I recently judged a local pageant where some of the contestants attempted a jump mount during horsemanship. I have been asked about this by several people - is it correct?  Does it get more points than a regular step mount?

My response is that of shared responses among fellow judges and “coaches.”  The jump mount looks nice if done correctly without missing.  If you are good at it and seldom miss the stirrup it  does add a little show to your mount.  If you are hit or miss on landing it correctly I would advise away from it.  I would much rather see a girl step on her horse, looking polished and composed than for her to attempt a jump mount and miss the stirrup. 

The pageant I was judging one girl attempted the jump mount and missed the stirrup.  It did not look as good as the girls that did a simple step mount; however, the girl that missed her jump ended up winning horsemanship.  When competing remember that if something like that happens, one little mistake does not put you at the bottom of the class automatically.  The girl smiled, tried again and succeeded with her jump mount.  Her horsemanship was so good that none of us judges even remembered her missing her mount when scoring her.

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