So does anyone here hunt for reasons other than watching hounds?

[Starbucks]

MrWoof started it!

Obviously can't have a debate without saying "well I've been bitching about you with someone REALLY important" *smirk*

Quite sad really.

 

[rosie fronfelen]

if this is aimed at me don't bring me into your petty squabbles. i was passing through and its sad to read stuff like this when we all support the same sport in the end. i couldn't care less who started what, or who bitched about who- all very kindergarten stuff in my eyes!!

 

[Starbucks]

Very true.

No more bitching from me.

 

[Aru]

Completely about training up new horses, having the craic with friends and getting to jump and race across the countryside for me....
some of the hunts ive been to have minus hounds we just call them hunts as its an excuse to chase across the countryside on horseback!
Yes hunting is legal here but we just dont have many packs but lots of horses so this way works just fine.

I do like to see the hounds work and flush out fox's but there not the main appeal for me at all.

 

[SFleetwood]

I was PM'd yesterday by a very respected MFH - who actually told me that you are "an arrogant b******, who knows nothing but thinks she knows a lot".

Oh what a terribly unpleasant thing to have posted.

You have some things of great value to add to hunting threads. Clearly as someone who presents on the etiquett of hunting and showing, you know your stuff. However, your people skills seem to be sadly lacking sometimes. And if what you say about your PM is true, the circles in which you mix would seem equally lacking.

To make snide inuendo's as you have done above is both underhand and unnessary. And I think an apology is in order to the person it referenced.

 

[kit279]

^^^what she said^^^

 

[Spudlet]

^^^ Baaaahhhhhhhhh! What they said.

I may not know much about hounds, but I can spot bitching a mile off. You are old enough to know better MrWoof, you ought to be setting a better example.

 

[Aniseed]

I hunt for the riding but don't understand how as a newcomer who doesn't really know any of the hunt staff, with a horse that kicks and therefore has to stay at the back, and in a field of 100+ on a Saturday how am I supposed to watch the hounds work? This isn't intended as a snide comment it is a genuine question.

I have made the effort to go out on foot with an ex who worked for the hunt but as that didn't last long I didn't really learn a lot. I guess the point of this post is to ask all those of you who hunt for the hounds, how did you understand what is going on and do you always have to be at the front to watch? I think perhaps this is the situation that a lot of newcomers find themselves in and I'm always asking questions when I'm out but after 3 seasons of very sporadic hunting I don't feel much wiser.

 

[kirstyhen]

I'm not sure why horses have suddenly become akin to vehicles, and why enjoying the intense bond horse and rider share out hunting is suddenly deemed wrong, but personally I enjoy both aspects of hunting.
I do not know enough about working hounds to understand the intricate workings of the pack, however I know enough about working dogs (Gundogs etc.) to recognise the joy of an animal doing what it has been bred for generations to do.
Although I enjoy watching the hounds, I get the most satisfaction from riding, otherwise I'd follow on foot. They seem to get a better view of the pack anyway and certainly have less preperation time!
Why shouldn't I get the most satisfaction out of riding? I put alot of work into my horse. I don't go for a hooley around, I go because I enjoy the feeling of knowing my horse will cope with whatever comes up during the day and that it is down to the work I have put into him and the trust he has in me.

 

[R2R]

I'm not sure why horses have suddenly become akin to vehicles, and why enjoying the intense bond horse and rider share out hunting is suddenly deemed wrong, but personally I enjoy both aspects of hunting.
I do not know enough about working hounds to understand the intricate workings of the pack, however I know enough about working dogs (Gundogs etc.) to recognise the joy of an animal doing what it has been bred for generations to do.
Although I enjoy watching the hounds, I get the most satisfaction from riding, otherwise I'd follow on foot. They seem to get a better view of the pack anyway and certainly have less preperation time!
Why shouldn't I get the most satisfaction out of riding? I put alot of work into my horse. I don't go for a hooley around, I go because I enjoy the feeling of knowing my horse will cope with whatever comes up during the day and that it is down to the work I have put into him and the trust he has in me.

What she said ^^^^^

Primarily I am a horsewoman, so hunt to enjoy my horses, keep them fit, and expose them to new things.

I like watching THE hounds work, however this was a lot easier before current restrictions.

Hunting wouldnt have continued, and there would have been alot more prosecutions under the current conditions if people all went to watch hounds work.

