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impressions about hunting

Hunting
#1

On another BB a poster is talking about going on a huge hunt. She thought the landowner wouldn’t be happy because multiple fence rails were broken by horses crashing through them (she mentioned out of control horses in drawreins) and horses falling. She said that’s just what happens when you go hunting. What happens when fence rails break and how common is that? What kinds of horses hunt in drawreins and are horses ever excused for being out of control or dangerous? If someone is hunting dangerously will someone step in and ask them to leave?

There wasn’t really anybody else who hunted on that BB so the people there got a very negative view of hunting and maybe helped confirm what they’ve heard through the grapevine. Do you find people that would be good at hunting but don’t because of things they have heard? I’ve asked tons of questions about hunting because I have been curious and it’s not really a spectactor thing so you can’t go watch.

#2

Uh - that sounds pretty far fetched. Not only far fetched - it sounds like a troll, and a troll that is pretty ignorant about horses and hunting.

:rolleyes:

#3

Actually it sounds like Cheshire.

Sorry guys… everything but the hot tape sound, and I have seen, to be true.

But then let’s look at who is hunting with draw reins…Breeders Cup Steeplechase winning trainers, PA. Hunt Cup winners…etc. IE…folks who know their stuff. How they train their horses is there business and the hunt doesn’t have a problem with the methods. (Most likely b/c the people doing it are second, third and so on generations of the founders)

I have spent the last few post-hunt nights scrolling through two different online photo galleries from our hunts and sure enough I cringe and thank my stars that a.) I haven’t gone out lately due to 2 on the DL and b.) that I have heeded my employer’s “Do not follow” list!!!

The hunt did issue a big comment on reporting broken fences and now the car followers are told and the report made back to the landowners pretty much immediately after the hunt.

If its possible, people try to repair it onsite immediately. But if not it is reported. The severity of reprecussions is enough that now people mention it, or go back and fix it.

If it is Cheshire…we do not have a problem with declining membership!!! To the contrary actually. They have ceased taking new members, and even new land owners are being vetted pretty hard. We already are at 100+ in the field. Hell they doubled the groom’s membership to $2k for a year, but now you have to provide payroll stubs showing taxes taken out as well. Seems some folks were listing their other discipline friends as their grooms.

Also they made it illegal for any groom to hunt their own horse. Only the employer of record’s horses.

~Emily

#4

Ditto JSwan…IF (and I do mean IF) someone breaks a panel they FIX it…if they dont fix it hunt staff will and BILL the offender) If such a horse or horses were to “join” our field they wouldnt last long…long enough to be told go home and train your horse! Such things happening in the hunt field make a risky sport even riskier and NO ONE wants that. It is a HUGE responsibility to present yourself in the hunt field. YOU are responsible not only for YOUR safety but for that of the ENTIRE FIELD. We take this VERY seriously. We are not crazy risk takers. I have seen more horses “break down” in the show ring than in the hunt field!! I hate it when we are characterized as such. NOT TRUE. Not every hunt rider is Rodney Jenkins but we ALL care about safety and longevity of our sport and taking stupid risks is not something we would subscribe to.

#5

I would say the same of our hunt. I have NEVER seen draw reins in the field. Broken fences are either repaired immediately or reported to the masters so that someone can go back and fix them. We are careful about crops, lawns, etc. One cannot afford to make a landowner mad. I would say that most hunts go out of their way to keep landowners happy. They have to.

Kicking is not tolerated in the field and even bad behaviour is frowned upon. If someone has a hot horse they are usually given an opportunity to see if it settles after a few hunts and most do or the rider gives up on their own. My horse regularly jigs and he’s about the worst behaved in first flight. That’s about the worst of it. He stands like a statue at checks and doesn’t kick so I deal with the jigging. It gets better as the season goes on. He’s hunted at least a few hunts for each of seven seasons so go figure.

As for barbed wire or hot wire, the huntsman might jump it occaisionally but the field never does.

What you describe does not sound like any hunt I know.

#6

Xntrygirl - I took that post completely differently than you did. Running roughshod over another person’s land is not acceptable, and is not standard or accepted conduct. A damaged fence can happen - but it’s also standard to report it and conduct a spot repair.

Actually, that’s pretty standard conduct for any hunter permitted to hunt on another person’s land. I allow hunting on my land - and the same rules apply to still hunters, or hunters using dogs. Don’t damage the pasture. Close the gates. Repair any fence damage you cause or notice - and report same to me asap. Don’t upset livestock or pets.

This is just good manners when permitted to hunt on another person’s land. All landowners, regardless of what type of hunting is done - deserve these considerations.

