Newbie

[CBurkott]

Hello!

I have an OTTB mare that I’ve owned since August. She is early on in her hunt training. When first got her, we focused on body work and rebuilding her condition. She’s flourishing now, and we’ve been working the past six weeks towards a hunter. She’s always hacked really well with groups of 3-5 as well as alone. She’s not a bolter, she can be brave, but she does test me from time to time (mare - LOL).

Our first meet was a disaster. I had to hack to the meet and in my rush, forgot to tighten her girth. I came off and well, it just went downhill for a variety of reasons. We were also at a fixture that is a race barn. I ended up trotting her around in the shed row 20 laps (racehorse trainer suggested) and we went out for about ten minutes. She was up up up.

Second meet, better. Much improved! She stayed fairly quiet during the stirrup cup, seeing the hounds come, and even watching first and second flight go off. Once third field hit the trail, however, she did not like being behind the front action. We were on a small path with not a lot of space to maneuver…as much as I tried settling her, the hounds singing in the woods proved to be too much at that point. Not wanting to take away from the rest of our group’s experience, I excused myself and we hacked home. She pranced a good half mile before settling down. I still felt like it was a big win over the first experience.

This weekend, the meet is a 45 minute hack. A friend of mine and I will hack to the meet, stay for the stirrup cup and then hack back home.

She’s my first horse to train as a hunter, so just want to make sure we are on the right foot! I ride regularly with one of the field masters and she believes she’s doing well.

I ride her in a happy mouth D ring snaffle with roller and we just began working in a standing martingale so she doesn’t do the race horse head toss.

Anyone have similar experiences bringing along their former race horses?

[xeroxchick]

How old is she? Sounds like you are working well on getting her used to the ruckus. It might take a while so be patient. Can you go out on hound walk after hunt season? Go on trail rides with someone’s busy dog? That has helped my horses in the past, getting used to the dashing about in the weeds and hedgerow. She will probably be super with patience. I would avoid the temptation of doing hard fast hunts even if she seems fine as it can make the horse very keen and hopped up in anticipation of the excitement. I would keep her slow for a while but when you can, out long enough to get her tired. My heart hunt horse was really hot at first and I actually had to take him to all the meets fully saddled for three years! Then one day he was just very relaxed. I hunted him eleven seasons.

[MegBackInSaddle]

I have zero experience, just wanted to wish you the best in your continued adventures with her! I got my OTTB mare (coming 8yo) back in August, but my sis owned her for a year before that. Our first fox hunting experience(s) are high on my list of goals for this season!

[CBurkott]

She turned 8 this year. Her foal date is actually April.

Shes ridden wirh dogs but not the hounds. She’s a super sensible horse. I feel very fortunate in that aspect! Yes I should be able to go on hound walks when the season is over. Granted. That’s if hubby allows me to buy a trailer soon! Ha ha ha!

[CBurkott]

She had a long race career. 58 starts. She’s been off the track since summer 2017.

[CBurkott]

@MegBackInSaddle

I have zero experience, just wanted to wish you the best in your continued adventures with her! I got my OTTB mare (coming 8yo) back in August, but my sis owned her for a year before that. Our first fox hunting experience(s) are high on my list of goals for this season!

Best wishes!!! I hope to hear of your adventures in hunting when the time comes!

[MegBackInSaddle]

Definitely! I hope you come back and update us on your progress. Foxhunting is a bit of a niche thing, and I love hearing about people’s adventures! I never knew I wanted to do it until I got this mare.

Haha, I’m trailerless, too (leapt into horse ownership with no forewarning and little planning when Sister offered to GIVE me my favourite of her horses!), and in trailer negotiations with hubby Good luck with that, too! I’ll be getting something this spring, but the what is being negotiated.

[CBurkott]

I’m fortunate that my mare is boarded on hunt country. So it’s where we hack all the time. But the kennels for the hounds are on the other side a good long distance requiring trailering over.

I jumped into ownership too. I have a genetic disorder that kept me out of the saddle for six years. I’ve been in much better health and decided to finally get a horse.

I went on on my own and got my mare. Boy, I wasn’t sure what I was in for with an OTTB. But I’ve been so fortunate she’s never taken a wrong step! We are working on our partnership and she’s just so wonderful! We’ve even begun introducing small jumps. She’s been an amazingly tolerant girl and we are having a blast working together.

The field master I ride with often was an exercise jockey. She tells me I got one of the good ones. I agree!

[MegBackInSaddle]

Congrats on your improved health and getting a great partner! I hope you two have many years of adventures together! I’m a little jealous There’s nothing to hack to near me, and the hunt club I’ve contacted is a nearly 2 hour drive away. But I suppose I’m lucky to have one close enough to get to at all.

