In the USEF rulebook, the specifications for hunter breeding classes are spelled out quite succinctly: “Breeding classes are judged on conformation, way of moving, quality, substance, soundness and suitability to become [a hunter].”

But that simple goal seems to have become much more complicated. Few of the names that lead the hunter breeding year-end standings ever show up in results of over-fences classes. And most of the stars in the performance divisions never showed on the line. If the hunter breeding division is meant to be the breeding ground for top hunters, the connection seems to be missing.

“There’s an obvious gap–it doesn’t take a genius to see it. I think it’s broadened, and hopefully we’ve seen the peak of it,” said trainer Oliver Brown. “The hunter breeding divisions are not as strong as they were, and there’s no real reason for it. There are more horses out there than ever.”

Tish Quirk, who stands stallions and breeds young horses for the show ring at her Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., farm, is a staunch supporter of the breeding divisions, and she helped bring about the bi-coastal judging of the Sallie B. Wheeler National Hunter Breeding Championship this year.

“I don’t buy the argument that the horse who shows and wins on the line is a horse that isn’t built to be an athlete, or that showing on the line is bad for their future career,” said Quirk. “They are horses that are built to do the job. The best in the hunter breeding should be able to be the best in the performance divisions.”

So where is the system failing?

They Should Be Looking For Athletes
Brown, who shows both horses and ponies on the line, and trains them for performance careers, thinks that the problem lies in judges placing more value on looks than on athleticism.

“I feel like more emphasis is put on movement than on attributes that are required for them to go on and be performance animals. No one can predict what an animal can do. But at the same time, if what you want is a pretty statue that doesn’t have the movement that you’d look for in a performance animal, then why don’t we just change the title of what we’re doing. ‘Hunter breeding’ should mean that we’re breeding hunters,” he said.

Randy Mullins, an R-rated hunter breeding judge, maintains that he keeps the future in mind when evaluating young horses on the line.

“I think that you should be looking at the stars of tomorrow, and I think that if a colt isn’t as filled out or as heavy as he will be, that shouldn’t be a deterrent to winning. You should be able to see that he’s going to be a beautiful 5- or 6-year-old, as opposed to being a 2-year-old who’s so fat he can barely trot, and by the time he’s 4 he’s going to be a pasture potato somewhere,” he said.

“If I’m judging the hunter breeding, I take a lot into consideration. I try to pin the horse who shows the best prospect to be a good hunter,” Mullins continued.

And he believes that the lack of continuity between the breeding and performance divisions is more a numbers game than an indication of quality.  “Of all the horses that get started, all over, it’s only a small percentage of them who become quite successful. I don’t think it has so much to do with the breeding division as it does with the nature of young horses. You can start with 10 horses, and sometimes only two turn into nice horses, whether they’ve been breeding division horses or not,” he said.

It’s All In How You Treat Them
Quirk thinks that the challenge lies not necessarily with the horses, but in the people around them. “There are people who focus on showing in the hunter breeding and enjoy doing that, and then when those horses age out of that division, they kind of lose interest in them.

“It’s not that the well-built conformation horse can’t do the job,” continued Quirk. “I think it’s more a matter of whether the people who have them are going on with them.”

Quirk pointed out that January’s Best was undefeated while showing on the line. He was consistently in the top 10 nationally in the hunter breeding divisions as a 2- and 3-year-old before moving on to a spectacular career as a first year, second year and regular working hunter.

“He’s one example of a very well-managed horse who was successful in both. I think that’s a key–the management. There are horses that don’t make the transition, but it may be the choice of the owners and their particular interests. Perhaps they prefer to move them right into a breeding program, or maybe they sell them to an amateur who chooses to stay in the unrated divisions. So few of them get into the hands of the people who can take them to the top of the big divisions.

“Some of the hunter-breeding owners are people who, for one reason or another, aren’t going to ride. So, showing the on-the-line babies is very fulfilling for them. But when they age out, they’re kind of lost as to what to do with them, unless they have a good trainer ready to take over the performance reguirements of a young horse,” said Quirk.

Management is a key issue as well for Dowell “Junior” Johnson, who’s been showing horses on the line in Virginia for decades. “I think that a lot of the time, people use them too hard when they’re young, so they break down. They put so many miles on them, running up and down the road chasing points.

