help for a newbie please :-)

[aregona]

I would like to have a go at some 'proper hunting' but I have a few questions.
I'm currently eventing but we don't do any hunting as we don't have any jumping hunts in this area :-( and I would like to do some hunting to help with our xc for next season.

I have a lovely horse who is a very capable jumper but can be a little green jumping and I can get a little fiddly on the reins coming into a fence, the downside with my horse is he's 17.2hh and the on the few occasions I have hunted him he has been quite strong but I'm not sure if that has more to do with the constant stop starts we have every 5 minutes.

how can I found some nice hunts within the swansea / south Wales / glouster type areas? no stupidly fast hunts as I would like to be eased into it:-D

any help or advise gratefully received

 

[Mimi2610]

Have a look on the Masters of Foxhounds website to find the packs local to you. How about going with the Bloodhounds for a couple times? Less stop start and once going you might be more inclined to leave him alone.

 

[spacefaer]

As Mimi2610 says, have a look on the MFHA website - you could try the Monmouthshire or the Cotswold Vale, both of whom jump, and they're not too far up the A40 from you. Not sure there is a bloodhound pack in South Wales, but I'm happy to be corrected

Speak to the Secretary of the hunt and explain that you would like a quieter day - they should be able to give you an idea of which meets might be appropriate - obviously, it depends on scent as to how fast the hounds go - but some areas are more open, with the likelihood of bigger jumps/obstacles and some are more trappy, and less easy to gallop across!

With the wet weather we're having, no hunt should be galloping across fields at the moment - it's vital to keep farmers happy otherwise there wouild be no country to cross, so any sensible field master worth his salt will be keeping his field quiet and only popping what fences are necessary.

Let us know how you get on!

 

[aregona]

great, thank you

Do I just ring the Secretary and ask permission to join them for the day?