Hunting terms for beginners

[Hunters]

Hats: All of the mounted field should have their tails up on their hats unless a master or hunt staff.

Hunt Coast Buttons: Four for a master, five for hunt staff and three for everyone else.

Greetings: Good Morning Master & Good Night when leaving.

Hounds: Counted in couples

Tie Pins: Straight up and down for staff - everyone else straight across

 

[Bernster]

Tie Pins: Straight up and down for staff - everyone else straight across

That's a handy one, thanks - my friend bought a vintage one recently and we were looking at the straight up n down ones. Fortunately she got a straight across one.

 

[wiz07]

If you dont know what to say then best stay quite. In most situations best to stay quite anyway!! Then you can never be wrong even if you were right in the first place!!

excellent Advice - I am going to make sure my husband understands it fully for use at home!

 

[geegee11]

This has been really helpful. I'm new to hunting (and to this forum, so hi!) and am always weary of saying the wrong thing around people who have been doing it since they were little!

 

[langtonhighway]

cur dog - now that's an old one!

 

[langtonhighway]

This has been really helpful. I'm new to hunting (and to this forum, so hi!) and am always weary of saying the wrong thing around people who have been doing it since they were little!

Well so long as you don't call hounds "dogs" - they'll hang draw and quarter you lol

I love reading the old Pullein-Thompson books - they're FULL of really old terms, some of which have gone out of use now. they can make me feel nostalgic!

Try "we hunted hounds" and "I carried the horn" - you'll have to try second hand bookshops though, definitely won't get them new anymore lol

There were others, but I forget their names. They were written in the forties, by people who really knew their stuff.

Well worth a read for the info and history alone

 

[Laurennsophiee]

These are all really useful! I work for a secretary of The Old Berkshire Hunt so she pretty much drummed it all in to me! But some I have not heard of Went for my first time ever in November last season! (I'm 19 and ridden since I was 5, always wanted to hunt but parents wouldn't allow it!) My horse is amazing and loves it..
Agree about never calling the hounds 'dogs'.. Not a good thing to do lol.. Also ALWAYS say good night to everyone loud and clear when you leave Manners and politeness is just a general rule for me if I'm honest, especially passing your hip flask round

 

[Herne]

That's a handy one, thanks - my friend bought a vintage one recently and we were looking at the straight up n down ones. Fortunately she got a straight across one.

Hmm. I presume that you are judging the orientation because of some sort of adornment (a horse's head or horseshoe or suchlike) attached to the pin.

Traditionally, a stock pin should be plain and unadorned (and can thus be worn in either orientation).

 

[Herne]

One of the most important points is that there are almost no “rules”; they are only traditions and vary from region to region and even from hunt to hunt within regions (and between different quarry-types).

Holloa - (Pronounced Helloa ) the long drawn out screech denoting the departure of the fox from the covert.

Pronounced to rhyme with collar in England.

Den - Where a fox lives.

In most parts of England, that’s only called an earth.

Point - The point of a hunt is the longest distance in a straight line. This starts from where the fox leaves the covert to where it goes to ground.

Also a person sent to a part of a covert to watch for quarry leaving. That person can be referred to as a “point” and is sent “on point”.

Hounds dont bark - they speak and they dont have tails, they have sterns!

Forgot to add - they wave their sterns, not wag.

“Feathering” is the traditional term for wagging of the stern where I come from.

Hats: All of the mounted field should have their tails up on their hats unless a master or hunt staff.

Hunt Coast Buttons: Four for a master, five for hunt staff and three for everyone else.

These are not universal. At least one hunt I know, for example, allows hat ribbons down as a privilege for hunting farmers and many hunts have five buttons for masters that hunt hounds and six for hunt staff.

 

[snowstormII]

'Come forrard' - what the field master calls when the mounted field should follow him after a bit of a standstill, lining out a covert for example.

 

[chilledoutpony]

Whats it like out hunting? And how much do you usually pay?

 

[Jobi-Wan Kenobi]

How does a lawn meet differ to every other meet? What should I do differently at a lawn meet?
I've only ever been on hound exercise so far, but am hoping to get to a meet this season, if not then definitely next year. I've waited 30+ years so far, another few months won't make so much difference!

 

[orangebadger]

Alternatively, wear a Red Ribbon and keep at the back, out of the way. If wearing a Red Ribbon, do not expect other people to avoid you - you should be avoiding them.

As regards red ribbons, I wish more adhered to your/the rules. Really gets on my wick!

 

[orangebadger]

You are, very obviously, "an anti".
However, I was blooded on my third time out - as a 4-year old in 1956.
Mummy tried very hard to wash it off but I was adamant that it had to stay in situ until I was ready to remove it.
If you don't approve of our traditional country ways, then move into the suburbs and buy knitting patterns to keep you occupied!! With best regards from a farmer's daughter.

I was blooded at the age of 49, and was very honoured to be so.

