And people wonder why you go Anti-Hunt....

[henryhorn]

We are in the middle of two hunts, and have on occasions gone out with both, so we are in no way antis..
Last week one Master rang to warn us he would be within our area, we explained it was a problem as one horse was receiving daily visits from the vet but was outside as it got too stressed kept in. Another foal was ill and didn't need any disturbance, so they agree to try and steer clear of us.
We have already had to specify Hunt Staff only crossing the farm due to them leaving gates open getting groups of horses mixed up, and the fact that winding 40 plus horses up as they canter through means an added risk to our own of kicks when they gallop together..
We kept the injured horse in from 7.30am (her owner works so we did it for her) on that day but
earlier this morning we had someone viewing a horse and they were out hacking with the stallion accompanying them.
My husband who is still lame after his smashed heel went out to bring in a mare, suddenly all our horses went ape and started galloping round the fields, the bloody hunt were just the other side of the lane blowing the horn and riders charging up and down the lane. My husband hung on to the mare but realised he was likely to get knocked over as by then all the rest had galloped out of sight. He let her go, and as she galloped off her special shoe (glued on with kevalar on a cracked hoof) flew off into the air.
Luckily the ones hacking heard them but neither horse reacted, the stallion has been well hunted and wouldn't bother, but the other is well mannered, but who knows with a totally strange rider on how he may have behaved?
The injured mare was galloping with the rest, all the work of keeping her quiet for ten days undone, she was brought inside yet again and worked up, and my husband came in swearing and furious...
We now need a vet visit to assess the damage done to the mare , the farrier to put back the shoe, and all so some people can tear-arse round the countryside having fun..
As my husband said, they are damn near to being told they are banned from our land completely, whenever they hunt locally it's virtually impossible to carry on schooling in the arena with horses going backwards and forwards behind the hedge, the horn blowing and hounds appearing in the arena and quite frankly, why the hell should our daily lives get disrupted like this?
The hunt are their own worst enemies if they annoy people like us who have horses.
The hunt will get a bill for replacing the shoe, as for the injured mare that's up to her owner, but the least we expect is to be warned when they are likely to be about, we would have brought her in for goodness sake!
Please don't reply saying abandon your schooling and join in, that's not the point at all, we re-arrange our day when they are hunting, but when it ends up near hurting someone plus the time and hassle getting the farrier and vet out, it's beyond a joke.
It will be interesting to see what their reply is and if they offer to pay for the lost shoe...

 

[the watcher]

I have experienced this too. I used to be on a very small livery yard, the owner wasn't at all anti hunting, but she did object to the hounds working across her fields when the horses were out. Several approaches were made to the hunt to ask them to prevent this happening but nothing ever changed,and on hunting days our horses charged around the fields at risk of injury while the hounds continued to run across the land and the hunt horses milled around on the road outside.

 

[kerilli]

what a nightmare. i totally sympathise.
i used to hunt, don't any more for various reasons. where i used to live in Northants the hunt never once rang me to say they were going to be about (2 bridleways intersected at the outside corner of one of my fields, so if they were in the area, it was guaranteed they'd come right past).
the first i knew of it one time was my youngster charging around like a nutter before hurdling the '4'6" fence, smashing the top rail and going off with them... and not one rider stopped! i was sooo livid.
when i used to hunt, i can remember horses getting let out of fields etc, and the Master never giving a damn.
as you say, no wonder people go off them.

 

[Reginald]

Some people are very selfish I'm afraid. Have you tried ringing the hunt to complain?

 

[LEC]

I think this year hunts need to take EXTRA care because so much livestock is out due to the weather being so good. None of ours at all has come in which is very unusual and I am sure we are not unique.

 

[burtie]

That is awful and given that they are supposed to following a trail these days there is no excuse whatsoever for not letting you know in advance of the trail route and no need to come opn your farm at all. :crazy:

 

[MillionDollar]

Ridiculous! I'd be straight on the phone to the master(s) and giving them a right ear full AND ask for compensation for the mare!

