hunting an unfit horse?

BSJAlove

BSJAlove

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recently, a friend of mine took her 9 year old horse who had been sitting in the field for 6months out for a full days hunting. she sat on him twice and took him out for a hack then off she went.

i know several people that do this but am i the only one to think its wrong? i understand the horse is running of adrenaline but surely its going to still do the same damage? like would you take an unfit horse and gallop it for a few hours straight? if it were my horse that just came out of the field, id do it textbook and walk for a week ect and build up their muscles before i wreck them.

ahh but what do i know, im not a master at hunting so what do you think???
 
They always do get away with it and yet us people who get our horses fit properly and do the work with them are always the ones who end up with broken ones. However, if we were to take the same attitude and just get on the horses chances are they'd drop dead within half an hour. Its called SODS LAW!!!
 
It is absolutely ridiculous, It would be nice to get the said riders/owners to run a marathon without any training whilst we rode behind them in the car chasing them with the odd kick or flick of the whip
 
I think its a bit silly really. I really really want to take my horse hunting but because the weather has been so rubbish we havnt been able to ride for a while, so im not going to take her hunting untill I know shes fit enough and lost a bit of weight lol. x
 
i HATE it when people take their horses out, whether it be hunting, competing or whatever else and they are just not fit.
my dad will not let me go unless my horse is 100%- no ifs or buts.
my dad was brought up quite old school- his dad was a huntsman and later secretary for a v. big hunt, he always says people now just do not understand the meaning of a fit horse, obviously lots do, but there are some who think its fine to haul them out of the field unfit...
the horse runs all day, because its running off adrenaline. that is how you break a horse but the horse doesn't know any better as it enjoys it! if my horse had the chance he would be out till 5pm, but we only go to 3-4pm because thats how fit he is.
silly people
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Poor Zoomy, her old owner used her for horseball and she would leave her in the field for literally months - all winter. No feed, no rug, no excercise. She would then turn up in the spring, box her up and take her to a tournament.

She rode about 6 times a year and the rest of the time Zoomy just sat there. God knows how Zoom didn't drop dead!! To think that I am worried about taking her hunting since I only ride her 3 times a week!!!
 
I hunt mine weekly and would never dream of taking an unfit horse - mine have a strict excercise regime over the hunting season and if I don't think they are fit enough they don't go. What really annoys me are the small minority of people that turn their hunters away at the end of the season, and only put their tack back on the day before Autumn hunting starts.
Although mine do less over the Spring and Summer I keep them ticking over with light hacking, the occasional fun ride or RC competition and the start more intensive fittening work come late summer.
But then I also have the luxury of time to do this.........?
 
Its called being selfish, thinking of their own enjoyment before putting their horse first, happens in all equestrian sports though.
 
I am somewhat guilty here, I mean no way was she unfit but I wouldnt say she was 'hunting fit'. She had been on a walker for 6 weeks before I bought her and then hacked out in w/t/c and small jumps for a 3 weeks then I took her out over Christmas. I would have loved to stay out all day but guilt striken I said good night after 1hr.45!! She was a little star and ended on a great note after doing a little ditch! YIppee!! I wouldnt drag her in after 6months out in a field though... she'd probably kill me!!
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That is disgusting.

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What? the fact nasty ppl take unfit horses way past their fitness levels? Grrrr. Or that Sidney has lots of free time and we don't? double grrrr
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I hate it when people do this! what's most annoying is that nothing usually happens to them or it takes ages before something does happen, whereas other people spend ages getting horses fit and then something goes wrong straight away!
 
Lol sooooo true what was said above about people always get away with it! I know someone who last year evented PN about once a month all season....she would leave her mare in field for 3 weeks after an event, drag her in maybe twice the week before and go out for FAST hacks, ie trotting all the time on roads cantering on any other surface, and then off to an event! And then would put like ice on, cling film ad bandage for journey home....and turn out in the bandages and leave them on! For up to 4 or 5 days sometimes untill the girl she paid to feed horse breakfast took pity on mare and took them off! Poor horse. If I did that I'd be bound to cripple my horse...yet she got away with it all year!
 
If you look under suspensory ligament damage on the vetinary section of H & H, then it says hunting an unfit horse is one of the most gaurntead ways of causing suspensory ligament damage. This person was very lucky not to really damage her horse.
I would not dream of hunting my lad unless he had been got fit first. Of course the horse would go (probably all day too) but it would be at risk of pulling tendons and ligaments. Oh dear, stories like this really do my head in... but at least us sensible folk can feel happy that we stick to the established and safe ways of horse fitness.
 
Yep!!

There are teenagers on my yard who do hunt all the time and their horses are not fit. All they do is a short hack or a blast around the school for half an hour doing some jumps. Mind you one girl in particular has had to have 2 horses put down in 7months due to leg injuries. Does that not say something - yet she still hasn't changed her attitude.
 
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