*Attire For the Hunter Ring*

While the style for the Hunt Seat has changed through out the years, the Hunt apparel has always stayed "Classical". The hunt seat rider is dressed conservatively. Classic attire for hunter classes consists of beige, tan or grey breeches, a white or light pastel shirt, and a black, navy, gray, "hunter" green or dark brown hunt coat. (Black is considered a dressage style, however, and though legal, is less often seen in Hunter classes.) Some years, patterns that appear solid at a distance, such as pinstripes, faint plaids or herringbone, are popular. In some competitions, the show management may shoos to waive the jacket requirement if the heat and humidity is very high.

The show shirt, called a "ratcatcher" is a buttoned shirt with a stand-up mandarin-style collar covered by a separate, matching choker or a stock tie, the final look usually resembling that of a turtleneck. The traditional, classic shirt is white. However, in some places and at less formal competition, particularly for children, pastel-colored shirts are popular, coordinated with the colors in the hunt coat. Traditionally shirts were ling-sleeved, but today are more often short-sleeved or sleeveless, though sleeveless shirts cannot be worn when the jacket rule is waived.Stock pins are sometimes worn on the stock tie or choker, although most recent fashion has been to embroider the rider's initials on the chocker.  A recent trend is for riders to wear a shadbelly. 

Although black, velvet-covered hunt caps were once popular, the old style caps provided virtually no actual protection to the head and are not allowed on riders of any age in classes to jump. The riders must wear an ASTM/SEI-approved equestrian helmet with safety harness fastened. Caps are still sometimes seen on Adults in flat classes and still remain popular at breed shows. However,  many adult hunt seat riders who do not jump area also leaving behind the hunt cap in favor of the ASTM/SEI-approved headgear. Some helmets the classic retain velveteen covered look. Riders 13 years or older generally wear tall, black field boots with breeches. Young riders who still have rapidly growing feet may wear either brown or black jodhpur boots and jod straps. 

Dark gloves should be worn, but are not required.

                                    The style has changed over the years, but the classical trend
                                   has stayed the same.

 Hunt Seat Tack

The tack for hunt seat is different of that of dressage. The dressage saddle is used for flatwork and not balanced for the riggers of jumping. Here is a dressage saddle. The seat is quite deep and the flap is near to straight down. The stirrups are long, so that the riders leg hangs long and around the horses barrel.

For Hunt Seat, a jumping saddle is used. A Jumping saddle has a medium, to flat seat, so that the cantle doesn't hit or interfere with the rider while jumping. It has a forward flap and the stirrups are short. 

There are many types of cloths used under the saddle. In the picture above, the dressage saddle has a wool, fitted saddle pad underneath. This is great for schooling or hacking.

In the picture below, The jumping saddle has underneath a numnah. This is a saddle cloth, made usually out of cotton. It is made the same shape of the saddle. Numnah's can be any color for schooling.

For Hunter Shows, a fluffy, white fitted saddle pad is used. In the picture below, a child's saddle is clean and ready for the show ring.

*For the Hunt Seat ring, a plain raised snaffle bridle is used. It often has fancy stitching and laced reins.

A standing martingale is permitted in the hunter ring, but you will have to take it off for the flat classes. A running martingale is not allowed.

For the Hunter ring, plain hunter breastplates can be used, to prevent the saddle from slipping.

There are many saddles out there to choose from. As long as they fit your horse, you and are balanced, they should do the job well. Along with different saddles, there are lots of prices too! Here is a more expensive saddle. 

*Learning to Ride Hunt Seat*

The best way to learn to do anything on a horse, is to take riding lessons from a qualified riding instructor. While jumping can be fun, it can be dangerous if not done correctly. When choosing a riding instructor, you should go visit their stables and watch a few lessons. The instructor should be clean and dressed professionally.

This instructor, helping one of her students, is

dressage appropriately and is wearing clean boots

and a riding helmet.

You should also schedule a time to watch the instructor ride. This is also a good way to see if this type of riding is for you.

                                          As you can see, this riding instructor is knows what
                                         she's doing and has quite a nice form over fences.

Its always a good idea to ask for pictures of the instructors most accomplished students. That way you can see how far the instructor can teach.

                                          This photo displays and well rounded students, that 

                                         has good form and control over fences.

*Riding Lessons

The Instructor should offer group and private lessons. The instructor will probably want you to start out in a group lesson. These lessons are perfect for beginning riders and are also cheaper. 

                                These students are riding together. This is a group riding lesson.

The instructor may want to move you to private lessons, once you get more experienced. Although, some instructors prefer keeping everyone in group lessons and some instructors only do private lessons. You should go with whatever the instructor wants you to do. Even though you may want 1 on 1 attention or think private lessons are too expensive, you should listen to you instructor. She knows best and has gone through a lot of training and certifications. She is always thinking about your safety.

                                         Here this student is getting a private lesson.

*First few lessons

For your first few lessons, the instructor will evaluate your riding and see what corrections or changes need to be made. Then you will start on the real work. Most instructors will start teaching you to jump over gymnastic grids. This is the best way to learn your position, because you get more air time and also learn good timing.

In this picture a young rider is learning to jump.

The instructor is having her go over a grid of cross

rails. This way she can work on her riding and not

so much the horse.

Sometimes it may seem like things are going slow and your not getting to what you really want. But hang in there, The instructor knows what you need and is helping you become a successful rider.

*Soon you will be flying over jumps and doing it in a very balanced, safe way.*

*Types of Releases*

Giving a release over the jump is important, so that the horse can stretch his neck out and balance himself over the jumps. Here are a few types of releases.

