After reading Lila LaVigne’s Letter to the Editor “Jumpers Are Just Plain Better” (April 11, p. 58), I decided to tackle the topic: What does it take to be a hunter rider?

The letter I mentioned seems to have raised that question in a lot of people’s minds. So, here goes.

People often don’t realize that being a good hunter rider is challenging and a lot of hard work. It’s a lot like ballet: form and style are both very important.

It’s no secret that it takes great finesse to ride the hunters. And, to some people, the fact that someone passes judgment on every fence you and your horse jump isn’t an easy thing to take.

Fortunately, most of the time a professional hunter trainer can help a person with just a little talent and basic skills become a decent hunter rider. That means, for instance, bringing out the finesse of seeing a distance and carrying a one-speed rhythm around a course, which makes for a smooth hunter round.

Sure, sometimes (but not often) someone seems to lack the ability to become a hunter rider. In those rare cases, a trainer needs to tell the rider that he or she has no natural talent and, perhaps, suggest he or she try the lower jumpers. In those classes, getting a little deep or long to a jump isn’t the end of the world.

I am by no means saying that riding jumpers is any easier than riding hunters. In fact, jumpers are the more difficult of the two sports at many levels when ridden correctly. And some people even do a very good job of riding both the hunters and the jumpers.

Ms. LaVigne also objected to having to wait for some hunter divisions to finish before horse shows could start certain jumper classes. Well, delays happen at bigger shows, where several rings are in action at once, because trainers are juggling hunter and jumper classes and horses or students in multiple arenas.

Ms. LaVigne also suggested that hunters are more expensive to keep, a statement that not everyone I’ve talked to agrees with.

I’ve had both types of horses in professional training, and I don’t think that one costs any more than the other does.

Yes, you have braiding costs for hunters but not (usually) for jumpers. And the jumpers, as a rule, win more prize money in most of their divisions. But there are two ways to look at this.

First, how many early morning flat lessons do you see jumper riders having on almost every day they show? That’s certainly an extra cost for them, so $30 for braiding doesn’t look so bad.

Second, the lower-level jumper divisions offer no prize money. At least in adult amateur, children’s and many pre-green hunter divisions, they offer a stake class with prize money. This is all at the lower levels of hunter riding.

We have many shows that also offer $1,000, $2,000, even $5,000 hunter classics for these riders. Hello, it’s 2003, and the hunters are finally getting more money! If you don’t believe me, ask around.

One way to see what it takes to make a hunter rider is to visit one of the more reputable hunter/jumper shows. Look and listen. Then, if you’re just beginning to learn the sport, make sure you go to train with someone who actually knows how to ride a hunter. I hate to hear of people getting discouraged with hunters because the person teaching them doesn’t really know what they`re doing. (And, believe me, I hear this often.)

Before choosing a trainer for yourself or your child, get some kind of resume from the trainer, plus references from people you trust. And pick a program that fits your goals and your budget.

To become a hunter rider, it is important to have a horse that can do the job. I’d recommend that you ride a horse that a reputable professional has found for you, if you`re new to the game. Then you need a good program.

Being a good hunter rider starts with good flatwork, and good flatwork starts with learning to walk, trot and canter on a horse. Then, a trainer can teach you some of the more intricate moves, like bending a horse from one side to the other, teaching a rider to feel a horse’s hind end move while keeping it’s front end straight (a feat in itself), learning to adjust your horse`s stride, bending through the corners, and making lead changes and transitions.

When it’s time to jump around a course, all these flatwork issues come into play. If riders can accomplish flatwork, not only do they develop better balance, but they also learn how to feel a horse’s mouth, which gives them the control they need to jump.

Once you have acquired those skills on the flat, you can start to learn to jump, over a single jump. I believe you either have a natural eye or you don’t, but your eye can be developed to help you get the correct distance to your jumps.

After mastering a single jump, riders should be ready for the next step, which is putting jumps together. I like to start my students with a crossrail-to-a-vertical line, then a vertical to an oxer, and finally an oxer to an oxer. Doing this right takes a lot of practice, and is why learning to ride correctly means riding more than once or twice a week, something I sometimes hear people bragging about.

The reason I start my students with this exercise is simple. The crossrail gives the rider the feeling of the horse actually leaving the ground, but not with a lot of effort. This makes them learn balance.

Horses jump over verticals a little harder, and with the oxer you get the full feeling of the horse pushing harder behind, which makes the jump higher and stronger. Once they’ve put all this together, riders have a good feeling about their horses.

Once this exercise is accomplished, I move my students on to small courses. It’s important for new hunter riders not to get discouraged. They need to remember the phrase, “If at first you don`t succeed, try, try again.”

Don’t throw in the towel and become a second-rate, low-level jumper rider, when all it might take to compete in the hunters is some better training. Learning can be frustrating, and it requires a lot of patience. But hang in there—hunters are fun!