That was great !!! 
Much, much truth.
Once upon a time, where I was, a hunter course was outside of the arena on the grass and terrain, and had a sheep pen and a lamb creep. And a wagon, for the max course.
The long way through the sheep pen was two strides, and the short way was one stride.
Thank you for saying what I was thinking but could not come up with the right words.
and back in the day we didn’t wear helmets, or safety vests, and there was no such thing as frangible pins, etc etc.
There are fewer barns that teach lessons, fewer barns with access to hacking, fewer barns with access to cross country courses. The last fox hunt in my area closed years ago and has been developed into houses. Children and parents are busier. There are dozens of reasons the sport has changed and we should be more worried about keeping the sport in existence and less worried about the good ol days.
WHO CARES what people decide to do with their time on horse back. Nobody with a 6 figure horse is entering 2 foot hunter classes. And WHO CARES if they do.
There is ZERO NEED for a brand new organization to bash an entire discipline for clicks or entries. It’s sad.
I know of conversations with learning riders entering their first recognized horse shows. The bottom line for them – in the hunter classes, their horse isn’t fancy enough to get a ribbon.
No matter how well they ride, or how nicely their horse performs for them. There are fancier horses in the ring and when such low level performances are similar in quality, the fancier horse gets the nod. That’s the deal.
No matter how many years they show, how many shows they go to, how well they ride, how much effort their horse makes, this will always be true. The typey hunter horses automatically get the nod.
So, they are told to emphasize jumper instead. Of course we have the problem of the timed jump off, which is not really the best focus for their riding development right now. Or good for their horse, who wasn’t born to be fast over jumps. Even little jumps.
So those are two massive holes in the system that UDJC is marching through.
Hunter shows are not designed to be inclusive of all economic levels of riders. Regardless of how well the rider prepares and performs. Simple fact.
Right now there isn’t an organized alternative – and that’s the real point. That isn’t even a USHJA problem, it’s just an existing open space. Other than change disciplines to Eventing or Working Equitation, or some strategy like that – but that may not be their interest.
UDJC is stepping into that gap.
That’s the other side of all the people who are offended by the truth that is being told. The other side are all of the the riders who love and ride well on their not-fancy horse but who can’t win ribbons on it in the h/j system, regardless of their performance. The system is designed that way.
The other side are the riders who are sincerely interested in horsemanship over style. Who are being left out because the h/j/e system is so broken, rewarding the wrong things and ignoring a healthier approach.
The h/j people who are invested in the system and want to lean into their hurt feelings, are not the audience for UDJC anyway. Don’t worry about it. Just keep doing what you like to do. And let UDJC go their own way.
It’s everyone’s privilege to be butt hurt instead of listening to what is being said. Carry on.
The butt hurt crowd doesn’t make a difference to those who are having the opposite reaction to this new approach.
Whether or not the UDJC makes it over the long-term, the most important point is not who is offended.
The most important point is who and how many are excited by this different approach. It would be smarter to focus on that instead.
UDJC will survive, or not, on their own merits. As it should be. In a couple of years maybe there is no more UDJC. But the ideas behind it that are catching so much interest will still be with us.
Because that is the long-term takeaway for the existing h/j/e system, over and above one new start-up horse show organization. There is a horsey public who would like to show their horse, but who find that the current h/j/e system isn’t friendly for them. And who aren’t finding an alternative. Maybe the UDJC will fill that gap. We will see.
One video poking fun at the existing system isn’t really the point. 
Yes, that is how showing works if you are showing in something where the way the animal goes is judged.
It works that way in dogs, rabbits, etc.
This is not just a hunter ring thing.
If you (general) do not want to be judged on how your horse goes then do jumpers.
Really, no horse show is designed to be inclusive of all economic levels.
No sports are designed to be inclusive of all economic levels at the ‘rated’ levels.
Sure, you can play recreation little league with no extra funds. But if you want to join the travel team the parents have to pay for private coaching and all kinds of other expenses.
Pony club has been around for a very long time.
For the record, I am all for more showing options. I think more showing options is a great thing. I love local level not rated showing. There is a pretty competitive show series in my part of the world that people love (all hunter divisions).
What I am against here is the need to bash something to make something else.
These people can brag about what they offer all day long. It makes them look like fools to have to bash the other side to make their thing look better.
One could frame it as “bashing”.
One could frame it as "editorial commentary ". Even “satire”.
Opinions are always that way. It is up to the viewer how they choose to receive it.
The larger point Is that it is a point of view that is landing with a particular audience. Who didn’t frame it as “bashing”.
This is the way when people give public opinions. Some hate it, some think it’s true, some don’t care.
