Whicker, that is a great idea.
Yup! She gets it!!
Hinderella! Re: post 113 !! Yep, you get it! That goose bumpy feeling exists for all of us, every time, even in a car! It’s what brings us back. Makes us work so hard to do this sport. Makes us spend all the $$, time, effort. Makes us wanna share the kool aid or spread our addiction! And it IS an addiction! A good one! :yes:
And a frock coat up thar sounds like a smart thing to me! Genius even! Gonna get me one!
And everyone is welcome back to my ghetto farm anytime! If you can hear the banjo’s playing coming up the drriveway; you know you’re almost there! :winkgrin:
Perhaps I’ll “dress up” with the frock coat and all my stuff on the pony for a picture for the library 
I am truly addicted, and as corny as it sounds, I sometimes like to think that perhaps hunting is something I did in a previous life…because the flutter in my heart is so very familiar, and the fearfulness that I sometimes have in my everyday riding recedes and is replaced by a cautious readiness.
I’m sure that people who ski, or skydive, or rock climb have had the feeling in other places, but for me, there is no moment when you are so totally alive, and completely present, as when you hunt.
Perhaps I will put on the new frock coat and the rest of my hunting finery and pose for a picture on the pony at home, and put that up in the library
And I am truly addicted, in the best possible way. It sounds corny, but I sometimes think that perhaps I have hunted in a previous life, because the flutter in my heart is so very familiar, and the fearfulness that I sometimes have in my everyday riding fades away, to be replaced by a cautious readiness and anticipation.
I’m sure that those who ski, or skydive, or rock climb have the opportunity to experience thrills in other places, but for me, there is no moment when one is so completely alive, and so vibrantly present, as when one is hunting.
Hinderella -
That feeling is unique to hunting. You won’t get it rappelling or in other dangerous sports. There is a “thrill” in those sports but it’s not the same as hunting.
Waterfowlers get it too - so do deer hunters, bear hunters, coon hunters - we all get it. Perhaps the hunter can’t explain it, or doesn’t want to appear too “soft” to his companions. Though there are plenty of hunting stories and poetry about hunting, nature, the quarry, and man’s best friend.
But we all know what it is - it’s a sort of connection to the natural world that those living a very modern/technology focused lifestyle cannot relate too - and find alien. Some people sneer and call it “blood lust”. But it’s not a sick lust for blood or death at all. It’s a very visceral connection to the natural world and our place in it. A Native American will understand. A subsistence hunter will understand - those living in rural areas will often understand.
I get it. I totally get it. I’m glad you get it too.
Wish I had been there!
Hi all HR HPs. I just got finished looking at the pictures and as usual I get this weird lump in my throat. I get it, I really do. I’ve only hunted once, and when I got home and tried to explain what it was like and I couldn’t get the words out. Fortunately, DH got it. That’s amore! I wish I could have been with you all, and look forward to seeing some of you again in November.
Whicker, your dressage diva is still beautiful.
GJP,
Thanks for the compliment on the Dressage Diva! She certainly is easy to pick out, isn’t she? We will look forward to seeing you in November. The coth hunts are soo much fun:D
I feel it too…
JSwan is eloquent as ever. I know this may be corny but I’ve always thought that “goose bumpy” feeling is our caveman days harking back to us. A visceral hunter-gatherer gene that makes a city girl turned foxhunter into a hunter/chaser or raises up her ancestral feelings from deep inside. I was shocked the first time I felt it. A thrill, a pulse pounding, a state of alertness & anticipation. Like I’d felt it before somewhere.
Not sure I’m explaining it but I know how it feels. Where on earth did it come from?!!! Where on earth!!!?
Oh well…carry on my dears!!
I just joined COTH formum and am heartbroken to have missed the Oct weekend at Hunters Rest. I have never hunted and it is my dream. You all seem to know each other. Is this a closed event or may I join you on the November weekend? I would need to lease.
Julia B,
I’m sure Hunters Rest will chime in shortly about an opportunity to hunt.
We didn’t all know each other prior to doing these events (other than the 4 hosts), but got to know each other through posting here and then by meeting for the weekend “event”.
There was one last October, one in March, this October, the upcoming one in November and maybe another one in the spring. 
