Does anyone jump their show ponies??

[ablondemoment]

I just had the pleasure of watching a past HOYS winner compete very successfully in the USA's major pony competition and it made me rethink a question I've had several times. Why does it seem the UK show ponies never jump??

This was a welsh, and I know the m&m breeds do have a working hunter class. But I feel like (from my admittedly quite limited view) the riding ponies in the show pony and show hunter pony classes very rarely overlap with any jumping classes. At least- the really nice top show ponies that go to HOYS, RIHS, whatever. Is there a reason for this? Isn't jumping part of what a show hunter pony is meant to look capable of?

I've met a few imported welsh and British riding ponies and they are excelling at the pony hunter competitions in the States. Is it just because of the difference in competition? (ie: they're better at the American style than the UK classes? I know our classes are slower and quite a bit shorter in fence height)

Idk maybe it's me lol. Does anyone here compete their pony in both showing and jumping?

 

[Just got questions]

I just had the pleasure of watching a past HOYS winner compete very successfully in the USA's major pony competition and it made me rethink a question I've had several times. Why does it seem the UK show ponies never jump??

This was a welsh, and I know the m&m breeds do have a working hunter class. But I feel like (from my admittedly quite limited view) the riding ponies in the show pony and show hunter pony classes very rarely overlap with any jumping classes. At least- the really nice top show ponies that go to HOYS, RIHS, whatever. Is there a reason for this? Isn't jumping part of what a show hunter pony is meant to look capable of?

I've met a few imported welsh and British riding ponies and they are excelling at the pony hunter competitions in the States. Is it just because of the difference in competition? (ie: they're better at the American style than the UK classes? I know our classes are slower and quite a bit shorter in fence height)

Idk maybe it's me lol. Does anyone here compete their pony in both showing and jumping?

Some people are very overprotective of the showing horses in England and don’t like to risk an injury to a show pony whilst jumping I ride a high end show pony at the moment she’s retired from shows but looking to compete in the north west champs next year in the team jumping but if it’s a flashy expensive well bred Welsh they mostly aren’t jumped I jump the Welsh I ride every now and again but if a show Welsh gets injured it can be career ending and the jumping competitions are based on time and the speed of the pony so it’s not worth the risk if they are mostly a flat show pony the US styles as far as I know are slower and are based off of the way it’s ridden and not the top speed it’s ridden at in the hunter class I think it’s called but top Welsh showing ponies in the UK aren’t cheap especially if well bred that’s why they’re also not turned out very much I know an ex show horse won everything it entered but wasn’t allowed turnout with any ponies and was locked in a stable or small pasture it’s just very competitive over here and very protective over good horses and nice stock

 

[fetlock]

Over here, the working hunter pony ideal would be a show hunter pony type that jumps, but there have been few over the years to have successfully done both classes at top level, even less so in more recent years. Very few top whps now have the quality to win a shp class.

In days gone by our show ponies had better limbs and more bone and substance, lost over the years with the dilution of native blood (and the bone and substance Arabs of old had too). Quite a few former top show ponies did well in new careers as workers back then (very few did both at the same time). I can’t think of any offhand in very recent years. Going back that far, show ponies had a more varied life - hacking, hunting, gymkhana games and jumping at PC and local shows, so moving to whp for some wasn’t much of a stretch, for pony or rider.

 

[Goldie's mum]

I don't travel much these days so I'm only commenting on what I see in my local shows (Scotland) but the ponies I see would not be fit enough to jump without damaging themselves. The show judges like them in "show condition" which to anyone else would mean far too fat. Now and then someone with a fit pony that does work other than showing, takes it to a mm class but they don't do very well & I know someone who was told her Highland needed more condition (he doesn't).

 

[Muddywellies]

My dressage horse jumps, does xc goes to the gallops etc. We have loads of fun, yet she's training at adv med.