“It’s hard on the babies, and a lot of them you don’t see after their 2-year-old year, because they can’t take it,” he said. “When you keep them on the road day and night, it’s going to have an impact on their performance later on.”

Ed Minchin knows what it takes to develop a youngster into a winner on the line and over fences. Graduates of his training include The Wizard, Zoom and Mandrake, all of whom won on the line and in the ring.

“I think where people get into problems is when they have an on-the-line horse, they baby it. They never turn it out, and the horse physically doesn’t develop as a normal horse would. And when they’re kept confined, it affects their mental attitude as well,” he said. “I always treated my horses like normal horses and got them fit.”

Quirk couldn’t agree more. “I absolutely do not believe in over-fed, stall-raised hunter breeding horses. They still need to go outside and gallop around like any other young horse,” she said.

Asking More And More
Brown has ushered John Kelly Jr.’s Absolut Magic from winning the USEF national 2-year-old hunter breeding championship in 2004, to winning the International Hunter Futurity East Coast Regional 3-year-old grand championship over fences this summer.

“Who knows how far he will go? But that’s what we all should be striving for,” said Brown.

And while Absolut Magic showed extensively in his 2-year-old year on his way to the national title, he showed on the line only five times this year in addition to his futurity win.

Brown acknowledges that Absolut Magic has shown a lot as a young horse. “But he can do it. Is every horse going to be able to handle that? I doubt it. But you have to treat each one as an individual,” he said.

But an owner used to winning with a young breeding horse will usually have to wait a while to reap rewards in regular over-fences divisions. “If they age out of the hunter breeding at 3, then how much are you really going to do with them as 4-year-olds?” said Quirk.

“I usually show them a couple of times as 4-year-olds, take them to the regional hunter futurity, and play with them a bit. But depending on the horse, they might not even show that much as a 5-year-old. Now, that’s a long time to be supporting a horse and not showing it much. That’s fine with me, but some people might not have the patience. It’s a lot of years of commitment with no glory.”

The International Hunter Futurity com-petitions were developed in the late ’80s to give young horses a place to compete on equal footing. And they’ve been the springboard for some successful careers. But some point out that the futurities, with their 3- and 4-year-old sections, might be getting too competitive.

“It used to be, when the futurities started, a young horse could trot his changes, make a few mistakes, and still do well,” said Johnson. “Now, they have to be perfect to win. They have to be little show horses, not young horses.”

“We do have a tendency to start them a little early to do the futurities, to be the best 3-year-old over fences, and consequently that will take a little toll. Sometimes, it is detrimental to their long-range career,” agreed Mullins.

“The tough thing with young horses is maintaining a level of excellence. It’s easier to get them to a point in training and performance than to keep them at that level,” said Brown. “I hear people saying that three-foot is too high for a 3-year-old. But a generation ago, they showed 3-year-olds over 3’6″. But then, they also didn’t have an opportunity to show as much as we do now. I think maybe we try to get them too automated too soon because there’s so much to do.”

The Judging Has To Get Better, Not The Horses
Regardless of what kind of horses are standing in the ring, the true determining factor in the direction of the hunter breeding division is the judges. And many are concerned that the judging standards aren’t what they should be.

“It’s hard to get people to judge the breeding divisions who know what they’re looking for,” said trainer Ed Minchin. “They’re aren’t enough breeding shows to support a big pool of judges, but that’s what we need.”

The 2005 USEF roster of licensed officials lists 96 hunter breeding judges, but only about half of them judge actively.

Dowell “Junior” Johnson agrees. “I do get frustrated sometimes. We need more people who have good eyes for conformation. I see the same judges over and over, and you need new faces to see you horses to judge them effectively. If a judge has seen your horse at three horse shows that year, he’s not really going to give you horse a chance. He thinks he knows what your horse looks like.”

Oliver Brown believes that judging priorities must change. “When the judges begin putting more importance on movement, things will improve. I see that as the biggest problem–pinning looks over movement. Why can’t you have looks and movement together?” he said.

“Let’s say you come in the ring, and you have a very pretty individual, but it’s just not a mover. Then, there’s another one that’s not the prettiest, but it floats over the ground. You have to reward the horse you’d want to ride, the athlete,” said Brown.