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| Daatje and I at Stirrup Cup |
What a great hunt today. We went out from Fine Nest Farm in Raymond, a lovely fixture with winding hilly trails through the woods and rolling fields seemingly in the middle of no where. It started out a rainy day and I was so bummed to think the first hunt of the season (for me, hunting actually started last Wednesday) was going to be soggy, but the sun came out and it was just beautiful!
Our club has a new huntsman, who's done such a great job of assimilating into the roll from whipper-in. The hounds were fabulous today! The hunt was slower as they had two brand new hounds out for the first time and a lot of the younger ones out also. I was very impressed with how well they packed in and the few lines they took through the fields had great voice!
The black horse in the photo above is a Friesian cross ridden by the 2nd Field Master and in the distance, you can see some riders from the 1st field. The roan is a Standarbred (cross, I think) the middle chestnut is a fiery Morgan named Winchester (Chesta the molesta!) and the 1st Field Master rides a big warmblood of sorts named Truman. This was such a lovely setting with the golden grass, the hounds running the line and the horses following! What a thrill.
At the tea today, they had a "hunt clinic" where anyone was invited to come and learn about the traditions of foxhunting and were offered a free capping for attending. We had quite a few new faces and many new young people so that was very exciting! The next hunt for us will be in Lee, NH on next Saturday and then I'm debating heavily on whether or not to make the treck to northern VT for the joint meet with the Green Mountain Hounds on August 26th. That will depend on trailer pooling, I suppose, with gas prices the way they are. The season has begun, more hunt photos to follow! (perhaps some of us too!) :)
I wish I could join you - there isn't much going on here in Arizona to do with our Friesians. I'd love to try foxhunting!
ReplyDeleteChristine
Oh bummer! I'm very fortunate to live where I do. There's alot going on, horse-wise in New England. Very versatile! We have CDE's, CTR's, Pleasure Shows, Breed Shows, Hunter/Jumper, Eventing, Dressage, Western events like Cutting and Mounted Shooting, and most importantly, Foxhunting! I haven't tried them all yet.....still have to try the CTR's, cutting and mounted shooting. :)
ReplyDeleteI wish I lived closer - this is something I so want to try and I think Lu would love it.
ReplyDeleteOh Kate, I think you both would love it! Is there a hunt nearer to you? What about Norfolk? You could go to the MFHA website and see if there was a hunt in your area that you could cap with.
ReplyDeleteI wish I lived there! It sounds like so much fun! I live in an area where a lot of people have horses, but they don't do anything with them!! So annoying. When Chrome is older I do plan to do lower level dressage and some CTRs with him, but we will have to drive quite a ways to do any of them. Oh well, it will be worth it. I'm glad hunt season has started and that you're having fun. :D
ReplyDelete