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Unwritten rules of jumper pads?

Hunter/Jumper
#1

This hunter needs some help converting to jumpers…

i know technically any pad is allowed in jumpers. I had a white square pad because i figured you can’t go wrong with white. However my girl is a pinto and I think it looks weird with where her markings are.

i found a navy pad that has silver sparkling stitching around the border (like half a cm thick) high quality pad, luxurious but not shiny. Is it too much? Can I wear it for medal classes? I wear a navy hunt coat.

as per rules it seems to be allowed and I do see coloured pads but haven’t noticed what they wear in medals.

and yes I know I can wear my hunt pad but I like to keep it clean (especially shows where i Show both rings), and I’m currently using a half pad because I ride in an equifit for shock absorbency and I have a synthetic sheepskin cover for it.

#2

Since I have this open, rules for eq/medals classes. Don’t think it says anything specific about pads, but I would say NO to a sparkly pad in the medals, unless maybe you’re going in just for fun. You’ll only see white pads at rated shows. I don’t know if judges can technically ding you for an “unconventional” colored saddle pad, but I don’t think they would like it. There is something in there about conservative attire, I don’t know if sparkly saddle pad falls under that ruling.

#3

No hunt pad. Every time I see someone in the jumpers with a hunter/shaped pad I always think they look
confused. I’d rather see a conservative white pad than something with sparkles on it. At rated shows, you’ll generally see a solid pad, possibly with piping. The Ogilvy baby pads wash well and are under $50. Good luck and have fun!

#4

Sparkles are definitely not too much for jumpers. You will see lots of color and piping and striping and sparkle piping etc at CSIs.

2 Likes
#5

Have fun in the jumper ring, but your fitted pad should be worn for the Medals. A good rule of thumb is what goes in Hunters generally goes in the Eq ring. You horse can wear boots/polos though in the Eq and some classes require a running martingale, instead of a standing. Good luck and have fun!

#6

Perhaps I should add that this is the local circuit.

#7

Even for the locals I would go with a shaped pad for any medal class.

4 Likes
#8

You’re totally fine for a local circuit for jumper classes, medals would be another question. I also find it odd when people come into the jumper ring looking very huntery - like, you know you can take your hunt coat off on this wonderful 95 degree summer’s day, right? But, that’s one of the great things about the jumper ring, you can mostly do whatever you want, just comes down to personal preference.

FWIW, I once saw a rider go into a high adult jumper classic at an A-rated show (= “formal attire required”) with a bright teal square pad, and nothing said by the judge. I was always too nervous to have fun with colors in rated jumper shows, especially if I was riding in a classic, but anything really goes, ime. Lower level jumpers even at rated shows are very colorful. That pad sounds like it’ll look nice on a paint!

#9

For weekdays at rated shows, I was told “professional” solid colors with piping are okay. Rule of thumb being if you wouldn’t wear it as your jacket color, don’t wear is as your saddle pad color (navy, black, grey are fine, hot pink is not.) Piping just had to match. I’m having trouble imaging sparkly piping that doesn’t have that “cheap” look, but if it’s relatively subtle I would say it would be fine for a local show. I might stick to regular grey piping for a rated one. Weekend/money/classics had to be a white pad, but I wouldn’t worry about it at a local show.

Medals it depends if this is a “jumper” medal or an equitation medal. We had a jumper medal on our local circuit and most people just had white pads, I don’t remember anyone wearing fitted ones. If it’s and equitation class in the jumper ring (or definitely if it’s in the hunter ring), I would guess regular equitation rules apply and fitted pad.

Save yourself the stress and bring both pads. If you see other with fitted pads for the medal, throw yours on. Shouldn’t take more than a minute to swap it out if need be.

#10

The only times I’ve used fitted pads for jumper rounds were when I was using it as a warmup for a medal round! No one will really care, and it’s perfectly fine, if that’s what you already have.

Navy is fine, IMO, as a pad color, but I think it would depend on how “sparkly” the sparkly silver piping is. I’ve got a PRI pad with silver piping that’s pretty subtle, that would probably look fine, and have showed in a dressage pad with silver and black piping that looks very nice. But for local stuff, honestly, I’ve seen pretty much everything in the jumper ring. Sparkly pink with rhinestones and plain white and everything in between. Personally, when I do jumpers I usually use a white pad with hunter trim, try to keep it simple and clean.

But for medals, even locally, I’ve never seen anyone do anything but regular hunter attire, with the possible addition of boots.

#11

Watched the Music Country Grand Prix at Brownland this past weekend and the winner was sporting a black pad. :slight_smile: https://www.facebook.com/musiccountrygrandprix

#12

Since there seems to be a question on how sparkly is sparkly. This is the pad:
http://www.harcour.us/harcour-article-detail.php?lang=EN&col=0&id_item=609

#13

It’s lovely, I wouldn’t bat an eye at it at a local show or in the schooling ring. I might wear it during the week at a smaller A. I certainly wouldn’t wear it in the eq or a classic and probably not on the weekend at anything A-rated. But I want it!

#14

Yes for jumpers, no for eq/medals.

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