Old school v's new school

[Simsar]

Sorry what does it say about hat ribbons. Not reading it all again. What I think you are taliking about is a Patey's hat ribbon. Only hunt staff are supposed to weat the tails down. Yes I have one and I saved and saved, and mine has the tails sown in. Do they still make hats with ribbons sorry for being dimb!!??

 

[Simsar]

PS before that I wore a skull cap with a navy silk.

 

[joe_carby]

to hunt with us for day is 40 quid for an adult in the middle of the season so that can come within the cost of a hours lesson. and definatly a days competing. we do tend to have someone in the field where if someone cant get round a particular jump they will take you round. and hardly anyone wears a patey that hunts with us its not all about cost of what your wearing as long as you are smart.

 

[spacefaer]

Hunt caps still have ribbons at the back - hunt staff have them down - mounted followers have them tucked up or sown up inside.

Don't ask me why - tradition!

 

[Ranyhyn]

Well I am going to support my local hunt well turned out in the best i can afford, that encompasses ariat boots and gaiters (how uncouth) and my black show jacket.

And should anyone look down their snooty little nose at me I will promptly save my money and become and anti.

:grin:

 

[Haniki]

I'm on my local hunt's committee and we have endless discussions about caps/subs - whether cheaper ones would attract more followers? But, at the end of the day it costs over £1,000 a week to run the hunt.
I know someone who ripped their black jacket so wore just a thick woolly jumper one day and no one minded. I also used to wear a long black waxed coat on wet days and even my back protector underneath when I was on my then young horse.

 

[RunToEarth]

I agree with ditchjumper2- some things in life are cheap and others not- I would love a big shiney new car and could think of nothing better than the manufacturers subsidising it for me, but I won't hold my breath.
I disagree with bright coloured things on the hunting field- so shoot me, my opinion remains my own.
I have no problem with show jackets and ratcatchers, I choose to wear my hunting jacket because it is warm, I won't take away from anyone else's decision on clothing.
There are margins for dress on the hunting field, no one expects someone who hunts three times a year to have all the kit but similarly I never understand the bright coloured saddle pads/boots etc, just go and buy a dark coloured one.

 

[marmalade76]

I am sure that what you have pointed out does apply to a lot of people, but personally, I went on my first hoilday for 15 years last year, five days in Newquey, which OH's aunt paid for. All my furniture is second hand/hand me downs, I never go out, don't drink, my phones are always free with our contract and they are always the most basic as that is all I am capable of opperating. I could get a job, but with two pre-school children, I would have to pay a childminder and being that I am not quailfied to earn big money, it would be kind of pointless. OH is self employed, so I do do a certain amount of work for him, so hardly twiddling my thumbs.

When I used to go bloodhouding regularly, I worked all the over-time I could possibly manage, and never had the time nor energy to go out and spend money.

 

[MrWoof]

Sorry what does it say about hat ribbons. Not reading it all again. What I think you are taliking about is a Patey's hat ribbon. Only hunt staff are supposed to weat the tails down. Yes I have one and I saved and saved, and mine has the tails sown in. Do they still make hats with ribbons sorry for being dimb!!??

Not just on a Patey but all Ribbons, on all headgear.
Masters and Hunt Staff - plus Farmers and Land-Owners over whose land THEIR Hunt actually hunts are allowed Ribbons "down".
If visiting, then Farmers and LO then tuck or sew up ribbons please. As should everyone else not qualifying.

 

[RunToEarth]

Sorry what does it say about hat ribbons. Not reading it all again. What I think you are taliking about is a Patey's hat ribbon. Only hunt staff are supposed to weat the tails down. Yes I have one and I saved and saved, and mine has the tails sown in. Do they still make hats with ribbons sorry for being dimb!!??

Not just pateys, all hats with ribbons need to be sown up apart from LOs whose land is being drawn, hunt staff and masters.

 

[cptrayes]

My hunt says it needs money and asks what I want from the hunt. I have told them that they will get me out more often if I am allowed to choose when I think that I need to wear a dark coloured riding waterproof. They won't let me. They told me (wrongly) that it is tradional to wear hunt coats not raincoats. They lost my cap today because of it.

 

[Ditchjumper2]

My hunt says it needs money and asks what I want from the hunt. I have told them that they will get me out more often if I am allowed to choose when I think that I need to wear a dark coloured riding waterproof. They won't let me. They told me (wrongly) that it is tradional to wear hunt coats not raincoats. They lost my cap today because of it.

