WWU Hunter/Jumper Derby

     Last weekend, William Woods hosted the Fall Hunter/Jumper Derby. The hunter/jumper show team runs the competition, which consists of classes anywhere from ground poles to 2’ hunters to 3’ jumpers. This was my first time showing as a Jumper, and it was a very awesome experience!

     For those non-hunter/jumper people out there, a hunter class involves a horse and rider completing a predetermined course of jumps. The goal for hunters is to have a consistent pace, straight lines, neat corners and proper riding position. Basically, the most graceful, consistent and correct pair wins. I, like most hunter/jumper riders, started out riding and showing in the hunter style.

     Jumpers are almost the opposite. There is still a set course of jumps to complete, but the course can include some tight turns and more challenging jump combinations. The goal of a jumper rider is to complete the course as fast as possible without having any faults. A fault would be either knocking down rails or if the horse refuses to jump the fence. The fastest pair with the cleanest round wins! In a jumper derby, there is a first round where everyone jumps the course. If a horse and rider complete the course within a certain amount of time without any faults, they go on to round two, called the jump off. The jump off usually has less jumps but may require more technical skill from the horse and rider. Whoever completes the jump off with the least faults and the fastest time wins.

     Quickly transitioning from hunters to jumpers had some challenges. I had to keep reminding myself to change my mindset from ‘pretty’ to ‘fast’. Usually during practices, I would catch myself in the middle of the course and think “well, I was supposed to already be looking for my next fence while I was going over that last jump but now my horse and I are way over here in the corner... oops”. As a jumper, you really have to have a solid plan to cut off as much time as possible before going in the ring, such as, “ok, right after that jump we’re going to immediately turn to the right in front of that other jump so we can cut the corner and make the last jump”. Once I got the hang of it and got rid of any lingering hunter habits, it was so exhilarating!

     For this show, I rode an amazing William Woods mare named Voila in the Low Jumpers. The Low Jumpers consisted of a regular jumping course and then a jumper derby. The height of the jumps varied between 2’6” and 2’9”. Our first course was a good start, but not great. Voila needed a lot of encouraging to move forward, and we got 2 faults for refusing a jump (it was the same jump and had some haybales underneath it that apparently looked intimidating!) Otherwise, I thought it was a good test run, although we didn’t win any ribbons for that class. The first round of the derby went much more smoothly. We knew where we were going, we were a lot faster and I had a plan. As soon as we landed from the first jump, my plan kinda disappeared and improvisation took the wheel. Everything was fine though, we made it through without any faults and advanced to the jump off! The jump off round also went very well and placed us 4^th in the low jumper derby! Even though we didn’t win, I was super happy with Voila and myself.

     While showing hunters is exciting, nerve-wracking, and loads of fun, jumpers introduces a new level of adrenaline and exhilaration. The challenge of conquering difficult courses by taking risks and racing against the clock has captured the attention of my inner adrenaline junkie. I still plan on riding hunters, but more jumper courses are definitely in my future!

~Jennah