New to hunting. Question about galloping on bad terrain

[Mule]

Hello, I recently started hunting.I'm enjoying it but going fast, downhill on really churned up land makes me a bit nervous that the horse will slip or trip. It hasn't happened and the horse I hire is very experienced but I'm not used to just giving the horse it's head and not interfering. Has anyone else felt like this and if so, how long did it take for you to relax. Thanks

 

[AdorableAlice]

More port is the answer !

I hunted with the Quantock SH some years ago and have to admit I needed clean pants by midday. I am used to riding MW or HW hunters. My hireling was 15.2 LW, narrow and no front. I felt sorry for him as I am no lightweight rider, but he was fit and used to crossing moorland, he popped drains I didn't even see and politely refused to go into boggy ground, not that I knew it was boggy !

I think you can only trust the horse, did I mention more port ? and take clean underwear.

 

[huskydamage]

As above drink more port lol

Not hunting but I did a 3day ride in dartmoor which involved alot of galloping over bog, holes and rocks. At the start I was sh**ing myself and steering round every stone, by the end I just let her plough her way across everything. She seemed to know what she was doing better than me!

 

[Orangehorse]

I rode a hirling horse through a pine wood at a flat out gallop once. I started by trying to steer round all the roots and hazards but in the end had to just hang on and hope the horse could see them. We survived.

 

[Mule]

More port it shall be 😄

 

[AdorableAlice]

More port it shall be ��

Excellent, please remember you mount on the left and face the ears.

 

[Mule]

Lol

Excellent, please remember you mount on the left and face the ears.

 

[Meredith]

More port it shall be ��

Excellent, please remember you mount on the left and face the ears.

On one memorable day I managed to mount on the left and end up facing the ears but only after I had ascertained which of the 3 identical horses I could see was the real oneI

 

[AdorableAlice]

On one memorable day I managed to mount on the left and end up facing the ears but only after I had ascertained which of the 3 identical horses I could see was the real oneI

Serious Port !!

 

[JenHunt]

On one memorable day I managed to mount on the left and end up facing the ears but only after I had ascertained which of the 3 identical horses I could see was the real oneI

I'd like port like that....

It's definitely about trusting the horse.

Ron is an ace hunter from that point of view - he crosses wet ground better than dry! The once we got stuck in a bog, he stopped trying to get out once his belly touched the surface, waited for me to get off and take the reins over his head, then once I was to one side he just calmly climbed out, shook the mud off and started getting cross that other people had left us behind! I found a quadbike to climb on from and we were off again!

We hunt in a largely grassland/arable area, with some moor, so we're more used to hedges and timber than anything else, and he's not very patient when it comes to waiting his turn for those (even at 22). So imagine the terror when suddenly faced with a stell 6 foot deep, and 4 foot wide (at the bottom, more like 20 at the top).... I shouldn't have worried. His Irish roots came to the front, he waited his turn as if we were just standing on point. When it came to our go, he inched his front legs down the bank, gathered himself (I was gripping the neckstrap and praying) and then popped up and over, landing on the top on all four feet.... hen calmly trotted off. Such a saint. At least now I know a) it's there and b) how he reacts I don't need to panic over it any more!

That said, I still don't trust him to wait his turn sensibly for a fence or a hedge, or to not leap 10 foot sideways whilst having a tantrum about being asked to wait, or to not then pull off some sort of disco shape throwing contest as we go over it because he's been larking about rather than concentrating!

 

[iknowmyvalue]

Definitely trust your horse, an experienced hunter will know what they're doing and most of them will magically grow a 5th leg if they need it!

I have some rather memorable experiences from when I started hunting my last horse (had hunted lots in ireland before I had her) The most memorable "5th leg" moment was when she took offence at being left behind and decided she just had to catch up with the horses in front, which included doing a 180 turn out of the field onto the road at canter (the others had just turned the corner), I felt her back end slip and I thought she was going down on me but nope, magically grew another leg, rebalanced herself and off we went!

Eventually I sort of just left her to it, since she was the kind of horse that if she had decided what she was doing, there was very little you could do to convince her otherwise anyway, so it was best to just leave it to her rather than get in a fight you were going to lose

 

[Mike007]

There are far too many bad riders out hunting , if you think it is too fast for the ground ,it probably is.

 

[Naughty Magpie]

Definitely trust your horse, an experienced hunter will know what they're doing and most of them will magically grow a 5th leg if they need it!

So very true! My 15 year old ex Masters horse definitely knows what he's doing & I just keep balanced and leave him to sort the majority of the terrain/problems out. But there are still many squeaky-bum-times despite my trust in him & most of those are going downhill on deep mud/grass at speed or jumping ditches.

If he gets exasperated with me, he will turn around & catch my eye & sigh (no joke! It's really weird!) & I end up apologising to him. How daft is that.

 

[VoR]

We hunt over very hilly country and do go at speed up and down, it can be pretty hairy and I have had one occasion where the 5th leg went missing as we 'traversed' a slope but generally the horse has no more wish to fall over than you do so heels forward, lean back and enjoy the ride