Any hunter/jumper/dressage folks here?

[FallDownGoBoom]

Anyone else making the switch to skating from equestrian? Or combining the two?

I'm a former longtime hunter/jumper rider who later made the transition to dressage, then gave up horses completely. It's really something telling myself it's OK to lean into circles. And I don't have to use the whooooolllllle arena. ...

[TashaKat]

Yep, I have my own horse but she's still very green. I do have a dressage trainer and we will be competing at some point :)

I also did ballet and dance which although it helped skating in some ways also hindered it in lots of others :) I found that dance affected my skating more than riding did though (apart from falling off jumping and breaking my ribs and falling off jumping and wrecking my ankle ... they affected my skating :D).

Oh, and you do still have to use the whole arena eventually :)

[Scarlett]

Yep Me too. I absolutely hated dressage but hunter/jumper events was my life for many years. I have found that riding has absolutely killed my turn out (I had the idea of turning my feet IN for all of my formative years). My riding background does help with the arch in my back though. I haven't ridden for years but would love to get back into it. I just need to lose some weight first.

Here's to really expensive sports!

[VegasGirl]

I too have a hunter/jumper background... had to do dressage for testing but never really enjoyed it much.

Have never even thought about whether one helped or hindered the other but rather have always seen both as seperate ventures. If anything I'd say the dressage background hindered the skating a tad because of the stiffness and lack of expression... I find skating, especially artistic, much more fluid, soft and expressive.

But yes, you should still use the whooollle arena aehh rink. :)

[Skate@Delaware]

does it count if I did barrel racing when I was a teenager???? I never competed though because I had to get a summer job. I did enter a few shows in Western Show (didn't win but had a blast!!!).

although I do admit that was quite a few years ago :lol:

I had to remind myself that i used to do that when I started jumps on ice...just to say I was a little more daring in my youth (not to mention all the times I got bucked off....)

[MusicSkateFan]

I was raised riding American Quarterhorses. I showed in western pleasure, western riding, trail, horsemanship, reining. I also did barrel racing and pole bending......yeee hah! I competed across NY state mostly and several times in Toronto at the Quarterama (large Quarterhorse show).

My dad still rides reining horses in the NRHA and has done very well as of late in the non-pro division.

I have done some jumping for fun...I appreciate the immense training it takes for horse and rider in any equestrian discipline!

[Mrs Redboots]

My niece is in the UK under-21 Dressage team (and finished the highest-placed British rider in the European Championships last summer), but while I can, and do enjoy horses, I don't ride.

Skating is cheaper than dressage, but in many ways, from what my niece tells me, dressage and ice dance are very similar, except that they call the free dance the kur!

[Miss_Kate]

Yup, I used to ride/train Tennessee Walking and other gaited horses. Suffice it to say, the idea of actually using my arms for balance in skating is not going well. ;)

[TashaKat]

dressage and ice dance are very similar, except that they call the free dance the kur!

Done properly they are :) I especially love Classical Dressage (think the Spanish Riding School) which even has the 'jumps' and 'spins' at the haut ecole level :) They also do 'pas de deux' in dressage which is wonderful to watch when the riders are of a high standard.

Well done to your niece, Annabel, that's quite an achievement :D

[Mrs Redboots]

Done properly they are :) I especially love Classical Dressage (think the Spanish Riding School) which even has the 'jumps' and 'spins' at the haut ecole level :) They also do 'pas de deux' in dressage which is wonderful to watch when the riders are of a high standard.Beautiful, yes.

Mind you, the first year I competed at Bracknell, my mother came to watch, and her comment was, "It's just like the pony club. I've no doubt that the judges know what they're looking for, but I don't!" And then in quite a large solo dance class, one of the men got bronze. "Oh," she said, "Exactly like the pony club - they always try to give the boys a medal if they possibly can, to encourage them to come back!"

Well done to your niece, Annabel, that's quite an achievement :DYes, we are very proud of her. But we are also proud of her brother, who has special needs, but is a lovely lad, whatever!

[FallDownGoBoom]

The riding background is helping my skating. (Well, as much as my skating can be helped.) I know better than to expect great things right away. I could work circles all bloody day and not get bored. I'm enjoying concentrating on the very minute details, just as in dressage.

[TashaKat]

I could work circles all bloody day and not get bored.


LOL, how true! Even when you're not doing circles you're doing parts of circles ... :lol:

[Beccapoo2003]

Yup, grew up riding Hunters and Jumpers and a little bit on Dressage. Me thinks it hurts the turn out a bit because as you grow up with all those hours in the saddle the hips tend to develop with more of a turn in! But I agree that the perfection Dressage demands helps you to understand skating a bit more.
Geez, does that make sense?
Luv it all!
Becca

[VegasGirl]

Now that makes sense and would explain why I have trouble opening up my hips!