Recent content by orangebadger

Our secretary buys for Irish horses for people. PM me if interested. You should get a much better deal, but probably be prepared to bring him along a bit yourself. I also agree with the other poster - every horse ever sold from Ireland has hunted, so be a bit careful. She got me a fantastic 5yo...

Talk to Mags Ogden. She beautifully refurbed an old but good black velvet crash 'at in brown velvet and with a very good new harness. She makes new ones too at a price that is MILES better than the traditional choice! 0161 749 8199

Well not actually, thighs, but the insides of my hunting boot tops! They seem to be clogged up with crud and are going black. Are there any old lags out there who know what to do about this, or does the colouring always happen? Is there a safe way to scrape the leather to remove it or do I risk...

Thanks for making me chortle (whilst wholeheartedly agreeing!)

I hunt 2 days a week in Dorset and am ashamed to admit I am a bit fat!! FWIW!

As a rule, only specially bred hounds are hunted with horses. It would go down very badly if you tried to let your dog join in with an organised hunt, although my whippety thing did the other day and caused much hilarity!

Remember that we generally hunt over agricultural land, and it is an enormous privilege to be able to do so. These guys make their living from these fields, and you often never know who they are! So as a rule, smile or say good morning to anyone on foot. Sometimes traffic does get unavoidably...

I think a good piece of advice is to assume you WILL be at least anxious, if not terrified when you go out for the first time (and very often on many subsequent days!) Take it really easy. Try to identify someone at the meet who looks friendly and who you might be able to tag along with...

As an aside, it seems that every horse that comes from Ireland has hunted. Might be wise to take with a pinch of salt, and assume it hasn't!!

Please don't think that there is ANYTHING dumb in asking questions. The more you know in advance, the less anxious you will be and thus the more fun you will have. I am sure we all look forward to welcoming you into the hunting 'family'.

I think I am right in saying that a lawn meet is one held at someone's house, as opposed to a pub or a village green. We are amazingly fortunate in that 95% of our days are lawn meets. The irony is that you should probably never actually ride on their lawn, unless you want to be on extra...

A cliché, but there's nothing quite like it

I was blooded at the age of 49, and was very honoured to be so.

As regards red ribbons, I wish more adhered to your/the rules. Really gets on my wick!

An old thread I know, but beware the 'port and brandy' trap! I generally use port for dutch courage, but at one of our Master's meets I forgot that the drinks were said mix; had normal quota (port-based scale) set off, jumped large hedge and landed in a heap, giggling, bloody, minus a horse but...