I hedged my bets, having known this mare before she became mine. My sister is very unsentimental, kind of annoyed by most emotions, and threatens to hang up on me if I ever start to gush at her about how amazing it is that she gave me Winnie…but it kind of changed my life.

[Feliz]

Random idea – could you try sound-proof ears?

It sounds like you’re off to a pretty decent start, all things considered. I don’t think hacking to the meet is detrimental – in fact it’s probably useful for getting her warmed in.

I’ve not introduced any TBs to hunting, but one Irish Sport horse and one unknown bred. The ISH was hot and spicy and definitely the harder of the two. With her I would make sure she had a really good, hard workout the night before – gallop sets etc. If I got on at the meet and she was up I would do as much trotting as needed – 15-20min of that would settle her down (your mileage may vary – the other horse does not settle with trotting). I hunted her a season before selling her (she was a project horse) and she got better and better. We spent an enormous amount of time at the back, taking it slowly.

With both horses I would try to call it a day before they got mentally exhausted – which often happened before they appeared physically tired.

[CBurkott]

@Feliz

Random idea – could you try sound-proof ears?

It sounds like you’re off to a pretty decent start, all things considered. I don’t think hacking to the meet is detrimental – in fact it’s probably useful for getting her warmed in.

I’ve not introduced any TBs to hunting, but one Irish Sport horse and one unknown bred. The ISH was hot and spicy and definitely the harder of the two. With her I would make sure she had a really good, hard workout the night before – gallop sets etc. If I got on at the meet and she was up I would do as much trotting as needed – 15-20min of that would settle her down (your mileage may vary – the other horse does not settle with trotting). I hunted her a season before selling her (she was a project horse) and she got better and better. We spent an enormous amount of time at the back, taking it slowly.

With both horses I would try to call it a day before they got mentally exhausted – which often happened before they appeared physically tired.

Thank you! We weren’t able to hack to the meet on saturday after all, my friend wasn’t able and I did not feel up to hacking alone that morning. This week, however, I will get as many miles on her as possible, and by Saturday, I will have the game plan set to get her trotting calmly around before setting off. For the most part, she’s pretty lazy girl which is nice. I will look into trying sound proof ears.

[ecileh]

I agree that there is a need for “mental fitness” in the hunt field and I think that it might actually surpass the need for physical fitness in greenies.

When I started hunting my big mare (TBxPerch) I was really worried about physical fitness and made sure she was well worked and muscled up and ready to handle the physical demands. It never occurred to me that hunting offers a completely different set of mental demands than anything we had ever done before. So, what I had was a super fit, already athletic, HYPED mare on sensory overload.

It took me almost a full season to figure out that it was her brain that was causing the problems we faced in the field, but once I did, we moved back to third flight and spent our time trying to just relax and take it all in and that helped tremendously. She never did settle in as a field horse, but she was amazing as a whip horse.

Which is all a long-winded way of saying that I suggest you work hardest to try to keep your mare relaxed. The more bored she is, the better, IMO. If hacking to meets helps her settle mentally, that’s great. If not, maybe see if you can hitch a ride with someone. If there is a third flight that stays out of the fray, try hanging out back there for a while so it’s more like a fancy trail ride than a fox hunt. And pay attention to her mental state. If you have a couple of hours of good, calm hunting, retire before her brain goes boom.

[jawa]

“If you have a couple of hours of good, calm hunting, retire before her brain goes boom. :)”

I totally agree with this statement!! Stop while you are ahead. If it takes hacking to the meet, staying for the stirrup cup, watching everyone ride off and then hacking back home several times, then do that. Add following 3rd flight for 15-30 minutes, then a little longer, then longer. I use treats to distract and reward. YMMV

Good luck. And happy hunting.

[SLW]

Fox hunting has visual and audio ques that takes time for some horses to get use to or figure out.

One thing I do with a green hunt horse that is focusing on those things and not me is to zig zag when moving forward. At a trot que 3 strides to the left then que 3 strides to the right and I change it up to 4 strides or down to 2 strides. My goal is to ask this as quietly as possible so that the horse begins to tune into me as if to say “did you just ask me to trot a diagonal left line?” Does that make sense? Make sure you exhale so as not to be bracing against the horse. I have to check myself to make sure I am staying soft because when I’m tuned in to my horse I sometimes forget my part in the question.

It’s always tough to start a horse with no hunting background during the season so third field and what you are doing, stopping before your horse becomes a challenge, is the way to go. Hound walking in the summer will help.

