The horse and rider approach the fence, becoming one as they sail over the rails in perfect form. For a fleeting moment they remain airborne as they clear the hurdle and touch down gracefully on the other side.
While exciting to watch, hunter-jumper competitions are even more exciting for riders. They don traditional English riding britches, jackets, high boots, gloves and riding helmets and mount their steeds — combining their skills with their horse’s and pitting themselves against other horse and rider pairs.
Though the skimpy, hornless saddle might take some die-hard Montana cowboys aback, hunter-jumper equestrian events are gaining headway in the Wild West. Competitions are held each year in Bozeman, Corvallis, Missoula, Great Falls and Kalispell with the University of Montana at Dillon playing host to one of the state’s more popular events.
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John Xanthopoulos arrived at the University of Montana-Western in 2001 and is a department chair and professor of education. By 2002 he had organized an equestrian team and spearheaded the first UM-W horse show.
“Out of that, evolved the equine programs,” he explained. The university has since become renowned for its equine studies program, which offers educational options in the science, horsemanship and management aspects of the equine industry.
Xanthopoulos has been involved with the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association since 1973. Beginning as a college student and throughout his career as an educator in New York, Florida and Montana, Xanthopoulos has started six IHSA riding teams. He said the idea for the UM-W Horse Show came about as a way to earn funding for the university’s IHSA equestrian team.
Collaborating with rodeo coach Olie Else and retired professor of economics John Bailey for the annual event and equestrian programs, Xanthopoulos said that the University is becoming a hub for equine activities in southwest Montana.
“The Montana Hunter Jumper Association voted the UMW Horse Show the best horse show of the year for 2005 and 2006, and we’re hoping to repeat that for 2007,” he added.
Riders in jumper class competitions follow a course of 12 to 14 jumps over wire box coops, double fences called oxers, hedges, colored rails and various jump combinations. This class is judged on timing and penalties as horses and riders attempt to negotiate jumps.
The hunter class is different, with 8 to 10 jumps made of coops, gates and bushes set lower than jumper class hurdles, Xanthopoulos said.
“This is to imitate the real fox hunt,” he explained. Riders here are judged on form and performance, as the horse and rider move around the ring in a walk, trot and canter, which is the English term for lope. The rider’s horsemanship skills, called equitation, are also judged during the event.
Montana Hunter-Jumper Association board member Gordon Lemons, 74, of Butte helps organize and also competes in the annual event. Lemons said he’s been jumping horses as long as he can remember.
“My dad was an old-time cowboy and my mother grew up on a ranch,” he said. Lemons said he began jumping the family horses bareback while still a child.
“I had the itch to jump and I didn’t know where it came from,” he said.
By the time he was in his early 20s, Lemons found himself in California, working his way through college at a stable and perfecting his hunter-jumper skills. He quickly became a horse trainer and seemed to have a natural affinity for all aspects of jumping horses.
A special education teacher by profession, Lemons has kept horses almost all his life. Having lived in Butte as a child, he returned 12 years ago after retiring from teaching. He currently owns and competes with an 18-year-old chestnut thoroughbred gelding named Somerset. He also stables and competes with a 10-year-old Anglo-Trakahner warmblood gelding named Maximise, which is owned by Performance Warmbloods of Carter.
Lemons rides several hours a day, but says he’s starting to slow with age. In his prime, he jumped heights of 5 feet, but says now he seldom takes on anything higher than 3-foot 3-inches. “As I get older, the fences get smaller,” he chuckled.
Upon arrival in Montana, Lemons connected with the Montana Hunter Jumper Association. “Within a year I was serving on the board of directors,” he said.
Lemons said the association has continuously grown since the time he returned to Montana and now has roughly 200 members.
When Xanthopoulos arrived in Montana, he found Lemons’ name on the organization’s Web site and contacted him about becoming involved in the UM-W show. Lemons has been part of the event ever since.
The show draws riders from all over the state and beyond, Lemons said. He added that hunter-jumper riders seem to share a camaraderie associated with the nature of this sport, which involves a unique cooperation between rider and horse.
“Whether you get a good fence or a bad fence all depends on concentration and trusting your horse,” he said.
Freelance reporter Paula McGarvey may be reached via e-mail at pjmcgarvey@in-tch.com.
If you go… UMW Horse Show Dates: Friday, Sept. 14 through Sunday, Sept. 16 Location: Beaverhead County Fairgrounds in Dillon Admission: Free for spectators Competition fees: Entrance fees based on number of competition classes entered at $14 per class. Stabling is provided for competitors’ horses.
Events: Friday
- Riding competitions and exhibitors throughout the day
- 7 p.m.— Party for exhibitors, riders, townspeople and spectators held in the 4-H building at the fairgrounds. Admission for this event is $12 and includes a barbecue and entertainment by local band The Barb Wire.
Saturday and Sunday
- Riding competitions and exhibitors both days
- Basset hound demonstration Saturday at noon For more information, call 683-7018.
