Possibly a really stupid question

[Crown_Royal]

but I have always been very curious. I have never hunted (but definitely want to within the next couple years!) and have to ask, what do you do if you have to pee?? On a really long but casual trail ride I’d think it’s NBD to stop and go behind a tree or whatever, but what if you’re out hunting 4 hours and just HAVE TO GO? Especially if you bring along some kind of drink to keep hydrated/warm (whether it’s alcoholic or not :winkgrin: ). People quickly get on/off to open/close gates I’m assuming, as well as stand for checks (but how long are you actually standing there?), but no way can it be acceptable on a formal hunt to sneak off and go pee in the woods…or can it? :lol:

Sorry…I just had to ask!

[Huntin_Pony]

When you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go.

The tricky part is finding a place and time that will avoid all field members and staff (and poison ivy)!

[SidesaddleRider]

People usually will go off to “have a private moment” at a check, if needs be. Hey, nature calls when nature calls!

However, one needs to keep in mind a few things:

1. Pick your moment judiciously. Best to ask the field master how long they anticipate the check lasting, and then excuse yourself to have your private moment. Ideally, they will then wait until you have returned before heading off (not always possible).
2. If not having a buddy come along to hold your horse, make sure that your horse will be quiet when away from the field. Dancing around makes it difficult to have your moment, and it can be downright embarrassing if your horse breaks free and runs back, eliciting the “loose horse” call and everyone looking for you.
3. Choose a spot that is not the direction that the huntsman intends to cast the hounds, as that could make for a whole 'nother kind of “view” if you aren’t finished with your private moment prior to hounds moving off.
4. Pick your spot carefully. Often, that nice green leafy spot has some nice poison-type vegetation that one does not want to get the nether regions close to!

[ISR]

5. Just like your parents would say before getting kids in the car for a road trip, ALWAYS ALWAYS pee before you mount. Even if you don’t think you have to go

[Duckz]

When I’ve hunted with our relatively laid-back local hunt, it’s not uncommon for two or three people to sneak off during a check (behind a barn, in the trees, whatever’s handy). Or if we’re near a treeline I’ve handed my reins to someone and found a spot out of view. Last time a friend and I excused ourselves to a porta-john at the lesson barn we passed by.

But my preferred method is to not drink anything at all before mounting and go easy on the flask in the first hour

[Winding_Down]

I purposefully dehydrate myself. I am a big water drinker but on hunt mornings, I drink only my required coffee and stop drinking at least an hour before I get on.

Then as soon as we are done, I drink about a gallon of water!

[tangledweb]

I think you’ve had your answer, but also, unlike trail riding, the drinks foxhunters carry are mostly not very hydrating.

[BeeHoney]

Always use the restroom immediately before mounting up. Even if the restroom is a bucket with some shavings in it in your trailer. As others have said, if you have to go while you are out hunting, you have to go. It helps to have a friend who will hold your horse for you and wait for you. If you have a large horse you might want to wait for a check near something you can use as a mounting block like a stump, etc.

[batman_the_horse]

This is why it is important (to me!) not to hunt a 17.3h monster.

[Crown_Royal]

Thanks guys! How long do checks typically last? Shortest check you’ve had, longest?

[gothedistance]

A short check can be 2 seconds. Maybe even 1. Long checks occur when the huntsman is calling in the hounds. That can take anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes. If the hounds are strung out across the countryside (usually only happens after a hard run immediately followed by another hard run) then the check can stretch out to the point where riders feel free to get off and stretch their legs while the horn is blown and hounds finally straggle in.

As all the others said, you pee in the trailer before you set foot in the stirrup. Even if you don’t think you have to, you force yourself. Seasoned hunt horses will do the same - they will either pee in the trailer upon arriving, or will stretch and pee the moment they are unloaded. They know the drill.

I honestly don’t ever remember anyone sneaking off to take a leak in the woods; but then again I was always watching the huntsman and hounds, not the field.

You have to be VERY CAREFUL that you ask permission from the Master first because some landowners (and/or hunts) are very strict about the fields staying together, and if you try to sneak away on your own, you may be met with either a frown or a gentle reminder NOT to do that again.

