Help please ...Hunter Pace on saturday

Ok so I just got all my info for a hunter pace series that the hubbie and I doing and I have a question. The pace is 4-6 miles long it will be diffrent every ride and the judges set a "ideal time" on how long the ride should take you. So my question is how do I figure out what the "ideal time" is. I need some way to figure it out so I can plan my ride based on that.

The judges do not tell you the ideal time you need to figure that on your own and after the ride they tell you ideal time and the top six teams that came in closest are the points winners (of course there is vet check and points docked or added for that too). I am aware that the day of the ride conditions I also need to take in to mind on the day today. The one thing that stuck out to me is at the bottom page of all my info is saya "FASTER IS NOT ALWAYS BETTER". So I assuming the time will be a little slower.

This ride is a straight 4 mile so any help would be great!!!

Thanks

Is this ride being sponsored by a hunt club? If so, the ideal time is supposed to be set at what's considered a typical hunting pace. If you know someone who rides with the sponsoring hunt, they can give you an idea.

Though the actual ideal time is secret, the way the ideal time is set is to send several teams of riders out on the course and average their times. If you know the riders (and their riding styles) used to set the time, you can get a pretty accurate guess of the ideal time.

You also must consider your horse's fitness level in constrast to the fitness level of folks that set the ideal time.

HTH

What maura said.

The time is kept a secret, so there's no way for you to find out what it is before every team has ridden.

Go and have fun, and don't worry about trying to outsmart the time. After all, a hunter pace should be enjoyable for you and your horses. If you win, that's just a little extra sweetness to the day.

The ride is being sponsored by a barn it does not say any where if it a hunt club or not. We are so excited about this ride and have been preparing for many weeks now for the up coming trail season. But this our first hunter pace so I was confused on how to find the ideal time.

But you guys are right just go out and have fun (even thou winning would be great they have cash prizes lol) and not many times can a trail rider get money back in there pocket

Just don't try to second guess the time. We slowed down near the end thinking we were going too fast and probably would have won if we had kept cantering along. Just go out there and have fun!

My local hunt has two divisions for its hunter pace - one called the hunter pace and one called the hacker pace. The former is set at a pace consistent with hunting first flight and the latter, hunting second flight. The hunter pace is longer, the hacker shorter.

Find out what this pace is set at; the distance leads me to believe it's a hacker pace.

We have 4 a year at our barn So fun. We have 4 divisions, so ideal times vary greatly, as well as the fact that the weather and coditions vary, and they affect the "ideal" times. 2 of the divisions are structured like the most hunter paces, and the times generally are how long it would take you to ride comfortable and safely. There is typically a mix of all 3 gaits. However, I woud just go have fun and enjoy the beautiful trails. That is why most people come to ours!

That sounds alot like the barn rules for the ride as the one I am doing. I see you from NY also maybe it the same ride that would be neat. I talked to the hubby and we just going to go have fun and get a feel of things. This is our first one so we still learning the ins and outs of a hunter pace.

Our first one is Mid June-so practice up and come on down! We are in Canandaigua. About 2 1/2 hours from you.....summer ones start at 4 pm, fall one is one a weekend. SO lucky to board at this place www.davidsonknollfarm.com Lisa is just wonderful, and we have 10 miles of fabulous trails. I don't ride in the paces, just help with them. I have found that when it is at home, it is harder than if you take your horse elsewhere.....at least with my boys! Plus too busy talking and seeing everyone! :)

The last one I did was a few years ago put on by a hunt club and my team won the age division and were the overall grand champions - we were within 3 seconds of the ideal time. I have no idea how we did it! What we tried to do is to walk down hills, trot up hills, and do an easy canter/trot on the flats. Ours had a few jumps that you can either jump or go around, but it didn't effect the time either way.

If you've never done one before, don't worry about the time - just have some fun.