I tell you, they can all be darn right rude somemes. I'm in full agreement with hunting, and want to hunt next season, but sometimes they do make me angry. I know our hunt once let hounds in to the crematorium (2 miles away) while a service was taking place :shocked:

I was't too happy the other day when the hunt came on our land. We told them we'd just had all of our headlands drilled with grass seed (to make the farm ride for the livery yard) and what do they do?! Yep ride all over it! Thank god it's still dry here.

 

[MurphysMinder]

I agree that sometimes those who hunt are the own worst enemies. I used to hunt and now follow in the car occasionally but there have been times when I have cursed them. A couple of years ago I was driving up a single track private lane to visit my Mother. I knew hounds were about as had heard them earlier. I met a Range Rover containing a well known hunt follower who refused to back up a few yards into a gate way to let me past. After quite a stand off I had to reverse about 100 yards, I was furious and pointed out to him that he shouldn't even have been on the lane, didn't get an apology, he just ignored me and carried on his way.Its arrogant t***ers like that who give hunting a bad name.

 

[Rowreach]

I've hunted all my life and used to earn my living running a hunter livery yard, but can honestly say that some of the worst mannered people I have ever come across have been amonst the hunting fraternity. Something to do with their God-given right to go wherever and however they please.

Having said that, they are usually only too keen to put things right if there is a problem, if only to prevent bad publicity. I am amazed with the current situation that hunts are not trying to be a bit more careful instead of literally riding roughshod around the countryside in the mistaken belief that nobody will notice.

 

[rara007]

Today we had two calf's from a farmer across the village, ran through the village and down the bridelway near us. Not sure how they go out but the hunt were on the farmers land

 

[Seahorse]

A friend was out hacking one day, she was on the road and the hunt were just behind the hedge, her normally very well behaved horse pranced about a bit and went into the middle of the road and unfortunately they were hit by a car coming towards them.
Would you believe the hunt just continued going even though they knew what had happened. Not one person stopped to see if she was ok

Selfish utter b**tards

 

[tkmaxx]

I have heard time and time again the efforts of the poor secretary to try and get people to behave and it all falls on deaf ears. The riders are just so arrogant it's unbelievable.
Meanwhile, as a foot follower, I'm the one left rescuing livestock and repairing fences.

 

[snurse]

I sympathise, I really do. A few years ago, we lived in a place in the middle of prime hunting land. Fine. We supported hunting, so didn't see problems. But... gates left open, our horses being wound up (we once found a mare dead, no injury, not old, presumed a heart attack - coincidence that the hunt were through that day), and worst of all, the incredibly rude car and foot followers, who roared up and down our rather muddy track, making deep ruts, parked all over our land etc. To be fair, the hunt staff were lovely and scrupulously polite. I really could become anti-hunting quite easily. The selfishness of some of them is unbelievable.

 

[Sooty]

There is no excuse whatsoever for that behaviour, and you are right - it is no wonder people are so opposed. There is enough anti-hunt sentiment without them drumming up more! I hope the horses are ok. It could have been a lot worse, best not to think of the 'what ifs'.

 

[oakash]

Yeah, very bad publicity for that particular hunt...BUT: most hunts fall over themselves to try to keep all landowners happy! I have a neighbour complaining that the local hunt don't come on his land frequently enough! ( Don't see what difference that makes with trail hunting, mind you, but he feels it is part of our English identity)

 

[oliviacharley]

thats not good is it...I havent experienced a hunt but I have had beaters walking through my field...at one point I was schooling when they walked through and started shooting in my field!! I went mad and I dont believe they were thinking about what they were doing....my other horse was going mad and actually tried to jump the fence in her worry.....
you are right the hunt do not help themselves....little more thought goes along way...

 

[Blairite]

henryhorn,

Sorry to hear about the problems you are having. Sadly, these are all too common occurances with the hunting fraternity.