If you are riding first flight, you can always ask to drop back to 2nd field, then offer to open and close gates with another person. After the field has gone through the gates you have the opportunity to quickly answer the call of nature with the other person to hold your horse. Do so quickly and you can be back to the field generally in time to offer to close the next gate - thus endearing yourself to the 2nd Flight Field Master, and the verbal thanks of the field members. It’s a win-win.

When you are all refreshed, you can ask permission to move back up to 1st Flight when both fields are gathered at the next check.

[wateryglen]

SSR speaks the truth! Hilarity can ensue when the only 3 hilltoppers all decide to pull over and take a “private moment” together each holding own horse…out of sight and sound of hounds/other fields etc. Whilst pants down…fox comes up right thru the brush they are squatting in and startled he stops and stares at them…runs off as they pop up equally startled…then hounds run up & thru the gathering…horses spinning around ladies trying to stand/pullup/zip etc…and then the english huntsman shows up silently following hounds and mutters something about a good view then the field and 3 ladies with horses spinning around them try to mount back up as field gallops off…get the picture!!! :lol::eek: It could happen to you!! Even the best laid plans can fail!! A good sense of humor and preparation can help immensely! And I still laugh when I think of it!!

[FitToBeTied]

Or better yet when an excited horse comes backing out of the woods with the member being drug along the ground with britches down around her ankles.

[otterhound]

Whilst hunting in Australia the (female) master and I both “needed to go” and since not much was happening with hounds at that moment, we moved aside into a bit of brush and down-trousered. Whilst we were both hog-tied by our breeches around our knees, hounds picked up a kangaroo which ran right in front of us. Immediately we heard my other half (huntsman) shouting “knock them off!” as he approached us at a gallop. As he passed us he uttered a few politically incorrect words, unaware of the fact that we were unable to walk, let alone mount, with our breeches around our ankles! :winkgrin:

[Foxglove]

Years ago as a young whipper in I wore scarlet with the rest of the staff. Thinking myself quite alone in pursuit of a lost hound, I “took a private moment.” Within seconds I was surrounded by a gaggle of lost hilltoppers, who, seeing my scarlet coat from the hilltop, decided I must be the MF from whom they’d become separated.

Now as an old, old member, I just ask the FM to be excused for a moment when I feel I must. At our hunt, live chase, hunts can go quite long.
Foxglove

[MyGiantPony]

Someone had a great story about taking a moment under a rock ledge, to discover, mid moment, a mountain lion crouched upon said rock ledge. Wish I could remember who.

Quite possibly jswan. She has the best stories.

[CindyCRNA]

Luckily, our longest hunt was 2 1/2 hours so I pee before and am good to go.

[SLW]

This is why I ride a short, non-herd bound horse.

[yellowbritches]

This is probably the only reason I am jealous of men. They can whip it out and back in again with zero pants dropping, crouching, or exposing their backsides to all sorts of nefarious wild life.

[Beverley]

[QUOTE=MyGiantPony;7759377]
Someone had a great story about taking a moment under a rock ledge, to discover, mid moment, a mountain lion crouched upon said rock ledge. Wish I could remember who.

Quite possibly jswan. She has the best stories.[/QUOTE]

That was me, the hunt in question was Red Rock, hey, it all worked out okay. Actually, on a hunt with Red Rock, at the end of the day, hounds going in, I just pulled out to go find myself a nice big sagebrush, and a local cowboy who was out hunting noticed I had done so and very kindly waited at a discrete distance so I wouldn’t have to ride in alone. As we were returning to the trailers, we came upon a band of feral horses, and two juvenile studs decided they wanted to come meet my gelding, which I knew was not a good idea. Boss Stud agreed with me and made his way purposefully in my direction, at which point my escort advised not to worry, he had a gun to shoot in the air or at the beast if need be to avoid altercations. Happily the Boss Stud decided since we were continuing to move on, no further action was required on his part.

And then there was the time a friend, in VA, on a hunt from kennels, decided during an apparently quiet moment that he needed to, um, do #2, for which he positioned himself on a nice skinny log. Yep. Hounds found. Fox jumped over log, followed soon thereafter by 13 and a half couple. You know, sometimes you just can’t tidy up and get your breeches up soon enough.