Show Hunter Brings Expertise to the Jumping Ring
Katie Meredith is one of our top showjumpers carving her way to the top of her discipline. But how many people knew that she honed her craft in the Show Hunter ring? Katie has a story to tell as we celebrate 40 years since Show Hunter was introduced in New Zealand.
“Now my whole business is training young horses”
Katie Meredith (Ohoka, North Canterbury)
Katie Meredith rides ES Quincy, Cartown Kiwi Super Classic, Manfeild Park, Feilding, Sunday, December 21, 2025 Copyright Photo: KAMPIC / Kerry Marshall
Tell us about your first Pony
Honestly, I couldn’t even tell you how I got into Show Hunter! But I had a pony called Zachariah and I’m pretty sure he had competed in Show Hunter with some previous kids. So he was quite experienced already, and he taught me a lot about riding lines and holding a rhythm and all the things that Show Hunter demands.
What do you remember about back then?
Probably the biggest thing was, for my mother, that it made me hold my energy down!
I was a very fast and furious kid. Showjumping was always going to be for me. But getting me into Show Hunter was really good to slow me down and teach me about keeping a rhythm, how to ride my corners properly and get my lines, my distances down my lines and actually set me up to ride more correctly.
What has Show Hunter given you that you value most every time you walk into a big ring?
Well, as a kid, I always just loved to win, and my ponies were very good at it. But it’s actually set me up really well when I compete. These days it’s too hard with our big team of horses to run too many of them in the Show Hunter ring. But I think, having that foundation to train a horse, and just having the basics that Show Hunter requires is so important.
And now my whole business is around producing young horses. It has given me such a good grounding for how it’s meant to feel, and I take a lot of what I learnt in the Show Hunter days into the way I am producing young horses. The straightness, the rhythm, and all of those things are so important. And so, I think it’s a big part of the basics in how I train them and how I want them to go.
Katie Meredith wins the Property Brokers Grand Prix on Sapphire SSNZ. Photo Credit to Michelle Clarke Photography
For young Kiwi riders watching you today, what advice would you give them about building a pathway from Show Hunter to World Cup level?
I would encourage anyone to get in the Show Hunter ring. You don’t have to be a professional at it. I don’t think it’s hard to build a pathway from Show Hunter into jumping at all. It can be hard for kids that have only showjumped their whole lives to then turn around and go into the Show Hunter ring, I don’t think it’s hard to go the other way. I always did both and I would encourage anyone to do both, unless they want to be a straight Show Hunter rider and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that either. But I just think it sets you up so well. If you know how to ride a 12-foot stride, you’re never ever going to go wrong with that. I still have poles up every day and I ride down my 12-foot distances,
As that’s such an important step to learn. You can learn it in the jumping ring, but it’s so better when its planned out in front of you in the Show Hunter ring.