Talked my neighbor into coming too - we will have a great crowd!!!
Tally-ho!
I’m soo excited that you all are going together!
Can’t wait for the report- it is going to be a long day until we hear from you.:winkgrin:
My coworker (the normally responsible one, not the one in my other thread), completely flaked out on me this morning, :mad: so I’m not going hilltopping today, but I can’t wait to read the hunt report!
Hey, I am a CO rider who car topped with Arapahoe last year and was a jump judge for their hunt paces this year. Great group of folks! I was going to hunt with them last year but my horse seriously injured his pastern and he was down for 4 months. 
At the hunt paces I also met some of the members of the other CO local hunts, so I am excited to try out each one and find the best fit for me and my horses…hopefully at least one of the four will be good and enjoy it.
Rhymes, SP and Rosijet, will you PM me and let me know when you plan to take your horses out? I’d love to meet up with some other hunting newbies for my first few hunt rides.
[QUOTE=Sacred_Petra;6597886]
One more question: How important is how the horse moves for a potential foxhunter? One of the horses I’m looking at is a bit short strided behind. She’s comfortable to ride, well balanced, and her movement isn’t heinous, she just doesn’t track up. She is, however, well trained (although she could use a tune up), has foxhunted, is decently bred, and very well priced.[/QUOTE]
Movement is important in a field hunter only in how the horse holds up soundness-wise and keeping up with the hunt, and how the rider likes riding its gaits. It is not like the showring hunter where you are judged on the horse’s movement. One of my best hunt horses was a terrible moving mare who didn’t have the smoothest gaits, but she was honest, knew her job, and would go all day if asked.
Holy smokes, what a great day!!! There were well over a hundred horses (I’m bad at guessing, suffice it to say there were a LOT), and maybe 40 or so of us cartopping. Absolutely PERFECT weather.
SP, you would fit in just beautifully with your cow pony!! There were several paints and plenty of quarter horse types. I saw one gentleman in a western saddle on a drop dead gorgeous mustang, another women in an aussie stock saddle. Some braided, some not, some clipped, some not, most everyone well turned out in black coats and buff breeches (with real stock ties and velvet hunt caps of course), but not crazy formal at all.
I was thrilled to see that there were not distinct “flights” - rather, a better word to describe the hunt was “sprawled”. There is SOOOO much room to spread out that everyone settled into a dozen or more groups all traveling at their own pace. The die-hards rode hard and fast with the hounds, but many were out for a pleasant stroll, which was also fine. Everything is so open that it is easy to see the action and know what was going on without having to be too close or potentially in the way. 
I also brought my 8-year-old along and she was in AWE. Wants to know how soon she can go herself. Basically had to drag her away.
YEAH!!!
So despite my boss’s earlier warnings, he introduced me to one of the members of the Arapahoe Hunt, and after a bunch of calling and hashing out details, I am all set to go out on the 28th! I’ll be borrowing an experienced horse the first time, but if I enjoy it (which really, there isn’t much chance that I won’t get hooked), I have several horses to pick from to take in the future.
I think I’m more excited for the 28th than I am for Christmas.
Congrats!!
I can’t wait to hear all about it!
Perfectly reasonable!
Yipeeee!!
Yeeehawww!! Way to go girls!! Ya’ll be careful out there and keep smiling!
Woot woot!! I think I will be making my debut this Sunday!
[QUOTE=rhymeswithfizz;6678036]
Woot woot!! I think I will be making my debut this Sunday![/QUOTE]
Awesome! It sounds like they’re all a really fun crowd.
I had a blast today!!! The hunt stayed pretty slow with a fairly spread out field, of which I stayed to the back of. The horse I rode was a great packer, and now I have a game plan for the other horses I have the option of taking out. I can’t wait to go out again, and hopefully keep up with a faster part of the field. I might, depending on the horse, even get brave enough to jump a fence or two, they all looked pretty inviting.
Welcome to our world! Have some more koolaid, m’Dear!
It is SO MUCH FUN!!!
Awesome!!! Hope to see you out there soon!
Stomps foot and pouts
Where are the PICTURES!!!??? Smiling faces and horses and countryside.
Splendid news!
I am hoping to join, though my horse will be sidelined for a while… he has a bit of a bow that is going to take some time to heal. I swear that horse spends more time injured than he does healthy. So I will probably be looking to catch ride too…
