Richard Spooner-USHJA Hunter Derby HITS Thermal -Round 1

[AmberArabella]

it's SO weird watching the "master of faster" do hunters.

[AnimeFreakErica]

He has such nice Eq. He did the course beautifully. He rides well as both a Jumper and a Hunter.

[marmaramor]

All you people talking about how Richard is not so great with Equitation, let me tell you....He rode this course as a hunter rider....If any of you have EVER seen him ride around a grand prix course on APACHE, he looks like he's doing Equitation, so beautiful....I just had to comment on that. He chooses his position depending on the horse he is riding......

[mkaylen]

I am Richard's wife. OOW HOOO! I'm sure your all impressed.

I am sure you all know, Richard was a top Equitation rider as a child.

He learned from Hugo Simon that being stiff and trying to keep your body in a perfect position impedes the horses jump.

Every great rider has their own way of getting the best out of their horses. Richard does a pretty good job.

His advice to you would be; "Sometimes the most effective solution is not the most attractive, and the easier horse may not be the best."

[therealhorserider]

@mkaylen Richard is an amazing West Coast equestrian and competitor. He is kind and loving with his horses and I only wish I could ride even a smidge as good as he.

[TheLegendjumpers]

Thank you for the advice! I always figured I had to be as still as a statue! You're husband is a GOD!

[piftisha]

@mkaylen I like this idea a lot! I didn't start riding until my early 20s, and I am really struggling with attractive v. effective...Mr. Spooner is definitely an inspiration!

[meggwtw]

@mkaylen Do you know, does Richard plan on entering hunter derbies in the future? Or ever showing on the West Coast again, for that matter? :-\

[Heathervaldez]

Horsechick...my comment was in regards to YOUR extremely negative nasty comment where you were bantering on about how this guy cannot ride......which you DELETED! Contacting me personally was a bit much don't ya think? We are talking about someone elses riding and not life and death correct?

[meggwtw]

This horse is at my barn, it's Olivia Esse's equitation horse. He's (obviously) really fancy, but then again, all the Oscany horses are...really cool to see RS riding something other than a grand prix!

[SClucy]

yeah 1st like 3 jumps weren't fab...but the rest of the course was very nice:)

[tanseytangerine]

uhmm his shoulders are totally hunched.... love him as a jumper... don't get me wrong... but eq???? not so much

[luvrem]

this isnt an eq type class.....its more of a handy hunter class if anything

[Heathervaldez]

His eq is fine....whatsa matter with you crazy people??? Could yu do better? He practices where I work and I doubt that you could do it better. Thats why he is classified as "one of the best". are you??????? In fact I doubt you could stay on lol!

[horsechick6693]

Don't make assumptions of people it's rude. there are alot of great riders out there, but they don't go insulting people who can't ride. Please just leave your nasty comments to yourself.

[Heathervaldez]

he makes this look easy....buleeve me it's NOT!

[Heathervaldez]

his eq is far from terrible.....he's not a hunter, he'

s a jumper.....do you know the difference? Love to see anyone do it better.

[ohsoawesome12]

Man I love him.... he is amazing.

[SClucy]

you came on here! you dis this sport! that's totally rude when you don't know what it is, and can't even ride, Y R U EVEN ON HERE THEN! fine so every sport that stupid like football and shit i should go write fuckng bad coments on! omg hunter/jumpers and dressage are the HARDEST sports AROUND! way harder than what u do! what do u do exactly? oh right you give blowjobs on the side of the street, wow your a fab person.

[SClucy]

dude you couldn't even stay on a horse let alone jump a hunter over a 4 foot spred, so shove your stupid small dick up your boyfriends ass.

[ponyrider109]

@SClucy ok, what is wrong with you!?!??!? richard spooner is one of the most amazing riders like in the world and last time i checked, he did a grand prix course with a BROKEN FEMUR (if you dont know what that is, its the bone in your thigh) and he WON THE ROUND so you can hate all you want but he will still be thousands of times better than you at riding.

[5214428]

aparently spooner was caught kissing the video guy ''Vid'' in one of the barns on week 3!!!!!!

[Eventer13]

So do you actually ride, then? How do you have access to any information like this?

