Hound exercise starts soonish...

[SouthernYankee]

I talked to my Huntsman today and he mentioned hound exercise starting next month. There are quite a few young/new/first year horses that will be staff mounts this season so it’s nice to be able to get them out well before season starts so we can see where the training holes are and get them filled before we all have to get to work. Not to mention it will be nice to work on fitness as a group.

When does your hunt start hound exercise?

I’m beyond ready for summer to be over and fall to get here so we can start hunting again.

[lmlacross]

I believe we start in the next couple of weeks. Disappointingly, the horse we’d vetted, who was supposed to have arrived this Tuesday, had an impaction colic episode requiring surgery and our deal fell through. I was really excited to get him out before cubbing starts; now we’re back to horse shopping! We have a promising one to see tomorrow, though, so that’s something!

[kcmel]

I believe Cheshire started this week. I am not a member but get to hound walk with them because I am a landowner (our tiny nano-farm borders some of their hunting ground). I hope to get out a few times; but it is hard to find the time.

[Kodiak]

@SouthernYankee;8738938

When does your hunt start hound exercise?

You’re just talking about the public part of hound exercise, right? Because I can’t imagine what kind of hot mess we’d have if our hounds weren’t taken out and handled year-round. Though, of course, this time of year mounted work is slow and generally from water to water.

[Ponyclubrocks]

Ours go out for exercise three times a week year round, sometimes on foot, sometimes mounted. Not sure if you mean “exercise” or cubbing? We start cubbing the end of August.

Our members are always welcome to join hound walking/exercise.

[rainpants]

Mounted Hound Exercises starts mid-August. Our opening meet is mid-Sept.

[SouthernYankee]

[QUOTE=Kodiak;8740614]
You’re just talking about the public part of hound exercise, right? Because I can’t imagine what kind of hot mess we’d have if our hounds weren’t taken out and handled year-round. Though, of course, this time of year mounted work is slow and generally from water to water.[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Ponyclubrocks;8742034]Ours go out for exercise three times a week year round, sometimes on foot, sometimes mounted. Not sure if you mean “exercise” or cubbing? We start cubbing the end of August.

Our members are always welcome to join hound walking/exercise.[/QUOTE]

Small groups of hounds are exercised on foot year round. I’m talking about mounted hound exercise, similar to cubbing but much more informal. Our pack is smaller and we don’t have any professional staff so the hounds don’t get as much exercise in the spring/summer. This time of the year everyone starts gearing up to get the horses and hounds fit for season.

[ecileh]

We walk our hounds twice a week year round (this spring and early summer , there was also a 3rd “puppy” walk for our youngest litter who needed some more quality time). During the winter months and the late fall directly after Closing Day, this is on foot. We have been doing them mounted since early June, though the Hunstman is still starting out on foot with above-mentioned puppies as they learn about the horses.

Our first staff hunt is this coming Sunday, with another Thursday the 21st and then we start cubbing season on July 24.

I’m starting the process of learning how to whip in this year and just took my first ride on my staff horse partner yesterday.

Opening Day is 9/11 this year.

[Kodiak]

Ah, gotcha. We’re all-volunteer, as well, but only stop mounted exercise when the footing is too icy for horses. We try to have mounted hound walking twice a week year 'round, in addition to working them on foot. I guess I assumed everyone else did the same. Oops.

[rennyben]

When some of you say we only exercise our hounds 2-3 times a week, do you mean just open to members to join or that’s all they go out? I can’t fathom that. Ours get walked on foot almost every day in the off season. Then in July they go 6 days a week with horses - gradually increasing the distance/time. Members can join in to leg up their horses and then cubbing starts in Aug.

[otterhound]

Interesting conversation. Over here, after closing hunt each season hounds are “on holiday” for 3 or 4 months and don’t get walked at all. I’m guessing we have a different kennel set-up to over there?

[rideforthelaurels16]

[QUOTE=rennyben;8743212]
When some of you say we only exercise our hounds 2-3 times a week, do you mean just open to members to join or that’s all they go out? I can’t fathom that. Ours get walked on foot almost every day in the off season. Then in July they go 6 days a week with horses - gradually increasing the distance/time. Members can join in to leg up their horses and then cubbing starts in Aug.[/QUOTE]

I can only speak from direct experience with one hunt (and from what acquaintances at other hunts have said) but when I worked as hunt groom for the C&H here in England, we would try to do a mounted exercise every couple of weeks but the hounds are walked out en masse by the kennel huntsman, countryman, and whippers in/kennels volunteers every morning. They’d usually go out at 7am and be out for an hour, and the humans would go on foot or by bicycle. Members of the hunt were welcome to come out on foot but it’s not necessarily an advertised thing.

[xeroxchick]

It would be interesting to see where each person who made a comment lives. That influences the hound walking, I suspect. Also the size of the hunt.

[ecileh]

[QUOTE=xeroxchick;8756984]
It would be interesting to see where each person who made a comment lives. That influences the hound walking, I suspect. Also the size of the hunt.[/QUOTE]

I hunt with Limestone Creek Hunt in Cazenovia NY.

We had our second staff hunt this morning (and a view of a grey, followed by a chance to watch the whole pack work the area until the line was found and then go off at full cry–amazing!). Cubbing starts this Sunday and we hunt through until about Thanksgiving if the snow cooperates.

As I mentioned above, we walk hounds twice a week year round until hunt season starts. Our kennel is up in the hills and can be hard to get to with trailers in the winter, so we tend not to ride on walks until May or early June, but they go out on foot all along.

It’s about a three mile walk and is–very literally–up hill both ways as the foot of the kennel drive sits in a valley with hills in both (all four, actually) directions.

[lesson_junkie]

I hunt with Green Creek. We started mounted hound walks last week, and we go twice a week. We start clubbing toward the end of August. We will meet at 7:00, and are usually back to the trailers 10:30-11:00, unless the game has other ideas!

The hounds are walked out any day they are not hunted, all year round.

[SouthernYankee]

[QUOTE=xeroxchick;8756984]
It would be interesting to see where each person who made a comment lives. That influences the hound walking, I suspect. Also the size of the hunt.[/QUOTE]

Good idea!!

I hunt with Full Cry Hounds in north Alabama. We are very small and normally have 10-15 mounted on weekend hunts, week day hunts could be 5-10 mounted (including staff and the field). And we try to have 1-2 road whips every time we go out.

[jawa]

I hunt with Deep Run in central VA. We have 2 weeks of hound exercise followed by several weeks of staff hunting and then cubbing starts mid-Sept.