Building a hunter schooling course at home can be an exciting and rewarding project. It provides your horses with the practice they need to excel in competitions and allows you to tailor the course to your specific training needs. Here's a breakdown of all the essential elements you'll need to build your schooling course:
Standards
The main element of every horse jump is the standards. In the hunter ring, standards are typically based on elements found in nature, like trees, and inspired by old fox hunting courses. Hunter standards are usually painted in neutral, natural colors, like hunter green, grays and browns.
Hunter courses at competitions are usually built with eight to twelve obstacles, meaning you will need at least eight pairs of standards, but ideally more if you want to build oxers.
When building your own hunter course at home, you’ll want lighter weight standards that are easy to move around. DJC’s aluminum stick and picket standards are perfect for this as they start at only eight pounds. They also come in a variety of common hunter colors, like brown, hunter green and white.
It’s also great to have a couple statement hunter standards in your ring so your horses are used to the common hunter standards before you go. This includes standards like DJC’s Log Ends jump, Fox Standards and Birch Jump Standards. Something great about these is that they are built with an aluminum frame, so they are still light and easy to move around even though they are fit for the show ring.
Flower Boxes
No hunter course is complete without flower boxes; virtually every jump in the hunter ring at the show will use these as a groundline. Flower boxes add visual interest and challenge to jumps; having flower boxes in your schooling course helps horses become accustomed to them.
There are two types of flower boxes you are likely to find at the horse show: turf flower boxes and regular wooden flower boxes, which are usually white or another natural color. You will want a mixture of both in your schooling ring
Hunter Walls
Hunter walls are another element typically found in every hunter jump. Depending on the height of the course, these solid walls are usually 20” tall (DJC also makes 16” and 24” walls depending on your needs) and have a natural design on them, like log ends, birch trees or turf. Having these in your jump prepares your horse to jump solid-looking obstacles that are in the show ring.
Another great way to use hunter walls for practice is setting them as stand-alone obstacles without standards. This allows you to practice straightness to jumps and more!
Natural, Birch, and Turf Jump Poles
Following the theme of other elements in hunter jump packages, jump poles come in different materials and designs to simulate various natural obstacles. Natural and birch poles provide a rustic, traditional look, while turf poles can simulate the grassy jumps often seen in show courses. These poles are essential for creating a versatile and realistic training environment.
You can also add a variety of solid colored poles to your course that can serve as top rails and groundlines. DJC’s solid poles come in every color you need for the perfect hunter jumper course– hunter green, gray, white, brown and more.
Hunter Gates
Most hunter show jumps are built with a top rail or two and then a hunter gate under the poles. The hunter gates are ladder-styled and most commonly the same color as the jump poles. These are another necessary element for hunter practice.
Another less-common hunter gate is the riviera gate. These have an arched style that is different from the normal straight design of a hunter jump. Jumps with these are either built with a pole on top or no pole. Having a rivera gate to practice over at home gives variety to your course and prepares you for all the different jumps you may see at the show.
Trot Jump
Seen in hunter handy rounds, trot jumps are a necessity to practice and can be more challenging than you think. A trot jump is a lower jump designed to be approached at a trot rather than a canter.
Many trot jumps at shows are built as logs or other natural looking elements and differ greatly from a normal hunter jump. Because of this, trot jumps can sometimes be spooky for a horse and difficult to ride– have a trot jump in your hunter course at home to practice before you go to the show!
—
Creating a hunter schooling course at home can greatly benefit your training program and prepare your horses for competition. With Dalman Jump Co.'s hunter jump packages and custom hunter jumps, you can easily set up a course that meets your training needs and helps your horses excel. Explore our selection and start building your dream course!