Thinking of trying drag hunting! any advice appreciated!

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Jango

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I'd quite like to have a go at drag hunting, I've never had a honest horse with good breaks before but now I do I thought I'd like to give it a go! Neither myself or my current horse has done any hunting before! I would most likely be going with the Cheshire Farmers Drag Hunt, I'm in Liverpool so probably one of the Warrington meets. I have a 15.1hh Welsh D, he's jumping up to 3' at home and 2'6" at SJ shows. How big would the fences be round the hunt? How fit do they need to be to go hunting? He's fine with other horses and also not bothered by dogs, he's fine on fairly busy roads and with motorbikes but I don't think he has seen much if any farm machinery. Would this be a problem? Generally if anyone has any hunting advice for me it would be greatly appreciated :D
 
Advice? Kick on!

LOL :p

Go and have fun,but be ready to be very fit and be able to keep up the pace.


Hunting forum'syour best best to post on :)
 
My advice:

Take a hip flask - it'll make everything happen in slow motion.

Have a neck strap - you never know when you may need to hang on for dear life.

Squint a bit before the jumps - it makes them look smaller.

For goodness sake don't stop - you'll be ploughed down by a whole field of horses going flat out!!!

Obviously I'm joking about all of the above but it can be a fast day out so I would recommend chosing a beginners meet.

Have fun. :)
 
Make sure your horse is very fit as once they are going they don't stop!! Farm machinery will not be a problem as I have been loads of times and never met anything!! If you are a bit nervous stay at the back but my guess is once you have jumped a few your adrenilin will be up and you'll be off!! All I can say is have a go it is great fun!!
 
CFDH is a great drag hunt ideal for starting i have been to a few of there meets. The generally go for about 25 to 30 mins on each leg then stop for a rest / drink. Jumps arnt to big max 3 ft and there is always a way round although if its small generally you would be expected to just jump rather than have to find a way round. My horse i used to take was a tb so i didnt need to get her to fit to go. There were plenty of people at the back taking it easy and a lovely bunch. Very friendly. You ll be more than fine on your horse. Go on a beginners day and see how you feel you can always do half a day but im sure once your going youll be buzzing and wont want to stop :)
 
I'm hoping to join the Cheshire Farmers this next season. Going on the fun ride tomorrow at Daresbury to see what our Pheebs does, think she will get excited and I usually have brakes but with lots of other horses around, not sure how she will take it so will update you after tomorrow! lol x
 
Thanks a lot for all the replies!! I don't think I'd be nervous of the fences or the speed, I'm a bit of an adenaline junkie, I love fast hacks and XC! It's more doing the wrong thing with regards to the hunt master or getting in the way of the dogs etc. So if he's fit enough to go round a farm ride or do a local ODE he should be ok for hunting? Is it like 25mins in canter/gallop then stop or 30mins in all paces?

The beginners meets sounds like a good idea for our first try, but I couldn't find any info on when they were on the website though, would it be best to ring one of the numbers on there?

marinitagsd - definately let me know how the fun ride went! I'd like to try one of those too, but I'm at a local show tomorrow!
 
Don't ride past anyone in a red coat! lol

There's nothing more fun than hunting. Watch what others do, follow your fieldmaster and have a blast. I wish I could hunt but my mare is nowhere near ready and I don't know if she'll ever have the sense for it.
 
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