Lots of folks hunt OTTB’s - OTTB isn’t a dirty word, and they’re not something to be frightened of. Lots of chasers are out in the hunt field. Lots of OTTB’s that are new to hunting and ridden beautifully by experienced riders who take any hijinks in stride.

I can see from a new person’s perspective that a jiggy TB would be upsetting. But like Jumpinghigh noted - there are many professionals out in the hunt field. There are some folks (maybe including me) that others do not like to be around for whatever reason. But go to any warm up ring at any show and it will be the same way!

There is so much misinformation out there about hunting - that I can see posts like that to just contribute to it. Not understanding what is going on, not realizing that the person with the OTTB or green horse is a professional or an experienced amateur, not understanding all the rules and nuances… it can just be confusing. Or having the bad luck to hunt for the first time and have it be a weird day… that doesn’t help. :no:

#7

In my young and crazy days

I hunted many times with 3 reins,a gag rein ,a straight snaffle rein ,and a draw rein.

These were steeplechasers that had to be qualified for point to points.:wink:

Great times,I do not remember ever being run away with.:smiley:

#8

That was in UK of course.

Nowadays I am happy to plod around at the back, listen to hounds, and watch the young idjits play around.

#9

… and, well, hell, I hunt my 'chasers Thursdays and race them Saturdays. Often. Not such a ‘strange’ thing to have racehorses – current or past – out hunting.
I agree with the comments above, though. Sounds like someone who perhaps saw something and took it wrong. I can imagine a newbie or a wannabe to see one of the fresh fit bloodhorses prancing at a check, or at the meet, and imagine they are ‘crazy’ and ‘untrained.’ Au contraire.
And re: drawreins. Yes, sometimes you see them. In the hands of a professional they are a handy tool. Not a crutch. A tool.

#10

This was someone who hunts on a regular basis with this hunt so I took everything as actually happening.

As far as increasing memberships I was wondering if descriptions of hunts like this scare people away or attract them.

#11

Not having read what was written - and not being a witness to it - I can’t really comment directly.

But I think it is fair to say that if a person has a bad experience when trying something out for the first time, they’ll be less likely to try it again. But what constitutes a “bad experience” will vary. The sport by its very nature is unpredictable. If I bring a guest out - I do my utmost to see that they have a good time and are not overfaced - but I can’t promise that we won’t run into ground bees or her horse won’t get badly spooked by a deer or the antics of a green horse.

I guess any club can have members who aren’t easy to get along with, or are jerks - but that’s true of any organized activity. Hopefully those members can be open to being educated about landowner relations and basic courtesies.

Around here, the economy (and gas prices earlier in the year) are most likely the cause of declines in show attendance and other horsey activities. If the person you refer to was an experienced hunter, than the sight of professional horsemen on green horses should not have been noteworthy. Hunter’s Rest, for example, is the perfect person to direct such questions to. I’ve seen plenty of super fit racehorses out hunting. Racing and hunting are intertwined and always have been.

I had a rough time when I started hunting - and if it wasn’t for the help of seasoned foxhunters like the folks on this forum and others out in the hunt field - I probably would have quit. It’s a great sport filled with terrific horsemen and landowners.

#12

I’m nosey!

ETR! Why would it attract them!!! It’s a matter of perception and negative perceptions are something foxhunting fights against all the time. Exagerations, distortions, or mis-interpretations. A lot of horsesports suffer from negative perceptions from outsiders. Even from within horsedom; some think anothers discipline is cruel. I think dressage is cruel…to me!!! :yes::yes: Watching lower level tests at a schooling dressage show is right on up there with watching grass grow!! It makes me sleepy…And those big cowboys on their little qh’s with those big heavy western saddles! Thats cruel!!! Poor things! …yatta, yatta, yatta.
And I wonder what a “horrifying” jump is! :lol: Talk about variance there!! :yes:

What BB was it BTW?!! :cool: I wanna go look!! :winkgrin:

#13

enjoytheride,

i have never seen any of the major craziness you have described . where i have joined, the fences are pretty low and most are logs or coops anyway (i consider anything under 3ft low). the worse i’ve seen is a rider falling off/getting bucked off. a couple horses are hot/figidty at the check, but thats it… there is a great rapport with the land owners whose property we ride on and all the riders are gracious to the land owners. we also have to ride through subdivision neighborhoods to get to some of the fixtures. the Home owner associations are notified and most people come out and wave as we trot by…usually we just ask for loose dogs to be fenced so not to rile up the hounds. but the hunt masters do a great job in keeping in touch with land owners and they inspect the properties before we go to make sure there are no wires up, etc. and if a repair or clearing needs to be done, they do it.

