Hunting- Costs involved

[Dizzle]

So, I eventually have myself a horse I can hunt (well, she'd done one hound exercise and one morning autumn hunting and been a little star!)

So, what are the costs involved?

If I subscribed, do I still pay a cap?

What sort of prices are we looking at for a sub?

No transport this year so probably only going to hunt a couple of times that I can hack to or maybe hitch the odd lift, last autumn hunting meet is hacking distance from my yard so I'll be grovelling to work for the morning off!

If I were to subscribe I'd only really be looking at doing 2/3 Saturdays a month because of work, hoping that by next season I'll have transport sorted.

 

[spacefaer]

The best way to find out how much it'll cost you is to contact the Hunt Secretary and ask! I'm sure they'd be delighted to hear from someone who wants to give them money lol!!

Subscriptions vary hugely, depending on which pack you want to hunt with, from a couple of hundred pounds upwards. I would guess that the average full sub is about £800 for the season for the majority of packs.

You still pay field money (aka cap) each day you go out - usually about £20 - although you can pay a compound cap, which is an estimated total amount you might realistically expect to pay in daily caps over the season. This means that your field money for the season is paid up front (good for hunt finances) and you don't have to remember to take it each time you go. You need to be hunting a lot though to make compound cap worth it.

Most packs do a 5 or 6 day ticket package for those who aren't going to hunt enough to justify a full sub.

If you aren't going to hunt as many days as that, you can go as a visitor and pay a visitor's cap - some hunts limit the number of visitors they will have each day and some restrict the number of days you can go as a visitor.

Have fun!

 

[LizzieJ]

Something you may also need to take into account is that you might go through shoes a damn site quicker! My mare is shod every 10 days in the hunting season hunting about 3 times a month Most are not this heavy on shoes but essentially I use a set of shoes a days hunting

For a days cap as a non subscriber you could be paying anything from £20 - £150ish a day, as Spacefaer says you need to talk to the secretary of the pack you want to hunt with and find out. For most packs it's not worth paying a subscription unless you are hunting a lot but some packs only let you do a certain amount of days on a 'visitors' cap (for us it's only worth paying a sub if you hunt more than 16 days after opening meet - that's more than it sounds when you think about cancelled days due to snow/ice etc!). Subs again vary from just a few hundred pounds to enough to buy a new horse and field money per day varies too - some packs charge different amounts for different days. Basically it is so variable that you need to speak to the secretary of the pack(s) you want to hunt with and work it out, if you're a farmer within the hunting country, a student or pony club member you may well pay a little less. Have a great season whatever you do

 

[JenHunt]

Something you may also need to take into account is that you might go through shoes a damn site quicker! My mare is shod every 10 days in the hunting season hunting about 3 times a month Most are not this heavy on shoes but essentially I use a set of shoes a days hunting

every 10 days?! really?! ours continue to be shod every 6 weeks, though sometimes Ron has worn his front shoes enough that they break into two pieces as the Farrier removes them!

But as others have said OP, if you don't think you'll get more than half a dozen days this season, speak to the secretary about taking a 6 day ticket (or what ever they offer, some it is 10 days, some it's 4...). You'll still have field money to pay on that, ours is £10...

have a good season, and keep us all up to date with how much fun you're having!

 

[LizzieJ]

That's with road studs welded in too