I bring my lesson students to local hunter shows and am very comfortable with all the terminology and rules there. But I don’t understand some of the divisions the A show trainers use- what the heck is the difference between a “division pony” and “children’s pony”?
Junior Hunter - is that the division one would “graduate” to after Children’s Hunter? Is the height the only difference?
Any other nuances in terminology I may not know? The more info the better!
It involves the height of the jumps, and also the number of strides in the lines. A children’s pony would typically jump lower and do one more stride in the lines than a division pony of the same size, or sometimes the lines would be adjusted in for them to do the same number.
Children’s hunters and junior hunters usually do the same number of strides in the lines, after the lines are moved in or out a few feet when the jump heights are adjusted.
A relatively recent addition is the low junior hunter division, where they jump 3’3" instead of 3’6". So riders could progress from children’s to low juniors to regular juniors, or skip the low juniors, depending on their ability and their horses.
Different shows may not offer all those divisions, depending on the demand for them in a given area.
Junior Hunter is stylish and fancy at 3’6" with spreads slightly wider set on a 13’ stride required to jog in hand for soundness as opposed to the more sedate Children’s Hunter at 3’ high, 3 ’ wide on a 12’ stride with no jog.
Childrens Pony likewise doesn’t jog and courses are st softer in height, width and on a shorter stride, IIRC with no combinations, safe and suitable rules the day . Regular Division Pony must jog as well as stand for Model judging (conformation) as part of their score. Fences are higher, wider, scarier, combinations allowed and set on a more forward step then Children’s Pony. While it’s undesirable to try to kill their kid, quality is paramount and the fancier the better in a Division Pony, costwise a winning division Pony has another zero on their price compared to a Children’s Pony. As does that successful and fancy Junior Hunter compared to the more safe packer style Childrens Hunter.
findeight is spot on. Your division horses/ponies do the real “division” for their size (the regulars, sometimes called in ponies) and have the scope, step, and look to compete in the true division. Your children’s larges, for example, typically jump 2’6" and your regular larges can do the 3’. Smalls and Mediums do 2’ in childrens, whereas in the regulars they are jumping 2’3 and 2’6", respectively. Big difference in a pony, and likewise a big difference in cost 
Children’s divisions are not nationally rated and are considered “B” or “C” divisions in most Zones. They top out at Zone finals and accrue no national points.
Basically, a division pony/junior hunter is typically the look, size, step, scope, and style of your top of the line hunters, and your children’s horses/ponies can be, but typically are older, stepping down, helping a new rider get comfortable, or not able to be competitive due to height of fences for some reason or another. Children’s divisions are usually stepping stones to the regular divisions, but some riders stay in the children’s divisions for their entire junior and do quite well…nothing wrong with that!
Prize money. In rated divisions there is prize money. So there is prize money in the A rated ponies and junior hunters. There is a bit less in the children’s hunters which is I think C rated? But I don’t think there is any in the children’s ponies.
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