A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A PROFESSIONAL HUNTER JUMPER

[@simhifree]

love the Grey horse, even though the rider was not helping. Notice how the riders shoulders and arms throw the horse away early and for too long. He falls on the neck and is unable to straighten up as the horses rear legs land. The other needed correction is in, looking where they need to go. This rider needs to sit stretching up straight. turn the neck and eyes to look at your next fence.

[@yung8860]

thats how all these "hunters" ride, its absolutely ridiculous looking and it absolutely baffles me.

[@simhifree]

@@yung8860 it looks terrible. It might take the judges to change it, stop awarding the horses with poor riders. I haven't noticed the German and other European riders doing this.

[@yung8860]

@@simhifree tbf, it is just in that stupid discipline that you see them ride like that but its still awful looking. They claim its based on how people ride out fox hunting but when do you ever see them slouched over the horse sticking their asses out when out hunting? lol

[@Minirollsroll]

They need to go trial hunting in the U.K. riding like that, they would soon realise they are being rediculous

[@bearlyplaying]

@@yung8860 Eleese S rides very nicely imo.

[@nataliedsilva3380]

Looks like amazing fun! But, I agree with the other comments on his position. His position looks so weird. Just looks like the horse has way more work to do than required. The turn out on the horses is incredible and a the horses are stunning!

[@Minirollsroll]

I was expecting top level riding, instead I am completely confused by what I’ve just watched

[@annjohnson8437]

I'm confused as well. If I leaned forward nonstop, I'd never place. What is happening? Is it some kind of fad at high level shows? If so, it goes against everything I've been taught. 🤔

[@karincartwright8752]

This was a top level rider at a schooling event for their green horses

[@Minirollsroll]

I am reluctant to comment further and be labelled a keyboard expert, but I have watched this twice and still am no closer to understanding what is happening at this “show”

[@Minirollsroll]

What I will say is well done to the channel, shows how all inclusive they are, even if that means including styles/shows/riders that are more a minority sport, shows the diversity I guess

[@ameliariley_]

@@Minirollsroll This is discipline called Hunters which is designed after Fox Hunting. It is completely judged on the horse and its demeanour, movement, and jumping style. Hunter riders use a stylistic position like this as it's what's required of them, and what shows off the horse in the best light for desires of how a top level hunter horse should go. You can also research this discipline, it's incredibly traditional with high stakes. Many people get confused with this riding, and hunters (specifically like this) doesn't really exist outside of North America.

[@rmf7332]

Very sorry, @cyanitecture!! 🧐Don't be so quick with unqualified critics!! What I see is a perfectly professional rider, relaxed, calm and in very good balance, dynamically in perfect flow with the horses movement, never disturbing the horse! The horse is also truly relaxed, seems to be in a good mood and condition and also good motivated. AND the rider uses NO STICK, has very short spurs, fixed very deeply on his heels, never touching the horses body with his very stable leg and merely uses them at all. Absolute joy watching them training!

[@ameliariley_]

To Matt and Jesse - I would love to see you guys go into more depth about Hunters, a lot of people don't know much about it especially as it doesn't exist in Europe. It's huge in Canada and the US and so much more traditional, complex, and fun than people realise. I would also kill to see Matt ride a hunter

[@annjohnson8437]

Agree. I don't really know much about hunters. The first time watching this video, I was really distracted by the rider's form, but I rewatched and focused on the horses' performances. The horses were very nice. ❤

[@matt_harnacke]

On HWTV we have made a full in-depth series regarding the Hunters!

[@ameliariley_]

​@@matt_harnacke that's awesome! i hope lots watch it and educate themselves, i'm sure many people will fall in love with the intricacies of the discipline

[@psychique13]

bizarre riding aside, we're still shaving whiskers in 2024?

[@Minirollsroll]

Agree not needed, and standing martingales also not good, I watched the Q and A and it was mentioned about the monetisations of helgstand, then I watched this video on their monetised channel and understand the defence they took rather than foot down line in the ground this shouldn’t be happening “statement”

[@rmfan2092]

This is the norm for this discipline in the states.

[@ameliariley_]

its been banned by the FEI, but they do not officially recognise this discipline, so therefore we don't have to follow it, unfortunately.

[@Minirollsroll]

Then it shouldn’t be given a platform, horse world tv should be promoting and giving screen time to people who put the horse before the sport, rather than the image and sport themselves and the horse somewhere lower down the care chain

[@rmfan2092]

@@Minirollsrolldo these horses look like they’re suffering…? They’re living in luxury but have been clipped. Not the end of the world at all.