It has been a wonderful opportunity to go out and hunt whether you have a horse or no. Hunters Rest has some wonderful made horses that would allow you the opportunity to enjoy a days hunting following an amazing pack of hounds through some of Va’s most beautiful countryside. And the fellowship is the best!!! :yes:
I hope you will have a chance to start your own thread that chronicles your planning for and living your dream to hunt!!
Julia B, please
Please join us!
You will need to contact Hunter’s Rest directly, as she is the one with the magical Hunter’s Rest farm, where we convene for all our exploits. She is the fieldmaster for our 3rd field, so she really is our Fearless Leader. Each of of us mentors help the newbies learn the joy and mysteries of hunting.
Check the other coth hunt thread by Hunter’s Rest for more info and the contact info.
The original Hunting Princess, Pleasant Meadow is with Amwell Valley Hunt in N.J. She now mentors and helps newbies in the N.J. area. Please contact her. (Tell her that I suggested it…:winkgrin::D) She is great fun to ride with, and my comrade in crime at AVH)
Please feel free to p.m. me with any thoughts or questions…
Hi Julia!
A year+ ago, someone posted something, I chimed in, and it spiraled from there.
Us Virginia hosts didn’t ‘know each other’ all that well, or at all, before all this and it remains a verryyyyy open circle with room for EVerybody, not closed/cliquish at all.
That is the point - for us lucky Virginians - friends, acquaintances, neighbors, strangers, to make it easy to access this delicious pasttime of foxhunting!
I may still have a room available and horse/s, too, depending on a matrix of factors.
Please email me (thru my website) at home and I’ll give you more details!
Hoping you’ll join us - as they say, come over to the dark side - we have better cookies. : )
Yes, Julia, don’t be intimidated by the friendly banter here. This is most definitely NOT the cheerleader’s table in the cafeteria ;). ( with my apologies, of course, to any actual cheereladers among the hunting crowd)
Everyone that I met in Virginia was warm and welcoming, not only the CotH hosts, but the other guests and the terrific folks at Old Dominion Hounds.
Perhaps I’ll see you in November, or in the spring.
But be warned…if the hunting bug actually bites you, there is no cure.
One more thing, Julia…I just looked up your location and you’re practically on my way from CT to VA…we could car pool one of these trips…and I wouldn’t be so bored on the long ride across 78 & 81!
Julia - you can hunt right here in good ole’ NJ too!!! You’re a half hour away from me! Send me a private message and I’ll hook you up. I must say though… there’s nothing like a trip down to Virginny to hunt with the princesses! They certainly know how to entertain! Not to mention Hunter’s Rest having THE BEST livery horses EVER!!! You can not go wrong making the trip. You learn and love every minute of it.
I plan on attending… may have to take a full car (or truck) load! What do you say Hinderella? I’m waiting for dear hubby to book our next flight - to Hollywood, FL. We’re supposed to arrive home the day before the COTH November meet. I’m going to BEG him to get us home early, as it pains me to know I missed another wonderful COTH outing. I CAN NOT miss two in a row!
Trying to round up everybody for a CONFIRMATION for those people who have organized to come and are holding a horse for this trip.
FRUSTRATED to not be getting all my responses!
Please, if you’ve been in contact with me and been holding a slot/horse/room/whatever, please confirm with me - either here or at my home email. I am clipping/shoeing/prepping/fitting up the whole herd b/c I had that many hunter hopefuls and its a little unfair to drop out last minute, guys.
Hi guys…I let Whicker, Wateryglen and HR know awhile back that I had to cancel. I’m really bummed as this was my only vacation planned this year. … meetings for my new start up company ended up getting planned that week, I kept trying to fight it, but lost…sigh…
BBTB, I’m sorry to hear you won’t be there. But at least it’s not your only opportunity to hunt, and I"m sure that once you get your company off the ground, we’ll see you again.
We are going to miss you BBTB!
We will wave the magic wand, recite the Hunting Princesses mantra, and toast with pink flasks of Limoncello mixture in your honor. After a number of those toasts we should be up for the foxhunting songs, too.:eek:
I hope that, at some point, there will be a lull in the business cycle that would allow you to sneak out to Va. for a spot of hunting.
