Day off after hunting?

J

Jingleballs

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I'm considering attending a newcomers hunt this autum - it will be our first ever hunt , I'm hoping that pony will be reasonably fit although I'm on holiday next week so he'll be getting fat and lazy and I'll have less than 2 weeks to get him ready!

I've heard that newcomers hunts tend not to be as fast and furious as some of the hunts later in the season but was wondering, do you give your horse the day off after hunting?

My RC has a Working Hunter training/competition the day after that I'd really like to go to but wondered if it would be too much? I have no idea how much distance we'll cover in the hunt but wondering if perhaps I should miss this one out and try to get his fitness up and attend another later in the year?
 
Depends on the horse! One of mine is happy hunting a short day on a Saturday (finishing early afternoon), and full of beans for competing on the Sunday. The other one appreciates a day off after.
Bear in mind that if the horse is not a seasoned hunter, the day may take a lot out of it especially if gets excited and uses up a lot of energy that way. Our Newcomers meet is not disimilar to a normal days hunting, although we do make more allowances for non jumpers and those struggling.
The only thing I could suggest is to contact the hunt Sec who could give you a better idea of the terrain and planned route, but bear in mind that once hounds start running, things don't always go to plan!!
 
i would def not be planning another outing the day after hunting. the most mine would do would be a gentle hack, especially if they were new to the game.
 
If you horse is not that fit, I would miss out the hunt this time and go to your event on the Sunday.

If a horse is working at a high level, eventing,hunting, endurance, etc and is really hard and fit then it wouldn't matter to do a short day hunting and then go to something the day after, so long as not too long a day.

But if your horse is not 100% hunting fit it might be a bit much for him. To go hunting I think they really should be the same fitness as if you are doing hunter trials or a one day event.
 
Agree it depends on the horse and how fit they are... if I do the newcomers hunt on 16th oct I doubt I will be able to wake Pete up at any point during the following 3 days lol!
 
Thanks all - he's done a couple of XC's this year but struggled towards the end of the last one - long course, biggest we'd jumped and not enough preparation so we retired two jumps from the end (although he still had the energy to fly the last one and belt to the finish)

I think I may miss out the hunt and go to the WH training instead - there will be plenty of other hunts but limited opportunities for this type of training!
 
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