*The Automatic Release

The automatic release should be learned by all riders. This release keeps the straight connection to the bit, that the rider uses on the flat. While in the 2 point position, the rider lowers her hands to the middle of the horses neck, keeping her elbows bent.

*The Mane Release

While the Automatic Release is ideal, for beginners it can be quite hard to grasp at first. The mane release is the first option for those learning to jump. As the rider takes the 2 point position over the fence, her hands slide up the horses neck, about half way and grab a handful of mane. This will teach the rider to have quiet hands and will help her to not pull the horses mouth, if she looses her balance.

*The Crest Release

The crest release is for those ready to stop holding the mane or for those riding young horses. As the rider takes to the 2 point position and the horse starts to jumps, the rider slides her hand up the neck and closes her hands on either side of his crest.

*The Hunt Seat Position and 2 Point Position*

                                            As you can see here, the rider has a slighty forward
                                           position, with heels down and shorter stirrups.

In the Hunt Seat Position, the rider is positioned slightly forward, with shorter stirrups and heels down. The rider should have a tall upper body and straight back. Elbows are bent, to encourage a straight connection to the bit.

At the canter the rider seat is slightly raised out of the saddle and the upper body is more forward than in the trot. The elbows maintain a bend and heels stay down.

At the gallop, the rider folds at the hip and the rear is towards the back of the saddle. The shoulders should not exceed past the riders knees. The back is straight and flat. The riders chin and eyes are up, with heels down. The reins are shortened and often bridged across the horses neck. The riders elbows are bent. In the 2 point position, the riders weight in distributed evenly across the horses back, so that she can ride in balance as the horse moves.

You can clearly see here, that this rider 

is very accomplished and has a quite nice

2 point position. Her back is flat and she is 

bending at the hip, her rear is towards the 

back of the saddle, heels are down and hands are 

lowered, with elbows bent. She is looking where she is going.

*2 Point Position*

The 2 Point Position, other known as the Jumping Position, is the balanced position for jumping. The old jumping seat involved the rider using long stirrups, keeping legs pushed out in front of him, and his body leaning back, pulling the reins, as the horse took the fence. By leaning back and pulling the horses head up, the riders tried to encourage the horse to land back legs first, because the back legs were better shock absorbers than the fragile front legs. But the position had several bad problems. The horses got tired of being hit in the mouth at every obstacle, and it pushed the rider behind the motion, sending his center of gravity behind the horses'. The weight on the horses back and the upward pull of the horses head, made it impossible for the horse to round up in a natural bascule over the fence, and the rider therefore interfered with the horses jumping movement. Captain Federico Caprilli was an Italian equestrian who revolutionized the jumping seat. His position, now called the "Forward Sear," formed the modern-day technique used by all jumping riders today. Caprilli examined horses free jumping (without tack or rider), using photographs to document their shape over fences, and found that they always landed on their forelegs. He then developed a theory on the position a rider should take over fences. The position is known as 2 point, because while is the 2 point position, there are only 2 points form the rider touching the horse, which are the legs. In the 2 point position the rider folds/bends at the hip (not the waist) allowing the rear to slide back and the upper body to move down close to the horses neck. The back should stay straight and flat, with the elbows bent and hands lowered to the middle of the horses neck to give an automatic release, to the horses mouth. The reins are short. The heels should stay down, with the riders legs at the girth and stirrups shortened at least 2 holes shorter, than dressage length. The riders chin is up and the rider is looking for her next fence.

                          This is Captain Caprilli himself jumping in Italy.

Caprilli's position made horses much more willing to jump obstacles, now that they were free of interference.

*Breeds of Hunters*

While a lot of other breeds can do well as a hunter, Thoroughbreds usually dominate the ring, as well as Hanovarians, Dutch and Danish Warmbloods, Holsteiners, and Oldenburgs to name a few. Quarter Horses are also seen a lot in the hunter ring. They are very versitle and can do well if bred suitable for the discipline. In my opinion Friesians and some draft breeds, make a quite nice hunter as well.

                                   Here is a young rider, a top her Hunt mount, with winning
                                   prize in hand.          

This is a nice looking hunter. As you can see he has a

quite long stride, and a long low frame and clean legs.

                            *Hunt Seat and Show Hunter*

Show hunters, ideally, show many qualities that were rewarded in the fox hunting field such as manners, fluid movement, and correct jumping style. The show hunter should have a balanced frame, where they are 'round' in their top line and 'on the bit' softly. They should have a long, sweeping step that covers maximum ground per minimum effort, and have rhythmic, 12' stride at the canter. Ideally, the majority of the movement occurs from the horse's shoulder hip, and there is minimal flexion in the horses joints. The frame of the show hunter differs from that of dressage horses, eventers, and show jumpers, as it travels in a long low frame, with its head moderately extended. Its frame is more "stretched out" that horses competing in dressage, eventing, or show jumping, but the horse should not be on its forehand. The riders of show hunters often ride on a slightly looser rein than seen elsewhere to facilitate this type of movement, and the horse carriers its head just in front of the vertical.

Although the horse is a long and low frame, it should still be able to collect its stride when asked. The horse must also be proficient at lengthening its canter stride while maintaining its tempo and rhythm. 

The walk is free and ground-covering and the trot should be balanced and flowing. The canter should be moderatly collected. The gallop should be long strided, 12 feet is the expected length, but should be balanced and rhythmic.

The show hunter should possess an excellent form over jumps, with a great bascule.