Foxhunted for the first time!

[Dubyuhnell]

I’m a long-time lurker who wanted to say a big thank you to those of you who post on here - it was through my lurking that I heard about Hunter’s Rest in Flint Hill, VA. I was able to celebrate my 40th birthday last weekend at Hunter’s Rest and to check off a bucket list item of going foxhunting.

My non-horsey (but great sport) husband and I had a fabulous time staying at Hunter’s Rest and enjoyed Betsy’s gracious hospitality (she even made us a birthday dinner the night we arrived!). We enjoyed staying in her house (we had the run of her top floor - bedroom, bathroom, & sitting room) and loved our view over the pastures and barn.

Betsy put me on one of her absolutely lovely TBs who took excellent care of me. We got to know each other riding out on gorgeous trails on Friday and Saturday before hunting on Sunday - the scenery in that part of Virginia is amazing.

The members of Old Dominion Hounds were incredibly welcoming and warm, and Betsy was able to arrange for my husband to “car-top” with a friend of ODH so he could see some of what was going on. I can’t wait to go back!

This was our first trip away without our kids in at least five years, and it was a perfect getaway. If you’re a foxhunting neophyte like myself, I highly recommend checking out Betsy at Hunter’s Rest.

Hope this post helps a fellow lurker or someone who wants to experience foxhunting, but doesn’t know exactly how to go about it.

[Foxglove]

Wonderful! So happy you took the time to post about your experience. I think many people forget that foxhunts are social clubs! We do love hunting but we love socializing too! Thank you for sharing this!

[gothedistance]

Fabulous! What a great into to foxhunting, and your comments would look GREAT written up on Yelp. I hope you have another “getaway” during hunt season next year.

[shamrock]

You are SO lucky and I’m green with envy! Foxhunting is on my bucket list too. I will definitely visit Hunter’s Rest one day. Thanks for your post!

[Hunter_s_Rest]

Golly, what a nice note!
What Dubya is not telling you is that she has three things going for her that will make any new horse adventure a success:
Desire
Commitment
Attitude
She doesn’t give herself enough credit for being a skilled and solid rider, but regardless, if you want to do something - like learn foxhunting, go about it methodically and you’ll get there.
I directed her to her closest hunt - Sedgefield - so hopefully she’ll soon be riding with them!

[cheval_convert]

Congratulations on your first hunt! Hunter’s Rest if definitely a great place for your first fox hunt. I hope to get back there one day.

[xeroxchick]

Why do these posts say March 2017? It is still April.

[CarrieK]

Enjoyed your post but am still curious about the ride itself. Do tell!

[Dubyuhnell]

The ride was super fun (of course!) for a hunting neophyte like myself. I was in the third flight with Betsy as our leader and with just two other riders. The fixture was a close trailer ride from Hunter’s Rest in an enormous field surrounded by woods. My goals for the ride were to:

1. not embarrass Betsy or myself
2. not fall off (see #1)
3. soak in the experience/enjoy the ride!

To accomplish those goals, I figured I’d pretty much be quiet and stay in the very back!

The scenery is just plain gorgeous, even with no leaves on the trees in February - hills, rivers/streams, open fields, woods. Seeing everyone dressed up, the horses looking all spiffed up, and the hounds loose was incredible.

In the third field, Betsy led us to places where we could have a good view of the first flight and try to observe some of the action. There wasn’t a whole lot of action the day I was out, but that didn’t bother me at all. I still got to observe the dynamics and learn more about the roles of the hunt members. We had moments when we were trotting/cantering to catch up so we could see what was going on and moments when we were completely still to try to hear which direction the field was headed.

We ended up near Hunter’s Rest toward the end, so we just hacked back there with the horses and drove a car back to the fixture for the hunt breakfast and to get the trailer.

I’m going to take my 9 year old daughter up to Hunter’s Rest for a few days this summer for a “mom/daughter” summer riding camp. She’s mostly just ridden in rings (there just aren’t the kinds of open/horse friendly spaces where we live), so I can’t wait to share the beautiful countryside with her.