I have a very nice AA Level Hunter . She had good miles with pros and Amy-pros before me. I generally can do pretty well in a very small or indoor ring, but the bigger the ring the bigger the stride to control! I’m not planning on selling her (she has no spook, no stops… 50+ ammy friendly), so thinking of taking her to the jumper ring. She is very sensitive and already a little hot, so realistically she will never go back to Hunter-ville if I do this. (I do have a low adult jumper so not a big learning curve there) Your stories?
My gelding Stormy started out in the hunters. It was never a good fit for him so I switched to jumpers, and then ended up really focusing all of mine on jumpers. I just really enjoy it, and while I do sometimes miss the flow and feel of hunters (and the easy courses) overall jumpers is just a better fit for me.
He was always a forward horse who really hunted for and attacked the jumps (which didn’t work so well for hunters). He caught on really fast and is very competitive in it. He understands his job and loves it. Just like many horses in the jumpers, he knows when he wins.
My small junior hunter was also my junior jumper and then my grand prix horse for 6 years. She was always a little too hot for the hunters, had a ridiculous amount of scope, and as my trainer put it, was “brave as a bearcat.” She’s the horse in my avatar.
All of us involved were much happier when she was a jumper. I’m sure it contributed to her longevity since I didn’t have to ride her down so much trying to get her quiet - she was still jumping around the national level GPs at the age of 20.
People always had fun watching her in the jumpers because she looked like she was having such a blast.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp7FaPHA5e4&ab_channel=EmilyPope This is her in her last show as a hunter (though I did make her final class ever a hunter derby b/c I’d always wanted to do one with her)
And then these are some of her later classes in her jumper career, she was 19 and 20, respectively, in these videos.
https://youtu.be/1selcy0eTiA?t=50
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjLm9gd2Lhc&ab_channel=EmilyPope
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why the heck are those 2 showing up embedded in the thread, sorry, I’ll try to fix that
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I saw the link to the derby class in the sidebar on YouTube and of course, had to watch it. That smile on your face at the end! She was such a great horse and it was always a pleasure to follow your career with Nikki.
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I haven’t owned this horse, but I’ve witnessed this twice. Once was a great success, once I don’t think was a good idea.
The success story was very similar to supershorty’s. Super talented mare with the jump and movement to win with best of the best. However, she took so.much.prep. And even if you thought you’d done everything right, some days she didn’t feel like playing and would just dump whoever was on her, even the pro.
Owner was desperate to get this horse (who was bought as a fancy resale project) sold. Trainer was at wits end and decides to put her in a jumper class. Completely different horse. It was absolutely the right decision and solved everyone’s problems.
The other horse I know that started in hunters and then went into jumpers… the owner just should have sold him as a hunter and gotten a less-sensitive schoolmaster type if she wanted to bop around the jumpers. They switched him to jumpers because he could be sensitive (read: frisky if you messed up) some mornings and needed a more tactful ride than the owner/rider gave him. Really all moving him to jumpers did was exacerbate the riding issues and gave the horse a stopping problem. I have no idea if it ever got fixed, but I know they ended up sending him to a sales barn to try and get him back in the hunters again (and not stop).
My advice is let your horse tell you. If she’s already a little hot, the switch to jumpers could be liberating for her like the first example I cited. Could you take her in the jumper ring but ride more like a hunter/eq round so that you both get a taste (but don’t totally rock the boat on her training)?
Thank you all. Going to try to do a few low jumper courses and see what she does. I really really love this mare but… A year later we’re still working on calm down and don’t ‘hunt’ in the hunters!
Sounds like it’s worth a shot! I’ve taken a few “hot” hunters in the jumpers as well. The hunters who prefer you bury them to the base (and will clear it) rather than take the gap seem to really appreciate the switch. Also, as others have said, you should 100% be able to switch back and forth. Only in the sub-3ft does ‘insane turn and burn’ win. A smooth, efficient round and leaving everything up will take ribbons most times - and let you go back to the hunters later on if you want!
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What about taking her around the jumper ring next show you are at on the schooling day? That could give you a lot of initial data about how she might do with the switch!
