Jump off

I think most hobbyists--or at least most hobbyists with an interest in performance showing--know the basic differences between hunters and jumpers. Hunters are judged on their jumping style, way of going and manners. Their jumps are "natural" in appearance and never top four feet in height. Jumpers are scored rather than judged. They (usually) wear more tack and compete over flagged and numbered fences that feature striped poles and colorful standards. The most common format for a jumper class involves two jumping rounds. The horses that finish the first course without jumping faults and within the time allowed proceed to a jump off. At this point it becomes a foot race. The horse with the fewest faults and the fastest time wins. Pretty simple, right?

Well, not always. I see a lot of "almost right" entries in the model jumper ring. The basic idea is there, but the little details--those things that really sell the set up--are just a bit off. Often the jump is much too big. Anything is possible I suppose, but I'd rather not see your Arabian galloping down to an Olympic sized oxer. There are lots and lots of jumper divisions to choose from and most models are going to look better doing something other than Grand Prix.

Another common problem is using a horse that is not really in a jumper frame. Jumpers may gallop fast--particularly in the jump off--but they also need to collect and turn. Horses in a really long, low frame aren't going to look right. The Breyer show jumper (Ideal) is nearly perfect. Smarty Jones and Cigar are not.

Here are some pictures of a pinto pony competing successfully in the jump off of a Children's/Amateur jumping class at the High Prairie Spring Preview II Show last week. Note the size of the fences in proportion to the pony (I would guess he was somewhere between 14 and 15 hands) and the frame he's travelling in. He's definitely moving forward with speed, but he's not full out. His head is up and both he and his rider are focused on the upcoming jumps.
The pony looks unhappy here, but it was only a momentary issue.
Turning in midair to save time. They landed long and strung out and overshot their turn. The rider compensated by sitting down and pulling hard to the left.This got the pony turned around but also resulted in a loss of momentum.He's moving forward now, but you can see that he's strung out again.This resulted in a long, flat jump. Still, he was able to leave the rails up and scored a fast clear round.This is a nice pony. Even after galloping around like a bat out of hell, he quickly settled down to an easy canter...and walked quietly out of the ring.

Well deserved pats for a good, clean round!

Evolution of the Akhal Teke

My Fly by Wire turned Akhal Teke came home today and wow, he's cool! Tiffany did an absolutely amazing job on him--it's hard to believe that I didn't even want this resin a couple months ago. Here's the before, during and after pictures.And the other side:In addition to paintwork, Tiffany turned his ears back and made him into a stallion.I'll be showing him at the Devilish Kokopelli Live show in Golden, Colorado this weekend. Does anyone have any name suggestions? I don't usually have trouble choosing names for my critters, but I'm drawing a blank with this one...

Sneaky peeky

Here's a quick look at the bridle for my NAN auction endurance set. It's hard to see in the picture, but the straps are stitch marked and the tongue buckles all have tiny little rollers.All the major pieces are now finished. Hooray! I am waiting on an upainted XTara resin to use in the official photoshoot. With any luck she will arrive before the end of the week, and I will have the pictures posted here and on the NAMHSA site sometime over the weekend.

In the meantime, be sure to check out the auction site: http://www.horsesofthesun.com/Auction/
There are some absolutely wonderful donations. I would be happy to own any of them, but my favorites (for today anyway!) are Heather Bullach's Venator and Cary Nelson's Arab costume. Great work, ladies!

Distracted

It's really hard to stay home and work on tack when the weather is nice and there are so many other things to do. I had planned to finish the NAN set today. It is so close--all I need is a couple more hours. Unfortunately for NAMHSA, the lure of a new baby foal was impossible to resist. Instead of sitting down at my worktable, I jumped in the car and drove to Parker.This is Austin. He was born Friday and it was his fault that I did not get to ride that day.

I've already forgiven, him, though. Look how cute he is--who could possibly hold a grudge?

Tomorrow, I'll finish the NAN auction set--I promise!

Finally--riding!

Despite being a week overdue our long anticipated family Mother's Day Ride was a big success. This was the first time we've all ridden together as a family. When I met my husband, he'd never even sat on a horse. That was completely amazing to me and of course it had to be changed. I dragged him out on several trail rides and he was just starting to get the hang of it, but then... We moved and had kids and life got busy and somehow a decade had passed. Funny how that happens!

