[QUOTE=Tantivy1;3020593]
HUMOR :)[/QUOTE]
But it’s humor at another’s expense: the person who wears t shirts, jeans, western saddles, “wrong” bridles, or the group that creates a big picture that you find laughable. That’s a clever response but it’s at a group’s expense. Hunting needs to become extremely conscious of community building if it’s going to survive, it’s not just land that’s at risk.
Emily, thank you for your response…
[QUOTE=SteeleRdr;3020456]
Oh Tantivy, how you almost made me spit hot coffee on my computer. I’m a bit under the weather, but still at work, and in my “slow mental state” (as my b/f kindly reminds me) I didn’t get the sarcasm until the very end. I was thinking, “Wow! Tantivy has fallen off her rocker!”[/QUOTE]
Tantivy did not fall off her rocker but Tantivy is getting DISGUSTED.
Disgusted with those who do not care and use excuses about those who do care as caring too much.
That stinks.
Tantivy likes to get dressed up in clean riding clothes, reasonably proper looking kit, and clean the spots on her pony and her tack and then go ESCAPE for a few sweet hours!
Tantivy is not a rocket scientist, but was able to learn what is proper. Tantivy is not rich, but was able to find the proper used items. Tantivy is not a snob and likes to help other foolish people who want to hunt.
Tantivy likes to look nice when she is escaping, Tantivy looks like poo most of the time, dressed in dirty jeans, filthy Barbours, smelly wool scarves, Tantivy loves to look kinda, sorta nice when she rides over landowners property in a group while trying to make a pretty…BIG picture!
Tantivy can ride in the park, in the ring, in the nearby woods, over the farm, in a lesson or on organized trail rides or with friends and do that in jeans and paddock boots! YES, all those many hours of riding looking like the SLOB Tantivy is!
But when Tantivy goes hunting, Tantivy dresses up best of all, better than the wreck she looks like at church on Sunday or at work during the week or when she goes out to dinner…and that is the way Tantivy LIKES IT!
Do not mess with Tantivy’s…RIGHT TO TURNOUT!
I BEG YOUR PARDON
Humor at someone else’s expense??? LAUGHABLE?
I am the LAST person on earth that would EVER laugh at anyone’s turnout and I resent your insinuating that I would be so CRASS as to do such a thing.
I am about speechless.
[QUOTE=Tantivy1;3020048]
Hey, go for it! Such a great group of people surely wouldn’t care one wit what you wore - so take a western saddle, square pad, converter and hey, …
You would make a wonderful “big picture” dressed like that, and BE SURE to let us know how it goes! :)[/QUOTE]
This is what I was referring to when I said humor at another’s expense. It’s not just you, by any means, but it’s been a general tone throughout this thread.
Tantivy, please don’t be speechless because you are very witty and a good writer. And I’m very happy you enjoy dressing for the hunt, I love old stuff too but never enough, I guess, to pull off the perfect picture.
Now if you really want to be speechless, follow this link and go down to about the 7th post http://trramidatlantic.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1181135350 or this linkhttp://trramidatlantic.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1190746828
:winkgrin:
So - who elected you the thread monitor?
You have obviously lost the use of your faculties.
[QUOTE=SEPowell;3020782]
This is what I was referring to when I said humor at another’s expense. It’s not just you, by any means, but it’s been a general tone throughout this thread.[/QUOTE]
I am trying to figure this out.
Retread says “<Wicomico> would be delighted to have 150 people in square pads, western saddles, bit converters and any color imaginable on the collar of the coat show up to hunt! The big picture, folks, the big picture!”
Now, the picture she painted in that sentence…looks like a hunt field that followed their fox through a western horse show!
Seriously, I think Retread herself fails to get the “Big Picture” here.
JSwan has nailed it down pretty well, but we seem to keep going in circles and it is getting tiresome.
I did not poke fun at Retread, I merely told her to go ahead and do what she advocated, to turn out as SHE pleased, after she wrote how she felt it was ok to turn out with western saddles etc. Then let us know how it went and I was and am SERIOUS.
Again, I think it is she (Retread) who is missing the point that has been made on the thread better than I by the likes of JSwan.
For the UPTEENTH time, it is ok for newbies, landowners, guests etc. to not be properly turned out. (Do I need to write this on the chalkboard 50x?).
It is ok to be clean and neat and not have a Swaine jacket and still enjoy hunting.
HOWEVER, it is equally ok to wear a Swaine jacket and have a great time out hunting!
Get it?
You can do either and have a grand time!
But it is NOT ok for those that take up the sport REGULARLY not to at least be clean and neat; the desire for a tailored coat or crisply tied stock may or may not strike them and that is OK!
But it does not break the bank OR the brain to use a white pad or a flat noseband when you are hunting REGULARLY!
