Such names as Dark Sky and Easier Said may be familiar to show hunter followers because they’re regularly seen collecting blue ribbons at the highest-level U.S. Equestrian Federation-recognized competitions. But they also lead something of a double life.

These award-winners are registered Quarter Horses who crossed over from American Quarter Horse Association shows to U.S. Equestrian Federation-rated competitions.

Bill Ellis and David Connors, who train and show Carol Stillwell’s Dark Sky and Easier Said, note that the two horses are “poster children” for crossing over.

Dark Sky, 6, (Skys Blue Boy–Too Dark, Full Pocket) was green working hunter champion at the All American Quarter Horse Congress (Ohio) in 2004 and qualified and competed at the Devon Horse Show & Country Fair (Pa.) this year. Easier Said, who competes as Dominant Lord in AQHA shows (Petite Lord–My Time To Shine, Red Wing Bold), has earned multiple championships on the HITS Ocala (Fla.) circuit and is also an AQHA World Champion in senior working hunter and hunter hack.

Wrapped In Red, now deceased, was famous for excelling in both rings. The red roan was the 1996 USEF National Champion second year green hunter for Rolling Acres Show Stables (Md.) and earned many championships in Florida and at the fall indoor shows. He returned to his Quarter Horse roots throughout his career to compete and win (in 1997) at the Quarter Horse Congress, the largest single-breed horse show in the world.

Historically, the USEF and AQHA hunter rings have been at cross-purposes. While USEF-style trainers focus on forwardness and a 12-foot stride for jumping fences, Quarter Horse trainers want their horses collected, soft in the bridle and slow? so slow that most hunter under saddle horses do not show over fences. The Quarter Horses that compete successfully over the jumps are not typically shown on the flat.

But change is afoot in the Quarter Horse ring. The AQHA leaders appear ready to move away from the outdated image of a western horse in English tack, and they’re prepared to retrain judges to appreciate a more head-up, forward moving horse.

And USEF-recognized judges are eager to help, by serving as specialized judges at top Quarter Horse shows, and by educating AQHA-carded judges on what to look for in the hunter division, particularly over fences.

Achieving A Modern Look
Yesteryear’s “English pleasure” horse was a sped-up version of a western pleasure horse. His trot was slightly faster and the canter stride might lengthen, but he didn’t look like a horse capable of jumping fences or carrying a rider in the open, over uneven terrain.

Today an AQHA hunter under saddle horse at Congress or the World show is 16 hands or taller and travels with long, sweeping strides. He carries his poll slightly above the wither level, with his nose slightly in front of the vertical. The Quarter Horse is still more “framed up” than a USEF hunter, but he displays impulsion, expression, and correct movement.

Although it will take years for this shift in presentation to trickle down to the local show circuit, it’s already breathed life into the Quarter Horse hunter ring, where the under saddle entries are swelling and there’s increased interest in showing over fences.

“Our horses have gotten so much better, but there’s still a long way to go,” said AQHA judge Carla Wennberg. “These horses have the ability to jump well and to move well, but we want to frame them up because that’s what we’re used to.”

Breeders and trainers developing Quarter Horses for the hunter division now focus on producing tall, leggy, rhythmic animals.

According to Wennberg, horses like that simply cannot move as slow or as collected as a western pleasure horse.

“These horses move big and have a lot of rhythm and gait,” she explained. “If we’re going to breed 17-hand horses, we need to let them move out.”

The AQHA is responding to this issue by focusing on the show ring. “We’re trying to get these horses to the typical hunter style in all of our classes and to change the way that the classes are being judged,” said Alex Ross, AQHA executive director of judges. “We recognize that our hunter is a little different from the typical [or USEF-style] hunter horse, but we want to change the presentation a little, and we think the exhibitors are recognizing that.”

According to Ross, the goal isn’t to replicate the USEF-style hunter, but rather to modernize the presentation of the Quarter Horse hunter. Ross emphasizes that the training of a Quarter Horse is often different because of the multiple classes and divisions in which he competes.

“Quarter Horses are known for their versatility,” he said. “That’s one reason why our style of hunter is slightly different than the USEF type. Our horses may not just do the equitation over fences or working hunter; they may come back and do the western horsemanship, trail, or other classes in other divisions.”

Hunter Clinics for AQHA Judges
Quarter Horse trainers, exhibitors, and judges excel in the western discipline, which is why the Quarter Horse industry sets the standard and drives the trends for all other stock-type breeds in the show ring. But this preoccupation with western-style training has been partly to blame for the artificial, overly collected style of the AQHA hunter.

The annual AQHA judges’ seminar is reeducating Quarter Horse judges by teaching them about hunters–under saddle and over fences. By bringing in USEF R-rated judges like Shane George, the AQHA hopes to grow its carded judges’ expertise in an area where many of them lack experience.

George has partnered with Wennberg to lead the judges’ workshops on hunters and jumpers. Wennberg grew up in Southern Pines, N.C., foxhunting and showing over fences, and George has shown hunters and jumpers in the Quarter Horse ring, so both clinicians are positioned to bridge the gap between the two worlds.

Wennberg and George emphasize quality of movement over frame. “We show a videotape of a Thoroughbred on the flat, with his head up, and he’s a brilliant mover, and we ask, ‘Why can’t the Quarter Horse go down the rail like this?’ It’s a balanced horse, it’s steady in frame,” she explained.

