Hunter/Jumpers
Cathy first discovered Hunter/Jumpers when her two oldest daughters started to want to show. They lived on a farm and she and the girls rode together. She taught them in a small outdoor arena where they learned to steer and post to the trot, gradually it became apparent that they all wanted to get off the farm.
So, Cathy began to look around for horse shows or competitions that they could
attend. She was actually thinking in more of a Pony Club/Combined Training
direction because that is what she was familiar with in England. However
it turned out that the best local shows, near enough to be
practical, were shows affiliated with the Western New England
Professional Horseman's Association which sanctions mostly Hunter/Jumper
Shows.
Ruth on Maggie (1993)
Thus began their forays into world of Hunter/Jumpers and what a world it is! Cathy had a lot to learn, everything from a different vocabulary; posting instead of rising trot, half seat, hunter D rings, garters, close contact saddles, to a whole new way of training the art of jumping and showing. The singularly American concept that is called Equitation. The whole idea that you could turn an entire jump course into a seamless, graceful and rhythmic performance where each jump and every turn is intricately related to the next jump and next turn, was quite an eye opener for her.
Gwynneth on Bracken (1994)
She was well versed in the precision and grace required for dressage, but to apply this kind of control and discipline to a jump course was nothing that she had experienced before. In her eventing and hunting background the priority was to get over the jumps and yes that took a lot of skill and a lot of practice (and "boy were we brave!") but the emphasis on the quality of the rider's position and the horse's jump was not the same.
Ruth on Golden Delicious (2002)
She was
absolutely hooked, right from the word go, thrilled to discover
this new way of showing and perfecting one's jumping skill. She was
especially pleased with it as a system for her daughters to learn to ride
with. For one thing the dressage and the jumping were all mixed in
together so they could see that the flatwork directly affected their
jumping ability.
"If only someone had told me, when I was their age, that
my dressage would help my jumping. I would have liked it more, tried
even harder, and complained less!"
The other thing that she liked was the
emphasis on the quality of each jump rather than the speed.
Ruth on Hidden Creek's Allegro (2004)
"I love that the Hunter and Equitation approach to jumping treats a
course as an integrated whole and is an art as well as a sport. This
careful, thoughtful and precise method of teaching riding produces
riders who are well prepared to go on to the rigors of the Jumper
divisions, if they so wish."
Ruth/Thunderbay (2003)