My kids can boast of a bit more riding experience, but they are far from experts. I try very hard not to be the kind of mother who forces her own interests on her children. I take my kids to the stable with me a couple times a year, but if they want to go more than that, they have to ask. Lately they have been asking. Unfortunately, the stable I ride at most is all ring and no trail. I thought it would be a lot more fun for everyone if our family ride was somewhere mountainous, so that's how we ended up renting horses at Pine Cliff Stable in Golden, Colorado.

James' mount was a small dun gelding named Festus. Despite his very grey face, the guide insisted he was only in his mid teens.
Ryan's horse was a small paint named Ed. I rode Okie and Seth was given a nice black mare named Sadie.The stable did not have any children's saddles, so both kids were riding without the benefit of stirrups. Luckily, the horses were quiet and surprisingly responsive. After a few minutes, both boys forgot that they had ever needed stirrups.We had booked a two hour ride and that was long enough to cover a lot of different terrain. We crossed a road,

rode through lots of greenery,went up and down "horse stairs", weaved our way through some big rocks,and crossed a little bit of water.We shared the trail with hikers and quite a few mountain bikers.We also crossed paths with a couple other groups of riders. Ryan's horse Ed decided he wanted to join this group, and it took some work to get him straightened out.Finally, we headed up the mountain.This picture shows the boys and our guide resting near the top. The views were incredible.I like this view even better, though!I could have stayed up there all day, but eventually we did have to head back down.My new favorite Buxton Family picture.

I know that a lot of riders look down on rental stables, but I am not one of them. This is the second time I've ridden at Pine Cliff Stables and I hope it won't be the last. I thoroughly enjoyed riding their quiet, well cared for horses over such beautiful countryside!

Jumper faces

As much as I love hunters, I have to admit that their tack is pretty boring. Nearly every horse at a big hunter show will wear a bridle that looks like this. It will have a raised browband and caveson, laced reins and some sort of snaffle bit. Occasionally you will see a pelham bit, but this is not the place for individuality. The name of the game is fitting in, not standing out.Fortunately, this is not the case in the jumper ring! Jumpers are scored rather than judged, so turnout can run the gamut from traditional hunter style elegance to walk on the wild side individuality. Here are some of the looks I spotted today while watching the Children/Amateur jumper class at the High Prairie Spring Preview II show.

This cute horse almost looks like a hunter--except for that blue flybonnet! Here's another horse with a hunter type bridle--in this case it's the draw reins (and the too long to braid mane) that give him away.Unlike the previous two horses, everything about this grey horse's bridle screams jumper. He has the bling-y browband, a figure eight noseband, a three ring bit with bit guards, rubber reins and a running martingale.This cute little paint is wearing a bridle with fleece covered cheekpieces. These work a bit like blinkers on a race horse. They block the horse's backward vision and (hopefully) help him focus on the jumps in front of him. He is also wearing a pelham bit with a bit converter and rubber reins.Here's another full blown jumper style bridle. Note the bling-y brow, figure eight noseband and gag bit which has been properly equipped with two reins.Lastly, here's a jumper in a English type hackamore. Alison Bennish sells this kind of hackamore cheek piece in model scale. I'm pretty sure I have a pair in my parts and pieces box. It's high time I get those out and make them into something!

Today's Plan B

For the second time in the space of a week, I had to cancel my riding plans. This time the weather was perfect, but there were insurmountable scheduling issues at both the places where I usually ride. Very frustrating! I thought briefly about staying home and putting the finishing touches on my NAN auction tack package. That probably would have been the smart thing to do, but I had my heart set on being around horses. I checked the Colorado Horse Park website to see if there were any horse competitions going on there today. Finally, I was in luck! I grabbed my camera, jumped in the car and headed out to Parker.Today was day two of the High Prairie Spring Preview II Show. This is a big multi day Hunter/Jumper show with lots of good things to watch. I started at the main hunter ring,

moved over to the hunter schooling ring,then made my way over to the big jumper field,

and ended my show day watching a fiercely contested Children's/Adult jumper class before heading home. I took about a million photos--such fun!
This was an awfully good Plan B and made up nicely for today's missed riding opportunity.
Tomorrow, however, is my family's make up Mothers Day trail ride, and the third time had better be a charm. Playing horse show photographer was fine for today, but I really do want to ride a horse before the week is through!