All foxhunters will proceed directly to hell when they die.
Because they have already experienced heaven on earth.
: o )
Hinderella - you bring tears of joy to my eyes. I am honored to provide you the horse to have your maiden voyage. The first of many many many. This I know.
You said it Hunter’s Rest!
Hunting truly is an addiction there’s no cure for! It was so wonderful to meet all of Coth’ers in person. You’ve all been such an inspiration for those of us new to the sport!
Hinderella, you pulled off your first outing like a pro! Calm, cool and collected (at least in appearances). I can’t wait for the next Coth adventure… where to next ladies? Anyone want to come up to NJ?
Whicker - Thank you so much for organizing such a wonderful outing for everyone! Not to mention a FANTASTIC dinner to boot:D I hope you’ve recovered from the long and fabulous weekend.
Hunter’s Rest, as always thank you for accommodating! I know, I (and anyone else looking for a hireling) can put my full trust in your ability to match up horse and rider. Next time - I’ll move up a flight… You might actually get me out there first flight by the end of the season :winkgrin:
I truly hope we can all get out together again soon! I’ll be working on the video footage of our outing and will post soon (yes, I did get the… “You took us the WRONG way” chastising from the most adorable junior ever to grace a hunt field on leadline. I’ll post a link shortly to video and 3rd field google map route.
Thank you all so much again for a weekend that will not be soon forgotten!
Before I forget - walking out with the Ashland foot bassets was such hoot. It’s so much fun watching such stout little hounds work their little wagging tails off in hot pursuit!
H - Great post! I could feel it all and simply cannot WAIT to get out. We’re supposed to start this Sunday. We’re all itching for the weekly Hunt fix.
fantastic weekend
First of all, I would like to say it was a joy meeting and putting a face with many of the COTH members! And continued to meet more at the Hunt, Dinner at whicker’s and around town!
I can echo all the coth members attending the ODH hunt…Just fantastic!
While my adventures didn’t start out as smoothly as I wished, flight delays (aka “scheduled maintenance”) would have had me missing the 4pm ride on Friday, but with a quick couple calls to HR, I was able to switch from flying to Dulles to BWI in a timely manner that I could drive around DC just before traffic hit and was able to arrive at 3:50 pm! For me, it was such a unique feeling to arrive, jump into my riding clothing (which I carted on the plane for fear of my baggage not arriving!) and onto an awaiting horse that was saddled and ready to go! Hmm, I wonder if that is like being a hunter princess? What a great way to unwind from a hectic day of travel!
On Saturday, I was fortunate to ride in the first field on one of HR’s lovely horses. It’s not often that one can fully trust an unknown horse in hunt, but you can always count on HR to have the right horse! I’ve stayed with her a few years ago, so it almost felt like coming home! HR said that Frosty may not be the fastest, but he is the perfect hunter, and Frosty was true to form. It didn’t take long for us to settle in with each other. Like my horses, I just needed a slight change in breath or leg and he respond to perfection. It made for an enjoyable ride where I could watch the countryside and view the fox without worrying about my trusty steed!
Since I had forgotten my flask (shameful), I was offered many flasks, all with wonderful concoctions…brandy with peach snapps, pear port…and a few others…If I wasn’t smiling beforehand…I’m pretty sure I was after…um…well…my 9th flask that was offered…since we went from being cold and wanting something to warm up…to being hot and needed something to wet ones whistle! whew…
At around 3+ hours… and temperatures getting quite warm , I felt that my horse and I were getting tired (or maybe from said flasks). After a wonderful view of the fox and meeting up with the hill toppers, I excused myself to the second field. I was unsure if we were going to go a few more minutes or hours and wanted to save my horse for another day. Frosty had a good rest after about 20 minutes listening to the hounds in full cry as they circled back to us. We did meet back with the first field, but it was time to go back home. I was fully pleased with my adventures with ODH! Everyone’s faces were beaming at the tailgate afterwards!
Dinner that night at Whicker’s was a true experience! Hinderella’s hubby’s paella was to die for! And whicker’s hubby can cook too (that’s a novelty for me since one usually ends up with food poisoning at my house if my husband “cooks”!)
Sunday found us on another long hack through the countryside. A beautiful day. Then a stop to see the Hunter Championships and then off to see the Ashland Basset Hounds. We viewed the rabbit a few times, my favorite being when it ran right behind the hunt master!
Everyone left that evening, except for me, my flight was out on monday at 5:30pm. I enjoyed a lovely dinner at whickers and we talked late into the night! It rained that night thus no hack out on Monday, but Whicker and Wateryglen and I hit a couple of the big tack shops and met HR in Warrington for lunch.
Then sadly, I had to go home…while the flight from Dulles to to Chicago arrived early…my flight from Chicago to Indy was delayed arriving and delayed further waiting for a flight crew to come in…so I didn’t get to bed til about 1am…and yes, it’s much harder to get up in the morning for work and the real world than jumping out of bed early to go hunting with COTHer’s.!
Can’t wait til we meet again!