[@staceybarnhart8147]

I am with everyone else here. The rider looks like a beginner, instead of professional. How is the horse to learn if you are throwing him away? I used to do Hunter/Jumper, that was Not how I was taught. Heads up looking to the next fence, sitting up in between fences. Judging is getting bad if this is acceptable, looking like a sack of potatoes like my trainer used to say. He might be having a bad day!!

[@eastofeden13]

Is he riding through some invisible laser beams or what is happening?😂😂😂 why was he riding the chesnut normally, but the grey and bay horses so weirdly?

[@ameliariley_]

that's because they are not in the same discipline, they do completely different things. Chestnut was a jumper, others where hunters.

[@annjohnson8437]

​@@ameliariley_we all need more info on hunters. Your explanation was very helpful!

[@eastofeden13]

@@ameliariley_ seems like all they are hunting are ghosts 😂

[@Cyanitecture]

Oh my, that rider… not helping! Sit up! Work on your core strength. So uncomfortable to watch and so unfair to the horse as his poor seat is distracting from the beauty of the horse and throwing the whole movement off balance and way to forward! Sorry! But wow… I know it’s about the horse going well, but…

[@rmfan2092]

Their position is the way it is to encourage the horses to jump in a very basculed and scopey manner. They want a very specific look in the ring. I personally don't care for it either, but if you look at photos of the horses winning the six-figure hunter derby classes... they all jump in this exaggerated manner. This rider actually placed in the top junior riders in the country for equitation and is perfectly able to look textbook perfect on a horse if that's what he wanted. He chooses to ride these horses like this for a reason.

[@ameliariley_]

if he were to "sit up" he would lose the class. the entire point of the discipline is to show off the horse in the best light, and this is how you do that in accordance to the judging requirements

[@CarolSchott-v3x]

He rides leaning forward one time I thought he was going to fall off

[@Bbqoranges]

Ik a lot of people in these comments are not very familiar with the hunters leading them to be astonished by this guys riding, but as someone who shows in the eq and hunters trust me his form and posture are completely normal. And this guy def knows what he’s doing and has lots of year of training under his belt

[@lilymccormack3946]

I don’t understand why he’s leaning so far forward on some of them, not trying to hate at all by any means but I don’t get leaning so far forwards?!?!

[@ameliariley_]

the horses you see this on are hunters. this discipline is focused on relaxation, form, and demeanour. the rider needs to appear a certain way to show this off. this discipline doesn't exist outside of the North America, so many get confused.

[@NatalieMarie917]

@@ameliariley_he’s not really riding in a half seat though, which is what you see from most hunter shows. His is almost a full two point position.. and with really hunched shoulders. It looked like he was actually hindering the horse’s performance because he was distributing so much of his weight in front of the horse’s shoulders.

[@ameliariley_]

@@NatalieMarie917 yeah, hunter position really varies on gender, height, style, and your horse. everyone's different

[@NatalieMarie917]

@@ameliariley_ not really though. Sure, there can be minor differences, but there’s a reason why you’ll notice all the riders look the same in hunt seat equitation classes- including in this video!

[@boghi99]

I'm a dressage trainer but I've seen my fair share of Hunter shows and this style of riding is completely foreign to me. I'm with everybody else here wondering if this is what wins now?

[@shelleyjack1579]

Im confused. Why is he leaning forward and almost on top of the neck in between jumps? I used to get told off by my trainer for this when I first started?

[@pattirockgarden4423]

This dude is not up to the job. He is weak, & not at all athletic. Wierd. Usually very good riders.

[@rmfan2092]

Their position is the way it is to encourage the horses to jump in a very basculed and scopey manner. They want a very specific look in the ring. I personally don't care for it either, but if you look at photos of the horses winning the six-figure hunter derby classes... they all jump in this exaggerated manner. This rider actually placed in the top junior riders in the country for equitation and is perfectly able to look textbook perfect on a horse if that's what he wanted. He chooses to ride these horses like this for a reason...

[@faykelz1073]

the privilege is unbearable to watch.

[@hollyjones6347]

Wtf is this riding

[@antw23uk]

Money!

[@Karen_DNP]

In H/J eventing, there are two teams of judges: 1 team scoring the horse and the 2nd team is judging the rider. This regardless if the course is in countryside or if riding & jumping in an arena. Plus, as you can see, the jumps in H/J events are all the same height & definitely not setup extremely high to test a horse’s jumping ability. Also in H/J events, the jumps are not the same type of jumps seen in horses show jumping eventing.

