Whats the best plan if you meet the hunt out hacking?

Depends on how my horse has reacted. My last mare got reassurance from me off the ground otherwise we would rodeo so I would get off. Current one is better with me sat on her. I would probibily Try and trot past them as I hack in a snaffle and cavesson. I would need a grackle and barbed wire for hunting!
 
Luckily I don't think we'd meet any hunts where we are! :o I can only imagine the chaos though - knowing my mare, I'd deff stay on board as she can be an absolute beast in hand and there's no way I'd be able to keep a hold if we were amidst lots of excited horses and dogs!
Sounds like you did the right thing for you and your horse though!
K x
 
I once met the hunt whilst driving a pony and trap.
The pony got quite excited, but not as excited as some of the hunt horses, who had clearly never seen a pony and trap. What followed was a rather messy scattering of bucking/shying and bolting hunters! Whoops!
I shouted my apologies and trotted past quickly!
 
nicelittle said:
I once met the hunt whilst driving a pony and trap.
The pony got quite excited, but not as excited as some of the hunt horses, who had clearly never seen a pony and trap. What followed was a rather messy scattering of bucking/shying and bolting hunters! Whoops!
I shouted my apologies and trotted past quickly!
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:D well that's the situation turned around a little hehehe! I bet they still talk about you ! :)
 
ladyt25 said:
I wouldn't DO anything different, I'd just carry on with my ride. why would you feel you would have to do anything different? My horse wouldn't care - sure he may get a bit alert and quicken his pace but that'd be it. He doesn't care about dogs, vehicles and he sees large numbers of horses at events so that wouldn't be anything special.

I would just continue my ride and go past them if they were coming towards me.
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Have you ever actually been in this situation?? Doesnt sound like it! Seeing lots of horses at events is no way the same as coming across the hunt!!!
 
Thanks for all the replies :) seems like there's three main trains of thought then, join in and enjoy, leg on and keep going or dismount and hang on, i understand why lots of people say dont get off because you're more in control, but i'm one of those who doesn't feel more in control on board in a scary situation, yet! have had a few close calls with a horse i no longer own when i stayed on and regretted it afterwards because horse was a bit, no actually a lot, unpredictable and explosive! my current horse is far saner thankfully and i am getting there but i do feel safer on the ground sometimes, i think i agree with what lots of people have said in that theres no right or wrong, it's a case of whats best for you and your horse. Am hoping that one day i'll be brave enough to join the 'tag along and enjoy' peeps though:eek:
 
Oh god you've just reminded me of the time me, my sister and a friend ran into the local hunt! I'd have been 14 or so, my sister 10 or 11 and our friend an adult, but not hugely experienced, and we were happily hacking along a country lane when we turned a bend and saw the hunt lined up at the other end of the field next to us. We (wrongly :p) thought they'd seen us and were waiting for us to pass as they stayed waiting at the end of the field for ages (this field is honestly massive) as we kept riding along the lane (the field is set up from the lane, so there is no way they couldn't have seen us, but they definitely weren't waiting for us!!). We were about 50 metres away when they started blowing horns and galloping towards us! The worst thing was, almost all of the hounds jumped down onto the road and swarmed around us, and add this to a massive herd of horses charging towards you and I think it blew our all our horse's minds! My friend and her mare went charging up the road in one direction, my sister's gelding spun around and charged off in the other direction, trying to join in with the hunt, and my poor, befuddled Arab climbed into a hedge :p. Fortunately none of us were hurt and everyone managed to get their horses under control, but I was furious with the hunt as they had definitely seen us, they were all lined up waiting at the end of the field anyway so it wouldn't have killed them to wait a little bit longer, and they're a drag hunt so it's not like they were chasing a fox that was getting away.
I don't know what we could have done in that situation tbh as there was nowhere we could get the horses out of the way of the hounds, especially as we had no idea they were going to jump down onto the road, and if we'd gotten off we would definitely have lost two horses, and that could have ended in tragedy.
 
I don't worry about meeting the hunt as my mother subscribes so she gets a meet card, also where I live now, there is no hunting around the immediate area.
 
Hmmm, was out hacking once and met several groups of horses on a pleasure ride going the opposite way to me. Girlie was not impressed and did nuch of our hack on her back legs with her arse dangerously close to the ditch.

She has watched the hunt going across fields next to hers ever since she was born though. She's 14 now, and doesn't take any notice at all when she sees it, but I think it may be different if we were out!

I once met the beagles when I was out driving her, and she didn't take any notice of them, but they were only out on exercise.
 
I've met the hunt a few times out hacking, i just tagged on (mares sensible, they asked so had a couple of hours company :))

Reading the post, jumping off doesnt make you a "nervous-cant-ride-nelly" as long as you know your horse. I personally wouldnt jump off if it was just the hunt because we show so cantering round with 40+ horses is relatively normal, however if there was quad bikes/numerous trucks I would jump off my other horse because he needs the support of you on the ground. Tried and tested staying on, believe me it doesnt work, we both have the scars to prove it.
 