You cannot say their decision not to allow you to wear waterproofs was wrong.....only that you disagreed with it. Their hunt therefore their decision. I must admit we do occasionally wear water proofs but only if it is an absolute deluge when we move off, and then only if F/M says so. Have only known this happen a handful of times over the last few seasons. That is why hunt coats are such a blessing..nice and thick and warm, keeps out the worst of the elements.

 

[marmalade76]

See, this is the problem, they need money and therefore need more people to go hunting. But unless you can afford the sometimes ridiculous prices and stick absolutly to the dress code, they don't really want you. They really are their own worst enemy sometimes!

 

[Starbucks]

If it's that bad.. Rockwood cancel.

Waterproofs aren't good.

 

[spacefaer]

If it's bad enough to need waterproofs, then it'll wreck your tack, soak through to your knickers, destroy the grass and you'll slide into the bottom of every fence..... don't go!

 

[Ditchjumper2]

Depends whether you are a fairweather hunter....tack cleans,
knickers wash, no need to jump aand if the farmers were worried about the grass they would cancel!

 

[humph]

Gosh, this thread makes the hunting fraternity out to be ogres.

I feel quite strongly that newcomers should be welcomed warmly and in return they should make the best effort they can to be smartly and sensibly dressed. For example, a follower should plait their horse (afterall it costs nothing) as a mark of respect and gratitude to the farmers who have allowed them to ride over their land. However, I see no problem whatsoever in a follower wearing a show jacket or tweed coat or whatever they have available so long as they are comfortable and not going to catch their death with cold. Likewise, I see no problem with Jod boots or rubber boots and don't think many followers would even notice.

However, most importantly regarding the finances, hunts are not huge profit making organisations and, as others have said, the majority run at a loss. Therefore, subsidising subscriptions can only lead to job losses or hunt closure and surely that's not what anyone wants. I understand that some have suggested that if caps were lower they would hunt more frequently and thus the hunt would earn more money. However, what no one has mentioned is that hunts have a balancing act - they have to earn money but their No 1 "clients" are those farmers whose land they hunt over. No hunt would exist if it weren't for the generosity of those farmers and therefore respect to them is of ABSOLUTE importance. Now, most farmers will be prepared to accept a certain size of field over their land - if you reduced caps/subscriptions you would increase the size of the field which would cause all sorts of trouble for the farmers - they suffer enough with stock being let out because people haven't shut gates or have broken hunt jumps/flattened hedges. So as I say, the hunt have to calculate what cap/subscription to charge to encourage the maximum followers that their farmers can accommodate whilst also trying to break even.

I agree that hunts need to move with the times but also feel quite strongly that most are doing exactly that.

Please please don't portray hunting folk as 'snobs' because they're just a section of society, made up of a wide variety of the community - from vegans, gays, aristocracy, village idiots and the majority are just plain ordinary good honest country people. Please don't generalise them.

 

[cptrayes]

My hunt says it needs money and asks what I want from the hunt. I have told them that they will get me out more often if I am allowed to choose when I think that I need to wear a dark coloured riding waterproof. They won't let me. They told me (wrongly) that it is tradional to wear hunt coats not raincoats. They lost my cap today because of it.

You cannot say their decision not to allow you to wear waterproofs was wrong.....only that you disagreed with it. Their hunt therefore their decision. I must admit we do occasionally wear water proofs but only if it is an absolute deluge when we move off, and then only if F/M says so. Have only known this happen a handful of times over the last few seasons. That is why hunt coats are such a blessing..nice and thick and warm, keeps out the worst of the elements.

I did not say that their decision was wrong. I said that they are wrong about it being not traditional to wear waterproofs. I found a quote from Mrs Horace Hayes which was 200 years old saying that a good waterproof was essential hunting equipment.

They can make what decisions they like, of course, but they need more money and asked what they could do to get more people out. I have told them how to get more money from me. If they ignore my wishes to stay dry, then that's their choice and mine is to wait for drier days to go out.

My lucky friends on Exmoor meanwhile, yesterday followed a huntsman whose waterproof trousers under her waterproof coat were taped to her waterproof boots .

 

[MrWoof]

The cost was not my point, it was the uniform. Yes we are in Surrey but we earn very little believe it or not and trust me I'm not posh!!!

- and ME!! Not posh in any shape or form but buy very good quality Second-hand kit. My BW, bought off ebay for £120, actually soaked up 13 lbs of water one day and my inside was still as dry as a cork. Buy the right kit and you will always be dry and comfortable.