Also, I don’t feed grain on hunt mornings, only hay. My horse get’s grain rations when we come home. She’s quite a keen mare and her having a full ration of grain would have me passing field master after field master.

[MegBackInSaddle]

Love the pics!

My favourite trainer (well, my only trainer, but she’s mostly in the States, so I’ve only had two lessons on her on my mare) advised me to contact a friend of hers to ride one of her horses on a hunt before taking my mare out. Strongly considering it (or will strongly consider it, when this winter finally ends!). I have a feeling my mare will hold it together pretty well just taking her out in third field, but wouldn’t hurt if ONE of us has been exposed to hunting before our first day out together.

[CBurkott]

@SLW

Fox hunting has visual and audio ques that takes time for some horses to get use to or figure out.

One thing I do with a green hunt horse that is focusing on those things and not me is to zig zag when moving forward. At a trot que 3 strides to the left then que 3 strides to the right and I change it up to 4 strides or down to 2 strides. My goal is to ask this as quietly as possible so that the horse begins to tune into me as if to say “did you just ask me to trot a diagonal left line?” Does that make sense? Make sure you exhale so as not to be bracing against the horse. I have to check myself to make sure I am staying soft because when I’m tuned in to my horse I sometimes forget my part in the question.

It’s always tough to start a horse with no hunting background during the season so third field and what you are doing, stopping before your horse becomes a challenge, is the way to go. Hound walking in the summer will help.

Also, I don’t feed grain on hunt mornings, only hay. My horse get’s grain rations when we come home. She’s quite a keen mare and her having a full ration of grain would have me passing field master after field master.

Thank you for these tips! I was told the first outing to not feed her grain the night before or the morning of the hunt. I’m a softie, so I’ll give her beet pulp in the am…but I did stop the hard grain.

That’s great advice about zig zagging! I’ll have to give that a try this weekend! My girlfriend is going to ride with me, she has a walking horse that has hunted successfully once. She and I ride together a lot, so hopefully my mare will appreciate the familiarity of her friend.

I’ll keep you all posted! I definitely plan on working her over the summer with the hounds…hopefully I will have a trailer by then or get one of my friends to pick us up!

[jawa]

If possible, have someone riding near you alert you to hounds that are coming in along the trail. This can be very hard for new horses. If someone tells you hound right, gently tip your horses head in that direction and say soothingly “ware hound” or just “hound”. This can help the new horse to understand it’s not a threat to them and to be aware of the hound before it gets close enough to get kicked by a startled horse.

[SLW]

@CBurkott

Thank you for these tips! I was told the first outing to not feed her grain the night before or the morning of the hunt. I’m a softie, so I’ll give her beet pulp in the am…but I did stop the hard grain.

That’s great advice about zig zagging! I’ll have to give that a try this weekend! My girlfriend is going to ride with me, she has a walking horse that has hunted successfully once. She and I ride together a lot, so hopefully my mare will appreciate the familiarity of her friend.

I’ll keep you all posted! I definitely plan on working her over the summer with the hounds…hopefully I will have a trailer by then or get one of my friends to pick us up!

A word of caution. I don’t know how much grain your horse gets but be careful eliminating it the night before a hunt completely. Maybe reduce the ration by half the night before then give the regular ration when you get home from a hunt. I only offer this because as I understand it our horse’s gut works with flora/fauna in it to keep things moving, digested etc. By eliminating what the gut is use to you might be upsetting that balance. If your horse only get’s a half pound or pound of grain it might not be a big deal.

Like you, I feed hydrated beet pulp however my horse’s grain ration is small so she gets her grain the night before a hunt. On hunt mornings it’s beet pulp only with the grain ration given once we are back home.

I should also add that zig zagging is best done riding in the back of a field. Some members are more sensitive about this being done in front of them if you are a guest.

And yes, having a steady Eddy buddy to ride beside is always a good idea.

Good luck!

[CBurkott]

I still fed her last night. I just withheld her grain this am before the meet. She still got her beet pulp.

She did did great today!!! We hunted (third field) the entire time! She had no difficulty with the hounds or the huntsman’s calls. She did have a hard time seeing the other fields zoom past us. So the fieldmaster grabbed her reins and we just stood side by side.

She was a rockstar today! Just twice did she need help steadying. She stood quiet for checks, no zig zagging necessary, and I found out she can canter in place.

[Wanderosa]

Maybe a small dose of Ace for a few meets until she gets used to the hubbub? And/or ear pomms? A friend had an OTTB that didn’t want other horses passing him. A great quality on the track. But not so much in civilian horse life. Lol. Wonder if there’s some of that going on with your mare, too.