Jumping: AMHR vs. AMHA

[Yaddax3]

So we're talking, me and this guy who shows AMHR and AMHA, and I say that I wish AMHA also would offer a timed Jumping class similar to AMHR.

And he says, "That's not jumping. In AMHA, we laugh at AMHR Jumping."

And I say, "Huh?"

He explained that real mini jumping, in his mind, was how high the horse can jump.

I explained that, in my mind, the jumping offered by AMHR is about a synergy between the horse and the handler. And that anyone can walk or trot a horse to a jump and let the horse do most, if not all the work.

Then I said we can agree to disagree.

So, I ask you. What do you think?

By the way, I've jumped in both AHMA and AMHR, done well in both and, as you can tell, prefer AMHR.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

Actually I like the way AMHA does their jumping. It shows their ability how high the horse can jump, with AMHR your just seeing who can run the fastest, and I show in AMHR! I'll be showing in AMHA for the first time this year and I'm really excited.

 

[KTS@Sawmill River]

Hmmmm.... Thats a good question....

Which do I prefer? I really do not have a preference. I have shown in both AMHR and AMHA Jumper classes and enjoy them both. I love the timed jump-offs in AMHR because it does make the class suspenseful and you really have to work to win. I also like the fact that a horse has to jump for the height in AMHA. My primary Jumping horse has won an AMHA World Champion in Jumper and has multiple AMHR National Champions in Jumper to his name, so he has made it fun for me to show in jumper in both registries.

I do agree that AMHR involves more co-operation between the horse and handler but, I believe to have a successful Jumper in AMHA, the horse has to trust its handler. The height that some jumps in the jump-offs in AMHA get to, is unbelievable! I think that it takes a lot of skill and heart for an under 34" horse to get over a 42" or 44" jump. Who knew that a mini in mid-air could be such a beautiful thing?

Its a toss-up for me!

 

[Yaddax3]

My primary Jumping horse has won an AMHA World Champion in Jumper and has multiple AMHR National Champions in Jumper to his name, so he has made it fun for me to show in jumper in both registries.

Now that's a Jumping horse!

Is it Grosshill EKs Incredible Illusion?

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

I would prefer a combo of both. I wish that at AMHR especially at Nationals the jumps were nicer, like walls, half rounds, brush boxes oxers ect.

I would prefer the courses at AMHR are a bit tougher with not so much just twisty turns like this year(but more difficult jumps) in both ability as well as visually- again especially at the National level.

I do think the AMHA class can be hard for those horses that give 100 percent however it truly gives them a chance to show how athletic they really are by how high they can jump.

I think again if AMHR had more challenging jumps and raised them higher(not just a bit higher) and made a more difficult course for the jump off then it would have the best of both worlds.

 

[KTS@Sawmill River]

Now that's a Jumping horse!

Is it Grosshill EKs Incredible Illusion?

Yes Sir!!!! :bgrin

 

[Kendra]

I don't think it's fair for my horse to lose based on my inability to run. It's supposed to be judged on his athletic ability, not mine. JMO.

 

[Relic]

We have some jumpers that have seldom been beat at the shows up here so love the AMHA jumps for heights never showed in the AMHR but there is suppose to be a show held this summer so if they offer the class our mare who we hardshipped AMHR just for that will be there she's pretty fast when she has to be as is her handler who runs marathons a few times a year so we hope to have a good time with speed at one show and height at the other...

PS

Kendra l have seen you run you looked fast to me. :bgrin

 

[susanne]

You and me both, Kendra! For this very reason, I'll leave jumping to Keith...I'll sit in the stands amd cheer them on...I've provided enough comic relief already!

 

[stormo41]

when people think of the AMHR timed jump off's and say that it;s not fair that their horse loose because they can't run fast, I think that they are forgeting there is a sience to everything.

A friend once told me about a lady who could not run fast but won many timed jump off's with her horse. Horses can be trained to make tight turns and jump with a long lead, and respond to voice comands.

