Hey guys! What should a horse and rider do if they encounter a hunt on the trails? Stop and wait? Try to pick a different direction and keep moving? What if you’re on a one way trail?
Trying to educate myself so we don’t cause any upset.
Join them and have a great time!
But seriously, foxhunters are guests on the land and respectful of whomever they meet. If you have any concerns then they will make every effort to accommodate you. So don’t worry.
Join them and hope you don’t look too out of place in casual gear with a cowboy hat and western saddle!!
LOL!
unfortunately that’s too rich for my pocketbook;)
seriously, friend had a problem and we got talking about it, but neither one of us was sure what the hunt expected in such a situation.
Main thing is to keep your horse facing the hounds so that there is less likelihood of a hound getting kicked. If that means you have to back off the trail, then back off the trail.
the hunt secretary will probably be glad to send you a copy of their fixture card so that you will have an idea of where they will be hunting on particular days. That’ll make it easier to avoid them !
yeah,
we have the fixture card from our local hunt posted at the barn. yes, it makes it easier to choose where to go.
i’m more concerned about other areas where we ride that other hunts use. i probably should check w/ them re their fixture cards and see if i can figure out where in the park they’re going to be.
thanks!
marta -
I was a former whipper-in, so I know the drill. 
Here’s what you do:
You can hear the hunt long before you meet it. The hounds lead – they use their voices when on a line; the huntsman uses his/hers when cheering or encouraging the hounds, and the field follows. If you take a few moments to listen to the hounds and/or huntsman, you can usually tell which direction they are taking so that you can head in another direction so as to not disturb the hounds. Don’t cross in front of the sound; chose a direction that is lateral to the sound.
If, however, they are hard on a line running directly towards you, stop and just wait until they pass or halt. You don’t want to turn the game, nor do you accidently want to cross the line of the game.
Under NO circumstances should you join them. You haven’t been invited, and hunts are private affairs. It is like gatecrashing a private party – just not done. There is no problem with you standing and watching if they come at speed across the area where you are IF your horse can remain quiet, but good manners dictates you leave once you are sure you can do so without disturbing the hounds, or if your horse gets upset.
In the fall hounds usually go out early in the morning, anywhere from 6 to 8AM when the scent is still low and heavy to the ground. The huntsman will cast in coverts, and along streams where the game usually hunts for food. Chose the high, dry ground when you go out, or do a ride later in the morning, about 11AM. Hounds should be called in by then.
In the winter the hounds will go out later in the morning, about 9AM-11AM. The colder air will allow the scent to linger much longer, so the hounds will often stay out until 1-2PM. You can choose to go earlier in the morning, or later in the afternoon if you don’t want to encounter the hunt.
Checking the fixture card is a good idea – then you can check the time of the meet so you have less chance of riding when they are out. Most hunts don’t range much beyond 5-6 miles from the meet, but this isn’t a hard and fast rule if the hounds get on a straight-necked fox, or coyote. Then all bets are off for a 20 mile radius! :lol:
Sounds to recognize so you’ll know how to react –
- a soft coo… coo… coo is the huntsman encouraging the hounds to find scent. You usually only hear this if you are close, unless the huntsman is using the horn, in which case it is a soft, low, encouraging sound. The hounds will be silent for the most part, looking for scent. Just quietly turn around and go a different way, away from the sound.
- a loud long yell-hooo!! can either be a whipper-in who has sighted game, or the huntsman cheering on a hound that has “opened” (cried out that it found the scent of the game). The hounds are now alerted and you will usually hear their combined music shortly thereafter, and the cheering rapid staccio blasts of the hunt horn if the scent is good and the hounds are working. Now is a good time to quickly turn around and go back the way you came, UNLESS that music/horn is racing towards you. If so, STOP and wait until the sound stops, or the hunt gallops by.
-
a long, holding note call of the horn is the call to the hounds to stop hunting and come directly to the huntsman. No cause to turn around, just keep going along the trail as you please since the hunt is not hunting at that moment. If you see a hound, don’t speak to it – just let it be and ride past. They know their jobs and what the horn means and they will come to it as they’ve been trained. If you see a whipper-in who is hunting for hounds, just tell them where you saw the hound. They will be most appreciative.
- three rapid toots of the horn in multiple succession is the call for all whipper-ins to come to the huntsman. That usually means the huntsman has already gathered in hounds to either call it a day, or re-cast somewhere else. If you want to see the hunt, follow the sounds. You can politely ask who the Field Secretary is to any member of the field (all those people in black coats) and inquire which way you can head off so you don’t disturb the hounds. The hunt staff would be very gracious of your thoughtfullness and consideration. :yes:
on the trail
let us assume for the moment that the hounds have run past you in the woods and since you are on the only trail you expect the hunt will come any moment. walk your horse in to the woods and turn around to face the trail, hold hard. your horse will likely want to follow.
if you have control issues you may want to be even farther off the trail.
thanks everyone!
gothedistance - you’re like a walking wikipedia girl;)
What you should expect
What you should expect: courtesy.
