Are horses the best leveller? (especially when hunting)

[Starbucks]

What do you think guys?

I actually think hunting is the least snobby sport, It doesn't matter how much money you have - as long as you can ride!

 

[LauraWheeler]

I agree hunting is the least snobby sport. You don't need a flash horse just one you have control of, Will jump if you want to and would never kick hounds. appart from that It doesn't matter what it looks like, What breed it is or how much you paid for it.

 

[Aniseed]

I kind of agree because you don't need a posh horse but at the same time you need to have a lot of money to afford to subscribe and kit yourself out properly. I find that anything associated with hunting has a premium price tag on it, but then I suppose everything to do with horses does.

 

[combat_claire]

Agree with Skiddaw Lad, for every person on a horse with our pack there are another 10 on bikes, feet or in cars following from every age and background.

My Muddy Fox bike cost me £25 off Ebay, my sub costs me £35 a year and I don't need an expensive hunt coat, stock or breeches.

I would say it is the love of hounds and hunting that is the big leveller and the common bond between people who hunt, not whether you have a ned or not.

 

[skewby]

I've only just started, but one big reason why I'm hooked is the lack of snobbishness. I get loads at comps and at rc because my lad is big and coloured. Out hunting everyone is sound.

I have found the occasional snob, but they are very occasional - and at the back anyway

 

[JenHunt]

I agree to some extent, like someone said it's the hounds and the hunting that do the levelling in most ways.

But, like Skewby, my lad isn't exactly what most people consider a competition horse, or even for that matter a riding club type. he's a good old fashioned hunter. he knows and loves his job but is honest enough to give owt else a try. We get looked down on when we're not hunting, but out hunting he's admired and even coveted!

 

[Nancykitt]

To me, one of the best things about hunting is the non-competitive element. If I'm there when they blow for home, as far as I'm concerned I'm a winner. And even if I choose to go in early, no-one puts me down because of it. I always wanted to hunt and when I started (just a few months ago) what amazed me was the total lack of snobbishness - a welcome change after spending a few years at the side of the show ring listening to petty squabbles and general bitching.

At the same time, there are just one or two people who seem keen to build in some sort of competitive element, usually because they feel they have something to prove. I returned to riding a few years ago after a break of over 30 years. I was a very nervous rider but decided I was going to hunt. I am now addicted, although still nervous about jumping. A few people have made sly comments here and there about me 'not having the bottle to jump', and, when talking to their friends, saying things - supposedly for my benefit - like 'We only go to the good jumping meets, no point in just going out for a gallop.' Presumably these people have something to prove? The show ring, not the hunting field, is the best place for them. And I wonder if one day, when I'm jumping with the rest of them, I might see these people at the bottom of a ditch? - horses are indeed good levellers!

 

[chestnut cob]

In general everyone I've ever met out hunting has been lovely. There is one person who goes out with current pack who is very stuck up (told me he couldn't speak to me unless I lived in what he deemed to be an "acceptable" part of my town!!!!) but he's actually quite nice, underneath that!