If you choose to speak out against them, as you have rightly done, you are generally branded an "anti" an "ignorant townie" or cast out of village life and have smear campaigns set up against you. I know of several people who had their lives made such a misery by hunts and their supporters that they chose to sell up and move away. It is an outrage.

Hunts claim to be doing a service to the countryside, but how so when they are trampling fences, releasing livestock and frightening other peoples horses to death? They are quite open and upfront about the fact that they choose to break the law, so what chance has the ordinary land owner or farmer got of being treated with respect or in getting justice from the hunts/authorities.

It is a sad situation and gives the rural communities an ill-deserved reputation.

Regards

 

[henryhorn]

I think you should read my post again, I'm not an anti at all, more a person who asks for some respect if they are in my area.
We allow the adjoining hunt staff to the guilty one in the post to use our land because there are then only three riders at most and there is no chance they would leave gates open etc. it was the followers who left gates open mixing the horses up.
I would be very sad if all hunting stopped completely, and would never ask them to do that.
I do not agree with the hunting ban so please don't tar me with that.
I have writtten to them to ask that in future they let us know if they are likely to be near to us so we can at least move any vulnerable stock indoors, so the situation won't happen again.
I stand by my words that hunting is mostly for fun for the majority of people, not to chase and kill foxes.. and when they disrupt our working day it annoys us; if for instance the hunt staff were in the middle of clipping a horse and someone in the yard outside blew a hunting horn, they would understand sometimes it's a damn nuisance having them around, and being disrupted twice within five days as we were is bound to get tiresome..
As for being forced to sell up and move away, absolutely not. Round here we all live and let live unless someone tries to disrupt a hunt, having seen some antis tactics the hunt supporters are pussy cats in comparison..
I don't know where you got the frightening horses to death from either, our lot adore it when they all charge through, which is why I had to ask them to stop, seeing elderly and young horses charging over rough ground at speed, bucking, leaping, kicking each other is the problem, certainly not fear!! I can't afford the injuries from that, there is no fear involved at all.. :grin:

 

[peakpark]

If you choose to speak out against them, as you have rightly done, you are generally branded an "anti" an "ignorant townie" or cast out of village life and have smear campaigns set up against you. I know of several people who had their lives made such a misery by hunts and their supporters that they chose to sell up and move away. It is an outrage.

Regards

Which hunts? Which villages?

 

[Muffin2]

At last, other people have said what I have been saying. It is the pure selfishness and arrogance of some of the hunting fraternity that makes people very anti hunt. I have asked time and time again for my local hunt to let me know when they are about, purely because I ride in the local wood each day and do not want to meet them, or the antis, it is a real problem here. They constantly forget to let me know and they are just down the road from me. I despair really, they have upset so many horsey people around here they are losing ground rapidly. No one likes the problems the antis cause but I have to say that the hunt brings it totally on themselves. Our bridleways are now complete mud tracks due to the quad bikes that insist on following. Old style hunting was totally different. We do not have the space to do it anymore without upsetting and causing a nuisance to everyone around. I really sympathise with anyone whose horses have been injured because of the hunt - my horse has never been the same since they crashed onto our land twice and galloped passed her paddock blowing the horn, completely ignoring my shouts to b++++off. They are just a bunch of yobs these days I'm afraid. Ironically, a lot of the people involved come down from London, get pissed at the opening meet and don't give a damn for local people. West Sussex is becoming a real problem.

 

[DingDongScabiousOnHi]

If you choose to speak out against them, as you have rightly done, you are generally branded an "anti" an "ignorant townie" or cast out of village life and have smear campaigns set up against you. I know of several people who had their lives made such a misery by hunts and their supporters that they chose to sell up and move away. It is an outrage.

Regards

Which hunts? Which villages?

That isn't my experience. We have people anti hunt and also v pro hunt in our village. They all seem to geta long fine.