I have been helping a friend out riding her tb mare because she is a bit too much horse for her. She may be a good fox hunting prospect and to test that theory a friend took her out hunting first flight for a weekend a few months ago and she was fantastic. The mare isn’t going to have the dressage talent to score well enough to be competitive as an eventer, doesn’t move like a hunter, and isn’t careful enough to be a jumper above 1.1m. She is built like a brick house, sane as can be, honest jump, and loves to hack out and school cross country. Where might one advertise a fox hunting “prospect” for sale?
If she truly wants to sell her at a good price, send her to a fox-hunting barn for some training and have her taken out hunting enough times to tell if she will be good at it. (A lot of horses are good the first few times - too overwhelmed to misbehave at first and then get worse!)
A lot of hunters don’t take a “non-foxhunter” opinion that a horse is suitable. Most people don’t know enough about the sport to judge a prospect.
There are groups on Facebook for prospects (be careful - some of the fox hunting groups require all sales horses to have hunted at least a season with a recognized hunt to be listed, or be owned by someone who has the “qualifications” to judge a prospect) or there is http://www.foxhuntinghorse.com/ which has a place to list prospects.
[QUOTE=fallenupright;8723232]
If she truly wants to sell her at a good price, send her to a fox-hunting barn for some training and have her taken out hunting enough times to tell if she will be good at it. (A lot of horses are good the first few times - too overwhelmed to misbehave at first and then get worse!)
A lot of hunters don’t take a “non-foxhunter” opinion that a horse is suitable. Most people don’t know enough about the sport to judge a prospect.[/QUOTE]
I agree with Fallen, you need to get this horse exposed to foxhunting to be able to market it as a field hunter. Someone that does not foxhunt does not know what will or will not make a field hunter. There are quite a few groups on facebook that allow sales but they require the horse to have experience out hunting.
Things a prospect should be good at, but still doesn’t mean they will make a good fox hunter.
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Riding in a group, (W, T, C,&G)
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Maintain a safe distance from the horse in front, without constant correction.
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Cross water, be it puddles, creeks or rivers.
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If marketed as 1st flight, be able to jump natural and hunt country fences. Each hunt has different types and heights.
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Not be bothered by horses following behind.
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Be okay with being in a field with livestock.
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Be okay with hounds bumping into them and being in full cry.
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Being able to stand at a check with a slack rein, maybe even take a nap. Even if you’ve just had a gallop.
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Have a 5th leg and a sense of self preservation that includes the riders safety.
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Good in the footing of your targeted market area.
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Sound even under hard work. Each hunt is different, but just as an idea of the toughness/fitness required at some hunts, I’ve been on hunts that 6 hours and others that covered 18 miles.
I’m sure others will chime in with some other things that they would look for in a prospect, but some of these are things you can work on testing/developing outside of the hunting season. I would check with area hunts for their group trail rides and if you could join in on hound exercise ( or send your horse out with a member if it’s only open to members) this summer. These are great, low stress ways of getting your horse exposed and of getting some free advertising…as long as the horse handles the situation well.
Good luck.
Don’t forget pretty!
And a good mover!
It makes this old foxhunter cringe to hear the old “well, it doesn’t move well enough to be a dressage horse, doesn’t jump well enough to be a show hunter, doesn’t look nice enough to be a strip horse. I know!! Let’s make it a foxhunter!!!”
Not saying AT ALL that this horse might be all that and a bag of chips, but its sad that non-foxhunter people think that foxhunter horses are sort of the dregs of the horse world.
They are the stars of the horse world. Once they have been hunting they can cope with anything else.
Thank you all for your feedback. The gentleman who took her first flight earlier this year is an experienced fox hunter. He thought she had potential and did very well for her first time out. His horse was hurt and he needed one to borrow so he took her on a whim. I am relying on his opinion since neither my friend who owns the mare nor myself know much about the sport. I did not mean to offend anyone when I mentioned why we haven’t quite found the right job for her yet. I really want her to find the right job.
He is willing to do some pre season stuff (not sure what this entails) with her this summer than hunt her when the season starts. It seems she can do everything that jawa mentioned. I will look into some facebook groups that do not require a whole season of hunting and get her posted. She’s priced low enough that maybe someone would take a chance on her. Hopefully with some experience this may be her niche. I am excited to see how she does.
Another possibility would be The Foxhunting Horse, which has a “Prospects” page on their site (http://www.foxhuntinghorse.com/prospects). Assuming he’s going to give her a good experience, I would definitely follow through on the gentleman’s offer to get mare out for mounted hound exercise and some cubbing.
I have experienced, and then heard later from the MFH, that many horses are perfectly fine their first few hunts (when they are too overwhelmed to do anything bad), and then BLAM, 3rd hunt, all the wheels fall off and it’s a hairy situation for all involved! (Someone mentioned this above, but just to emphasize getting the horse out more than just a handful of times is very valuable.)
And all of what Jawa said but in particular:
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Being able to stand at a check with a slack rein, maybe even take a nap. Even if you’ve just had a gallop. This makes it way more enjoyable for rider and horse.
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Have a 5th leg and a sense of self preservation that includes the riders safety. Priceless.
[QUOTE=Hunter’s Rest;8724708]
Don’t forget pretty!
And a good mover!
It makes this old foxhunter cringe to hear the old “well, it doesn’t move well enough to be a dressage horse, doesn’t jump well enough to be a show hunter, doesn’t look nice enough to be a strip horse. I know!! Let’s make it a foxhunter!!!”
Not saying AT ALL that this horse might be all that and a bag of chips, but its sad that non-foxhunter people think that foxhunter horses are sort of the dregs of the horse world.[/QUOTE
Amen.
[QUOTE=xeroxchick;8725538]
[QUOTE=Hunter’s Rest;8724708]Don’t forget pretty!
And a good mover!
It makes this old foxhunter cringe to hear the old “well, it doesn’t move well enough to be a dressage horse, doesn’t jump well enough to be a show hunter, doesn’t look nice enough to be a strip horse. I know!! Let’s make it a foxhunter!!!”
Not saying AT ALL that this horse might be all that and a bag of chips, but its sad that non-foxhunter people think that foxhunter horses are sort of the dregs of the horse world.[/QUOTE
Amen.[/QUOTE]
I get a chuckle out of this as well as both of my best fox hunters did First Level Dressage in the off seasons.
You need dressage so you don’t abuse the alcohol when you are passing flasks during a check!