 

[millitiger]

i hunt solely for the riding aspect- if it was just for watching hounds work i would save myself a lot of money and effort and buy a quad bike!

i am not ashamed that i only go for the riding- i am sure the majority of the mounted field would agree, hence meets in jumping country are far more popular and get more followers (at least in our hunt).

and the association that because we enjoy the riding means that we also love galloping over crops, upsetting livestock etc is frankly laughable and totally untrue from every hunt i have experienced!

also, if the riding aspect is so frowned upon, why do landowners and farmers bother building and maintaining hunt fences?
i can think of many landowners around here who have spent a few days this autumn putting in new hunt jumps.

if the hunts themselves were that bothered about people just out for the riding they could always refuse the subs, tell the field master to go the direct routes everywhere and not maintain any of the fences.

as with many posts in this forum lately, there seems a small hardcore of hunting fans who seem intent on cutting off their noses to spite their faces.

 

[CorvusCorax]

Aru, the hunt I go with sometimes only has hounds twice a season - at the opening and closing meets.
The hunt I car follow with has a pack and they haven't caught anything for about 25 years....

 

[RunToEarth]

... OH is usually on a wobbler about foot followers patting hounds and othersuch...

whats wrong with that ?

Nothing in its rightful place, and I'm sure no one would dispute it, but the one that buggers off when it is working should be sent back to huntman, not stroked and fed sausage rolls, I'm sure you would agree?

 

[marmalade76]

If it were not for the fact that my main interest in life is horses, I would never have had any interest in hunting. Don't get me wrong, I like hounds, I like watching them work, but the only real reason I have hunted is because I love riding.

I agree with the "cutting off their noses to spite their faces" comment, hunts need supporters, regardless of their reasons for being so.

 

[cptrayes]

"My problem is solely with people who come out for a hoon about, have absolutely no respect for other people's land, the ground, the state of fields, churn up the ground lines for jumping etc etc."

My problem is that there appear to be people posting, (not necessarily this poster though it does read that way), who seem to be implying that this is what all people who hunt to ride instead of riding to hunt behave like. That attitude is grossly insulting to all the great riders who follow hounds on mannered horses in order to have a good gallop and jump. Your problem seems to be not with the people who ride to hunt, but with the people who ride with no manners in themselves or their horse. This is not confined to people who ride to hunt and is a completely separate issue.

I'm also puzzled by this thread and the other similar one. The hunts cannot exist without us without a huge increase in cap and subs from the hound-watchers. There is surely no option but to continue to provide meets that riders want to pay to go to?

To the rider who wants a cross country course open all winter, I can't help in your area but in Cheshire both Somerford Park and Kelsall are open all winter. They are great, I take my horse there when we miss a day's hunting with the rain, to get his fitness back up.

 

[RunToEarth]

"My problem is solely with people who come out for a hoon about, have absolutely no respect for other people's land, the ground, the state of fields, churn up the ground lines for jumping etc etc."

My problem is that there appear to be people posting, (not necessarily this poster though it does read that way), who seem to be implying that this is what all people who hunt to ride instead of riding to hunt behave like. That attitude is grossly insulting to all the great riders who follow hounds on mannered horses in order to have a good gallop and jump. Your problem seems to be not with the people who ride to hunt, but with the people who ride with no manners in themselves or their horse. This is not confined to people who ride to hunt and is a completely separate issue.

I'm also puzzled by this thread and the other similar one. The hunts cannot exist without us without a huge increase in cap and subs from the hound-watchers. There is surely no option but to continue to provide meets that riders want to pay to go to?

To the rider who wants a cross country course open all winter, I can't help in your area but in Cheshire both Somerford Park and Kelsall are open all winter. They are great, I take my horse there when we miss a day's hunting with the rain, to get his fitness back up.

I wrote that quote, I also confessed that until I moved away from uni, my sole want from a day's hunting is for my horse to go nicely, the social and the jumping. My parents are very hunting people and also big farmers so I knew what I should be doing on other peoples land, and know that people who don't respect other's land are a minority.
I commented on the fact that since being with OH, and a different hunt, I have been more interested with how hounds go. I have been on OH's horses and whilst I am always thrilled with how they go, I've learned (much to parents and OH delight) there is more to hunting than my hip flask( although still a major part )
I love my hunting for reasons I do, I loved going with the rockwood even though it was not for watching hounds, and I never, for one moment, implied that if you don't go to watch hounds you are hooning around mindlessly.
To be honest the hunting fields would be desolate and few on the ground if hunters whose main aim of the day was not hounds were not welcomed.

 

[humph]

This is going off topic but please please please can people stop doing their damnedest to blight the hunting fraternity.

The arrogance, closed-mindedness and abhorrent bitchiness of some of these posts does nothing but harm to the hunting community when we really need to be united in portraying a positive front.

I'm not saying we shouldn't have strong opinions but perhaps others opinions should give us all food for thought with regards the future of hunting rather than encouraging us to shout our views louder to make it more valid?

