Judging Hunters and Hunter Seat Equitation

by Anna Jane White-Mullin

Overview

Your key to success in the hunter and equitation ring, from one of the sport’s classic judges and competitors, completely revised for today’s rider.

Revised and updated with the most current USEF rules and tests, Judging Hunters and Hunter Seat Equitation is the only single written source on how to judge hunter show competitions, and understand exactly how they are judged. This must-have resource gives anyone competing in or judging hunter or equitation classes the edge, with professionally reviewed and approved sections that examine:

• Conformation: structural composition; physical defects versus blemishes.

• Hunters Under Saddle and Over Fences: length of stride, frame, and straightness; rhythm, transitions, impulsion, and bending; locomotion and form faults; honest and dishonest horses.

• Equitation on the Flat and Over Fences: rider position; cadence, collection, and extension; approaching fences and in the air; USEF tests.

Written with both the aspiring judge and the avid competitor in mind, the book offers invaluable explanations of what judges look for as well as the training methods necessary to accomplish the desired results. More than 100 color photographs with top equestrians in the tack demonstrate correct and incorrect positions in both horses and riders, sharpening the reader’s eyes while also providing an unparalleled foundation of knowledge that makes self-correction in the saddle possible. In addition, readers will find a primer on both understanding and completing the Judge’s Card, with explanations of numerical scoring, terminology, abbreviations, symbols, comments, and general impressions. This remarkably complete two-in-one reference can be the difference in your success, whether in the ring or in the judge’s box.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781646011162
Publisher:	Trafalgar Square
Publication date:	03/08/2022
Edition description:	4th ed.
Pages:	176
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 9.75(h) x (d)

About the Author

Anna Jane White-Mullin began riding when she was five years old and was “discovered” by George Morris when she was eleven. Competing in major horse shows on the East Coast, Ms. White-Mullin won junior hunter and equitation championships at many noteworthy shows, including Ox Ridge, Fairfield, Harrisburg, Washington, Madison Square Garden, and the Florida Circuit shows. In 1971, coached by Ronnie Mutch, she won the Alfred B. Maclay Finals on her horse, Rivet, and was awarded a gold medal for winning 20 USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Classes. After graduating from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College, Ms. White-Mullin continued her equestrian activities as a Registered (Big “R”) judge in the hunter, hunter seat equitation, and jumper divisions. In 1986, she was a panelist at U.S. Equestrian’s Hunter Seat Equitation Judges Clinic in San Francisco, presenting a slide show based on her book, Judging Hunters and Hunter Seat Equitation. Subsequently, these slides were added to the permanent files of U.S. Equestrian. She is also the author of Winning: A Training and Showing Guide for Hunter Seat Riders and The Complete Guide to Hunter Seat Training, Showing, and Judging.

Table of Contents

Foreword Frank I. Madden vii

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xi

Special Thanks xii

Note to the Reader xiii

1 Under-Saddle Classes 1

The Ideal Horse 1

Unsafe Performance 3

Length of Stride 4

Appropriate Frame 6

Body Straightness 7

Common Locomotion Faults 7

Rhythm, Transitions, and Bending 9

2 Hunter Classes over Fences 13

Jumping Form 13

The Ideal Hunter 13

Form Faults Associated with Long Spots 13

Form Faults Associated with Short Spots 16

Other Form Faults 18

Minor Form Faults 18

Flight Path 23

Ideal Flight Pattern 24

Maintaining a Line 25

Even Arc 25

Rhythm 26

Pace and Impulsion 26

Bending 27

Changing Leads 30

The Dishonest vs. Honest Horse 30

3 Conformation Classes 35

General Observations 35

A Comparative Guide to Judging Defects 37

A System for Judging Conformation 38

Model and Breeding Classes 57

4 Equitation on the Flat 61

Position 61

Lower Body-From Heel to Pelvis 61

Upper Body-From the Pelvis Up 67

Performance 74

General Observations 74

Impulsion and Cadence 75

On the Bit 76

Bending 78

Smooth Transitions 79

Flexion and Collection 80

Extension 81

Severe Performance Faults 81

Quality of Performance 84

Tests on the Flat 84

5 Equitation over Fences 109

Position over Fences 109

General Observations 109

Approaching the Fence and in the Air 112

Performance 126

Tests over Fences 129

6 What to Expect from Equitation Riders 133

Beginners 133

Intermediate Riders 135

Advanced Riders 136

7 The Judge's Card 139

Numerical Scoring 139

Back-to-Back Classes 143

General Impressions 143

Competitor Expectations of a Judge 145

Faults over Fences 146

Faults between Fences 148

Manners and Way of Going 149

Equitation Symbols 149

Index 153

Editorial Reviews

"Judging Hunters and Hunter Seat Equitation is a valuable tool in the development of young horsemen today. The sport owes a great deal to Anna Jane for her contribution to our knowledge and understanding." —Frank I. Madden, trainer of 26 National Championship winners in the USEF Medal, ASPCA Maclay, USET Final

"It’s been six decades (yes, six) of showing, riding, selling, and training show horses for me. The change has been beyond belief over the years. People actually dressed up to come to the show, especially night classes! In the 1960s at Madison Square Garden, it was not unusual to see formal wear—men in top hats and tux and women in formal gowns—at the night performances. (They were in box seating down low; the rest of us were in the riff-raff section up top in coats and ties.) Maybe we can’t go back to those glamorous 'good ole days,' but we can preserve the historical integrity of the sport by making sure that both exhibitors and perspective judges understand the national standards by which hunter and hunter seat equitation classes are judged."

—Donald Stewart, Jr., “R” judge in hunters and hunter seat equitation, inductee in the National Show Hunter Hall of Fame, recipient of the USHJA World Championship Hunter Rider “Lifetime Achievement Award”

"Now we have a book to help us, and a comprehensive book it is. We can all hope to learn more quickly than ever before by studying this wonderful text on judging." —George H. Morris

"This is one of the very best books available for both judges and students of hunter/jumper equitation and showing...superbly illustrated and easily understood." —The American Quarter Horse Journal (about the previous edition)

"Remains the best book on how to judge hunt seat classes. Judge Anna Jane White-Mullin provides the definitive resource for aspiring judges and competitors alike." —Sidelines (about the previous edition)

"Everything you ever wanted to know about judging hunters and equitation is in this modestly-sized softcover book." —Horse Illustrated (about the previous edition)

 

From the Publisher