Alright…time for me to chime in… I think I am still on cloud nine after this wonderous weekend!!! I now have a glimpse of what the life of a country squire ( or squiress???) must entail. ( Have no doubt,these are VERY,VERY hard working women who simply LOVE what they do!) Thanks to all who made this weekend possible and to all who participated! Loved the country,the people,the activities, (how DID we manage to do it all???) the food,the wine,the education,the company,the stories and tales,the comradery (did I mention the food and the wine???) the conversations,…but most of all the spectacular hunting with ODH…I am still smiling everytime I think of our twists and turns. Thanks to all for allowing me to tag along…and welcome again to Hinderella!!! It was a such a pleasure watching you “see the light”…until next time…Cheers to all!
P>S Thanks also to WG and the AB for bringing such a huge grin to my face…those bassets just make me happy!!!
Me too!
I want to try! You all make it sound so fabulous. I just joined a hunt and haven’t gone out yet for lack of a suitable mount. I’ve been showing for years and have done hunter trials and trail rides, but haven’t gone hunting. Is there room for another 40 something newbie in your COTHer club?
You all should keep in mind that at the end of October, the 24th through 30th, Rapp Hunt, ODH and Warrenton Hunt are doing HuntFest. Six days of hunting with three hunts and BBQ in the middle. For the whole week it is 350 and for a half week 200.
The last hunt of the week is the ODH/RH joint opening meet and that evening is the ODH/RH hunt ball. So you can close the week out in style if you wish.
If you come early you can get tickets for Warrenton’s Barn Dance on Oct 23rd.
Registration is at www.vahuntfest.com.
Hunt Fest sounds wonderful, and I’d love to just turn my car around and drive back…but that weekend is my husband’s 50th birthday, and since I’ve already subjected him to days on end of my new obsession, I simply must stay home to celebrate the big birthday. I’m sure it will be a terrific time for everyone, and I’ll be there in spirit (though I’ll try hard not to be thinking of horses and hounds while singing happy birthday)
On another note, I want everyone following the story of this great weekend to know that events didn’t end with the hunt. As you’ve seen with posts by the other wonderful women who were there, we also had an amazing afternoon on Sunday with Ashland Bassetts. There’s nothing that quite compares to seeing those adorable bassets at work after rabbits. And those Ashland people definitely know how to tailgate!
And on both Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, HR gave us the benefit of her behind the scenes knowledge at the steeplechase races and the field hunter championships. People watching at the races is great, and of course, I just had to buy a hat…what are races without a great hat?
And if you should find yourself in the area, be sure to dine at Griffin Tavern…great food, warm welcoming staff and a fun trivia contest on Thursday nights!
yes, huntfest sounds like a blast. But alas, work is in the way of fun and will be travelling that week…but one must pay for ones addiction!
I just got back from catching horses and fixing fences at my parents place, where Drummer lives. My dad, who is about a million years old, was grumbling about hay burning $h!t machines and asked why do I even have that horse. I said one day it’ll all come together (my life is one step forward two steps back with no foreseeable change) and I’ll fox hunt once before I go. I wouldn’t mind that one time being a weekend like you all had.
I am working very hard on my cantering and REALLY want to do this next year.
Until then, I will be content with the second best thing. I met Jan Neuharth this weekend (who was a total sweetie) at the Waterford Fair and downloaded her first book, the Hunt, on my Kindle.
I’m glad y’all had such a blast!
P.S. More importantly, there’s maybe going to be ANOTHER future Mr WateryGlen? Crap I really am behind!!! Wateryglen, you go girl!!!
[QUOTE=Hinderella;5138193]
I cannot thank everyone enough for the WONDERFUL COTH Hunt weekend!!! Whicker, for starting the ball rolling, Hunters Rest for the great instruction, and for her amazing hunt horse who took such good care of me and to ALL of the COTH women who have introduced me to Hunting, to beautiful VA hunt country and shared the amazing joys of their new friendships…The foxhunting gods were surely smiling on us the morning of October 2…I rode in ODH’s new third field, surrounded by terrific COTH friends, new friends, talented little girls, and led by Hunters Rest. …If horses are a vice and riding is an addiction, then hunting must be a sickness, because I’ve definitely caught it! I plan to work hard on my skills, and practice with my pony and I WILL DO THIS AGAIN!!!
If you’ve made it this far, thank you for reading and sharing my experience, and please, if you weren’t part of the wonderful crew this year, I hope to meet you in the future
With much gratitude…Hinderella[/QUOTE]
GOOD FOR YOU!!! so happy for you :D:D:D:D
Here I am!
Back online…ahem!!! :uhoh:
So it was a total blast! How did it happen that a buncha strangers could meld so well for so much fun!!! We are HUNTING PRINCESSES!! And did bigbaytb and whicker tell ya’ll that after dinner sat night (ok and after some wine…:winkgrin:) they presented all the attendees with jeweled/feathered tiara’s and proclaimed us “Hunting Princesses”!!! And our fearless leaders (HR and Whicker) got tiaras with red blinking lights! How…special!! ;)
So we ARE doing a 2011 Hunting Princesses Tour right?!!
