First hunt!

[WilfredLeblanc]

Well, this past Sunday, I finally got myself into the hunt field, and what an amazing experience it was! I can’t say enough for the hospitality and willingness to gamble on a newcomer that I found with Red Rock Hounds. The whole experience was simply outstanding. I’d follow Lynn Lloyd anywhere. The rest of the crew was likewise endearing. And the livery horse Lynn set me up with was just right.

Believe it or not, I rode with the first flight the whole way, jumped everything, and had an utter blast for the whole 4.5 hours we were out. I will say that I’m glad I waited until I did to take a stab at hunting, because if I had gone out last year, I wouldn’t have had quite the skill set to handle it, and I don’t think riding any further back than right behind the fieldmaster would have been anywhere near as satisfying. Being in a solid lesson program at an eventing barn for a couple of years was good prep, but so was just about every other context in which I’ve been on a horse–Western, etc. It all came into play somehow. All the same, my impression now is that there is indeed nothing quite like hunting except hunting.

On the one hand, it was fully as demanding, physically, as I was warned it would be. On the other, it wasn’t as scary as I found XC schooling the first time I did that. I think it had something to do with the way the “questions” in the hunt field–even the coops–all seemed kind of organic, vice the contrived, exaggerated quality of those in XC, but maybe it’s just a question of my feeling well prepared now versus really being asked to stretch back then. But there was really no time at all to even think about being scared in the hunt field anyway, because at no time did I have any idea where we were going, how long anything would last, what would come next, etc. We’d be waiting for the hounds to strike, we’d be off at a gallop, we’d take a fence, we’d trot awhile, gallop again, wait for the hounds, climb what felt like the face of a cliff and dash down the other side, wait, gallop again, trot again, take a fence, take a fence, trot, gallop, etc.–incredible variety and surprise. Wild topography, vast country.

Anyway, I can’t wait to get out there again. Nothing compares.

I’m on the road for the holidays now, but I’ll post a pic or two when I get home.

In the meantime, anyone looking for a great hunt should see about visiting Red Rock Hounds at the earliest possible opportunity!

[strawberry_roan]

Sounds like another addict in the making!! :):)

[wateryglen]

yipeeeeee!

It’s like eating potato chips! Betcha can’t eat just one!! Or do just one hunt!! Looks like you drank the koolaid! Welcome to the hunting fraternity. May you have many, many more! Go for it! Have FUN!!!:yes:
WOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!!

Good on ya!!! Keep smiling!

[MapleMeadows]

In the meantime, anyone looking for a great hunt should see about visiting Red Rock Hounds at the earliest possible opportunity!

I hunted with Red Rock when the MFHA held the staffing seminar in Nevada. Coming from New England, the vast territories they hunt there really made me envious. I still love our farm fields and sugar bush here in Vermont but I’m very glad I had that experiance. L Lloyd is a an amazing person. I could listen to her talk hounds and hunting anytime!

[WilfredLeblanc]

Two pics from 11/22/09: The first is of me blissing out immediately after the hunt (with my sterling livery mount waiting patiently for turnout). The second is of Lynn Lloyd and most of the first flight–I’m third from the right. Many thanks to my wife for the first photo and to Red Rock member Joy Smith for the second.

http://s216.photobucket.com/albums/cc122/fwhiteiv/?action=view&current=006.jpg

http://s216.photobucket.com/albums/cc122/fwhiteiv/?action=view&current=Lynnandfirstflight.jpg

Thanks to all for the encouragement and kind wishes! Reading this BB has provided me with many helpful tips and abundant inspiration.

[strawberry_roan]

That first photo says it all–you’re hooked!! :)

[Zu_Zu]

Enjoy !!! Thanks for sharing photos !

[birdsong]

Grinning from ear to ear! Nice looking mount too.

[Ponyclubrocks]

There is no hope for you now…I have a grin like that on my face after every single hunt…now you have to buy that perfect hunt horse, then there is the truck and trailer…and don’t forget to get your Horse Country catalog…

Congratulations!

[WilfredLeblanc]

I don’t see how anyone can bother with other responsibilities, save the sheer necessity of doing so. Suddenly, my whole universe seems reordered in terms of what I need to do to get back to the hunt field.

Off to horsey Jonestown for me!

[Bogie]

The grin says it all :D.

[Bank_of_Dad]

O to find a man who’s as passionate as we women are about riding.

[JSwan]

@WilfredLeblanc;4525494

Suddenly, my whole universe seems reordered in terms of what I need to do to get back to the hunt field.

Well if that doesn’t sum up foxhunting I don’t know what does.

I am so very happy you had a great time. I know from previous posts that you worked pretty darn hard and it looks like it paid off.

You look fabulous, by the way! And I’m insanely jealous and pea green with envy that you got to hunt with Red Rock.

I can’t wait for more hunt reports - and start saving for a trip out east for Virginia Hunt Week. I’ll bring the Scotch.

[Beverley]

Gee, I saw a good many pics of you on Joy’s web site, you look like a ‘regular’ to me! Looks like it was devilishly cold out there too! Glad you’ve enjoyed the Kool- Aid…

[pleasantmeadowfarm]

Ahhhh. Another addict. Yay. There’s nothing quite like the experience of riding out with the hunt field, in harmony with your horse and just going with it. It sounds like all your prep work really paid off.

Congrats to you - quite an impressive first outing at 4.5 hrs. Looking forward to more photos at your next outing!

