27/01/2021
Then and now...
This is a photo of Bernie Traurig riding the thoroughbred show hunter, Gozzi, back in an era when most show hunters WERE full thoroughbreds---
What can we learn from this photo, and from knowing the breeding (https://www.allbreedpedigree.com/gozzi) of this horse?
Well, the riders had to be able to ride with enough sensitivity and tact and finesse to get along with thoroughbreds. So that's one thing to understand.
I remember so clearly the first time that I saw Independence, Bold Ruler's full brother, the sire of Gozzi. June McKnight had bought him to stand at Read and Essie Perkins's Huntington Farm in Strafford, Vermont, and Independence was turned out in a hilly pasture.
I was riding next to that field, and Independence galloped up the hill with huge, effortless sweeping strides, and I thought it resembled a cloud floating across the sky.
Back in the day, the show hunter division was based on that galloping reality, with judges more likely to pin a bold, forward round. So that's another difference from today.
And because the riders could ride in centered balance, like Bernie here, instead of flopping up the neck like wounded frogs, the best hunter rounds were exciting to watch, because they had flow and energy and panache.
When warmbloods and warmblood riders replaced thoroughbreds and thoroughbred riders it changed the essence of the hunter division at shows, just as replacing the thoroughbreds in eventing with warmblood crosses has changed the essence of that sport.
Good? Bad? Depends on what you like---I know what I liked better---