 

[ablondemoment]

Some people are very overprotective of the showing horses in England and don’t like to risk an injury to a show pony whilst jumping I ride a high end show pony at the moment she’s retired from shows but looking to compete in the north west champs next year in the team jumping but if it’s a flashy expensive well bred Welsh they mostly aren’t jumped I jump the Welsh I ride every now and again but if a show Welsh gets injured it can be career ending and the jumping competitions are based on time and the speed of the pony so it’s not worth the risk if they are mostly a flat show pony the US styles as far as I know are slower and are based off of the way it’s ridden and not the top speed it’s ridden at in the hunter class I think it’s called but top Welsh showing ponies in the UK aren’t cheap especially if well bred that’s why they’re also not turned out very much I know an ex show horse won everything it entered but wasn’t allowed turnout with any ponies and was locked in a stable or small pasture it’s just very competitive over here and very protective over good horses and nice stock

Ah thanks for the info. It's a little sad to hear the show ponies don't get turn out. Our ponies in the states aren't cheap either ($300,000+ for the nice ones!) but I do agree the style of jumping is certainly a lot slower and perhaps more careful and less risky.

 

[ablondemoment]

Over here, the working hunter pony ideal would be a show hunter pony type that jumps, but there have been few over the years to have successfully done both classes at top level, even less so in more recent years. Very few top whps now have the quality to win a shp class.

In days gone by our show ponies had better limbs and more bone and substance, lost over the years with the dilution of native blood (and the bone and substance Arabs of old had too). Quite a few former top show ponies did well in new careers as workers back then (very few did both at the same time). I can’t think of any offhand in very recent years. Going back that far, show ponies had a more varied life - hacking, hunting, gymkhana games and jumping at PC and local shows, so moving to whp for some wasn’t much of a stretch, for pony or rider.

It's very interesting to me that y'all separated the show hunter and working hunter classes to begin with! I would've assumed the same pony would do both classes, as here in the states, the flat and jumping class scores are combined to produce a single champion.

From my (brief) reading on the subject, it seems like the show hunter ponies are supposed to 'look' like an ideal hunt pony. So I wonder what it is (training...breeding...other) that is separating the really good show hunters from the really good workers. Why aren't there ponies excelling at both? Why can't a show hunter take to the fences?

I guess it doesn't really matter lol but it makes me curious

 

[follysienna]

It's very interesting to me that y'all separated the show hunter and working hunter classes to begin with! I would've assumed the same pony would do both classes, as here in the states, the flat and jumping class scores are combined to produce a single champion.

From my (brief) reading on the subject, it seems like the show hunter ponies are supposed to 'look' like an ideal hunt pony. So I wonder what it is (training...breeding...other) that is separating the really good show hunters from the really good workers. Why aren't there ponies excelling at both? Why can't a show hunter take to the fences?

I guess it doesn't really matter lol but it makes me curious

The jump heights for the plaited working hunter pony classes are big. Max of 1m for 13hh ponies at top level. The working hunter ponies are often not particularly bred for the show ring, and are quite often native crosses or Irish types. They need to be talented, brave jumpers to compete around the courses, as do the kids!

Whereas the flat show hunter ponies are often purposely bred for the show ring. They could probably do well at the workers if they had the ability and a jockey who wants to jump the courses.

There is definitely more cross over in the m&m flat and whp classes with a number of combinations doing both. Perhaps because the jumps are smaller than the plaiteds and the native ponies don't have age limits, so you have 10 year old riders competing against 50 year olds.

 

[Just got questions]

It's very interesting to me that y'all separated the show hunter and working hunter classes to begin with! I would've assumed the same pony would do both classes, as here in the states, the flat and jumping class scores are combined to produce a single champion.

From my (brief) reading on the subject, it seems like the show hunter ponies are supposed to 'look' like an ideal hunt pony. So I wonder what it is (training...breeding...other) that is separating the really good show hunters from the really good workers. Why aren't there ponies excelling at both? Why can't a show hunter take to the fences?

I guess it doesn't really matter lol but it makes me curious

in some shows it isn’t separated you do your jumping first and then your show and the shoe my friend competed in the other week which was a hunter she didn’t place not because of the flash of her Connie who can jump for hours but because of the lack of patience but most shows the case is if they’re going to be a hunt pony around England I know that they have to have short or hogged manes and tails to the hocks and have to be clipped as it’s just the norm and prevents hair from getting caught on an actual hunt they’re also supposed to be fit but a larger size and with a chunky body that isn’t took big but not too small it’s just so obsessive now about the way a horse or pony looks it’s not needed they’re all beautiful and don’t need to be judged on their build I get why stallions and mares do for breeding but if they’re showing it should go off skills and not looks unless it’s a class based on that