Jumper, hunter jumper??whats the difference?

Question

whats the difference between a show jumper and hunter jumper?

Answer 1

jumpers are pretty much only judged on how high they can jump while hunter-jumpers are shown just as hunters are but they jump!

Answer 2

Show jumpers are usually jumpers - that is, they go for speed and clean rounds over a course with a variety of jumps, turns, etc. and are scored based on time and faults.  A Hunter/Jumper could be a jumper, or it could be a hunter. Hunters are more about perfection, making it look nice, hitting all the right distances, etc. and hunters are judged based on their turnout and performance. Usually Hunter/jumper is a term used to describe the discipline. The majority of horse are one or the other, although they can be both.

Answer 3

Show jumpers are awarded points purely on whether they clear a fence or not, regardless of anything else. Hunter jumpers are judged on their style,manners and fluidity as well as getting over the jumps. Show jumper courses are usually more complex and colourful as there is no need to judge style etc.

Answer 4

Here are some links to give an idea. Sorry, I couldn't do it justice trying to explain.

http://osuhunterjumperteam.tripod.com/id...

there are more coming...

Answer 5

Jumpers are scored on time and clear rounds. Jumper jumps are more colorful.

Hunters are scored on their looks and how the horses scope is over jumps. Hunter jumps are more natural looking wih brush under them

Answer 6

Hunters are based on you and your horses forms/ not timed. jumpers are timed and about speed and faults- not forms

Answer 7

There are some pretty interesting descriptions above, and most of them contain a good amount of the truth. Here are some of the fundamental differences, though.

Jumper competitions are purely subjective. There are some sub-categories of jumper rounds here, and each is scored slightly differently. At the heart of a jumper round, though, is the objective to quickly and cleanly complete a course. There are no points for style. The show jumping you see in the Olympics and all Grand Prixs are types of jumper divisions. They're judged on a "power and speed" and "faults converted" method. That means the competition is judged in two rounds: the first being power, with the objective to complete the course cleanly under the time allowed to get into the jump-off, and the second speed. In the speed round, the fastest time will determine the winner, so most riders save their fastest rides for the jump-off. A puissance is also considered a jumper round. In this competition, a horse and rider will jump a series of four fences in a single line. As each combination goes clear, the jumps get higher and higher. A rider is eliminated after the first rail. Sometimes there are limits on the height, but many times the puissance will continue until only one rider jumps the four fences cleanly. This type of round is sometimes called a Four Bar.

Hunters, on the other hand, is highly subjective. There is no time allowed, but penalties for knocking a rail are severe. Hunter competition  derived from fox-hunting, and in its original incarnation was used as a means to evaluate field hunters. Nowadays, most show hunters will never leave the ring or run with the hounds. But the jumps are still built to look somewhat natural--stone walls, wells, gates, and other obstacles you might see out in the field are reproduced in the show ring. A hunter round is judged purely on the horse. Movement, conformation, style, and way-of-going are all big factors in a hunter round. Think of it like gymnastics for horses. There's no clear point system, but horses are judged on the style of their jumping and gaits. Big deductions are given to a horse who has a rail down or rubs a fence, jumps in dangerous style, falters over lead changes, or moves in  an awkward manner. These horses should look easy to ride, they should move gracefully and without much effort, and their riders should not make any obvious moves. Unlike jumpers, style matters quite a bit with a hunter. Top hunters jump with a round bascule, or arc. They round their backs, pick their knees up evenly, and exhibit a lot of thrust over a fence.

Now, hunter competition has caught flack recently for being backwards. The fences often have lots of ground lines (rails and flowers in front of the jump to encourage a better take off point), and most courses look similar if not identical. A new program of Hunter Derbies has been started by the United States Equestrian Federation and the United States Hunter Jumper Association to help promote versatility and athleticism in hunter competition. Derby classes feature very natural fences, including banks and dishes, brush fences, and gates. They really resemble obstacles you'd see in the field, and the courses are trickier and less predictable. Additionally, they require riders to demonstrate skills like opening and closing a gate while mounted, and trotting fences.

A third type of hunt-seat riding exists which you may be interested. Like hunters, equitation is a subjectively judged sport, but this time it's the rider's style that matters. Equitation classes are usually aimed at junior riders to prepare them for the hunter and jumper rings as adults. The courses are oftentimes challenging, forcing riders to show how they can adapt the stride of their horses, think about their pace and lines to a jump, and handle the various questions each course poses. The equitation medal classes like the Maclay and the USEF Show Jumping Talent Search often identify top young riders and future starts in the sport.

Hope that helps clarify a few things for you.

Answer 8

Show jumping is jumping as high as you can, as quick as you can. Here's a pic of someone show jumping http://www.stable.com/images/ServiceProv... . Hunter jumper is jumping lower, but jumping "pretty". By this I mean correct pace and striding between the jumps, good rider control and posture, smoothness of the gaits, and jumping flawlessly. Here's someone hunter jumping: http://www.dallashunterjumper.org/152158... . See the difference?

Answer 9

Jumper:

A jumper show (showjumper, stadium jumper etc.) is what you see a lot of on TV. Horse and rider teams race against the clock over a course of fences, careful not to knock down any fences. Each fence knocked down counts as four faults against you. Every second over the "time allowed' counts a one fault against you. Faults are totalled, and the rider with the least amount of fault wins. If there is a tie, they go into a "jump-off". The tied riders ride a new course, with a new time allowed and the rider with the best score wins.

Hunter Jumper:

In a hunter jumper show, winners are decided by a judge. While each judge has his or her own standards, they look for a safe, reliable horse, correct lead changes, correct number of stridings between jumps on a line, all in good hunter style and form. You may here people say that hunters is all about pretty girls on perfect, push button ponies, but this isn't true at all. The entire point of a hunter round is to make it look effortless. It takes tons of riding talent to be able to make a perfect hunter course.

Any way, those are just some of the mroe obvious differences between the two, but there are tons of other technical things that make them different.

Answer 10

Hunter Jumper is not a sport. Hunter and Jumper are two seperate sports.

Hunter is a course of jumps, usually at a height that is proportinate to the level/size of horse and rider combo (i.e. large ponies jump 2'9 etc.) The course usually is not very complex (i.e. quarterline, diagonal, diagonal, quarter line) and (usually) consists of eight jumps, in the form of lines and singles, generally on the diagonals or quarterlines. An ideal hunter horse/rider combo would canter around the course at a steady easy pace, taking the jumps in stride, having straight lines, ideal equitation, etc. The rider is trying to show the horse off to its best advantage, and make everything look easy and fluid. A hunter division generally consists of three classes, two over fences and one flat class (horse is judged on movement, rider equitation, way of going at the walk, trot and canter). However the judging in hunters can be largely subjective.

Jumper is also a class where a horse and rider manouever around a course of jumps. However, the course is often more difficult to ride, having quicker turns, sometimes more jumps etc. The horse is judged on a numerical system of faults for refusals, going over time, and poles down. 4 faults = 1 refusal or 1 pole down, 1 fault = per four seconds over time. Otherwise the horse is judged on time and points are added onto the combo's time for faults. Equitation, movement, etc does not factor into the decision. Jumper and Show jumping are the same things.