 

[orangebadger]

next year is going to be the first time that i go hunting, my 5 year old mear has has already gone but i'm just wondering what people thought of it after they went

A cliché, but there's nothing quite like it

 

[orangebadger]

How does a lawn meet differ to every other meet? What should I do differently at a lawn meet?
I've only ever been on hound exercise so far, but am hoping to get to a meet this season, if not then definitely next year. I've waited 30+ years so far, another few months won't make so much difference!

I think I am right in saying that a lawn meet is one held at someone's house, as opposed to a pub or a village green. We are amazingly fortunate in that 95% of our days are lawn meets. The irony is that you should probably never actually ride on their lawn, unless you want to be on extra gardening duties!

As regards timing, I started riding and hunting at the age of 48, and have enjoyed every second of it, despite being chief tumbler 12/13 season (14 total!). My speech was delivered in a back brace, having fractured it. Golden days! It's never too late to start, and remember that most (if not all) fields have a gate - you don't have to jump hedges if you don't want to!

 

[ahorseandadog]

Brilliant thank you.
Shall never remember them all though. Maybe I should write them down, though producing a piece of paper at full gallop so I can work out what they shouted may not be the best idea.

Try writing on the back of your hand...

 

[Deadfoxy]

Riot: hounds are said to riot when they go off on the wrong quarry
rate : what sabs do when they call hounds off the intended line

 

[Deadfoxy]

Differs from hunt to hunt. Some subscibers still pay and call it a cap.

 

[Deadfoxy]

In our country a lawn meet means food will be provided by the host!

 

[Deadfoxy]

Hold hard! : usually yelled loudly and means stop immediately

 

[Alec Swan]

Differs from hunt to hunt. Some subscibers still pay and call it a cap.

Not being intentionally picky, but the word 'Hunt' is a verb. The word 'Pack' is a noun and so encompasses every aspect of a registered collection of Hounds, which are used to Hunt, or for Hunting!

Would we correctly ask "Which 'Hunt' do you Hunt with"? The Pytchley and the Heythrop et all, are Packs, not Hunts.

Alec.

 

[Deadfoxy]

I'll inform everyone I know from now on not to make the same mistake Alec...as I was saying, some packs require a payment each time you hunt, it may differ in price to subscribers, but we always called it a cap regardless, because it went into the secretary's hunting cap!

 

[gunnergundog]

Would we correctly ask "Which 'Hunt' do you Hunt with"? The Pytchley and the Heythrop et all, are Packs, not Hunts.

Alec.

http://www.thepytchleyhunt.co.uk/

Ooops!

 

[Deadfoxy]

Lol. Thank you. I was trying to think of packs which called themselves Hunts...East Devon Hunt is another. So... I hunted with that Hunt for quite a few seasons.....is grammatically correct after all.

 

[Alec Swan]

http://www.thepytchleyhunt.co.uk/

Ooops!

Thanks for that, I'll write to the Master of the Pytchley and point out his poor command of the English language and the fact that they are wrong! It's The Pytchley, and that's that! I wonder what he'll say, if he even bothers to reply that is!

It's all a bit t-i-c, as with 'common usage' so our language and our use of it change. Does it really matter? Not when we have better things to occupy our minds, including the debacle of this next election!

I remember a lovely and very funny line in this section, when a poster quoted a mounted Lady and when she rounded on a child and roared "They're HYNDS, not DORGS"!! Ronnie Wallace would have had a fit!

Alec.

 

[gunnergundog]

Thanks for that, I'll write to the Master of the Pytchley and point out his poor command of the English language and the fact that they are wrong! It's The Pytchley, and that's that! I wonder what he'll say, if he even bothers to reply that is!
Alec.

Sorry...childish I know but I couldn't resist! If per chance you do decide to write and complain, which of the Masters would you address yourself to? Dependent on your selection it could almost be worth paying you to write!

 

[AbbeyL]

Hi

Ive never hunted before and i'd love to try it! I have a young thoroughbred ex racer and was told its not ideal for him because he's very small built and could get hurt easily..

What are peoples thoughts on this? Am I better off borrowing a friends horse?
Also, how "old" is "old" for horses that hunt as my friend has a 16 year old mare she'd like to take.

Thank you!

 

[Countryman]

Hi

Ive never hunted before and i'd love to try it! I have a young thoroughbred ex racer and was told its not ideal for him because he's very small built and could get hurt easily..

What are peoples thoughts on this? Am I better off borrowing a friends horse?
Also, how "old" is "old" for horses that hunt as my friend has a 16 year old mare she'd like to take.

Thank you!

I'm not an expert but I would say the main issue with your horse is not that its quite small - plenty of ponies hunt - but quite how long he has been an ex-racer. Many ex-racers make excellent hunters, but I would make sure he has been "converted" and you're happy with him before you take him hunting. With your friend's horse - I think its completely dependent on how fit it is.

I'd suggest you first take them out Autumn Hunting to get used to hounds and other horses - in September and October. Its in the early mornings/evenings, much more sedate than normal hunting and a good introduction to hunting for both people and horses! (It's also much cheaper!)

 

[AbbeyL]

Thank you! Will keep that in mind. Yes he raced a lot and was good at his job and id be worried if he over took he hunt master (which I heard is a big no no) as I don't have much breaks at the minute! Thank you!