For the over fences classes, they discuss pace, rhythm and form. “Hunters have a higher head set and more pace, and a lot of Quarter Horse judges don’t know what to do with that,” said George. He shows the judges videos of hunters cantering between fences on course, to demonstrate the pace and momentum required to meet the jumps with athleticism and style.

“When the fences get to 3’6″, you have to be moving forward; you can’t be loping down there,” added Wennberg. “That’s a very important thing to fit into the judge’s thought process. It means going back to the canter between the fences and looking at that.”

She and George also explain good form over fences. “A lot of Quarter Horses that move on the flat with a really flat knee have a looser form over fences; they don’t fold all that tightly,” she explained. “Judges need to recognize a horse that really jerks its knees and uses its back, a horse that really uses himself all the way around the course.”

The Quarter Horse hunter still must exhibit a high degree of obedience. “We want them to look like an amateur [exhibitor’s] horse all the time,” she said.

According to Wennberg, the judging is catching up. But bringing in USEF horses, riders and trainers can speed the process. “If you want to be a great hunter rider, who do you work with to be the best?” she asked. “You work with the hunter people, of course.”

She values the presence of USEF judges at the AQHA seminars. “At the judges’ seminar last December, we had 40 judges and six were USEF judges [applying for their specialized status],” she said. “We let them do a lot of the talking, and it was very helpful to hear their perspective.”

Specialized Judges
Since 1996 the AQHA has allowed USEF judges to apply for a restrictive or specialized judging card to judge classes in their area of expertise: hunters and jumpers. The specialized judges program also allows National Reining Horse Association and National Cutting Horse Association judges to judge classes in their area.

The program is designed, in part, to attract owners of Quarter Horses to exhibit their animals in the AQHA ring as well as at recognized hunter, reining or cutting horse competitions. But it also encourages quality judging in these events.

The judge application process is lengthy and rigorous, and includes multiple committee approvals before the applicant is invited to sit for the judge’s exam. The examination process involves a rulebook test, judging of live and video classes, a written test of one class, and an interview. All applicants are ranked against their peers, with the top-scoring individuals gaining approval.

USEF judges already have a full calendar, but many of them are eager to apply for AQHA specialized judging status. “I thought it would be fun,” said R-rated judge Sue Ashe, of Wellington, Fla., who intends to pursue her AQHA card. “I’ve done every major horse show in the U.S. and Canada, so the Quarter Horse shows are the only ones I haven’t done.”

Patrick Rodes, USEF R-rated judge, course designer and show manager, lives near Dallas, Texas–major Quarter Horse country. His wife had shown jumpers at the AQHA World Show, and Rodes wanted to judge hunter, jumper and equitation classes at local-level shows.

At AQHA shows in most areas of the country, jumping classes have fewer entries than other classes, so hiring a specialized judge just for those events is cost prohibitive. At the Congress and World Shows, however, bringing in a specialized judge for hunters, jumpers, and equitation over fences has become the norm. At that level of competition, many Quarter Horse hunters and jumpers are ridden by USEF exhibitors or catch-ridden by A-circuit professionals who have successfully adapted their style to the AQHA ring.

Critics of the changes in hunter judging believe that inviting USEF judges into the Quarter Horse ring will not have a long-term effect on the industry because they usually judge only the largest shows. But in Quarter Horse-rich areas like Texas, USEF judges like Rodes are having an impact and are getting more and more Quarter Horse judging jobs.

“Basically, we all try to judge the same thing,” stated George.

He recommends that USEF judges attend a few Quarter Horse shows before applying for their card. Because it’s a breed show, there are specific rules that apply. Judging a Quarter Horse show is similar to a USEF-recognized competition; they just need to experience it.

George also sees ways for judges to collaborate and learn on the job. “We ought to invite USEF judges into the ring at a larger AQHA show and let them pin an under saddle class and share their card, even if it doesn’t count. It would be very educational to let the USEF judges do that alongside the AQHA judges, and then explain their differences, if any. It could be done as a demo or seminar-type situation during the horse show,” he said.

Quarter Horse judges are receptive and willing to learn, but they “have to have good examples of what to look for, so they can adapt their system to judging a slightly different type of horse,” said George.

Crossover Creates Progress On Both Sides
When USEF R-rated judge Rob Bielefeld officiated over fences at Quarter Horse Congress (Ohio) in the early ’90s, the quality of the horses and their rounds were very good. But Bielefeld said today “the quality is so much better. The jumps are the same and the rings are the same [as an A-circuit competition]. It’s real jumps and real strides, so you have to have a horse with some scope and talent in order to compete.”

As the AQHA show ring evolves, the Quarter Horse world and the USEF ring benefit. Quarter Horse shows become more inviting to hunter and jumper riders, but Quarter Horses can be more competitive in USEF shows as well.

Patrick Rodes, Argyle, Texas, manages about 16 A-rated USEF shows a year, many of which are frequented by Quarter Horse trainers and exhibitors. “They come over and do some of our shows to tune up or get ready for Congress or the World,” he said.

Crossover serves both sides of the hunter industry. For the owner of a Quarter Horse hunter, it means more shows to attend, more prizes to win, and increased value for the horse.

“In this area it certainly makes a hunter horse more valuable to have Quarter Horse papers and some points, so you see people crossing over,” he added.

Rodes, who serves on the USEF Licensed Officials Committee, hopes to learn from the AQHA.

“It’s been interesting to be on that committee–where we’re looking at what we can do to improve judging and the licensing of judges–and then to see a different organization,” he explained. “It helps to compare what the Quarter Horse and the Paint people are doing, and see what works there, and if it could work for the USEF.”