I have ridden out in virginia too, and there were a few chasers in the hunt, some retired and some still competing. they were well mannered. I’m not saying what you described didn’t happen…but it doesn’t always happen.

I believe you ride dressage…i’ve been to a dressage show where a horse has bucked off a rider during a test and went galloping through the other arenas in the middle of tests before being caught …would that mean that all dressage shows are dangerous and crazy?..no…it just happened to happen then…it was a “horse happens” thing…and thats it, horses are living thinking beings, and each react differently to different occasions…not all are calm in the midst of galloping horses, horns, whips and hounds!..but is it fun!

as per declining memberships…there are many hunts whose land and boarding barns that have turned into subdivisions than areas to hunt…so there are not as many horses in proximity. I think some hunts have a more traditional way of getting membership and is “invite only” aka 'who you know" which while it worked out when there were alot of riders close by and didn’t need to trailer to fixtures or when people just grew up on horses and riding fast and fun wasn’t so scarey, it isn’t the same now…most people ride in arenas and stepping out of an arena is a big deal… so hunts have to look further away for membership, which many have or are starting to do.

so the declining membership has nothing to do with crazy or dangerous hunts, just has to do with a declining horse community in some areas. and that’s just basic economics.

#14

In some ways, this is one of those ‘hearsay’ stories that sometimes get started, or embellished, by someone with a beef against a particular hunt.

I’ve hunted with plenty of ‘hot’ eventers, race horses, etc- the key is, they’re being ridden by very experienced riders, and are not going to bother anybody, they are more in control than some inexperienced riders on ‘plodder’ horses. In fact, I can tell you that Randy Rouse on Cinzano (in a snaffle) once held up and let me at a coop first, because he, and I, both knew my little quarter horse WANTED to jump that fence NOW. I was extremely grateful.

Respect for landowners and their property MUST come first, otherwise, a hunt will soon be out of business for lack of country. I’ve heard complaints directly from landowners, so certainly bad things happen, which illustrates that foxhunting has its idiots (even among Masters) as does every other enterprise.

#15

It was ceshire and I didn’t think it was heresay because it was a hunt member but I could certainly be wrong! Thanks for all the intersting information about hunting. I don’t want to post the original thread because I wouldn’t want someone to get in trouble but here are the pictures of the hunt online.

http://www.jimgraham.exposuremanager.com/g/cheshire_11_27_2008

#16

Well, I looked through the pictures, and can say that while there were some ugly jumps and ugly jumpers, what you see there isn’t something out of the norm. I have many many many series of pictures from my past hunt where the majority of the field doesn’t look picture perfect. I can honestly say I’ve seen some pictures of myself out hunting that looked ridiculous, but also seen some where my equitation looks like I could win a medal round. I recognized a few horses, and a few riders from the series…mostly from steeplechasing; a few jocks, few exercise riders, few trainers.

I wasn’t sure if you were trying to say from the pictures that the fence rails had been broken, but in the series you posted, I saw no evidence of either post-and-rail being broken. The second fence looks like it was already in disrepair.

#17

ok…maybe I’m missing it. But I scrolled through those pictures and given the size of the field…nothing jumped out at me like it is super scary. Yeah, a few not so great jumps but you look at any horse show, event etc. and you will see the same thing. Actually, I was more impressed with some really good jumpers and that there were not MORE ugly looking fences. I know exactly were those pictures were taken, and you can pull a top rail down and then put it back up…which is what I assume was done…and top rails fall down all the time. The deer can be to blame for that quite often.

Hell…based on the picture, I wouldn’t kick these horses out of my barn

http://www.jimgraham.exposuremanager.com/p/cheshire_11_27_2008/2008_11_27cheshire-00645

http://www.jimgraham.exposuremanager.com/p/cheshire_11_27_2008/2008_11_27cheshire-000928

http://www.jimgraham.exposuremanager.com/p/cheshire_11_27_2008/2008_11_27cheshire-004431

#18

Ha ha. I know my hunt! The boss, her hubby and our client are in those pics. I will post links later.

~Emily

#19

Em-

Do you know the horse in the first pic? I think I recognize the horse, but I’m not sure the horse would be hunting up there instead of in MD. Just curious.

#20

At least in the pictures…that is lovely looking horse! This one right?

http://www.jimgraham.exposuremanager.com/p/cheshire_11_27_2008/2008_11_27cheshire-004431

http://www.jimgraham.exposuremanager.com/p/cheshire_11_27_2008/2008_11_27cheshire-004544

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