‘You have to make them feel invincible’: does your native pony have what it takes for working hunter classes?

Native working hunter classes have never been so hotly contested, so if you’re looking to get ahead with your pony this season, these tips from Amy Canavan-Smith and Vikki Smith, two of the best riders in the game, could help.

Who are Amy Canavan-Smith and Vikki Smith?

Amy Canavan-Smith and her sister Vikki Smith are two of the showing circuit’s most consistent professionals. They have both won at Royal Windsor, the Royal International (RIHS) and Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) on the flat and over fences. While they have dabbled in many classes with success, they probably hold their most consistent records in M&M working hunter classes, and they are often seen standing side by side in classes or championship line-ups up and down the country.

Amy and Vikki took some time out of their busy schedules to chat to H&H’s showing editor Alex Robinson on the most recent episode of The Horse & Hound Podcast, offering some advice to riders who might have a working hunter prospect waiting in the wings at home.

“You can often tell straight away if a pony has the makings of a worker,” Amy says. “The most important pace is the canter; a pony either has a natural jumping canter or it doesn’t, and some breeds find the pace easier than others. You do find some freaks of nature, however.”

One example Amy provides was the late Dales pony Faradale Black Jack who she jumped for several seasons: “While he was about 15hh and wasn’t necessarily to the breed standard, the power coming from his hocks was like nothing I’d ever seen before. Plus, he really loved the job and he wanted to jump.”

Amy’s pony of a lifetime Lauburnum Richard didn’t show his true potential until the end of his five-year-old year.

“Sometimes, it’s not about if they can do it physically, it’s if they can cope with it mentally and they’re willing to be trained and ridden,” Amy continues. “They can have everything there structurally, but if they won’t let you into their brains then it makes your job very difficult.”

Vikki adds: “Amy and I are very experienced so we could probably guide a young pony around an open course quite well, but the problems arise when you get a novice rider trying to take a novice pony, especially a heavier stamp that isn’t as athletic, around a difficult track.”

Training wise, Amy and Vikki would ride each session depending on the requirements of the pony they’re sitting on.

“If I were training a Fell, Dales or a Highland pony for a big track I’d be very aware that they often struggle with the distances in the doubles, so we’d do a lot of work here,” Amy says. “If you have a 14hh Highland jumping a full-up 90cm double with a back bar coming out, you’ve got to be so accurate to get them out the other side while making it look good. I’d do lots of gridwork training at home, trying to get the canter to open up. You need to get them confident so they think they’re invincible and that they can take on the world.

“For a heavy pony, the related distances and back bars are hard. It only takes a couple of times for a pony to land in a bit of trouble for them to start losing their confidence.”

Vikki has several novice ponies in her string this year, as well as her most seasoned ride, Penny Sutton’s dual working hunter and flat contender Lovelyhill Folklore (George) who was supreme at the BSPS Heritage championships in his worker tack in 2022. Vikki explains: “George is kept ticking over with hacking and I jump him about once per week, either going for a lesson or doing grid work at home. I have a few novices this year so I’m currently jumping lots of courses to get their confidence up, working on straightness and corners. I’m also making sure I jump them over plenty of doubles as we get lots of tricky ones at various shows throughout the year.”

To hear more from Amy Canavan-Smith and Vikki Smith, including some of their most loved rides from across their careers and which course builders they rate highly, listen to episode 144 of The Horse & Hound Podcast here, or search “The Horse & Hound Podcast” in your favourite podcast app.

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