And the video guy's name is "Vid"? Now do you think he changed his name to go with his occupation, or did his mommy really, really want him to shoot videos? (That was sarcasm, if you didnt guess)

[Eventer13]

Well that's an ignorant comment. You've obviously never ridden. Or you have and the horse took *you* for a ride. Either way, you are too unskilled to get around a course of 18" cross-rails, so it would be best if you kept your mouth shut before making an even greater ass of yourself.

[5214428]

im suprised men ride horses!..oh...thats right its a fag sport. Thermal is a shithole in the desert for poofy sports like this one

[Eventer13]

Yes, real men ride horses.

You know, most homophobes are gay themselves.

[5214428]

maybe u just want to spoon with richard spooner!!!!

[Eventer13]

Haha... what a classy comeback.

[dreamershavemorefun]

Kay it is not a fag sport I ride and i'm a guy and Spooner doesn't normally ride hunters he's a jumper and this barn is premier

[5214428]

you sound like a right bum nazi!!!!!!!

[dknowles24]

r those jumpers higher than large juniour hunters

[BarnBum93]

the jumps go up to 4'

[dknowles24]

wright cuz the working hunters do it

[dknowles24]

i wouldnt of ever thought he would bee in a hunter class, hes the master of sppeed

[Channin22]

I'm suprised his legs are staying on the horse! HAHAHAH

[BarnBum93]

omg i know right richard spooner's EQ sux! haha

[equitationboy94]

ok you go around a 4' course and see how your eq is. if his eq is so terrible why does he win all of this stuff?

[EqStarOnTheRise]

because he competes in hunters and jumper, not the eq. but good point

[BarnBum93]

I think you are mistaking this for Hunt Seat Equitation. Show Hunters judge the horse not the rider. Plus he is mainly a jumper rider soeither way he doesn't have to have good EQ.

[ponyrider109]

can YOU have perfect eq over 4ft?

[A168HJ]

yes...beezie madden has perfect EQ over 5' and up fences.

[tanseytangerine]

wow! richard is the farthest thing i have ever seen from a hunter rider! even im better than that! Love the horse though..

[hanniethenannie06]

uhm richard actually rode that course really well!!

[USEFRider07]

HAHAHA I don't think you realize how stupid you look comparing your riding to richard....

[kuubs1028]

ummm tanseytangerine he actually rode that beautifully. most grand prix riders start at the hunters and master it before the move to the jumpers. he's actually a very pretty rider and made the course look easy

[ponyrider109]

he's actually a pretty good rider. there's a reason that hes famous.

[likekthanksbyyee]

i love how that horse moves.

[KimiF08]

sorry for the dumb question but what is a hunter derby. I show in rated hunter shows but have never heard of it.

[FLHunter07]

The Hunter Derby is a Classic, which is like a Grand Prix but for hunter riders, you have to compete through a series of shows that are on the ahjf(dot)org website and the people with the highest points are invited to compete

[blackhawk147]

a hunter derby is a class recently developed by the USEF and the USHJA. they wanted to create a division where the the riders would go around a course designed as though they were in a hunt field. in the old school days people were jumping real fences, boulders and hedges and they wanted to replicate that so they created the hunter derby. BEAUTIFUL!

[mom2niko]

It's a new concept. Kind of a Grand Prix for the hunter crowd. I love it. We didn't have them when I rode as a junior.

[bustergus]

the horse isnt a hunter thats why its not like a amazing hunter its olivias new eq horse

[kuubs1028]

yea, it looked like an eq horse.

i don't think people understand that the derby isn't how the horse moves or jumps.

[FLHunter07]

Yes the derby is judged on how the horse jumps. Here is a direct quote from the USHJA website, on the judging system of the International Hunter Derby Series "These classes will be judged on the true jumping style of the horse and the brilliance of the round. These classes will require fresher, more athletic horses and they will be rewarded accordingly."

[kuubs1028]

thank you, i actually learned that a little after my last comment. i was a little confused on an explanation beforehand. :]

[kuubs1028]

it's cool to see even big time grand prix riders coming back to the hunter divisions. I think it was a good idea they added this derby to the list of divisions.

[MadCat74]

That horses is gorgeous! Great ride

[mcbarron23]

what? i don't think the horse looked or jumped impressed at all!!  sorry...nonetheless

richard is one hell of a jockey.

[longitudeandlatitude]

Oh! So beautiful! He looked rather impressed by that course though :P