The ones who hate it feel personally offended. The others don’t.
It’s an individual take. Not a universal one.
They did not say one thing in that ad that hasn’t already been said here, overwhelmingly in thousand post threads, in thread over thread.
It’s not bashing a discipline to point out the issues of the discipline in satire; issues that are very well known and repeatedly complained about. Do you think CotH members are bashing the discipline when they participate in threads that complain about:
Because, quite frankly, the perception that most CotH threads put out about the USEF hunter discipline is pretty depressing.
I guess an organization that lets in child molesters and people who drug their horses is the better choice then.
There is a vast difference between the opinions of random people on an internet BB and the opinion of a new organization trying to attract people from other disciplines. More showing options would be fantastic. But it’s how a new organization goes about it that matters.
I do not get why everyone is comparing a new local organization to showing the top level of rated stuff.
A person can show their not six figure horse at not the top level rated stuff and do fine.
Just like a person can show at this not rated stuff and do fine.
And the UDJC is another place to do that.
Aside from that, the UDJC leader published an editorial cartoon of a video poking fun at the system.
Not sure why people happy with the USHJA as-is care so much. Side-tracking an entire thread that is following the new format.
As opposed to just ignoring it, as it is not affecting your thing anyway.
It is not affecting your thing either, is it? Are you showing at the shows put on by this new organization?
Again, I think more unrated showing options are great.
I am all for this new show series thing.
I have also not shown at a hunter show in a very long time.
I just found this video to be ridiculous.
(And I find it ridiculous that posters are comparing the six figure rated horse to something someone can show at a not rated division and do just fine on. It just shows how disingenuous you are being.)
You are making a LOT of assumptions about my world. But I’m not going to argue about it or try to correct your misperceptions and misunderstandings. It’s not important. Letting it go.
FYI: The TX trainers are bringing their “rated” six figure and six figure hopefuls to these shows. There are very few non rated english discipline shows in TX, and even fewer at high quality venues.
How is it side tracking an entire thread if the new organization started the entire conversation with their skit? If they didn’t want a response then they shouldn’t have posted the video.
I mean we had an earlier conversation when safe sport banned trainers showed at one of these new shows not too long ago.
I don’t have a 6 figure horse and there are issues at hunter jumper shows, I just think posting a video like this is in poor taste and not a good look for an up and coming organization or a way to attract more entries.
Are you showing at these shows?
Oh, yes we did. Unless your “back in the day” was before 1960.
I don’t understand why a few people are so terribly offended by this. If it doesn’t effect you, don’t let it bother you so much.
Safety helmets or items of decorative apparel?
There were hundreds of threads on COTH when safety helmets became mandatory for showing. Dozens of people refused to let their cardboard helmets go and threatened to quit showing.
Are they essentially proposing a hunter seat equitation division, but with a small component of the score being on the horse (that’s how the description sounded to me, as a handy-style course judged mostly or partly on the rider)? Why not just have an equitation division if the purpose is to remove the element of “higher quality horse = higher ribbon”?
I also feel like the “they paid more for their horse, therefore they won even though they’re a bad rider” is often an excuse used by those who don’t yet have the self-awareness to recognize their own weaknesses and errors that would have kept them from winning regardless. Can it be easier to find 8 perfect distances on a more expensive horse? Potentially, depending on the horse (though that more expensive horse could also jump so nicely because they’re sensitive and spooky and not quite so easy to ride). Unless you’re in top company, which is not the case at most horse shows, I feel like consistency matters more than fancy. If you’re accurate and ride well, you’re going to have a smooth round and probably pin.
LOL
I feel like the people offended by this skit are out of touch with the reality of most equestrians… not a single thing satirized in that video is false. I think we have to acknowledge how absurd showing has become in the h/j world.
Exactly on the money (lol see what I did there?). And I WAS one of those kids, blaming every disappointing result on the cash that other riders supposedly had. Turns out, I had a lot of work to do before I could reasonably say that money was the ONLY reason I pinned lower than I wanted.
Now that I’m older (and hopefully ride better), I can honestly say I don’t compete in rated hunters mainly because I cannot afford to be competitive - and being competitive is important to me. So I show unrated and wholeheartedly support such organizations that share my values, or I do rated jumpers. Problem solved.
I think the fact that this organization refuses to answer the questions about allowing people to participate that are on SafeSport ban lists and has no drug testing are good enough reasons to be skeptical. Human safety and horse safety are my first priorities. I hope the program can address these concerns, and not become a haven for banned individuals and those wishing to give a little pony cocktail to ease Susie around the course
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