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 Photo Courtesy of Stone Horse Farm Whether your child has just started showing in the hunter ponies or is about to age out, it’s likely that she deals with many of the same issues as other child hunter riders. Finding the right pace, keeping the best rhythm, staying on the correct track, riding the pony straight, and nailing those lead changes are among the most challenging aspects of the pony hunter ring. We spoke with two pony hunter trainers who share practical and creative ways for helping young hunter riders excel. From flatwork that incorporates jumps and exercises that build ambidexterity, to feeling the rhythm and using smiley faces to find the track, our experts help your pony hunter rider solve the five most common training problems.
Finding the Right Pace
Our experts say that many pony hunter riders struggle to maintain a good pace. The speed of the canter makes a huge difference in how the pony finds and negotiates a jump. Too slow, and there isn’t enough impulsion to jump in good form. That weak forward energy is also more likely to stall in the form of a refusal. If the pony’s pace is too fast, he is constantly trying to catch up to his balance and is far more likely to catch a rail as he literally throws himself over each fence. Neither scenario is what hunter judges like to see. Nancy Ciesluk has owned Cerulean Farm, a hunter/jumper facility in Millis, Massachusetts, for over 30 years. She showed hunter ponies extensively when she was a girl before moving on to a successful junior career. She’s been teaching hunter riders of all ages ever since.  Ciesluk says, “To help kids find the right rhythm to jump out of, I have them show me what 20 mph is and then what 30 mph is. Maybe I’ll have them do 30 mph on the long side and 20 mph on the short side or some exercise like that. If they can show me the difference in speed, then they can feel the difference. At that young age, they may not always understand the concept of counting strides, but they do understand going faster or slower.”
Once riders have established a comfortable rhythm, adding ground poles and small jumps into the exercise helps them understand how the correct pace of the canter leads the pony to the right distance at the jump. With practice, children can learn how to maintain that pace that’s just right for their own pony throughout the course.
Keeping the Best Rhythm
While pace is the speed of the canter, rhythm is the uniform regularity of the pony’s footfalls. When the pony lengthens or shortens stride, the rhythm should remain the same. It’s important that children find the rhythm that’s right for their particular pony. A rhythm that’s too fast or too slow will have much the same result as a pony with a pace that is too fast or too slow. Our experts agree that when a child has her pony in the right rhythm and the correct pace, finding the distance ceases to be a difficulty. Abbi Seley Ferrigno owns Rabbit Hill Farm in Newtown, Connecticut. She showed in the ponies and as a junior, worked her way up the ranks through equitation and the jumpers and achieving grand prix level. She’s been a trainer for about 15 years and finds great fulfillment in starting children and seeing them move up to showing at the national level. Ferrigno says, “You must have a canter that makes sense for that pony and that course. It has to have a good rhythm. When you go into the ring, you have to have a canter that allows you to count and find your jumps out of it. It has to stay the same throughout the entire course. It can’t start slow, then go fast, then slow again, then run down the line. “I think sometimes when kids worry in the ring, they change their rhythm. But once they get a feel for how that rhythm works for them and they learn how to count down to the jump in that rhythm, it makes them stay on that rhythm and it becomes far easier to find the jump.” To help your child find the right rhythm, encourage her to count with the beat of the pony’s footfalls. Perhaps as she rides she can sing a favorite song that matches her pony’s rhythm. With practice, getting her pony into that right rhythm will become second nature.
Staying on the Correct Track
Another jumping fundamental is the track that the pony takes. This is instrumental to the pony’s approach to each fence. Using all of the ring and avoiding short corners makes for a smooth and consistent ride. But it can be difficult for children to plan that far ahead while also trying to look where they want to go, which is another golden rule of riding. “They should know the track that they need to ride that will allow them to ride to the center of each jump. To help kids do that, I take short poles and put the pole just off center after the jump. When they go over the jump they have to line up the middle of the jump and ride in the air to go over the pole after the jump. Because it’s a short pole, they have to steer,” Ciesluk says. She has a fun way to help kids find the right track throughout a course. Ciesluk says, “I put smiley faces on the wall so they ride to the smiley face. I make them a nice bright color so it catches their eye. They find the middle of the next jump by lining it up with the smiley face. That keeps them riding forward and gives them a focal point to ride to.”