[@hollyjones6347]

Why is he riding like that tho 💀

[@rmfan2092]

@@hollyjones6347 Their position is the way it is to encourage the horses to jump in a very basculed and scopey manner. They want a very specific look in the ring. I personally don't care for it either, but if you look at photos of the horses winning the six-figure hunter derby classes... they all jump in this exaggerated manner. This rider actually placed in the top junior riders in the country for equitation and is perfectly able to look textbook perfect on a horse if that's what he wanted. He chooses to ride these horses like this for a reason.

[@ameliariley_]

@@Karen_DNP the hunters is entirely judged on the horse. there is rarely ever "2 teams" of judges. the discipline judged on riding is called equitation.

[@EmilysFineArt]

the entire time I'm just yelling "sIt uP!!!"

[@Mangoo88]

What is he doing😂 leaning forward the whole time, hanging to the side when the horse lands, his arms are flowing everywhere, leaning on the horses neck. He must have money or something cause this is very bad riding..

[@jaime13102]

Oh my....

[@Fionashorses]

This discipline really confuses me. I don’t understand what the judges want. In the 1.30 he rode really well. So it’s obviously intentional to hover bent over and chuck the horse onto the forehand. But why? The flat work and jumping is just all so on the forehand and uninspiring. And they win big money in this. Can anybody from this discipline explain it more? I always wonder! Not been judgey at all. I just always get left confused when I see any hunter jumper stuff 😂

[@ameliasantos8098]

Not sure why his riding style is so drastic but hunter riders typically ride a bit bent at the waist than other disciplines. The reason for hunter classes is to show off the style and movement of the horse as it jumps as well as how easy it is to ride. What I was told was that the “hunter slouch” allows the horse to appear to be an easy and smooth ride. As an amateur hunter rider myself I do not lean this far forward but many of the professional hunter riders do. I even had a trainer once tell me when I was leaned far forward once that I looked like an old pro hunter rider and I should cut it out bc I’m too young to be doing that.

[@wendystewart6918]

Who is the rider?

[@jan.vrhovnik]

isn’t hunters class supposed to be pleasant to watch all nice and tidy? Because this was far from that, sorry not sorry but it’s true.

[@theelepeltje6212]

I really do not understand this video, does not look like "top level" riding to me

[@tanyaoellermann]

My thoughts exactly relating to the comments and the riding style.

[@NatalieMarie917]

A hunter half seat can be really pretty, but this was not that. This was almost a full two point position (with really hunched shoulders) so I understand completely why people are so thrown off. The horse still looked great, but I think it could have performed even better if he shifted his center of gravity back an inch or two. The jumper course looked perfectly fine to me. And I think he looked fine in the hunt seat equitation / flat class because that was more of the “half seat” I was talking about. Most people in the hunter world will aim to maintain a position closer to this between their fences, rather than being in an awkward limbo position closer to two point.

[@Eden.Sweet021]

This is honestly just embarrassing. How can he think he is training any of those horses with that awful position. At 8:37 I thought he was about to fall off because of how far forward he was leaning. He is just putting more pressure on the horses shoulders and front legs when it lands after a jump. How is no one at that place pointing this out to him??

[@niathehorsegirl]

his heels at 8:26

[@Patsy-f4m]

Well apparently we have a way different idea of pro-ridrer! 🤷‍♀️

[@epe-equestrianpatterneduca6184]

All of these people complaining about how heavy and on the forehand these horses are, I hope you never watch a hunter under saddle class or you will lose it 😅. It’s a different frame you are trying to achieve and I think people look at something different than their normal and automatically panic. There are bad things everywhere, don’t look at a discipline you know nothing about and ridicule it. These horses look healthy and in great condition, and probably have a better “healthcare plan” than most people.

[@josephinechloe6210]

Am I missing something? Why is he so forward?

[@Krisu1993]

I think that he ride beautiful❤

[@thegoblinsteed3558]

YAY!!!! 🖤

[@wr_eq]

Can we get nick hanness next

[@ohhhsami]

What the 👀🥴

[@225kjg]

This is not balanced riding. Hard to watch. A crime for that gorgeous horse. My children students dont jump a x rail like this. If they did, they would no longer be jumping in their lessons with me.

[@horsesence101]

Horrible equitation! Sadly the horses put up with it😮 The horses save him and do all the work.

[@ladysecretz]

Jeez, I usually really like your videos, but this one is a bit sub par when it comes to riding (I mean no offence to the rider in this vide), but there needs a lot more work. Also, there was more shots of him than going through an equitation round. His jumping position (etc.) needs to be improved as well. I wish him the best to improve when it comes to riding and to be a person who's happy and capable in life.