Middleweight or heavyweight?

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moodymare1987

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As title says do you think Ben is a middleweight or heavyweight hunter?
I am taking him to an Agricultural show In May and the classes are split into weights what do you lot think?
I am not expecting to get anywhere as it will be our first Agricultural show and only our 2nd of the season.

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It goes on the amount of bone and he looks, from that, to be a mw. He'd look very out of place in a hw class imho
 
Hes definately not a heavy weight! not enough bone on him. In some pics he looks middleweight and some make him look lightweight. The way to define ( i have judged some hunter classes) is by their bone and their ability to carry weight. The lightweight hunter should be able to carry up to 12st 7lb, and have about 8 1/2 inches of bone under the knee. The middleweight hunter, can carry between 12st 7lb and 14st and has 8 3/4 to 9 inches of bone. The heavyweight stands around 17hh, has 9 inches of bone under the knee and is capable of carrying over 14st. Thats what i have judged it as....
 
jay is 17hh & has 9 1/4ish" bone & can carry over 14 stone but would not be able to hack it with the HW's
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your right he would also look out of place in a heavyweight hunter class- but thats because he doesnt look true to type as a hunter if im honest. He looks more like a sports horse/RC horse. Hes a lovely looking horse but not a 'heavy hunter type'- just because a horse is up to height, and has lots of bone- unfortunately will not make it a hunter - even if it hunts. He would get away with it in a local show- but county level he would look out of place-although if he was carrying more muscle and weight he may pull it off. If im honest a lot of the heavyweights are overweight- i see it every year. I stewarded in bath last year for the hunter classes and you could see that yes although they probably were true hunters they we so produced or 'beefed up' that they would make your horse look lean in comparison.
 
would only be doing local anyway as i am wanting to do workers with him & possibly some x/c as hes done it before
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wouldn't be able to get more weight on him even if i wanted too lol hes a nightmare to feed
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In one pic he looks lightweight and in another middleweight. Like someone else has already said it goes off how much bone they have so what does your boy measure?
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He has a fair amount of limb but in my opinion not a big enough frame for a HW. I would say you could do either LW or MW with him. In the pic where he is standing without a rider looking at the camera, you need to drop the noseband a bit as it makes his face look out of proportion! I can't see the noseband properly in the ridden pic as the sun is reflecting too much. Also, you will need to take quite a bit off the bottom of his tail.

Which show are you doing?
 
Thanks for your replies everyone, I didnt think he was a hw either but someone mentioned it to me and I thought i was ridiculous.
I was thinking mw if anything. As I dont want to be laughed out of the ring if I did lw.

And yes thank you I have already lowered the noseband after realising it was too far up
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Is it the top pic that makes him look lw? I thought when I saw it that he looked rather light in it. We did measure his bone and from what I remember it was just short of 9 inches, He can carry a fair bit of weight. I think the height thing is a bit conspicuos(sp) as ben is 18hh so doesnt really fit into any of the weights?
 
Our LW which won HOYS a few years back is taller than our MW, but not as tall as our HW! Height is really not that important, it is the frame and bone that should position the horse in the correct category.
If you take a look at the real time imaging site and go to the HOYS pics, you will see lots of examples of the different types that fit into each weight.
 
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Our LW which won HOYS a few years back is taller than our MW, but not as tall as our HW! Height is really not that important, it is the frame and bone that should position the horse in the correct category.


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True - but you can hit problems if the horse is too light of bone for its height/frame. This horse would have to be shown as a middleweight (an 18-hand lightweight would just look silly), but I think he would still be penalised for not having the bone to match his height/frame. But maybe they'd be less strict at local level.
 
I am not doing a county level show or have any intentions of doing so as in my opinon he isnt good enough and does not fit into any category, I was just wondering as I get told so much different things I wasnt sure? I mean I have to say if you see him in person he is a lot heavier than in the pics.
The show I am doing is a bit higher than riding club level but it has split classes.

Thanks for all the help guys, We dont usually have all this confusion as we usually just enter Ridden Hunter but this one show is split. May consider not doing it as dont want to be in a class he shouldnt be in.
 
Absolutely no reason at all he should not be doing the MW class if you want to. Even some of the pros change their horses to a different weight occasionally, so there is no hard and fast rule. Who is judging your class?
 
Its not a county level show though Its just something a little bit better than riding club level.
The Judge is Mr M Shaw.
I just fancied a change from Riding club level. I know my horse isnt of the top showing standard but it would be nice to have a go at different shows.
 
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