Hunting & university?

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abc_123

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does anyone now how difficult it is to fit going to uni in with hunting? I'm at sixth form at the moment, im looking to apply for a place at Harper Adams to study countryside and environmental management. Thing is, i'v been whipping in for two seasons now and plan one day to go into hunt service, but with qualifications gained first (parents insist). I don't really want to give up my hunting commitments completely to go to university, i spend alot of time at the kennels and i couldn't possibly ask for a better opportunity, parents are sponsering me with the horses so i have to be pretty committed. i dont want to let that slip so that i can go to university (i know its the wrong way round...)
so has anyone actually managed to go to university and fit in hunting aswell? i believe the course im interested in is a four year course... i only live 30 mins away from the campus anyway, just wonded what the likelyhood is of juggling it with keeping hunters fit and the rest.
cheers
 
I did it in my last year at uni, juggled horses, dissertation, other essay hand ins, lectures, and hunted! I lived at home 15 mins from uni. I was lucky with my lectures as they tended to be mid morning or early afternoon so had time to ride either before or after, and had no lectures on Tuesdays when we hunted just by pure coincidence and luck. We didn't hunt every week but got out a few times each month either on a mixture of weekend and weekday meets. I did all my uni work in the evenings when it was too dark and cold and the horses were in for the night. The biggest problem I had was sorting out group meetings for projects as none of the other students surfaced before 11am and quite often arranged to do group work late afternoon at very short notice, so I used to get them out of bed at 9am for meetings and feed them with coffee to get the work done. It was all a bit manic and quite stressful at times but it's definitely possible.
 
I did 60 days in my final year....and came out with a 2:1 in French and German :-)
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It's all about planning - as others have said. Plan your timetable - I only went in to uni for lectures three days a week, allowing me to hunt on Weds and have Friday for coursework/horsework, hunt on Sat then housework/coursework on Sunday.

It is definitely possible but don't put too much pressure on yourself - if it doesn't work then cut down your horses before you make a mess of your degree.

5 years after graduating I don't regret anything!!
 
Going to a "countryside" University will help. I was at Warwickshire affiliated to Harper and went hunting in my final year. Lectures aren't like school unless you are doing medicine, law or veterinary, so you may only have 6 a week. You need to decide if you can miss some or not. I see no reason why you can't still hunt most the time and go to uni, there were at least 5 of us who hunted regularly and one of us has gone on to finish this year and gone into hunt service
 
If it doesn't work out then you could always temporarily switch to beagling. I believe that the Harper Adams Countryside Club has very active links with the Shropshire beagles. Many masters, huntsmen and whips of this generation have started their careers with foot packs at school or college - Ronnie Wallace, Charles Frampton, Arthur Soames, Otis Ferry and Charles Carter not to mention the likes of Simon Hart.
 
No- come down to the royal ag- MUCH better hunting and a lot of work available in exchange for days hunting if you don't have your own horse down there. I did a fair bit in my first year with VWH on my horse- loved the change of hunt country and lots of time to fit it in :)
 
abc-123,

of course you can do it. It'll mean keeping late night booze to a minimum, and getting out of your bed in the morning! Easily done when you WANT to, but not, generally, when you don't!

RTE, I love the quote on your sig. Very funny, and to add to it, quoting H frank Wallace from Happier years..... "and as they age, some of them assume male plumage"!!

Alec.
 
I'm about to go into my final year at Harper and I have managed to hunt very regularly with the Meynell whilst being at uni. I live about 2 hours away so I'm sure you will have no problem!
 
I went to Harper and although I was too far away to hunt my own horses I rode out for a lovely lady who hunted for all 4 years there and so got quite a bit of hunting in with the Albrighton.

It is do-able - easier as Harper's main night out is a Wednesday!!! So you're not getting up to hunt with a raging hangover!!
 
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