10/21/2025
The hunter ring is known for its grace and polish, but veteran trainer Don Stewart believes it’s time to raise the bar—literally and figuratively. With decades of experience training top junior and amateur riders, Stewart has seen firsthand how course design impacts not just ribbons but the overall quality of riding in the division.
“I’m a big believer in harder courses,” Stewart said. “I think courses should be harder for the hunters. I think the judging would be easier.”
It’s a compelling idea: that more complex courses would lead to more objective judging. By asking riders to show track, pace, and ex*****on over turns and striding, stronger courses may create clearer separations in quality and fewer subjective ties.
In Stewart’s view, many hunter courses are too basic to properly assess a round. When every rider completes a smooth, rhythmic trip over simple lines, it becomes difficult to reward one over another.
“You go in and you do your job, and three horses are the same,” he explained. “And there’s really no way to separate them, because nobody took a risk.”
This leads to overly subjective judging and potentially discouraging results. For riders who are capable of showing brilliance, there’s often little incentive to take chances. “The ones that really want to go in there and go somewhere and get it done and ride, they don’t have a lot of opportunity,” Stewart said.
He doesn’t blame the judges, but rather the format. “If there’s more asked, you can see more,” he noted. “It’s like equitation. There’s a lot to look at.”
Equitation riders often face technical tracks that demand precision, balance, and decision-making. Stewart believes the hunter ring would benefit from a similar evolution. Not just to test riders, but to reveal quality more clearly to spectators and judges alike.
He explained, “In the equitation, if the judge says, ‘Go forward and turn inside and land and trot,’ you’re going to get a little difference in what happens in the ring.”
That difference, he argues, makes the judging easier and the sport more educational. Riders get instant feedback on their decisions, and the judge’s job becomes more about analyzing riding, not just beauty.
“We need to see more of that in the hunter ring,” Stewart said. “Courses that ask for something, that let the riders show who they are.”
For Stewart, the idea of harder hunter courses isn’t about making the sport more elite or inaccessible. It’s about education.
“The whole point of showing is learning,” he said. “And when everything’s a straight line with no turns and no options, what are they learning?”
He believes giving riders more complex tasks in the ring better prepares them for the future—whether that’s stepping up to equitation finals, trying the jumper ring, or simply becoming a better, more well-rounded rider.
“It doesn’t have to be trappy,” he clarified. “It just has to make them think a little bit.”
Stewart acknowledges that not every rider or horse is ready for high-level complexity. But he sees plenty of opportunity for incremental changes that raise the standard.
“You don’t need to throw in a rollback to a hand gallop and a trot fence all at once,” he said. “But you can do something. One bending line. A forward five to a quiet six. Something that gives you a chance to see a ride.”
He believes the hunter ring has become too focused on perfection instead of progress. “I’m not saying every round needs to be fireworks,” Stewart said. “But let’s give the riders a chance to show some fire.”
Ultimately, Stewart believes course designers hold the key to changing the hunter ring for the better. “It’s in their hands,” he said. “If they build a good course, the rest will follow.”
He’s optimistic that small shifts can make a big impact. “I think if we start asking more, the sport will get better,” Stewart said. “It’ll make the riders better. It’ll make the judging better. And it’ll make the watching better, too.”
For Stewart, it’s not just about ribbons or reputation. It’s about the future of hunter sport. And he’s not shy about where he stands.
“If we want better riding, we need better questions,” he said. “It’s as simple as that.”
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