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!

Monday, November 18, 2013

Video stills from the Prodigue Hunt

I purchased a DVD from Peacock Feather Video (with extra footage of us! :) ) and as a thank-you, she sent me some still shots from the footage.
In the beginning of the hunt

Towards the end of the hunt.....stealth photographer trying to hide her camera. :P


Another towards the end of the hunt.

This series is so cool.  I didn't know we were being videoed and I was taking video of my own as we galloped up the hill.

The Friesian catches some air.


 
This was towards the end of the "gone away" just before stirrup cup.  I took a bunch of photos as we galloped up the hill.
 
So neat to have these pictures and I simply can't wait to see the full DVD! :D  What a great way to remember this fabulous season.

The next hunt for us is this coming Saturday, which also happens to be the Hunt Ball!  Then it's the last hunt of the scheduled season, the "Die Hard" Hunt on the 27th followed by the "Die Harder" Hunt, which has just been announced as a post season hunt on the 30th.  Let's hope the snow holds off!

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Professional Video from the Prodigue Farm Hunt

I wanted to share the link to this video that Peacock Feather Video put together as a sample of the footage they took of Wentworth at the Prodigue Farm Hunt on 11/16/13.  We're in it quite a bit!  Silly me, always with my camera out. :P

http://youtu.be/5QYsklJY20g

It's very cool. :)