 

[Devon]

I say ... AMHR .. I liek how you go clear round I would like harder courses.. and if you think about riding its not the speed its the turns you make and you cna be as long as the lead behind your horse and still win . If you trained your horse. I don't like doing AMHA style just because my horse has the heart to jump over his head for me . I just hate how hgigh they get.. hehe.

: JMO :bgrin The courses we set up at the farm are fun with roll back triple Bounce lines and fun stuff to try out. Like the jumper courses for the biggies. :bgrin

 

[midnight star stables]

I like AMHA's way... But I show AMHR. In my area, there are no AMHA shows and I have few AMHA horses... I like my 'B's.

:

 

[Kendra]

PS

Kendra l have seen you run you looked fast to me. :bgrin

That can't have been pretty! LOL! And it must've been a lot time ago! Though, I've actually been considering doing a little hunter this summer ... have the paramedics standing by!

 

[susanne]

stormo, I think y ou missed the tongues planted firmly in cheek...

 

[Sanny]

A friend once told me about a lady who could not run fast but won many timed jump off's with her horse. Horses can be trained to make tight turns and jump with a long lead, and respond to voice comands.

I can tell you about a man who does the same thing. It's my husband, who's 50, doesn't work out like he used to and yet he won AMHR Nationals Open Jumper Under by three seconds and also won Amateur Jumper Over because he and the horses make those tight turns together and use strategy and skill to do well.

I'm not a fan of AMHA, either. At an AMHA show last year, our horse jumped four rounds with the jumps going higher and higher. He put his heart into it and kept wondering why we kept making him jump over and over. I believe he felt he was doing his best every time but it wasn't good enough.

 

[Al B]

I don't think a timed jumpoff is fair to us older, heavier folks. However I have devised a plan that will make it much more fair. It's much like the handicapping in horseracing.

You take the age of the oldest person in the class and subtract the age of the younger competitor and that that is the amount of ankle weight that the younger person must carry.

For example: I am 62 so a competitor in the same class who is, say 21, would have to carry 41 pounds of weights. They could carry it all on one foot or split it up; doesn't matter.

What do you think :aktion033: :aktion033:

 

[Karen S]

Good Morning,

Don't forget you now have a "Golden Age" Jumper class for all you folks over the age of 55. I think this was a proposal submitted by one of the formum members here (Yaddax?) and was passed at the 2006 ASPC/AMHR National Convention. I do know that class will be required in the National Area show bills (Area V will have it in theirs) and is optional on the local level. So, for those of you that don't want to compete against the "Youngsters" you need to request your show managers/secretaries add this class to their line-ups at those AMHR shows you attend. You have plenty of time to get those in for this year.

Karen

 

[Jaxjag2000]

I personally prefer AMHA jumping, but they both are fun classes.

 

[mistyrose]

If you aren't going to raise the heights and base everything on speed you make it more about the fitness of the handler. Yeah you can do tighter turns etc but it still comes down to the fitness of the handler. It also gives the person showing 1 horse an advantage over the one showing 4. Our club needs those extra entries. A horse that likes to jump doesn't mind going around a few extra times.

The golden over 55 class doesn't do much to help the 50 year old.

This is a class that can over time improve the health of the exhibitor. The ones who need to get fit are less likely to try the class if its all based on speed. They have no speed starting out. I have seen youth getting fitter and thinner over the summer. To get them to start trying the class would be harder if it wasn't the horses ability to jump that won the class but the handlers speed. Because it is the handlers speed unless the class is run with the horse at Liberty with the handler standing back and using 100% verbal commands.

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

I don't think a timed jumpoff is fair to us older, heavier folks. However I have devised a plan that will make it much more fair. It's much like the handicapping in horseracing.

You take the age of the oldest person in the class and subtract the age of the younger competitor and that that is the amount of ankle weight that the younger person must carry.

For example: I am 62 so a competitor in the same class who is, say 21, would have to carry 41 pounds of weights. They could carry it all on one foot or split it up; doesn't matter.

What do you think :aktion033: :aktion033:

Ahhh Al as always a perfect solution.. I say AL B FOR PRESIDENT :aktion033: :aktion033: