Curious about others thoughts regarding this article. A few of the comments had me raising an eyebrow.
https://www.chronofhorse.com/article/keeping-the-owner-in-amateur-owner-hunters/
âSerio, a hunter trainer based in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. âI feel that amateur-owner division has been the backbone of our sport for a long time. [Those riders] provide us with a lot of our incomes. By doing an amateur hunter without owners, weâd hurt the professional divisions.â
Others said these riders are buying young horses for trainers to campaign with the hopes that they will become amateur-owner division mounts.
âThe sale of top amateur horses would be non-existent, if you can lease them out for half or a third of a cost,â she added. âThe industry would shift in negative ways.
Several participants pointed out that amateur hunter riders who donât own a horse but want to jump higher than 3â could petition for a non-pro section to the 3â3â performance hunter division. While this would keep amateurs from having to show against pros, they would have to show against juniors, and it would be difficult for many working amateurs as the performance hunter divisions tend to run Wednesdays and Thursdays.
And this ladies and gentlemen is why people are leaving the sport.
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The article reeked of elitism to me. Just as Amberley said, this is why people are leaving. The horror of people actually having to learn to ride because an ammy who canât afford to own their own horse beats them 
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Itâs no secret that the AO world is what supports the pros. Not sure why this is a surprise to anyone.
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How so? Genuinely asking â not snarking or doubting.
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Oh my gosh ok let me preface this with I know very little about the hunter divisions offered but I know what hunter requires to win.
The fact that the argument against an amateur division is that now the pros wonât make as much money? Now who will get the sales commission? Now horses wonât be sold for crazy prices as A/O??
Pros are afraid of amateurs showing in the 3â3 and 3â6 divisions? Thatâs freaking hilarious!!
God forbid amateurs not be allowed to jump higher or have loftier goals than the 2â6 hunters.
I had no idea this was even a thing. I didnât realize it was the trainers showing in the amateur divisions! Just the owners are ammies? Thatâs wild. Is that correct?
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No, no. The trainers arenât showing in the amateur divisions. They are earning $$$ by training, schooling and prepping the horses for the AOs to show up and win on the weekend. Presumably both current horses at the show, as well as future AO prospects who are green so need the pro rides, training and experience (again, $$$$) to prep them for the AOs (eventually, when ready).
Personally ⊠I think it would be a fabulous leveller if the only person allowed to ride at a horse show was the rider. No prep rides, no training rides ⊠eventing rules. A groom can hack, on a loose rein, the horse to the warm up ring. That is it - all training and riding must be done by the rider (amateur or pro, as you elect for that weekend). 
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Ahh ok thanks for explaining. So now it would be the ammie but the trainer canât prep? Or what would be the difference?
Agree @initiate1987!! The comment that if such a division were to become permanent it would âupset the established order of thingsâ reeked of elitism and would be offensive to many talented amateur riders who donât have the mega $$$.
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The difference would be that there would be 3â3â and 3â6â amateur hunter divisions that would not have the requirement that the rider own the horse. You know, like the AA hunter divisions and all the junior hunter divisions that the pros prep horses for by showing them in open classes, though juniors are limited to two horses per height division, so four total. I suspect the pros in California make more money off the Low AA and AA divisions than they do off the AOs.
And, ATM, itâs proposed for one championship competition at which there would also be the regular AO divisions.
The world did not end when they took the O out of the amateur jumpers.
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Gotcha. So they can lease or ride a friends horse type of thing?
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I think it is Arabians that have Amateur trainer to ride classes. Where the owner has to do all the riding/prep.
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Yes. Even an enemyâs horse.
For that championship competition.
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On the one hand I donât get why people just donât show in the open divisions to jump higher, on the other hand I realize a pro may get a better ride out of a horse than an ammy.
In my opinion we should do away with the A/O division. Youâre pro or youâre not. The people who can afford the horse flesh or who have the eye to find it and develop it will still be on equal footing.
More people will show and a smaller minority than we have will be plain priced out as always.
If I remember correctly the A/O division was developed for women, women who didnât work and it was affordable to have a SAHW. If Iâm wrong please correct me.
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So is the concern that if the amateur 3â3+ divisions are created (?) then it opens the door for people who arenât amateurs (but claiming to be) showing in those divisions? Versus itâs harder to âfakeâ being an amateur owner? Honestly Iâm o n a huge tirade right now about people declaring themselves amateurs when they arenât. If thatâs the concern then maybe that problem should be addressed instead of avoiding adding extra classes? From what I read it didnât sound like the a/o would be taken away? I feel I must be misunderstanding something âŠ.
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Are these recorded?
They made the somewhat similar change in the jumpers a bit ago and removed the âOâ requirement for the big stuff (1.20-1.40 division). I donât think it has harmed the division at all, but note that the Amateurs in jumperland donât run as separate classes (at least, in my neck of the woods they donât) - youâre in the âHigh Amateursâ and that class is some combination of catch rides, leases, and ownership.
Donât see why this would make the day any longer if you just did away with the O distinctionâŠthe class ran the same, the heights ran the same, you just possibly added more entries. Isnât that a good thing? Donât we WANT more people to have access to horse showing?
Pros can still prep the horse thatâs leased. Costs the same when the rider gets the bill lol.
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I think the issue is that removing the owner part then allows for leases, deals and other arrangements, permitted or not.
Harder to do that with an owned horse as you will need to prepare a bill of sale, transfer ownership etc. Much easier to say, hey Jenny Shamateur, you âleaseâ this horse for the next three months and we can split the profits when it sells. Technically you could do this with an amateur owner division, but youâd need to do up a legal bill of sale etc. which would have its own risks.
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âAlso, for these hypothetical leased-out horses the welfare wouldnât be as good as if you owned them. If you can lease a horse for a circuit and pound them out for 3â6â, whatâs the benefit of making sure the horse will hold up if you donât need to?â
This also doesnât make sense to me - junior hunters already do this. These 3â6 junior horses are constantly leased out and showing year over year. Is horse welfare not a concern for the junior hunters too, where there is no lease restriction?? 
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