[QUOTE=SEPowell;3020782]
Now if you really want to be speechless, follow this link and go down to about the 7th post http://trramidatlantic.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1181135350 or this linkhttp://trramidatlantic.org/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1190746828
:winkgrin:[/QUOTE]
First post - the grey galloping in the field? I take it that is in NY, their season closes very early due to weather and I gather they had a “casual day”. I presume it was at the MFH’s discretion and so it goes without saying, it is ok.
Second photo - a regular hunting day? Can’t tell, but the rider has a great thighs and boot legs!
“(no fieldmaster in Geneseo!)… Here’s a photo of him hunting during December which is off season for us.”
Second picture is entitled “Cubbing”
Seems to explain it!
My previous post was not meant to mean/harsh whatever; I merely posted because of my own comedy. I know how Tantivy enjoys turnout and tradition, and the fact that I didn’t get the humor (sorry for using sarcasm, I agree it’s a bit too extreme for word choice) of her post was comical to me because of being hopped up on cold/flu meds.
Sorry for confusion, clear as mud now?
As many have said before, I think many have misconstrued some posts. ALL of us would GLADLY welcome anyone to the hunt field, even if they weren’t dressed for a best turned out contest. Hardly anyone rides like that every time they hunt, but as J Swan put it, it’s like a uniform. And I strongly agree with her previous post about not giving foxhunter’s a hard time when if you go to the hunter ring and use a gag, the judge will most likely look down on you. Some may not approve in the hunt field, but who cares, you’re not being judged. However, I don’t think you’re going to see many people show up at a hunter/dressage show or event in jeans and chaps. Same thing, you still gotta dress the part. I don’t think a hockey player is going to go out on the ice with soccer cleats…it’s just all part of the sport/discipline.
[QUOTE=Tantivy1;3020864]
Second photo - a regular hunting day? Can’t tell, but the rider has a great thighs and boot legs![/QUOTE]
No, that’s cubbing. I did start out with a saddle pad but lost it along the way, but I forgot my yoke and I only use a noseband for formal hunting.
Actually, when I think about it I have to admit we have some pretty unusual pictures in our field. One year a mounted policeman joined us on his TWH in his police uniform for the whole opening meet. We were very well behaved that day! And one day a woman joined us in her western saddle on her beautiful chocolate something or other, but I think that was just hound jogging. Oh yes, I almost forgot, one of our members comes out on horseback and he’s blind and paralyzed! :eek: And one of my friends came out one day with a brown boot on one leg and a black one on the other (not formal hunting). She always has her GPS with her and she clocked us going 27 MPH that day.
Anyway, we’re all in it for the love of hunting and I enjoy truely well turned out riders and the rest of us equally.
[QUOTE=Tantivy1;3020837]
You can do either and have a grand time![/QUOTE]
and that’s the truth
Well, for whatever other good, bad, or indifferent things have happened as a result of this thread, I can report that my personal turnout has improved on 3 counts:
I shall still unrepentantly wrap the boys’ legs in boots, as previously discussed. But I do plan to dig out my shaped fleece pad for when we hunt with the Grand Canyon Hounds this weekend, and I have unearthed a black coat with black buttons that I think will pass as a hunt coat in lieu of my dressage coat with the silver buttons, which I would otherwise have worn.
(And I made sure that I would have a clean stock tie for the second day, so I wouldn’t have to use my pre-tied dressage stock tie.)
Little steps. Little, tiny steps.
[QUOTE=Risk-Averse Rider;3021131]
Grand Canyon Hounds[/QUOTE]
Wow! Have a great time. Is that THE GRAND CANYON? I won’t even go down that on a mule!
Isn’t it traditional that a military person may wear their uniform when competing? I think I remember seeing long-ago pictures of the Olympics where some cavalry men wore their uniforms, and I know I saw a dressage rider one time in a dress uniform.
I think that’s way cool. Our military should always get the highest respect possible, and nothing can surpass a uniform worn by someone who swore to defend our country.
And yes, I’ll stop the flag-waving now.
[QUOTE=Rt66Kix;3021485]
Isn’t it traditional that a military person may wear their uniform when competing? I think that’s way cool. Our military should always get the highest respect possible, and nothing can surpass a uniform worn by someone who swore to defend our country.[/QUOTE]
Entirely correct, and what’s more, they are perfectly acceptable in the hunt field.
If you look at enough old hunt prints, you will probably see a figure here and there in military uniform. In England during the WW’s it was not infrequent to see military men on leave etc. who spent their few spare hours in the hunt field. I too think it is way cool.
The same held for ministers, they were welcomed in their preaching kit, for lack of a better description!
[QUOTE=Risk-Averse Rider;3021131]
Well, for whatever other good, bad, or indifferent things have happened as a result of this thread, I can report that my personal turnout has improved on 3 counts: Little steps. Little, tiny steps.[/QUOTE]
I must extend Congratulations! Not only on the changes you made but EQUALLY for your open mindedness in wanting to learn and improve! And I am sure you will kindly and quietly help those others who also want to do the same! Best turnout wishes,
[QUOTE=SteeleRdr;3021100]
My previous post was not meant to mean/harsh whatever; I merely posted because of my own comedy. I know how Tantivy enjoys turnout and tradition, and the fact that I didn’t get the humor (sorry for using sarcasm, I agree it’s a bit too extreme for word choice) of her post was comical to me because of being hopped up on cold/flu meds. Sorry for confusion, clear as mud now? .[/QUOTE]
No problemo and hope you are perhaps feeling better this morning?
