numpty qu - fit enough to hunt?

[noblesteed]

How fit does your horse need to be to hunt?
My sharer wants to take mine hunting for the first time, and I'm a little reluctant as I don't think he's fit enough. He had about 4 weeks off over xmas due to the snow and ice. He is back in work now.
He is currently hacked out 4 times a week, mainly walk and trot, with short canters and plenty of hill work. He usually gets 2 short hacks and 2 longer (2-3 hours) hacks. A long hack generally tires him out! We have also been to a few rc rallies - jumping small fences.
He has daytime turnout.
I think he has the stamina to hunt, but I doubt he will be fit for cantering across fields or jumping much over 2 ft.

 

[Shay]

Depends on how long you stay!

You don't have to stay for the whole hunt. As long as you make sure to say "good night" (always good night even if it is the middle of the morning) to the master so they know you are OK and have just gone home then you can go after 15 mins if you want to.

There are usually a lot of breaks in hunting for horses to recover their wind. But you will need to consider what the terrain for your local hunt is like as to how challenging and demanding it would be for him - and hence how long you can stay.

If you call the secretary they should be able to help you with which meet would be most suitable in terms of terrain, height of jumps etc.

 

[virtual]

Depending on the hunt you are going with you can go round most if not all of the jumps and as Shay says can go home when you want to. My horse only worked approx once a week during the worst of the weather so I've done a couple of days finishing at 1pm to ease him back in. Some hunts are much faster than others and often weekdays are slower than Saturdays, but phone the hunt secretary to ask about the best day to go.

With the amount of work your horse is doing it sounds as though your horse would be fit enough for a short day, especially if you introduce a bit more canter work over the next few weeks.

 

[JenHunt]

it really does (as the others have said) where you're hunting.... my lad has had little work really over christmas, and it was the hill work that he was lacking, We've done some short ish days the last few weeks to get him back to it, and then from this weekend we'll be back to full time.

who would you be hunting with?