This topic came up recently and was quite a discussion - What is your definition of scope/scopey?
Athletic ability to jump tall and wide obstacles.
[QUOTE=equisusan;8911602]
Athletic ability to jump tall and wide obstacles.[/QUOTE]
And clean even with an ammy miss :lol:
To me a scopey horse doesn’t just jump high and wide but it can jump from any distance with style. Scope to me, means a horse that can safely and well clear a jump in style whether it leaves from the best distance or not.
Agree with equisusan. Scope to me has nothing to do with an ammy’s ability to pilot.
A scopey horse is one who can save a rider, when the approach and/or landing is difficult or awkward, and do it in style.
Oh it’s nice when the scopey horse is careful, jumps in good form, is kind and can take a joke but those are different characteristics than scope to me. Adding up to a lot of extra zeros on the price. 
To me it’s more about the trajectory, the flight of the horse over a fence. Scope means that the horse can take a fence from a smooth distance, not get in deep, and they can elongate themselves. Scope makes a horse’s jump look effortless.
To me it doesn’t say anything about the rider nor the rider’s ability to ride or not ride it. It’s merely a mechanical physical description of the horse’s form.
Scope is the ability to jump a bigger jump than one I am asking him to and get there with plenty of step and push.
Scopey to me, has more to do with that magic “extra” than anything else.
The horse that will pull it’s knees up to its ears to clear something, or graciously will leave out a stride (or two) if you ask hard enough. It’s one of those things that you know it when you see it (or ride it).
Scope is a bit of an X factor, which is probably why it’s so hard to define.
[QUOTE=Katona;8913632]
Scopey to me, has more to do with that magic “extra” than anything else.
The horse that will pull it’s knees up to its ears to clear something, or graciously will leave out a stride (or two) if you ask hard enough. It’s one of those things that you know it when you see it (or ride it).
Scope is a bit of an X factor, which is probably why it’s so hard to define.[/QUOTE]
I think you are defining “try” or “heart.” IMO, scope isn’t really related to either of those. You could have the scopiest horse around but it may not have any heart. They are heartbreakers, for sure.
Scope is the ability to successfully jump a tall, wide jump from a variety of distances. You can often see evidence of scope in a horse’s stride length.
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The definition of scope, pertaining to a horses jumping ability is:
The ability of the horse to jump width
Lol.
That’s it.
It’s not really an open question nor is it rocket science.
The term scope refers to width.
A horse who jumps straight up in the air and comes crashing down on an oxar…ya. Not so scopey.
According to Denny Emerson:
http://www.horsecollaborative.com/horse-scope-mean/
"The word scope, as it applies to jumping, means the ease with which a horse can jump high and wide.
It’s different than technique or form because a horse can have great technique and jerk his knees but lack scope—or have tons of scope—but have indifferent form."
The ability and athleticism to jump big and wide fences.
Scope has nothing to do with heart, rideability, carefulness, etc. It is simply the god-given ability to jump the fences in front of them. The X-factor comes in when you combine scope with some of the other traits that I listed.
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Great responses - Going to add another variable in there, how would you use this term in regards to a pony or would you even use it at all in that case?
Scope is when you have a long yearling who barrels ass around the arena, takes a sharp turn and leaps over the entire 5 ground poles of trot set.
And yes it is in his stride too.
A scopey horse is athletic and can jump big, difficult fences and combinations reliably and with clearance to spare.
[QUOTE=JumpinBean17;8914179]
Great responses - Going to add another variable in there, how would you use this term in regards to a pony or would you even use it at all in that case?[/QUOTE]
Absolutely. I knew a Connemara mare in my youth who could easily clear anything you pointed her at. She used to jump fences set up in the arena during turn-out, and if she wanted to go wandering, no fence could keep her in.
The legendary Stroller was a pony, and scopey would certainly describe him. He won the Hamburg Derby and an Olympic silver medal in show jumping. Actually, a better description for him might be “freak of nature.”
Scope is Cortes C at the NHS, what, 2 years ago now? Clearing that final oxer from a looooooong spot with ease.
