Rappahannock Hunt will be doing a First Time Hunter’s Hunt on August 28th. So if you have wanted to try hunting, here is your chance. we will be having a clinic on safe riding in the hunt field, followed by a live hunt and a hunt breakfast.
For more information go to http://www.rappahannockhunt.org.
What a great idea! I would have been cheating if I had attended as I have been to one hunt. First ever hunt-opening meet…luckily my mare was great. Unfortunately, my plans for trying more hunting this year are out the window because my mare is out of commission. Have a great day.
Bumping this up. The weather is supposed to be in the 70’s and sunny on Saturday.
How was it? I would love to go to something like this, but would also need a situation where horses were availble for the horseless for an extra fee.
From the comments that we got back I think we could call it a success. When we finished and came back in for the hunt breakfast everyone was smiling. Several asked how they redeemed the caps so they could come back out and hunt again.
We weren’t looking to do a riding clinic but just how to be safe in the hunt field and enjoy yourself. So we covered things like bridging reins, pulley rein, spacing while riding single file, terrain issues, proper reversal of field, and how to clear your horse off the trail.
The people all got to get up close to the hounds when they were brought out. Then we hunted. We were about fifteen minutes into the hunt when the hounds got onto an older red. He gave us a good run for about 25 minutes before he exited the back side of the property and lost the hounds.
During the run the people got to do a reverse of field on a pretty tight trail and then had to clear the trail on a staff back. They also got to see how the different fields operate in different manners. The first flight kept a more direct link with the huntsman while the second and third flights and to spend more time covering ground to loop around.
We knew that with one good run the non-hunt horses would be spent. That was the case.
So we collected up the hounds where people got up close again and headed in for breakfast.
The people that came out were a mix. We had the classic rider and horse that were new to hunting. We had new to hunting people on tried and true fox hunters, experienced people on green horses. It seemed to work.
Love this idea!! I agree with the need for a few steady eddies for peeps for a fee as well. Hope you guys do this again!
Sounds great! I’m within semi-reasonable driving distance and I’d love to go next year if there was a (nice, calm) horse I could ride as I will in all likelihood still be horseless.
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