Riding well in the hunter/jumper ring is a puzzle of position, pace, balance, bend, line, and distance. The winner is the one who can put the pieces together so that each one is in its correct place at the right time.
When we spend time schooling one piece of the puzzle, such as position, we allow it to become a habit, something we naturally do without much thought. Once these good habits are established, we can focus on other pieces of the puzzle, effectively putting all the parts in the right place, one at a time.
But if some pieces of the puzzle are ignored for too long, bad habits can quietly develop. We spoke with two trainers to find out what they see as the most common bad show ring habits, why we do them, and how we can transform them into good riding.

Meet Our Experts
Patty Stovel of Chester Springs, Pennsylvania, trained with George Morris and in her final junior year was second in the AHSA Medal Finals in Harrisburg on a four-year-old horse that she had trained. She has brought along many successful hunters and jumpers, with her most notable successes being in the International Hunter Futurity, in which she amassed eight championships over the years. She later became the highest placed American rider (13th) at the 1994 World Equestrian Games. In 1996, Stovel won the first Olympic trial and ended up 8th overall in the bid for the Olympics.
Laurel Tinney, a trainer at Grazing Fields Farm in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts, completed an accomplished junior career under the tutelage of such professionals as Frank Madden, Bill Cooney, Paul Valliere, and Jim Toon. Since turning professional in 1996, she has successfully competed hunters and jumpers. As a trainer, she has coached juniors and adults in the hunters, jumpers, and equitation. She has been a part of many winning combinations, including ribbon winners at the National Pony Finals, the Medal and Maclay Finals, and the New England Finals.

Bad Habit #1: In a Hurry
Even the most laid-back rider can become a bundle of nerves at a horse show. That anxiety very often leads to feelings of being pressured and rushed, causing us to hurry through the course. Stovel reminds us that nervousness is not conducive to a good ride. She says, “If the rider is nervous and gets in a hurry, then the horse usually gets nervous and in a hurry. But if the rider is relaxed and takes a deep breath, the horse will, too.”
She feels that many riders also forget why they’re at a show in the first place. “This is your time in the ring, your time to shine and show the judge what you can do,” she says. “You’ve paid for that time, so get your money’s worth and make good use of it. Within reason, you’re allowed to take the time you need to prepare before you take that first jump. The judge is watching, so take your time to make it a good performance.”
Make it a habit to always be ready when it’s your time to ride. As you walk in the ring, take a moment to get your bearings, see where the judge is sitting, and glance at each jump so you’re sure you know how the course is oriented. This time is also valuable for your horse, who can get a good look around the ring and avoid a possible spook later in your ride. If you’re performing in an indoor, these few moments also give his eyes time to adjust to the dimmer lighting.

Bad Habit #2: Poor Opening Circle
Whether they’re in a hurry or aren’t thinking ahead, many riders don’t put enough focus on a good opening circle. This is the time to prepare your horse for the ride by getting him in front of your leg, packaged in an appropriate frame, and going at the right pace. Failure to accomplish those tasks before your first jump puts you far behind the competition.
Tinney puts it this way, “In your opening circle, you want to test your gas pedal and then test your brakes. That means you get up to the right pace and then you organize the pace; get the horse in front of your leg and then organize that energy.” In the hunters and equitation, you’re being judged from the moment you walk in the ring, so your opening circle is also an excellent time to demonstrate your horsemanship skills with invisible aids and a correct riding position.
Sometimes it can be hard to know what the best pace is. Tinney advises, “Start with a little more pace than you think you’ll need. More often than not, you begin the course with a single jump, so you can start with a little more pace than you need and then let the horse ease back into the correct pace. That’s much easier than having to push him forward into more pace if you find you don’t have enough.”

Bad Habit #3: Inconsistent Pace
A poor opening circle sets you up for another bad habit: inconsistent pace. Judges look for a consistent pace throughout the course, not only because it looks better, but also because it’s easier for your horse to find the distances and jump in correct form. Maintaining the same pace from start to finish is good riding.
Tinney finds that many riders approach the first jump too slowly, then finish too fast as the horse naturally picks up speed throughout the course. She says, “I think it happens more often with novices and beginners. They start out tentative, which shows up with a weak first jump. Then they gain pace with each consecutive jump.”
Once you’ve established the correct pace with your opening circle, she says, “You want to control that pace and maintain it throughout the course. Make sure that every time you land, you reestablish the correct pace. If you notice your pace has changed, correct it right away and get organized before you get to the next jump. It might be okay to have one jump that’s off your ideal pace, but things can snowball and fall apart very quickly if you allow the pace to continue to increase.”
Tinney suggests an exercise for helping riders establish the good habit of consistent pace, “Set up a line and a forward jump, then create a course that begins and ends on that same line. When you start your course, take the normal number of strides on that line. But when you take that line at the end of the course, add in one stride to get some collection and control your pace.”

Bad Habit #4: Cutting Corners
So often, we get in the show ring and complete the course with all our attention on the jumps. But the lines between the jumps are just as important as the fences themselves. Those few strides between landing and take-off are your opportunity to rebalance your horse, regulate your pace, correct your horse’s bend, adjust your riding position, and so many other tasks essential to getting the next jump just right. Why cheat yourself out of a few extra strides to get all that done? We do just that when we cut our corners and don’t use all of the arena.
To help her students develop the good habit of riding a straight line to the end of the ring before turning to the next line, Tinney uses the following exercise, “I put a line in the center of the ring and put a jump standard, a cone, or a ground pole at the end of the line. Practice keeping your eye up and riding a straight line to the end of the ring and ride around that object. Use that time to re-organize before you turn the corner; don’t just let your horse barrel around the turn,” she says.
“You can also set a gymnastic, a line, or even a single jump in the center of your ring so you can land and go either left or right. When you land, get organized before you choose to turn left or right. And don’t let the horse choose, either,” she laughs. “Another great exercise is to set a single jump in the center of the ring and after you land, do a downward transition to trot and then leg-yield off your new inside leg. This helps if your horse is falling one way or the other. If you land and your horse is diving to the left, leg-yield off the left leg to the right.”

Bad Habit #5: Jumping Off-Center
Once in awhile in the jumper ring, a rider will choose to take a fence on one side or the other for speed, but for the most part, it’s correct form to take jumps on a perpendicular line and in the center of the jump. In the hunters and equitation, anything less is penalized. Stovel says, “It’s important to ride a line that is from the center of one jump to the center of the next jump, not from one corner to the other corner.”
“A lot of it is being aware of which side of the jump you’re jumping,” Tinney says. “All horses have a side they tend to drift to. Be aware of your own horse’s issues and ride in a way that compensates for that so you ride the middle of the jump. Your horse is not going to jump up and stay round if he’s darting off to one side. It can also change the striding.”
Getting your horse into the habit of straightness includes lateral work to strengthen his weak side. “You can also put a rail on each side of the jump to guide you to the center like a chute so the horse has to go down the middle,” says Tinney.
It’s especially clear if a horse jumps off center when he goes through a bending line. Tinney explains, “Set up a bending line so you can ride it in both directions and if you come in from the left, you bend left; if you come in from the right, you bend right. Practice doing it with the same number of strides and riding the same track in both directions.” If the striding is different in each direction, you aren’t jumping the middle of both jumps.

Building Good Habits
Bad habits can easily creep into our riding without our notice, which is one reason it’s important to work with a professional once in awhile. An educated eye on the ground can recognize those changes in your riding before they become ingrained habits that can be difficult to correct. Once you’ve identified your bad habits, spend some time once a week doing exercises that will make correct riding a good habit.