First day of cubbing today! WOOT!!
4am wakeup…ugh…out the door 4:30…
Horse in the barn, fed, tacked and loaded by 5am (THANK GOD FOR A PLAIN BAY!!)…
Arrive at the meet by 5:45…helmet and boots on me, bridle on horse and mounted up by 6:10…
and it is STILL dark…walk around to warm up and say hello to the other crazies…I was not alone, there were 14 other trailers present and several others that hacked to the meet.
We gathered and were given the plan for the morning, and off we went. We trotted alone the road to the bean field, the field of 25 lined one side of the beans along a gravel road, while staff took up positions around the other edges along open fields and woods. Hounds were cast in and in just a couple of minutes a few voices began to sing. After a few more minutes the few voices turned into full cry. The hounds hunted a grey in circles in the bean field while we watched from the road. The chase lasted for 25-30 minutes, just us sitting and watching the hounds run through and jump over the beans chasing the grey. At one point a fox left the cover, but was not the hunted fox. A few of the hounds were drawn to this direction, but were quickly turned back into the field by staff. Hounds re cast themselves and worked awhile trying to find the hunted fox. They found within about 10 minutes and ran a few more circles in the beans before the fox exited into the woods. It was neat to hear the change in the music from open field/beans to hounds in full cry in the dense woods.
They chased for another 30-40 minutes with a bit of voice heard here and there, bu they had trouble holding the line.
Hounds were picked up and cast into a new cover of beans, but they didn’t find. After about 1 1/2 of being out it was decided that it had been a good day, and to end before it got too hot.
Happy Hunting!!
