Working on getting my kit together for cub hunting and I know it will be blazing hot when hunting starts. I’m a newbie and really want to be respectful of the sport and properly turned out. All of the coats I’ve seen for cub hunting are wool. Is it permissible to wear one of the lighter, soft shell type show coats - perhaps in a green or brown color? How about a linen cotton tweed from a non- equestrian manufacturer? There are three button Ralph Lauren coats out there that look to my eye exactly like hunt coats but must be much cooler since they are not wool. I know wool tweed is traditional but passing out from heat stroke seems suboptimal. Thanks!
In my hunt, the shoft shell coats would be frowned upon (but ask your masters), but we are allowed to wear regular-weight show coats for cubbing. I have a wool tweed, but I also have a polyester blend brown hunt coat.
We also tend to relax the coat rule for cubbing–because it is so hot. We have club-branded polo shirts that are approved for wear once the masters make the call for the season. Ratcatcher attire is always correct for cubbing with us, but polos are much more comfortable. 
Perhaps your hunt has a similar rule?
Battle Creek Hunt Club members vie for the most dashing and daring hunt attire during cubbing. Linen hunt coats in muted shades with pastel stock ties have been seen, as have khaki coats with paisley ties. My own attire is a wonderfully cool (in both uses of the word) Madras plaid coat, rust breeches, dark green stock tie and matching shirt worn with New Market boots (canvas uppers, leather foot). I have posted the (long and dull) story of how when I was 15 I acquired this outfit (shirt is new, everything else is from 1967), but I have worn the same outfit for cubbing for 50 years. Of course cubbing is a short season for us, only four cubbing hunts before formal season starts. Therefore, my to-die-for cubbing outfit has been worn only about 100 times. I do have a picture if you want to see what a 1967 cubbing outfit looks like!
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“Therefore, my to-die-for cubbing outfit has been worn only about 100 times. I do have a picture if you want to see what a 1967 cubbing outfit looks like!”
Yes please!!! That would be awesome!!!
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Polo shirts in Georgia.
@Foxglove I am not only impressed by that plaid, but also by the fact that you can still fit in it all these years later!
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Ecileh, I recall at 15 feeling big and fat in the elephant ear breeches, but loving the adult fit and feel of the tailored jacket. Now elephant ear breeches are making a come back, but not sure we will ever see the return of the Madras hunt coat!
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Thank you for posting this. I love it and am keenly jealous of the fact that it still fits.
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KittyinAus --somehow the elephant ear bulge in the thigh that seemed so huge when I was 15 has become smaller. Might be that my thighs have become bigger? Maybe that was the entire point of the style!!! LOL!
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Elephant ears were required before stretchy fabrics were available, so that you didn’t get painful legs.
I would also suggest double checking with your hunt to see if other options are appropriate when the weather is hot. In my region, the cubbing season encompasses a mix of very hot weather into pretty cool weather. When it is still hot we are permitted to wear polos or other collared shirts. Many opt for a nice technical type fabric polo that is in our hunt colors with the logo tastefully embroidered on the front.
Foxglove - I am absolutely in love with your cubbing attire - both the outfit itself and the wonderful story of how it came about! It’s the very definition of style!
Other Responders - Thank you so much for your responses and helpful hints! Much appreciated!
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Love the madras plaid and the story! Beloved old items with history IMO are the backbone of beautiful hunt field style!
FWIW, no one wants you to pass out from heat stroke. Double check about the polo shirts (often worn for cub hunting in hot weather), or, in a pinch you can show up with your jacket, then before the hunt sets off toss it back in the truck and hunt in your shirtsleeves and vest. Or, ride in a lightweight show jacket that is made out of wool. I’ve never worn a technical fabric show jacket hunting, I think that would look out of place, plus I’m worried I’d wreck it.
Foxglove, you sound like a lovely person, and a real character. “Hunting isn’t about what other people think. It’s about you and your horse” – this should part of every club’s mandate.
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You are kind LesleyW. I do wish I’d figured out that hunting wasn’t about what others thought before I latched on to the Madras coat and did some other down right embarrassing things trying to be “cool” in front of a group of people who just wanted to enjoy riding to the hounds. But I did have good company in my (wayward) youth on the hunt field. There were four of us young whippers-in -we were terribly competitive and naughty–you know --loosen the girth on the other whip’s horse while the other whip is answering a call of nature --then shout “there’s the pack” and ride off like mad as the other fellow tries to mount --yeah, a real thigh-slapper that one! But one thing we four did was try to be the first one into the club after the hounds were safely back in the kennel --and that involved some daring and skill --while riding back to the stable, one quietly loosens one’s own girth, cavetson, and bridle --breast collar too if using one. Then, just in sight of the stable, slip behind the saddle, lift it on to the arm (you are now riding bareback holding the saddle) and at the last minute before the horse enters the stable, slide off with the bridle in your other hand. My good mare used to take herself to her stall while I put my tack away. I’d shut her door on the way out of the stable --and be the first one into the clubhouse. I saw a video once of RCMP doing a similar trick --only at the end performance the Mounties were shirtless, too! One of those whippers-in continues to whip to this day in my current hunt club --she’s 66 --we no longer vie for “first into the club!”
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Wow, I’m shaking my head in awe. My proudest moment was jumping a small rail… without spilling my stirrup cup
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LesleyW the one time I tried to jump a small rail in front of a crowd at the Blessing of the Hounds, I fell off. But I whistled for my mare, and she trotted back to me (more likely, she trotted back to the other horses standing around). It was the one and only time she ever came to a whistle unless I was holding a feed bucket.
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(Replying to Original First Post): I am a newbie and I had the exact same concern as well. Hunting attire needs to be updated for GLOBAL WARMING! I have discovered that if the hunt starts early enough and ends early, it is okay to wear one of those rat catcher jackets that’s made of light wool. One morning I even wore my cotton stock tie and my thin wool vest and it wasn’t too hot (temp was a misty 62-75 max). Of course, I had a very easy and light day, not a long and grueling extended day. If the morning ripens into afternoon I’d be dead in that getup.
I wore my tweed jacket one morning and survived, but if you have a light wool one use that, it’s always going to be cooler in that than any kind of tweed.
I wouldn’t wear soft shell or Ralph Lauren, or anything that isn’t ‘hunt appropriate’. I feel as newbies that so little is asked of us, and hunt people are so encouraging and hospitable, that the very least we can do is show that we made the effort to get the attire right. You would look so nice when riding beside everyone else (photos would come out nice too) and the hunt attire is safe and practical. I buy everything used from consignment stores, eBay, Etsy. Hope you enjoy your upcoming hunts!
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Thank you for sharing the story and the outfit photo. It’s great! It reminds me of a quote from Lewis Carroll, and I mean this as a compliment of the highest order: “You’re entirely bonkers. But I’ll tell you a secret. All the best people are.”
In the past 4 years my hunt has gone to Polo shirts for September hunts and I admit it has taken me some time to get use to that change. Ratcatcher attire is allowed but only a few wear that in September. They are also flexible on the Autumn hunting jacket. Conservative color, nicely fitted even if it is a street jacket and not off the rack from a tack store. I think that is nice because once Formal Hunting starts we do not wear Ratcatcher attire for any more hunts so at best one is looking at a months worth of hunts in Ratcatcher attire. That takes the pressure off someone starting out to secure a second “real” coat right off the bat. I’ve been around long enough that I have two informal jackets- a light weight beige striped one from a consignment shop that was a show ring coat and a wool one from Horse Country. I would KILL to find a linen riding jacket!!!
