Hels_Bells
Well-Known Member
Just had a smashing morning with one of my local hunts (The West of Yore) so as I enjoyed it so much I thought I'd write a little competition-riders-board style report in tribute! 
It was the first day out ever (with me) for my eventer (at the tender age of 13 going on 4) and I also haven't been out for a good few years as I haven't felt he was settled enough to take out. I was also a bit apprehensive as he has only ever been out once before with his previous owner (who is a bit of a loose cannon shall we say) and I believe there had been an incident or two so I was a bit worried about how he'd behave, but finally after 2 years of procrastination I bit the bullet!!
I went with my wonderful friend who arrived to pick us up in her very smart new Ifor with her very pretty 6yo as nanny. So my boy arrived in style with a gorgeous, young bit of fluff on his arm which seemed to go down well with him.
We arrived at the meet on lovely Nutwith Common just outside of Masham to see lots of familiar faces which is always nice and after about 5 minutes of pacing and struggling to stand still the boy settled into the swing of things and I was even able to manage a small port kindly provided by one of our generous hosts!!
The plan was to see how the meet went and then if the boy behaved well enough to head out and take it all half an hour at a time. So as he'd settled quite well at the meet I decided to have a go. We set out at the rear of a nice field of about 20 and apart from struggling a little with the start-stop parts the boy did brilliantly. The first main challenge came when we headed down by the River Ure which was moving very fast and we had to cross a small but very muddy ditch with a steep step up. Some of the field ahead of us really struggled to get out of it and there was a fair amount of scrabbling going on but I was pleased to say that (thanks to the advice of best friend's mum) we were able to do a bit of precision work and keep to the left where it was much firmer! (Lots of pats!)
A few gallops and start stops uphill followed then we met our first fence. Thankfully the boy did a very sensible effort and off we set to catch up with the rest of the field. We arrived to find best friend's mum herding 4 frisky bullocks away from the field on her fantastic little mare (tee hee) and then we popped another fence. By this time the boy was absolutely full of himself and clearly starting to enjoy this new pass time and making some new friends!
So we carried on a little while longer and took on plenty of trickly little obstacles and bits of ground. By about 1230 he had settled so well (or was so tired out ) that he was managing to stand still during the stops for which I was very grateful and proud too!! So after another 15 minutes or so we decided that this had been a fantastic first outing and best to end it on a high note, so we said our thanks and goodbyes before hacking back to the trailer.
It had been a truly lovely outing and in fact one of the nicest days out I think I can remember despite the grey skies! I had decided to wear a green ribbon due to his lack of hunting experience and everyone was just so accommodating, helpful, friendly and forgiving of the newby horse for which I would like to say a massive thank you! I am also pretty surprised at how well the boy went, I really did think he might fry his brain hunting and so I am just so proud of him for doing everything I asked of him superbly and being so sensible, I think that the eventing has helped his confidence so much but also think that hunting will help his bravery and thinking on his feet too! In short I think we may make a hunter of him yet!!! I just can't wait to get out again soon!!!!
It was the first day out ever (with me) for my eventer (at the tender age of 13 going on 4) and I also haven't been out for a good few years as I haven't felt he was settled enough to take out. I was also a bit apprehensive as he has only ever been out once before with his previous owner (who is a bit of a loose cannon shall we say) and I believe there had been an incident or two so I was a bit worried about how he'd behave, but finally after 2 years of procrastination I bit the bullet!!
I went with my wonderful friend who arrived to pick us up in her very smart new Ifor with her very pretty 6yo as nanny. So my boy arrived in style with a gorgeous, young bit of fluff on his arm
which seemed to go down well with him.We arrived at the meet on lovely Nutwith Common just outside of Masham to see lots of familiar faces which is always nice and after about 5 minutes of pacing and struggling to stand still the boy settled into the swing of things and I was even able to manage a small port kindly provided by one of our generous hosts!!
The plan was to see how the meet went and then if the boy behaved well enough to head out and take it all half an hour at a time. So as he'd settled quite well at the meet I decided to have a go. We set out at the rear of a nice field of about 20 and apart from struggling a little with the start-stop parts the boy did brilliantly. The first main challenge came when we headed down by the River Ure which was moving very fast and we had to cross a small but very muddy ditch with a steep step up. Some of the field ahead of us really struggled to get out of it and there was a fair amount of scrabbling going on but I was pleased to say that (thanks to the advice of best friend's mum) we were able to do a bit of precision work and keep to the left where it was much firmer! (Lots of pats!)
A few gallops and start stops uphill followed then we met our first fence. Thankfully the boy did a very sensible effort and off we set to catch up with the rest of the field. We arrived to find best friend's mum herding 4 frisky bullocks away from the field on her fantastic little mare (tee hee
) and then we popped another fence. By this time the boy was absolutely full of himself and clearly starting to enjoy this new pass time and making some new friends!So we carried on a little while longer and took on plenty of trickly little obstacles and bits of ground. By about 1230 he had settled so well (or was so tired out
) that he was managing to stand still during the stops for which I was very grateful and proud too!! So after another 15 minutes or so we decided that this had been a fantastic first outing and best to end it on a high note, so we said our thanks and goodbyes before hacking back to the trailer.It had been a truly lovely outing and in fact one of the nicest days out I think I can remember despite the grey skies! I had decided to wear a green ribbon due to his lack of hunting experience and everyone was just so accommodating, helpful, friendly and forgiving of the newby horse for which I would like to say a massive thank you! I am also pretty surprised at how well the boy went, I really did think he might fry his brain hunting and so I am just so proud of him for doing everything I asked of him superbly and being so sensible, I think that the eventing has helped his confidence so much but also think that hunting will help his bravery and thinking on his feet too! In short I think we may make a hunter of him yet!!! I just can't wait to get out again soon!!!!