Long time (57 years) fox hunter here and my three kids and granddaughter hunted. I suggest mentioning to current members that you are on the hunt for appropriate attire. In our club, many (like me) have a vast amount of hunt clothes that are no longer used (currently 3 coats and 4 vests, myriad breeches, and three pair of boots). In our club, we GIVE stuff we have to new members --only asking for a donation to the hounds.
But proceed with caution when you decide to buy: In our club (Battle Creek Hunt --we go out all winter long) after cubbing and the Blessing --which is opening meet for us and the start of formal season --EVERYONE wears some form of winter riding boot. My choice is Mountain Horse Ice riders or Rim Frost —I wear my tall leather boots ONLY for The Blessing of the Hounds and The Joint Meet. For cubbing I wear New Markets --many wear brown boots of some fashion for cubbing.
At our hunt, the most common mistake new members make is to buy a beautiful new black hunt coat --and then try to wear it in the freezing cold of Michigan Winters. What is worn in the show ring is NOT suitable for the hunt field. Personally I have three hunt coats: Light Weight, Medium Weight, and Very Heavy Weight --even with the heavy weight Melton, I wear layers under --AND sometimes even my safety vest --not because I feel unsafe, but because my safety vest is WARM. My coats are all FROCK coats --they come half way down my thigh --that way the rain or snow sheds off my coat and does not go on my saddle or into my boots.
Another caution is breeches color --not sure what your club requires, but ours specifies CANARY yellow --you can get by with buff color --but most of us wear CANARY yellow —
As to the stock and stock pin --look at a 4-Fold Stock Tie on You-Tube —extremely simple to make and tie --more correct than shaped or pre-tied --and trust me --a 4-Fold makes a much better bandage or sling than the other two --which is why we wear stock ties, and yes, we use them for that.
For the stock pin, I buy 100 gold safety pins at JoAnn Fabric and use the recommended five on a four-fold stock tie. --again, these are much more useful than anything ornate when one of the MDs or EMTs riding with us is trying to help a rider with a broken collar bone, dislocated elbow, or a horse with a puncture (we have a couple of vets who are members too).
Welcome to the sport! This will be my last season --horse and I are getting too old --not to hunt, but the 90 min drive to the club in the winter in the dark is getting to be too much at my age (70+). It was fun --great memories!
