Nice, popular cross for a Hunter BUT only if both sides have proven trainability and temperament…and nice jump. As a decently bred, nice looking but totally unproven over fences in competition young stallion?
Have a really hard time attracting much interest as a stud with so many like that out there not attracting any interest at all from mare owners. Who have many proven alternatives out there to choose from in trying to get a competitive Hunter.
Its an option, perhaps, after he’s started over fences, developing contacts with those experienced in the Hunter market meantime would be a very good idea. Hunter folk in general are notorious about not caring about the breeding if it has “The” jump, they generally won’t buy without seeing it.
Thank you Findeight. So a warmblood / TB cross registered with a warmblood studbook is not considered inferior to anything else as long as the horse has the right traits?
I think this was during his second jump training. Very nearby there were a number of horses in a paddock going completely nuts and my three year old colt got rather distracted and excited because of that because he had to go past them going to the jumps. Therefore the style is not good but he did get over the jumps. It is the only time that I was present and able to make a video (of which I made these stills).
http://myalbum.com/photo/4OOTPdmOFgFm/1k0.jpg
http://myalbum.com/photo/jftfuSeej8Te/1k0.jpg
http://myalbum.com/photo/DUsIcSXnPrhQ/1k0.jpg
http://myalbum.com/photo/3y8m7Izknp8i_5jwd95/1k0.jpg
http://myalbum.com/photo/fboGH1IDlWDT/1k0.jpg
http://myalbum.com/photo/esMqeFnUnJlc/1k0.jpg
http://myalbum.com/photo/K1uy7mxb4XzI/1k0.jpg
While going to the jumps:
http://myalbum.com/photo/8MjLNbBum7cE/1k0.jpg
On the lunge line:
http://myalbum.com/photo/yUCRYyCgfL8z/1k0.jpg
After his bath and still wet:
http://myalbum.com/photo/1o12hOI396My/1k0.jpg
He will start under saddle competition when he is four.
Hi Elles,
Your horse is very cute but does not seem to have the jump. I see you are in Holland but I didn’t look until after I saw the pics and though ‘This horse looks very European!’ Americans hunters are a bit different (not QH hunters BTW). When we say ‘the jump’ we want knees up under the chin, above the vertical like this:
I would say there would be little to no interest for your guy as a hunter stallion. Check out Just The Best, Cunningham, and Rox Dene for a better idea. Hunter stallions and prospects are out there in Europe, but since the market is only in the US they are harder to find.
I shall see if I soon can get some better pictures.
Rox Dene looks wonderful!!
Well, she’s kind of a benchmark style wise for trying to explain what “The Jump” looks like. You can look on YouTube for videos of winning Hunter rounds to see what it takes.
Your colt is a nice type very attractive, does not have “The Jump”. Training and maturity can sharpen things up but it’s not there. He points the knees down instead of snapping the forearms horizontal and the right knee is always lower. While you don’t expect a youngster to look like Rox Dene at the peak of her career, the fundamentals need to be there to build on. Generally it’s just the hip and shoulder angles don’t allow it.
Im sure this nice colt has a bright future, just not in the North American Hunter market. Which, in the great scheme of competition horses world wide, is a very specialized niche market.
Rox Dene was a freak of nature as the say 
One does not need knees like hers to do well in Hunters. She’s on the far edge of form. But in general, yes, that’s what’s wanted.
Here are some random images of good USEF Hunter forms
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_TXv70sZj-7o/SXTPnsTf-9I/AAAAAAAAAOU/e2QrdrjDWUM/s400/horse+jump11.gif
http://www.thistleridgestables.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/hunterjump.jpg
http://www.t-nation.com/img/photos/07-128-training/image002.jpg
Cunningham http://www.chronofhorse.com/Images/031309Cunningham.jpg
Just The Best http://vxnhosting.com/tishquirk/jump-sm.jpg
You get the idea
I do think your boy can improve his form with some training, but the problems are 2, right off the bat:
- he does not seem to have the natural desire to be even and tight with his front end
- he does not seem to have the physical ability - conformation - to get his knees up any higher or more forward and rotate his shoulder back. No amount of training can overcome that.
Maybe that isn’t the case and this is truly a matter of being distracted and not caring, and I don’t know the approach to these fences, but I’m getting the impression maybe it’s on a curve?
This was his best form
http://myalbum.com/photo/jftfuSeej8Te/1k0.jpg
If that’s the best he can physically do, even if his legs are tightened up a bit, he doesn’t have a Hunter market at all.
He might still have a place in the Jumper world if he’s got the talent for the big stuff, as his form does show he can at least not have to over-jump things just to get out of their way, meaning, he doesn’t always dangle his legs 
I think he can do better than that best form. Anyway, I think his gaits are a bit too dressage like.
He had to go through a corner before the jumpz.
I do not have a good conformation picture unfortunately:
http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Grotefoto-MICKWYEB.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzKGJskQHD8
[QUOTE=Elles;8403239]
I do not have a good conformation picture unfortunately:
http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Grotefoto-MICKWYEB.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzKGJskQHD8[/QUOTE]
Not a hunter.
I just saw the video - please please please take the SRs off! They are too tight, too low, and totally inappropriate for jumping (at any length/setting).
And yes, he’s not a Hunter, sorry. He does not have the shoulder freedom at all, confirming what I suspected from the original jumping pictures. He’s not a top Dressage horse either. Best bet is a Jumper and that’s going to require good solid focus on his form to teach him to reliably and consistently at least get is forearms horizontal and lower legs tighter. He doesn’t have the natural talent - as seen so far - to be a stallion, sorry.
That said, maybe he still needs time to grow up, maybe he’ll be a surprise. I seem to remember that your situation allows you to safely and conveniently keep him intact, so there’s no reason - yet - to geld him. You can see how he matures and performs if he can remain housed as a horse, not a stallion in solitary
[QUOTE=Elles;8402112]
I think this was during his second jump training. Very nearby there were a number of horses in a paddock going completely nuts and my three year old colt got rather distracted and excited because of that because he had to go past them going to the jumps. Therefore the style is not good but he did get over the jumps. It is the only time that I was present and able to make a video (of which I made these stills).
http://myalbum.com/photo/4OOTPdmOFgFm/1k0.jpg
http://myalbum.com/photo/jftfuSeej8Te/1k0.jpg
http://myalbum.com/photo/DUsIcSXnPrhQ/1k0.jpg
http://myalbum.com/photo/3y8m7Izknp8i_5jwd95/1k0.jpg
http://myalbum.com/photo/fboGH1IDlWDT/1k0.jpg
http://myalbum.com/photo/esMqeFnUnJlc/1k0.jpg
http://myalbum.com/photo/K1uy7mxb4XzI/1k0.jpg
While going to the jumps:
http://myalbum.com/photo/8MjLNbBum7cE/1k0.jpg
On the lunge line:
http://myalbum.com/photo/yUCRYyCgfL8z/1k0.jpg
After his bath and still wet:
http://myalbum.com/photo/1o12hOI396My/1k0.jpg
He will start under saddle competition when he is four.[/QUOTE]
Does not have the “hunter” jump. The front end can be improved somewhat but not starting from this. Pretty is as pretty does with hunter buyer, they buy based on what they see.
[QUOTE=Elles;8403239]
I do not have a good conformation picture unfortunately:
http://www.mijnalbum.nl/Grotefoto-MICKWYEB.jpg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzKGJskQHD8[/QUOTE] Please stop free jumping with side reins!! He already has a restricted shoulder, you are making it worse plus he is being punished in the mouth for every jumping effort.