Nailing those Lead Changes
Swapping leads can be another difficulty for pony hunter riders. Ferrigno says, “I see kids worry about their lead changes and yanking the inside rein instead of setting the pony up properly. So many kids get perched up in their half seat around the turn and pull the inside rein. This turns the pony’s head in and allows the haunch out, which is the wrong position to take the other lead. The correct way is to balance on a straight line, press the haunch in, and change the bend.” Balance of both pony and rider is essential to performing correct lead changes. To keep her pony balanced, the rider needs to maintain a correct riding position, establish the best pace and rhythm for her pony, and then contain that forward energy by harnessing it with her leg aids and rein aids. The pony’s impulsion is funneled forward through the tunnel formed by the aids, which brings the pony into balance. Then, lead changes are more fluid and smooth.
Riding the Pony Straight
Keeping your mount straight is difficult enough for an adult rider; how tough must it be for a child? “In trying to get their pony to be straight, many kids just yank the opposite rein, which certainly doesn’t straighten a pony out because then the haunch becomes crooked,” Ferrigno says. Crookedness can be caused by many factors, including lack of impulsion, the child or the pony being stronger on one side than the other, the rider sitting off center, overuse of the inside rein, and even lameness. First, make sure the pony isn’t in pain, then go back to basics. Ferrigno says, “Going straight is having a good rhythm, the correct pace, and keeping the pony between their two hands and two legs like a tunnel.” Keeping the pony on the aids in this way naturally makes its body straight in the direction it’s going. To accomplish straightness, Ferrigno also recommends developing ambidexterity. “Everyone has one side that’s stronger than the other, and kids are no exception. Just like adult riders, they need to learn to become more ambidextrous. If a child has a very strong right side, we’ll do a lot of circle work to the left and try to get them to use both sides more equally. That way, they aren’t just yanking one rein or the other to straighten their pony.” Adding a small jump to a circle further strengthens the rider’s weaker side. Set up a small fence, maybe a foot high, on the track of the circle. Have the child ride the circle and jump the jump as she goes around each time. This gets them using the other side more, making them stronger and helping them feel more comfortable doing it. Working the pony on his weaker side will strengthen him and make him more ambidextrous, too. Don’t ignore the good side, but spend some more time on the less comfortable side.
The Importance of Flatwork
Both Ferrigno and Ciesluk agree that correct flatwork is the answer to almost any problem in the ring. Ferrigno says, “The basis of everything in the hunter ring goes back to flatwork. One of the most common problems is kids who don’t have a basic knowledge of flatwork. Unfortunately, many people in our industry have gotten away from understanding flatwork and getting proficient on the flat first before adding the jumps. “Flatwork is the basics such as learning your track, knowing the proper bend, learning the right rhythm, understanding how to feel what your pony is doing underneath you, and keeping your pony straight.” Ferrigno continues, “My kids do far more flatwork with jumps incorporated into them than they do jumping courses. We start with a flatwork exercise, then add in a jump or two or three. They’re still thinking about the flatwork but jumping jumps in the middle of that. It teaches them to be part of their pony, to ride in balance, to work out of a forward ride, a medium ride, or a collected ride.” Ferrigno also feels that part of learning the basics is learning how to ride ponies other than your own. She explains, “It’s nice to know your own pony inside and out but riding other ponies is so valuable. There are a lot of kids that only ever get to ride their own pony, and I think that’s a mistake. To be a well-rounded rider, they need to have lessons on other ponies.”
Success in the Pony Hunter Ring
The hunters, and especially the ponies, is the place where young riders establish a strong riding foundation that can carry them through successively higher levels of hunter/jumper competition. Creating good riding habits, developing a sensitive feel for the animal, and building an attitude of discipline are just a few of the accomplishments your child can bring away from this fleeting opportunity. Incidentally, those things also just happen to be requirements for winning the hunter ponies! |
