I’ve done this twice, both times successfully. Would love feedback from more experienced folks…
Considering a horse who is experienced and good-minded. Very level temperament, lots of miles at jumper shows and hunter paces and riding out, including large groups. But no hunting experience.
Is this a terrible idea? We have access, if we need it, to top notch professional help (fox hunting specifically).
Both horses I started before progressed according to their nature - the more laid back one went from cubbing in October to first flight at Opening Hunt in November and never looked back. The hot tamale “me first” one finished his first season at a huge joint meet with 60 horses in first flight and kept his cool almost all the time - will always be a hot tamale but is now a legit first field horse for the right rider.
If the horse in question has all the other pieces we are looking for (not entirely easy to find) and is a good match, what say you?
Absolutely!
My last horse was 16/17 when I introduced him to hunting. I took him on an “open” hunt offered at the end of the season, no capping fee - a no harm/no foul situation if he did blow up. As it turns out, he was born to be a hunt horse. He had the aptitude, attitude, endurance, soundness, bravery and just all of it. I feel like I gave him the best years of his life in those 3-4 years that he hunted. He sadly had to be put down due to neurological issues. He was such a baller and our partnership reached this whole new level I never thought possible.
I say go for it - it could be the best thing ever.
I should mention that we already own a superb hunt horse (just not quite up to the rigors of first field on a fast/big jump day) who is unflappable and an ex-whip’s horse…she would babysit and escort home early, etc, if need be. She did it for the hot tamale and it worked like a charm…
I took a friend out hunting - first time for her and her 19yo horse. They had evented to a decent level and he took to hunting like he’d done it his whole life. By his third hunt he was easily galloping & jumping in the field and joining in on some good runs.
As with all horse related things - your mileage may vary! Sounds like a solid proposition with a great babysitter available
Thanks, guys. Off to try the horse in question and see what we think!
Best of luck trying the horse. I see your location is DC so you may be interested in the Potomac Hunt clinic coming up soon (Aug 25) to see if the horse takes to hunting. Very low key and friendly event.
http://potomachunt.com/events/details/introduction-to-foxchasing-clinic
Thanks for that! It would take magic for the horse to be here by then - he is not local and although first ride went well, he needs second ride, vetting, and transport…if something similar in a few weeks we would be all over it. He did go out roading with his local club and was quite good. I know that only means so much but I was out with a newbie last week and the poor guy didn’t even make it past the first 10 minutes so…
A couple years ago I started a 16 year old mare hunting. She was a burned out arena horse. She took to hunting wonderfully and is my go to girl now.
Same here! I am casually looking for another hunt horse as my main ride is aging (19) and am willing to consider a horse without hunting experience, but with a good brain and one that enjoys hacking out. My mare is a beta personality in turn out, so she is quite happy to be in the second flight.
It’s never to late to introduce a horse to hunting. I think the background a horse has is not really relevant to the sport. I’ve seen some of the most broke horse attempt hunts lose their mind and unable to come back and I’ve seen the opposite with people riding green broke horses do fantastic. It’s important to see how experienced of a rider you are and how much you think you can handle in the worst case scenarios so you’re prepared with what could happen.
The only thing you can really do that I find useless to prepare a horse for hunts(other than teaching it to jump cross country), is to be able to canter and gallop in large groups under control. The energy produced by a large group of horses is the first possible difficult that you will encounter. My mare is incredibly excited and it’s a matter of managing that energy. You can’t tone it down or kill the behaviour but you have to be able to know how to manage the energy in a safe and productive manner that’s cohesive with what is going on.
I let my mare go and gallop many times during a hunt, but I also bring her back and collect her before we tackle a fence. I never fight with the excitement and energy we have, but we have a good agreement that we arent going to go across the country side and fairly high fences at a flat gallop either.
It’s all about managing the energy.
