The houndsman of our local hunt kindly invited me to ride along on the hound truck the next time they hunted the home fixture. This Saturday I hope to do so.
Any tips for someone who has never foxhunted and will be riding in the hound truck? (besides show up/shut up/do what I’m told)
TIA
That’s terrific!
Your list is a great place to start :winkgrin:
-Dress comfortably for the weather
-Where good walking shoes/boots (also appropriate for weather)
-Bring binoculars
-Bring beverage to share (non-alcoholic for on-the-job)
-HAVE FUN!!!
Definitely have fun and don’t stress about it!
Be prepared to jump in and out of the truck and/or have the windows down in all weather.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions (it’s really nice when people are interested in how the hounds are working), but do be sensitive to the need to listen to the radio (if your hunt uses one) and for the hounds giving voice.
Avoid smoking, perfume, or other strong scents, and don’t wear ‘nice’ clothing or shorts–‘hound’ is frequently code for ‘big, wet, smelly dog’.
Have fun!
You luck dog, you.
You’ll be 4 wheelin’ and having a blast.
I think I hate you. 
Have FUN!!!
Bring some donuts and you’ll get invited back!! 
Excuse my ignorance, but what is the hound truck? And what does it do? Over here, it’s simply the truck we use to transport our horses and hounds to the meet. Obviously more to it over there 
A lot of us have busy roads in or near our fixture, so the truck that brought the hounds stays around and, basically, monitors the radio/gps collars and road whips throughout the hunt. Sometimes, such as if the pack splits and it’s easier or safer to use the truck, hounds will be loaded, moved, and unloaded to hunt a new area in the fixture.
How much and what the hunt truck does depends on the fixtures and how the huntsman chooses to work their territory. Riding in the hound truck at least ends up being an opportunity to road whip with someone very experienced who can tell you what’s going on (often with interesting back stories…) Since we do use the technology mentioned above to try to keep hound/auto accidents to a minimum, folks in the hound truck monitor what’s going on pretty closely and frequently have a better observation of the day’s sport than the slower fields.
All good advice!
I drive our Hound Truck and manage the GPS/Radio collars and traffic accidents are down while traffic loads are up in our area.
We auction off rides in the Hound Truck at our Hunt Ball, I provide breakfast type foods for Cubbing & Oct. Hunt Rides or lunch type foods for Nov. & late season Rides plus appropriate libations for 2 people.
We sold 7 Rides last year at $50.00 a ride! Cracks me up to have people bidding to ride around in the smelly Hound Truck, but they all want to see the Hunt from a Road Whip’s perspective and come away with new knowledge!
The Riders are warned they might not see or hear much on any given day, depending on where the Hunt goes, but most of the time they are treated to some good sport. They may even be pressed into service if we have to direct traffic!
Have fun!
Thank you WildBlue and amw - I’ve learned something new. None of the hunts in New Zealand do this, but I think it’s because we are very rarely near roads that are even remotely busy - we don’t card hunts in such areas.
Just out of interest, none of our hunts have GPS collars either - hounds hunt “naked” :eek:
Auctioning rides in your hound trucks sounds like a great idea - both as a fundraiser and to give the driver some company for the day.
You guys are sooo lucky–the gps collars are a pain in the butt. We use them because of the roads. If it looks like hounds are getting too close, the truck will move there and attempt to slow or stop traffic.
Urban sprawl is a real problem for many areas here. Lots of big, old farms have been turned into housing developments, which are now slap up against the (dwindling) fixtures. They put a lot more drivers on old two lane farm roads, and most of said drivers completely ignore the speed limit. They don’t slow down for a horse (or human!), so the hounds won’t stand a chance.
Take some chewable pepto bismal tablets in case all the racing around and hounds panting in your face makes you nausious.
Had the pleasure and privilege of riding in the lurcher/road whip truck with my local hunt a couple of years ago. What a blast! We often had a better view of both the prey (coyotes around here) and the hounds than the rest of the hunt. In addition to the excitement of the actual hunt I had the joy of being there for the lurchers running a coyote a couple of times and the surprise of the driver getting so excited she drove off and left me standing in a field. At least I wasn’t the fellow that road on the ice chest in the back of the truck and got thrown out and left behind. Needless to say, the driver is wild! So much fun!
I recently joined a local hunt as a “social” member, mainly because my best friend hunts my horse and I want to keep tabs on them both. I’ve ridden in the hound truck twice, and I’m hooked! I think it’s probably just as exciting as being out there on horseback! I get to hear all of the 2-way radio chatter, and my heart races just like I was out in the thick of it. I like being able to hop out and stop/slow down traffic for fellow riders, and also picking up a stray hound or 2 (or 19)!
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. You may also receive promotional emails from The Chronicle of the Horse. You can opt out at any time.
For Customers
Company
Terms of Use
