1. by Dina Mazzola www.FairHarbourFarm.com

2. So what is a show ring hunter? What’s the difference between hunters and equitation? From the USEF Rule Book: “Even hunting pace, manners, jumping style together with... Faults and way of moving over the course”

3. Appearance, Quality and Performance  Neat, clean and organized, with high quality turnout  Horse that moves well, jumps great, and looks beautiful  Even hunting pace, equal distances, and smooth!! Rox Dene

4. Winter Rose – Thermal

5. 90’sExcellent. Great performance and exceptional quality 85-89Very Good. Solid Performance and good quality 80-84Good. Quality horse or rider with perhaps and minor error 75-79Fairly Good. An average horse or rider with a minor error, or a high quality horse or rider with a couple of minor errors 70-74Sufficient. A bit below average horse or rider with a few minor errors or mistakes 65-69Insufficient. Poor performance with one or more serious errors or poor quality 60-69Fairly Bad. Very poor performance, making serious errors, adding strides, bad jumping style Below 60Bad. Bolting, bucking, running off, trotting, stopping, refusals, knockdowns (hunters only), losing stirrup or reins,

6. Judges Scorecard

7. Even Hunting Pace  One speed  Pace should match around the whole course  Pace should work for the course and horse  SMOOTH with equal distances Common Faults  Uneven pace or major pace changes  Extreme pace  Adding a stride in a related line, leaving one out  Trotting or breaking stride

8. Manners  Pleasant well trained horse  Horse responds to the rider in a willing and pleasant fashion Common Faults  Bucking or playing  Spooking  Kicking out or up  Wrong lead on courtesy circle  Late lead changes  Missing lead changes  Refusal

9. Jumping Style  Scopey, round jump  Forearms parallel to the ground, or better, forelegs tucked, good expression in the air Common Faults  Jumping out of form  Rubbing the jump  Jumping off the center line of the jump  Dangerous jumping  Knockdown

10. Rumba Winner of International Hunter Derby Finals Beautiful Style - Rounds in the 90s

11. In Disguise Scored 100 at the Capital Challenge Horse Show with Shachine Belle in 2004

12. Way of Moving  Speaks to quality of canter, track, expression, relaxation Common Faults  Poor expression – ears, wringing tail, sour  Poor track  Tenseness – up against martingale, open mouth, hollow  Poor quality of gaits – short-strided, poundy  Swapping leads in the line or in front of the jump

13. Rumba C Coast Z Cha Compare These 3 Jumping Styles

14. Horses that Produced Rounds in the 80’s … in the 70’s

15. … in the 60’s and 50’s

16. Winter Rose – Harrisburg Winter Rose – Thermal

17. Performance, Performance, Performance  If you ride a great hunter round, chances are you are going to get a great ribbon Track, Pace, Position and Distances Show me you can ride an accurate, effective round that answers the track, pace and distance questions posed by the course Accuracy first, style second Position and style are the “tie breakers” or how I order the accurate rounds.

19. Position  Soft, supple, still, strong  Invisible aids  Appropriate use of various seats and rein aids  Eye level  Correct body and arm angles  Correct hands  How rider position affects quality of horse’s jump and general shape

20. Most Common Position Mistakes  Inappropriate release and bad hands  Flopping on the neck  Loose lower leg and generally loose in the tack  Stiff, posed, perched Most Common Riding Mistake  Missing the distance

21. Beautiful Equitation

23. Lillie Keenan on Clearway - USEF Medal Finals Warmup Lillie Keenan on Clearway - USEF Medal Finals Warmup Sarah Milliren - 2011 USEF Medal Finals

24. Simple changes are equal to flying changes Use of the stick  USEF rules using the stick is incorrect, score of 60  IEA rules cannot use the stick outside of the ring, so…  Never on the shoulder Suitability Try to account for relative difficulty of horse Strides don’t count, but...  Has to match and be up to pace for that horse

25. Leads!!!  Inability to perform a correct simple change of lead  Not correcting a cross canter  Picking up the wrong lead on the entrance Poor track to the jump and on landing No plan for strides in the lines  Have a plan depending on the stride length of the horse and how the warm up rider rode the horse

26. BOOKS The Judge is Back by Randy Roy (Amazon) You Be the Judge by Randy Roy (Amazon) Hunter Seat Equitation by George Morris (Amazon) USEF Rule Book (www.usef.org)www.usef.org DVDs The Judge’s Eye by Linda Andrisani (www.thejudgeseye.com) Form Follows Function with Cynthia Hankins (www.EquestrianCoach.com) The American Hunter/Jumper Forward Riding System by Bernie Traurig (EquestrianCoach.com) Get Connected (featuring USEF Tests 1-19) (www.ushja.org)