So much to tell our fans…our schedule went something like this:
Fri night - dinner for 20 at Griffin Tavern in our own private dining room. We all got to meet/greet/eat!
Sat am - hunting w/ODH then a tailgate at the barn. Lotsa sweaty/tired hunting princesses and HP spouses! JSwan did not get stuck and DID have her special tie on! Mr & Mrs XRab came. Very special tailgate after!
Sat afternoon - off to the Middleburg Steeplechases for racing & shee-shee people watching
Sat night - dinner at Whickers w/contributions from the 20 attendees. Of particular note was the paella (made w/clams/mussels/seafood all the way from Connecticut!!) made by Mr. Hinderella and 8 cloves of garlic that gave me bad breath for 2 days! Lotsa good wine! Lotsa horse talk, good chemistry, a barn/tack room tour and pet-the-horsie experience before dinner. (OMG Whicker has a zillion saddles…I hate her…no woman should have THAT much leather!! :winkgrin::D:D) The we took a tour of Mr.Pleasantmeadows car and took turns sitting in a porsche that can pull a horsetrailer! :eek: The presentation of the tiara’s ceremony got a bit…“rowdy”…We wore them the rest of the night…some of us slept in ours…the men were jealous!
Mr Whicker is a gourmet cook and the ultimate host - what a meal! The Whickers sons totally rock! What a memorable night!
Sunday am- hangover recovery and trailride for those able; some of us visited the emergency room!
Sunday afternoon - Hunting w/the Ashland Bassets at Great Meadows with rabbits viewed and field of 41. All the princesses and their supporters came! Mr Hinderella earned the nickname “The Unibomber” for his wearing of a hooded sweatshirt (hood up)when it got cool. Mr Hinderella has facial hair and a shaved head - handsome dude! Course he had SHORTS on in 60 degree weather & wind! :winkgrin: Pleasant Meadows family were all in shorts too! (Yankees think it’s warm down south while we Virginians were in sweaters/jackets!) Hinderella was sporting a snazzy new hat she’d bought at the races…I was unabashedly jealous.
Monday - the horse tack shop tour for bigbaytb! Lunch in Warrenton at Jimmies w/tea & sandwiches w/HR, me & whicker
We ALL have sore faces from smiling so much but Hinderella was the star! She’s no longer a hunting virgin! Also smiling a lot were Jawa & Horseriders from southern Virginny.
So geographically we had cothers from Indiana, Connecticut, New Jersey, southern Virginny. They joined local cothers, Huntersrest, Wateryglen, Whicker, Jswan, Elghund, Xrab, and I know I musta forgot someone…
I’m exhausted…:yes:
Elghund must get credit for hunting from here on Saturday and for providing the excellent gps track of our hunt. (He does it regularly for Rappahannock, I understand.)
Hunting princesses unite!!
So the Unibomber has just turned 50?!!! :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:
hmmmmm …Hinderella (the newly crowned hunting princess) has good taste in men! Yup!! :yes::yes::yes::yes:
All hunting princesses need staff…lotsa, lotsa staff…and they don’t even have to ride! In fact; maybe it works out better that way!! I mean SOMEONE has to hold your fieldhunter for you when you dismount so you don’t soil your jacket w/colors!! Of course I don’t have personal experience with this but that’s how I imagined it…:uhoh::uhoh::uhoh::uhoh:
Wateryglen has a vivid imagination equal to none!
Aw crap–another obstacle between me and my hunting dreams. The only staff I had divorced me a couple years ago. Granted, he wasn’t what one would call a hardy staff and he didn’t ride all that well, but still–wait, what? Staff? Oh, you mean hunt staff. I thought we were talking personal staff as in personal.
Nevermind. :o
no not crap!
Oh I truly meant personal staff for sure…I mean staff that serves you!! :winkgrin: and I do mean…serve. :eek::yes:
Yup my staff wasn’t up to snuff and got kicked to the curb too…someday I hope to have tryouts again…is that the right word? Interview? Trials? Temporary hire? :uhoh:
All us Snobbington Hunt members have staff just like the HP’s…they all party together whilst we be off huntin’…yeah that’s my story! 
woooooo hoooooo!!
We be special!
And I see our own hunting princess :winkgrin:JSwan got a third place at the Rappahannock Hunt Hunter Pace!!
Well ex-cuuuuuuuse me!
You musta had your lucky tie on!!:eek:
And now she’s getting a new horse too!!! I hate her…I hope she falls off…
TSA inspected our Tiaras
staff…you have staff? is that what DH is for? well heck, somebody better tell mine…he needs some edumacation…
Congrats jswan!
And…on another note…All those tiaras I brought to the Coth weeked was cause for alarm and my checked luggage was inspected by TSA (I got their little note!)…must have looked hilarious with all that shiney-jeweled feather stuff in my luggage…
I would have loved to hear the explanation you gave to the TSA.
Feathers, tiaras, a hunt whip and spurs.
Oh My. :lol:
