Devil's advocate....

[L&M]

With the prospect of losing yet another Saturday's hunting due to frozen ground, how many of you would reconsider paying your subscription or buying less days for next season? (Especially if the next few winters continue in the same pattern)

Discuss....

 

[QassiaDeTouzaine]

I very nearly subscribed for this season but after much debte decided not to due to changing horses. Now so glad I didnt else I would have lost a lot of money!!! Dont think i shall next season now either even though both horses are now sorted, it works out cheaper to pay day cap with the worsening winters! Bad news for the hunts, bet they feel the pinch next season..

 

[solitairex]

Seeings as I can only do the Saturday meets due to school there would be no point in me subscribing, much cheaper just to pay extra on the day. I do feel like I should subscribe, but even being a child it is still far too expensive!

 

[Daddy_Long_Legs]

It's a tough one! We pay both a sub and a cap. So it's €565 for the sub then €25 everytime you go out. The sub includes insurance and a fencing levy! I'm lucky I've been able to get out twice a week when there's hunting but at the end of the day the hunt need the funds to keep going.

I know people who have only gotten out 3 or 4 times since the beginning of the season but haven't complained. It would be very bad etiquette not to pay your sub.

If you were a member of a golf club surely you would still have to pay your membership fee to play? regardless of the bad weather.

 

[L&M]

Totally agree Daddy long legs - while my hunt exists, and I and my horses are still fit and able, I will continue to pay my sub.

Just interested in other opinions as there have been a lot of mutterings about wasted money and missed sport, but my reply is that if you don't continue to pay, hunts will not be able to keep going.

However, in hard financial times I can also appreciate others' frustration.....

 

[JenHunt]

I am seriously considering buying a ten day ticket at the start of next season, and then if it's all going well upgrade to a full sub at Christmas. I'm also going to tell OH to sort himself out with a horse and pay his own sub if he wants to hunt!

 

[tootsietoo]

I paid up for a total of 9 days with two different hunts this season and thought that I would fill in any extra I could do with days visiting, but I haven't been able to fit in the visiting, which is a shame, but I guess I've been pretty lucky from a financial point of view (apart from all the horse shoes, feed, bedding.....).

I think I will do the same again next season. If, in the future, I can hunt weekly then I will probably pay a sub, but at £1600 it's a big decision. When I was hunting in a different part of the country 8 years ago the sub was £450!

 

[solitairex]

Basically, if me and my father both paid a subscription to hunt Dennis, it would probably cost more than the horse did.

 

[gunnergundog]

I changed hunts this season (hunt politics!) and only took out a 10 day sub as was unsure if 20 year old ned would be up to new country! As it turns out it's re-juvenated him and I will make up any extra days towards the end of the season. However, being recently divorced and finances tight I can no longer just afford to subscribe willy nilly without a string of horses to back me.

 

[Jackobean]

Crikey 1600 subs! I think I'd have to seriously think about paying that. Out of curiosity, which hunt is that with? Our subs are only 130 for the year with a fiver cap every meet so I don't think twice about paying mine every year. I think we are very lucky.

 

[sonjafoers]

I read this with interest as I was in 2 minds as to whether to pay my subscription this year but when I looked into it I realised I could only hunt 5 times with my hunt if I'm not a subscriber. They don't allow any more days than that to non-subscribers so I was surprised to see you could buy days with other hunts - is this normal then?

Anyway I paid my subscription, horse then had an unexpected vets bill which I struggled to pay due to the subscription cheque having cleared, I went to Opening Meet & then didn't hunt again for over 2 months due to weather!! I guess we were all in a similar boat though

 

[L&M]

FYI Sonjafoers - Our hunt allows you to buy 8 days, and then if you want to hunt any more days you would then pay the visitors fee. Equally I have never heard of a hunt that will only allow you to buy 5 days and no more......?
Sorry about your vet's bil!!

 

[sonjafoers]

I don't really know about buying days Sidney, as far as I'm aware mine don't do it at all, but they allow you to turn up a max of 5 days as a visitor & pay the visitors rate each time.

They do allow you to pay the subscription in instalments, and the first year I subscribed I only joined in the January so I paid a reduced subscription.

I will look into this a bit further before the season starts next year - maybe it is something they do but don't make it common knowledge.

 

[L&M]

Every hunt works differently - the ones I am familiar with around us do sell 6 or 8 day subs, but this may be different for larger packs. All you need to do is have a chat with your sec, and if they don't offer a set day sub, maybe suggest they could do? If they have a large volume of visitors this may be why they set a limit, to accomodate everyone without swamping the country?
Our hunt also let you pay by installment, which I find financially a lot easier than having to find a lump sun come Opening meet. Our hunt encourages this method of payment as provides a 'drip' fund over the summer mnths when pickings are slim.
As a matter of interest who with/where do you hunt?

 

[sonjafoers]

I hunt with the Spooners & West Dartmoor. We are a tiny hunt with only about 20 subscribers as far as I'm aware and our Master is Huntsman, Kennelman and anything else she can put her hand to!

 

[Doormouse]

Our hunt also let you pay by installment, which I find financially a lot easier than having to find a lump sun come Opening meet. Our hunt encourages this method of payment as provides a 'drip' fund over the summer mnths when pickings are slim.
As a matter of interest who with/where do you hunt?

That is such a sensible idea, I wish our hunt would do that!

 

[Ditchjumper2]

With us you can buy a book of tickets for 6 days and this works out slightly cheaper than paying visitors cap 6 times. If you then chose to subscribe we take into account the fact that you have paid for tickets and deduct that from your sub. In theory once you have had your 6 days you should join but in reality this doesn't always happen. In these current times not many hunts are going to turn away someone who turns up with money in hand for extra days......unless of course they are a complete pain in which case they would probably be encouraged to pay up or bog off!! When I first started hunting with my current pack I hunted nearly every Sat and paid visitors cap every time. No one said a word. At the end of the season I counted how many days I had been and worked out the cost. Even allowing for adjustment for field money if I had subscribed it was still cheaper for me. I now have family sub and have been lucky to have been out most Weds and Sats up to bad weather. Our hunt also allows payment by instalments or DD or SO.

 

[EAST KENT]

Crikey 1600 subs! I think I'd have to seriously think about paying that. Out of curiosity, which hunt is that with? Our subs are only 130 for the year with a fiver cap every meet so I don't think twice about paying mine every year. I think we are very lucky.

Golly ..where are you, ringing Pickfords as I type

 

[tootsietoo]

Cheshire, Jackobean

Where can you hunt for £130 a season???