Frost last night, but looking like another bluebird day…<sigh> We need some Irish weather around these parts!
[QUOTE=SteeleRdr;3021100]
As many have said before, I think many have misconstrued some posts. ALL of us would GLADLY welcome anyone to the hunt field, even if they weren’t dressed for a best turned out contest.[/QUOTE]
I am afraid there is a cadre of people out there who truly believe we are as fanatatical in the hunt field about turnout as we are here writing on a chat board; i.e., they probably think we line people up in the before hunting to review everyone’s turnout.
In my limited experience with foxhunting I would argue that it IS considerably more relaxed than showing in Hunters, Eventing or Dressage.
Incredibly more relaxed. However, that does not mean that one should let good horsemanship go to the way side. Clean, neat and tidy turnout should be the goal of each and every ride IMO regardless of discipline. This doesn’t mean fancy expensive equipment and tack, it just means neat and clean.
I personally do not take my horse out on a trail ride in my backyard dirty. I make every effort to make sure he is well grommed and clean. I would expect to see the same if out hunting. It is just good horsemanship.
However, as someone that is new to hunting I cannot emphasize enough how welcoming, easy going and encouraging the members and staff of our hunt have been. Considering we are in snooty New England I was rather reluctant to partake in foxhunting because I knew it was a wealthy man’s sport steeped in tradition. Usually those two factors combined do not make for a easy going and relaxed atmosphere!
That said, I have felt FAR more at ease about my turnout and riding while out hunting than at any show I competed at thus far. I don’t think of it as a show, it doesn’t have the stress of competition tied into it. It is much less stressful for me to head out on Sunday morning to a hunt than a show! Just ask some of the people that have grommed for me at shows:lol::lol:.
I think of it as a day to enjoy company, the woods, the hounds, a tea and to present myself and my horse to our best abilities! 
Basically we ride in what we have that suits the bill for now. Our hunt is more concerned about us coming out to hunt than having a Melton or brown gloves. That does not mean leave turnout to the wayside however.
I don’t own a pair of decent tall boots so I wear my gaitors, I’m willing to bet no one has noticed at this point because they are always clean and polished.
I also dont’ have a melton so I wear a navy hunt coat. Likewise I don’t have a canary vest at this point, so to keep warm hunting in the winter of New England I layer a thin v-neck merino wool sweater over my show shirt. It keeps me warm, it’s not “traditional” but you can’t see it under my coat and with my stock.
That said, if next season I decide to join the hunt, hunt regularly and have it be my sport of choice I will make every effort to acquire the proper attire. I think that is all anyone will ever ask. Just like those that decide eventing, hunters or dressage is their sport of choice eventually acquire the neccessary equipment for such.
But in reality Eventing, dressage and hunters are FAR less forgiving of the clueless newbies when it comes to turnout and tradition:winkgrin: Or in some cases just Fashion!
Servicemembers can wear their uniform while hunting or competing. I recently saw a photo of an Italian (dressage?) rider competing in her uniform.
I don’t know what the clergy wear. Evidently their whip poppers are supposed to be black.
How’s that for a bit of arcane knowledge? I’m full of useless information.
RAR - I heartily agree that boots on your horse are necessary given your territory. Keep a set clean for me if I ever come out there on my tubby draft cross. He’s very delicate, you know. And sunglasses. And extra water.
Double check on the fitting of the breastplate - but I think I am right. I use one too. I see a lot of super loose martingales and breastplates out hunting and it bugs the snot out of me. Not because it’s sloppy, but because it’s dangerous and useless. I saw a lady with a standing martingale that was waaayyyy too long. At a check, her horse bent its head to bite a fly and got the standing attachment looped around its nose. Horse completely wigged out, poor thing. :no: Others have gotten branches snagged under their bellies from droopy tack. Of course - our territory is very brushy so that might not be a problem in other hunts.
The only “hunt inspection” I’ve ever witnessed is the official “What are you carrying in your flask” inspection.
Though I must admit, at my very first Opening Meet, I was insulted by two ladies whom I’ve never seen since. Since my horse was green, I had a green ribbon in his tail. Just a little one. One comment was, “They’ll let anything in the field these days,” and another was, (said with a snicker), "You should be wearing a green ribbon too) or some such nonsense.
Odd thing was - we were just standing there waiting for the benediction. Horse was standing quietly. He was braided, sparkling clean, and I just had a very simple riding habit on. No way anyone could have dinged me. They must have been guests from some other hunt - I have never seen them again.
Guess some hunts do allow jackasses - the two-legged kind!:lol:
Happy Hunting!
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