A SW Va. hunt has the good manners to invite some one found trial riding to join in the fun; and sincerely want you to join in if you think you and your horse capable. There is usually a group of slower riders in the rear if you would feel comfortable there.
If you are not comfortable riding in a group, then gothedistance has some good tips to help avoid or to find a hunt.
If unable to avoid a hunt, your horse will most likely become very excited to have a group ride by. Please express any concerns to those you meet and a SW Va. hunt will proceed past in a manner safe for all; or as armandh and others suggests, you may want to get well off the trail.
Buggers to the chase; foxhunting is no fun for anyone when a rider is on the ground and a horse is loose in the field. In some incredibly rare event should any member of a SW Va. hunt be caught being rude or unsafe, said member is taken aside and given “a talkin’ to”!:eek:
hey guys,
i tried looking up the website for monmouth county hunt in nj to check their fixture card. looks like they don’t have a website. anyone know of their contact info?
i often have the local hunt go through the same farmland / woods i ride over
i just join up with them, sometimes go the whole distance some times not sometimes i turn off
and then often hold sponsored rides going over farmland that isnt avaialble to the local riders
so its not a problem if i ride on my own or in a group of people
i take my mare where i am going if theres others about its doesnt really matter
You can usually find contact information here. Just call the MFHA and see if they can supply you with the phone number of the Monmouth Hunt Secretary.
Yeah, I used to whip-in off my endurance pony. If that wasn’t a rush and a half! He was the only one that NEVER got tired in the hunt field!! :lol::lol:
You have given much sage advice, but as another former whipper-in, I have yet to encounter a hunt, even some of the alleged hoity-toity ones in Virginia, that wouldn’t invite a passer-by to tag along.
so can i ask one more silly question?
do all hunts discourage their riders from riding to the area where the hunt starts from? (another words, they want you to trailer to the area rather than ride to the area) and if so, what’s the reasoning behind it?
Mostly because you might disturb wildlife or foil a scent line.
Not really. The hoity-toity Hunt County hunts can be pretty strict about who is riding in the field. Point case: I live dead center in the middle of Piedmont territory, and while out pleasure riding on the road with a friend one morning we encountered the hunt cruising out of the woods, right at us. We stopped and waited for them to continue on, but at that moment the field checked. We were left standing off slightly to the side of the road as the field came to a rest next to us, taking up the whole road. So, not wanting to disturb, we stood and watched the hounds which were being cast in a field next to us. The field began to walk down the road in the same direction we had been going, so we fell in behind at a small distance, but within earshot. Now, mind you – I am a landowner and the hunt does cross my property – but a member of the field paused, turned back to us, and I was gently reminded I shouldn’t be following the hunt unless I was invited and paid the capping fee.
I remembered that I smiled, said I was a landowner just up the road, and was merely continuing my hack and had no desire to “follow” the hunt, but that the field happened to be preceeding us and we did not feel it would polite to just go blasting past, and possibly disturbing the hounds. The person took that graciously, thanked me, and returned to the field. We stayed behind them until about the end of the road when we parted ways. It did not bother me in the least that I was not invited along for the hunt, or that I was told that “following” the hunt without an invitation was a no-no. He was well within his rights, and I respected that.
I know it costs a huge amount of money and work to keep hounds, a lot of work to maintain a good relationship with landowners. Sometimes all it takes is just one stupid incident with a rider in the hunt to damage landowner/hunter relationships, and with the severe pressure of developments in this area and the ever shrinking territory in which to hunt, the hunt staff has to be sure that the people that come to hunt know the rules, and can be held accountable to both damages, and staff/ hounds.
I can’t speak for hunts outside my own general area, but the hunts here can’t afford to just let anyone they meet on the road tag along – there are responsibilities that need to be considered, and they take that very seriously.
So… general etiquette says it is better to be polite and take that attitude that, unless you are expressly invited, you don’t tag along with any foxhunt that happens to cross your path. :yes:
Not at all. If a hunt member, or guest, lives within hacking distance, they are certainly free to hack over. Less trailers mean less damage to the fields where the meets generally take place.
If you wanted want some fun reading, dive into some of those old hunting tales from the 20’s and 30’s. Many of them would talk about getting up at 2AM, riding 20-30 miles to a meet (!!! I kid you not!!), hunting all day, and then riding home, often arriving in the wee hours of the morning. Those stories are a real hoot.
In my mind those old time foxhunters were really the first, true, endurance riders. :yes: And those old Thoroughbred hunters were TOUGH horses!!
gothedistance,
a member of our local hunt always extends an invitation to me to join one day capping but he ALWAYS remind me NOT to hack over but to trailer over, which in my mind (when the meeting spot is 2 miles away from the barn) makes no sense and in fact makes it more of a hassle than just tacking up and riding up to the area.
he did mention something about the hounds being confused but i didn’t understand why the scent of my horse would confuse the hounds. but i think i understand now that it can disturb the line of scent… although i admit i still think it’s a dumb rule and if ever decide to go capping, i will make sure that they are leaving from far far away from our barn so that i can warrant pulling out the trailer;)