[2720r]

[QUOTE=Bank of Dad;4525638]
O to find a man who’s as passionate as we women are about riding.[/QUOTE]

You know, I just don’t understand this. When I was growing up in Europe, riding was considered a manly pursuit. In the USA, it isn’t. I don’t get it. I am always outnumbered five or six to one or more when I go hunting or trail riding, or even taking lessons. Are other American men afraid of horses, or are they afraid they’ll look gay in riding pants?

It makes no sense to me. When I ride formally, I ride in uniform, as any serving officer should. As a practical matter, finding civilian riding clothes for men is not easy, unless you live near Warrenton and Horse Country and are prepared to pay top dollar for top quality stuff. Open the Dover catalog, and there are plenty of pictures of male riders riding beautiful horses, but I dare you to find any men’s riding apparel in there. You might find one page if you’re lucky.

[2720r]

And another thing…

Why are the really cool boot bags made by Ariat and others too small for men’s boots?

[WilfredLeblanc]

[QUOTE=2720r;4526081]
You know, I just don’t understand this. When I was growing up in Europe, riding was considered a manly pursuit. In the USA, it isn’t. I don’t get it. I am always outnumbered five or six to one or more when I go hunting or trail riding, or even taking lessons. Are other American men afraid of horses, or are they afraid they’ll look gay in riding pants?[/QUOTE]

I’ll leave aside the totally separate issue of Western riding, which I suspect you aren’t referring to, because nobody perceives that as girly.

In Maryland and Virginia, where chasing and hunting (and racing, in the case of Maryland) have a high level of community awareness, you don’t necessarily run into a reflexive view that riding is for girls. That was my experience, anyway. I only rode occasionally and naively (albeit enthusiastically) as a kid, but I was socialized to see riding–and “English” riding is all there was out there–as unisex. The Maryland Hunt Cup and Preakness were the biggest parties of the year, and references to hunting conjured up images of men as readily as images of women among everyone I knew.

Still, I agree that, generally speaking, it can be a little lonely as a male equestrian in the U.S. I imagine the demise of the cavalry and the persistence of the cowboy romance have something to do with limiting and directing boys’ perceptions of riding in most regions of the U.S. Popular culture has no male heroes who ride English, vice the innumerable who ride Western.

You definitely can’t pin it on the tight pants–football and baseball also involve those. And while it isn’t an issue of general fearfulness, either, I think there is something about horses that make men uncomfortable if don’t come from equestrian homes. Mainly, it’s about control. I think our culture, mainly through its cowboy romance, sends the message that men should be able to handle horses competently simply because they’re men (It sends the same message about power tools, actually). And I think a lot of men at some point during their childhood have at least a chance to try riding–at summer camp, etc.–and realize immediately that horses have minds of their own and require not only skill but finesse to be coerced into cooperating with the rider’s plan. The sensation of not being able to simply make the thing do what they want through applying the laws of physics alone freaks boys out, and they never go near it again. They may then cultivate a view of it as effeminate, and that assuages their guilt over being, in fact, terrified of horses as a result of the misconceptions attendant on their early exposure to them.

But let’s suppose a guy does get the crazy idea, as a teenager or an adult, that he’d like to learn to ride English. For simplicity’s sake, I’ll say that’s what happened to me. Well, such a guy really does have to be very secure in his masculinity, because what invariably happens is that he has to spend a couple of years being a source of amusement to the mainly juvenile, female population at his barn as he learns what many of them have become quite good at quite early in life. No guy will put up with that awkward phase unless riding is truly a religious calling for him. But I can affirm that the reward is truly sweet if he does!!!

It makes no sense to me. When I ride formally, I ride in uniform, as any serving officer should. As a practical matter, finding civilian riding clothes for men is not easy, unless you live near Warrenton and Horse Country and are prepared to pay top dollar for top quality stuff. Open the Dover catalog, and there are plenty of pictures of male riders riding beautiful horses, but I dare you to find any men’s riding apparel in there. You might find one page if you’re lucky.

You’re exaggerating slightly, but it’s just a question of demand. If more men bought riding clothes, Dover would offer more. You shouldn’t limit yourself to American suppliers, though. The English equestrian outfitters all have robust online operations, and a predictably wider range of options. One in particular, Cavaletti Clothing, I’ve had very good experiences with. English eBay is also a good bet.

[WilfredLeblanc]

[QUOTE=2720r;4526195]
Why are the really cool boot bags made by Ariat and others too small for men’s boots?[/QUOTE]

Forget the boot bags. Why can’t Kerrits start making some of those cool schooling breeches for men?

[WilfredLeblanc]

[QUOTE=JSwan;4525700]
Well if that doesn’t sum up foxhunting I don’t know what does.

I am so very happy you had a great time. I know from previous posts that you worked pretty darn hard and it looks like it paid off.

You look fabulous, by the way! And I’m insanely jealous and pea green with envy that you got to hunt with Red Rock.

I can’t wait for more hunt reports - and start saving for a trip out east for Virginia Hunt Week. I’ll bring the Scotch. :)[/QUOTE]

Thanks a million for the kind wishes and compliments, JSwan.

Red Rock seems to be where it’s at, and though I can’t make it out there frequently, I’ll definitely be back and will give reports. I’d love to hunt in Virginia one of these days, even though I’ve heard tell that the parcels of land hunters are restricted to can get kind of claustrophobic relative to Red Rock’s fixtures. I’m pretty sure that some Virginians I know from another social context belong to hunts, so perhaps I can finagle myself an invitation at some point.