This week we’re proud to announce that The Chronicle of the Horse will be the new title sponsor of the 2009/2010 U.S. Hunter Jumper Association International Hunter Derby Series (p. 68). This new venture is especially exciting for us at the Chronicle because we’re partnering with the U.S. Hunter Jumper Association in supporting the country’s best show hunters, a passion that we both share.
Two years ago I wrote about this fledgling program and the USHJA High Performance Hunter concept, first conceived by George H. Morris, in the article “Putting Performance First In The Hunters” (Aug. 24, 2007). Their debut derby class at Canterbury Farm in Illinois turned out to be a huge success and the beginning of a hunter resurrection.
Over the past 20 to 30 years we’ve lost that connection to the ancestors of today’s show hunter, the field hunter, who galloped and jumped over natural obstacles. And, as a lifelong hunter rider, I’ve experienced those changes first-hand from galloping around the outside courses of my youth to jumping outside, diagonal, outside at today’s horse shows.
I’m so thankful that the International Hunter Derby program has grown wings and taken off in just two short years, and I’m equally thankful to those who have worked so hard to make it happen. But most of all I’m thrilled that we’ve seen hunter riders, owners and spectators become more excited about their sport and enjoy participating in a new and more challenging format.
Traditionally, the Chronicle, which was established in 1937 as The Middleburg Chronicle, has focused on the horse show world. Among the first articles published in our inaugural year were those featuring the best show hunters of the day at the top shows, such as Llangollen’s Spring Hope, Mrs. Ellsworth Augustus’ Chatter Chat and Mrs. Howard M. Hanna’s Big John. The Chronicle has come a long way over the past 72 years—from a tabloid newspaper, to a slick magazine in black-and-white to the evolution of four-color—but throughout we’ve kept our mandate to report on the country’s top show horses and their riders and owners.
The photo shown here of Ellie Wood Page Keith Baxter, aboard the conformation hunter Jack Blandford at the 1955 Chagrin Valley Horse Show (Ohio), is a perfect example of how it used to be. Most of today’s hunter riders have never experienced anything as spectacular as galloping around a huge open field, jumping out of the ring, over hedges and out of hand. The International Hunter Derby Series allows the riders of today to go back in time and understand where our competitions began. And this program opens up tremendous opportunities for our best hunter riders and horses to showcase their talents in a whole new way.
We welcome the opportunity to participate in a program that allows us to give back to the sport that is our heritage. I hope you’ll join us in celebrating the show hunter tradition this year and beyond with the USHJA International Hunter Derby Series.
