The chronicles of a Friesian mare who happened upon an owner who lives outside the show ring....

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Another hunt, another video!

Peacock Feather Video came back out again yesterday to take footage of our hunt at Yorkfield Farm in Kensington, NH.  Of course I had to buy another DVD, but more on that later....

It was a windy and very cold day, perfect weather for a long foxhunt!  We were out for 3 hours and covered 11 awesome miles.  Something happened yesterday that was the highlight of my season.  Come to think of it, it was the highlight of the past six seasons!

There is this one jump at Yorkfield that I've never asked her to do.  We usually ride in 2nd field at this fixture because of it.....

It's a steeplechase style hedge jump that is nearly 4 feet tall. 

Well, I decided to ride in 1st field yesterday, despite the hedge and the fact that the field master was on a horse that is much faster/more capable over fences than Daatje, I figured we could ride in the back and if we got into too much trouble, drop back to 2nd.

Thankfully, it's early on in the hunt, so by the time we got to it, there was still plenty of energy under me.  Even still, I had visions of her looking too hard, sucking back, getting her front end over but not her hind end....

At the last minute, I thought to myself, "you'll never know unless you ask, right?".  I'd never asked her to jump it, just assumed it was too much for her to process.

We approached.

I asked.

She jumped it like a boss.  Whoo!

Look at those knees!
And that wasn't the end of it.  There were many coups and rails and long gallops.  She handled it all with style.  I couldn't be more proud. 

Waiting for the hunt to begin.

Rails in a field.

Up the steps.

Across the polo field.

Warming Up

Logs.
I'm still on cloud nine.  Without further ado, here's the link to the video:  Yorkfield Hunt

Even better than the first, I think.  I love my mare!

7 comments:

  1. Oh wow!!! Daatje is a superstar!!! I can't even imagine jumping something that big and she did it easily. I would be on cloud nine too. :D I'm so happy for you and I'm so happy the guy was there filming so you will always have your big moment on video! In my totally biased opinion Daatje is the most gorgeous horse out there. :D

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  2. She's so awesome. I read an old book (very outdated) from a huntsman who wrote about the sport. He was talking about the type of horse he likes in the field. He said a good horse is one when you throw your heart over the fence he follows it and a truly great horse throws his heart over with yours. I think Daatje is a truly great horse.

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  3. Holy CRAP!! That is a big jump!

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    1. Indeed! :) I'm still floored that the mare jumped it so easily. I had a stupid grin on my face for the rest of the hunt! Couldn't stop smiling. :)

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  4. That is a SCARY jump and you guys ROCKED IT. Awesome!!! I'm a little jealous... (and by jealous I mean you can do it because I definitely won't!)

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