 

[humph]

Hi Skiddaw-Lad, I'm in complete agreement that a public forum is the place for open debate, hence saying "I'm not saying we shouldn't have strong opinions..." Equally, I'd hardly call my comment "..perhaps other opinions should give us all food for thought ... rather than encouraging us to shout our views louder..." as a lack of openness - I'm encouraging openness and hoping that people could listen to the debate rather than shouting louder and more bitchily to prove their point is right.

Imagine an undecided pro/anti hunting bod coming on here to consider their viewpoint. The upsetting thing for me at the moment is that the majority of these posts would send them packing for their balaclavas.

Like many, I've been fighting for years on behalf of the hunting campaign and I hate to see all our hardwork being undone by bad attitudes on here.

 

[combat_claire]

One of the things I was first told about hunting by one of our masters was that there are as many reasons to go hunting as there are people who hunt.

In an ideal world everyone would be aware and focused on what is happening on the hunting field, but there are new people who may not realise what they should be doing or people who have no interest in hound work. I have no problem with this as long as newbies are encouraged to learn and those with no interest don't ruin it for everyone else by talking loudly or not being in the right place.

Hounds is my main reason for going hunting, but I also enjoy other aspects - riding fast across country on my two wheeled steed, accessing land that I am not normally allowed on and trying to outguess the huntsman and get to a good spot on the covert. But I also like the people I have met out hunting and there is always chance to catch up with them and their news too.

I whip in to a foot pack over the summer and there can be much gnashing of teeth and moaning back at the hound van, when the field have seemed only to be out with the intent of sabotaging the day! Although I go out for the hounds, there are plenty for whom it is a social occasion, a nice ramble for the kids or a dog walk. They pays their money to keep us going, so they makes their choice. If they want to stand with their back to the river or walk so far behind they can't even see hounds then that is their prerogative and all will continue to be welcomed.

Take last week with our pack, rumours abounded of a handsome celebrity riding with us for the day. The meet was even more jam packed than usual and yes the regulars did have a giggle at people who haven't been on a horse in years riding with hounds in full make up in the hope of making an honest man of him. Who care if that was their only reason, the hunt coffers are healthier because of it!

Hunting should be welcoming all comers not looking down on people who have differing reasons for hunting.

 

[wizzi901]

because I just lurrrve to feel my ponio having a fab ride and enjoying himself, giving him big change from the usual schooling and competing!!

 

[cptrayes]

Did he turn up??????

Who was he???????


We must know! :grin:

 

[combat_claire]

Otis Ferry and no he didn't, which amused the foot followers even more....

 

[R2R]

Otis Ferry and no he didn't, which amused the foot followers even more....

Why on earth woudl you chase Otis? I think thats the most amusing part of it?! :grin:

 

[MrWoof]

^^^ Baaaahhhhhhhhh! What they said.

I may not know much about hounds, but I can spot bitching a mile off. You are old enough to know better MrWoof, you ought to be setting a better example.

Yes, I am old enough to know better - and I totally agree with your comments.
Profound apologies for doing so on a public forum.
I was out of order and should not have allowed SB to wind me up quite so much as to forget my manners.
I have now made a resolution never to reply to one her posts ever again.
Best regards.

 

[MrWoof]

Please see my last post. Chrissie

 

[MrWoof]

You have some things of great value to add to hunting threads. Clearly as someone who presents on the etiquette of hunting and showing, you know your stuff. However, your people skills seem to be sadly lacking sometimes.

Please read my last post.
Best regards.

 

[MrWoof]

Otis Ferry and no he didn't, which amused the foot followers even more....

Rather confused as to why O Ferris, Esq MFH would turn up as a Visitor at an "in season" Meet, when he has his own pack to hunt?? Who are these half-wits who thought he might??

 

[R2R]

Otis Ferry and no he didn't, which amused the foot followers even more....

Rather confused as to why O Ferris, Esq MFH would turn up as a Visitor at an "in season" Meet, when he has his own pack to hunt?? Who are these half-wits who thought he might??

why wouldn't he?

 

[Irishcobs]

Otis Ferry and no he didn't, which amused the foot followers even more....

Rather confused as to why O Ferris, Esq MFH would turn up as a Visitor at an "in season" Meet, when he has his own pack to hunt?? Who are these half-wits who thought he might??

I would guess he was invited to the party the night before, but that is purely a guess.
Does it really matter?

 

[rosie fronfelen]

i wasn't pointing the finger at any particular post, but stating that it was a shame to have"in house" bitching when we all support the same sport, for wont of a better word- i fume myself at some posts, but whats the point of commenting just to get abuse back, enough of that in everyday life!! cheers anyway.