For many years, the European-bred warmblood has been a hot commodity in the United States.Those that arrive here aren’t all destined for the jumper ring, however. Many become top show hunters, cantering around “small” courses the Europeans scoff at, yet commanding price tags that they can’t help but notice.

So it was with an eye toward this odd foreign discipline that the German Riding Federation introduced the Fn-Hunterklasse.

It’s specified for riders over 22 years of age “who seek a pleasant competition atmosphere, an aesthetic, harmonious and solid training of the horse and rider, as well as to develop a new market for good A- and L-level horses.” It’s meant to fill a gap in competition for amateur adult riders jumping under 120cm (3’9″).

“For some time we have heard many positive things about hunters in the USA and Canada,” said Thies Kaspareit, director of the German Academy of the Horse. “And that naturally came up in many discussions we had and inspired us to consider if we could do this in Germany.

“We talked with various experts and decided it just doesn’t fit with our system of training, and that we actually don’t want it,” he noted.

But Federation officials have studied a modified version of the show hunter sport, and 2005 was the first full year of Fn-Hunterklasse.

Brightly colored standards, swirling blue rails, hot-pink flower arrangements, a jump dressed as the German flag: this doesn’t look like a hunter course. Nor do the entries�horses collected and on the bit, outfitted in colorful saddle pads to match Eskadron boots. Riders sitting deep in the saddle, dressed in flamboyant show coats.

These were the images at the inaugural finals of the 2005 Land Rover Hunter Cup in Verden, Germany. The culmination of the first year of Hunterpr�fungen in Germany reveals a discipline marked with both great enthusiasm and confusion.

A Marketing Tool
The American hunter divisions have a mixed reputation in Germany–more than one expert has sited the negative qualities of passive riders and horses with “hanging” knees.

Thomas Hartwig, director of public relations of the German Federation, described the sport as “having nothing to do with sport” and notes that the horses are considered too highly specialized.

“In Germany every year there are born nearly 40,000 warmblood horses,” he said. “One percent are top competition horses, 90 percent are normal, good horses. The kind of riding you need to do a hunter competition, in our opinion, is typical training for a normal show jumper in Germany.”

Ludwig Hecker, judge of the Hunter Cup Finals, said the Fn-Hunterklasse offers a class to “adult riders with a solid base of training, who have established their careers, decided to return to riding, and don’t have to compete against their children.”

Previously, the only classes available to adult riders were in E-and A-level classes at local shows, and these were filled with juniors.

In 2005, Land Rover sponsored the Hunter Cup, which included qualification competitions throughout Germany for the finals in Verden. This helped to give a structure to the new discipline as well as get it some attention. Each of the 12 regions offered at least two qualifying competitions, and some 1,200 riders took part. The top two-ranked riders from each region were invited to compete in the Finals, and 39 accepted the invitations.

Thomas Hartwig is also an avid supporter and participant of the Fn-Hunterklasse. He admitted the term “hunter” is more a marketing tool than a true description of the current situation. The class is designed to target middle-aged amateur riders who have a disposable income but not the time or the ambition for upper level jumpers.

“I think it’s a little bit of a marketing trick, because this competition has a new name, hunter,” he said. “In our opinion, it’s a mixture of Stilspringen [based on the rider] and Springpferdepruefung [based on the horse]. Forty percent of [the score] is on the rider, 40 percent on the horse and 20 percent for the outfit of rider and horse. It’s a market for the good, normal horses; it’s a market for education, for training and for clothes.”

Not Exactly
The German Federation is still struggling to define a Hunterpruefung. The official description resembles the image of American hunters: “The goal is a fluid, rhythmic course with a harmonious completion of the tasks as well as a polished appearance of rider and horse.”

It calls for “discrete aids and a light seat” from the rider, a “constant, rhythmic, balanced gallop, good temperament and natural movement” of the horse. Natural wood fences are recommended, and fence heights range from 80cm to 100cm (2’6″ to 3’3″). Lines are generally straight (though not necessarily on the rail), and courses must include one combination. There must be at least two changes of direction.

Distances to fences must be “normal” and should be completed in a specified amount of strides between fences. The rounds are rated in a point system of 0 to 100, and followed by a spoken commentary from the judge.

The finals in Verden revealed a different image: over-riding, deep seats, constant changes of pace, and excited horses were frequent, especially in the first day’s qualifying round.

Hecker had previously judged only two Fn-Hunterklasse competitions. The riders weren’t pinned according to a typical hunter class, and it was unclear even to competitors how the results were determined. Since the class is in its pilot phase, officials are still figuring out the judging system. There’s no such thing as a certified Fn-Hunterklasse judge, and until such a system is developed, it will be hard to regulate.

Kaspareit noted that not all of the rounds at the finals were matching what the Federation has in mind. He also indicated that the introduction of the class had initially sparked conflict.

“The show jumpers were really against it at first, but now I think they find it quite good. It is slowly starting to get established,” said Kaspareit.

Another challenge the Fn-Hunterklasse has to face is to find a committed sponsor for the series. Land Rover has withdrawn sponsorship of both its Hunter and Dressage Cups for 2006, both aimed at amateur adult riders.

The Fn-Hunterklasse is in an interesting moment of self-definition. On the one hand, there’s an interest in developing a new class for amateur adults that references American hunter sport. On the other hand, there’s a reluctance to examine the discipline beyond a superficial level.

It’s clear that lower fences and straight lines necessitate a different type of going�both for horse and rider–and that the German hunter riders could benefit by studying the quiet and easy rounds of the top show hunters in North America.

As to whether the Fn-Hunterklasse might more resemble American hunters in the future, organizers offered conflicting opinions.

Ludwig Hecker stated directly, “Yes, it certainly will.”

Others were undecided. Kaspareit said, “at the moment, there’s no majority� but if it’s about going around with long reins over small fences that the horses more raise their legs over than jump, then there will be no support.”

A replica of the American hunter scene cannot be expected, since the discipline contradicts a strong history of jumper riding in Germany, instead of evolving out of a tradition of foxhunting.

Because it’s currently restricted to amateur adult riders, it’s unlikely that it will develop into a professional sport with top trainers and riders, at least for now. Still, the idea is there.

“In America, you have professional hunters and amateur-owner hunters. I hope in the next years it will develop in Germany also, that there will be hunter classes for special ages and riders of different levels,” said Hartwig.

Anja Rietbrock, a trainer who sells hunters and ponies to the North American market, said the classes will take time to develop. She suggested that one direction the Fn-Hunterklasse could take might more resemble our hunter seat equitation classes.

“Last year it was the first year we had this kind of competition in the country, and we had nearly 130 competitions. I hope in this year to have some more,” said Hartwig.

An Addition To The System
It’s important to understand the milieu of a very regulated system of German riding and training based on dressage and show jumping.

In fact, every rider who starts at a competition must have a license that certifies that he or she has earned the Reiterabzeichnung, a series of tests in dressage, jumping and theory. Starting at Level E, the rider moves up the ranks to A, L, M and S levels.

The horse’s training is likewise established in levels. The Springpfer-depruefung was created as a basic test for young jumping horses.

“[It] is one of the secrets to German success in show jumping because every rider is forced to ride these young horses in a special, right way. If not, he will have no chance in these competitions,” said Thomas Hartwig, director of public relations for the German Riding Federation.

The riders at the finals of the inaugural Land Rover Hunter Cup in Verden were pleased with the new class and the additional opportunities they have to compete as adult amateurs.

Competitor Rita Schmidt, who placed second in the final, became interested in the discipline after her trainer had sold a horse as a hunter to the United States. She said even though her horse isn’t a typical hunter, it’s fun to train and compete in the class.

Hartwig said his fondness for the class is in part because it’s a discipline that doesn’t require constant training. “I work and cannot ride everyday but still enjoy competing,” he said.

Andrea Sturmhoefel, winner of the qualifier and final aboard Cambrica, uses the class for getting younger horses some show mileage. She said she had heard of hunters in the United States, but had never seen it.