I had this exact situation yesterday! I knew the hunt were meeting locally, but it was such a lovely morning I didn't want to miss out on a nice hack. We came across them just as they met, and although Ellie was a bit eyes-on-stalks (she's been out with hounds twice in her life and loved every minute, although she was very excitable!) she was such a good girl. I was so proud of her; she didnt give me any grief when I asked her to go away from the hunt, and she trotted up the road quite happily as they went off across the fields. Coming home was interesting; at that point they were in the fields I normally ride across to get back to the yard, so we took a short cut and had the most amazing gallop across the top of the hill, with the hunt spread out beneath us. Amazing! :D

In your situation, I have to say I would not have dismounted. I always know with Ellie that I have far more control on top than I do on the floor; it would take an awful lot for me to get off her. You're safer in the plate, I think!
 
I would stayed on and perhaps join in for a bit if I could, however I hunt hunts regularly so my horse is used to the situation. In general, I would think staying on would be far safer as you have more control and can always join for a bit if need be.

Incidentally, cobiau, whereabouts was this? I was hunting in South Wales yesterday so it could have been me going past :p :)
 
I think you probably did the right thing - I would probably have done the same and/or gone in totally the opposite direction. Defo depends on horse and horse's experience. If its cool and has hunted then by all means tag on - otherwise discretion is the better part of valour!
 
I think that you did the right thing.
when I used to ride our veteran I was always warned to never hack when the hunt were out, as an ex-whipper in and regular member of the field she would definitely cart me to the front of the field and jump everything in sight (and probably give herself a heart attack, as she is 32!)
 
Nigsha said:
Have you ever actually been in this situation?? Doesnt sound like it! Seeing lots of horses at events is no way the same as coming across the hunt!!!
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Erm, well I haven't recently no but i live where the hunt goes regularly and I have been out with them as well and my horse just does as he's told. He honestly would not care less - I have had him since a 4 yo (he is 20 this year) and he hunted before I got him. I honestly can 100% say I would not do anything different. I am not sure why you think that's so strange - I trust my horse 100% and he never bucks, rears, bolts, naps or anything. Yes he may well get a little excited and even if really excited may jog a bit and chomp on his bit but that would be it. If I wanted to join them I would but to be honest i found the whole hunting experiemce a little dull after the first 30 mins and was quite astounded by the amount of people whose horses couldn't jump or who just really had no control. Not to mention the amount who fell off!!!!

I think some people panic too much about what their horses may or may not do. i ride my horse how I expect it to behave and it seems to work.
 
^^ I do agree with that Ladyt25. I think a lot of people actually enable bad behaviour in their horses by expecting it and unwittingly sending signals to the horse..
 
muffinino said:
I would stayed on and perhaps join in for a bit if I could, however I hunt hunts regularly so my horse is used to the situation. In general, I would think staying on would be far safer as you have more control and can always join for a bit if need be.

I kind of agree re the staying on having more control point of view, but having only had current horse for a couple of months was unsure of how she would react if i'd stayed on but was positive i'd be in control on the ground, and firmly in my mind is the fact that my last horse would have been a bronking idiot which is never good on a road!
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Incidentally, cobiau, whereabouts was this? I was hunting in South Wales yesterday so it could have been me going past :p :)[/QUOTE]


Horse is kept just outside pontardawe, think it was the banwen hunt we ran into, was that you? there were some lovely looking horses out, hope you enjoyed:D
 
Mildly amusing story to add to this....

My Great Grandma lived in a small village in Shropshire and ran the local shop. she used to do deliveries in a horse and cart. Her horse was an ex racer and ex hunter (can you see where this is going??). Hunt came through the village, Great Grandma and horse and cart and various groceries unwillingly (at least on my GtGmas part) followed the hunt for a while until they took pity on her and one of the whippers in helped lead her back to the village (with a few dozen broken eggs).
:D

Incidentally I'm with the stay on and follow brigade (though I have never cantered/galloped my current horse on open ground before).
 
cobiau said:
muffinino said:
I would stayed on and perhaps join in for a bit if I could, however I hunt hunts regularly so my horse is used to the situation. In general, I would think staying on would be far safer as you have more control and can always join for a bit if need be.

I kind of agree re the staying on having more control point of view, but having only had current horse for a couple of months was unsure of how she would react if i'd stayed on but was positive i'd be in control on the ground, and firmly in my mind is the fact that my last horse would have been a bronking idiot which is never good on a road!
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That's fair enough, sounds as if you did the right thing. I didn't mean that you were wrong to do so, just that I would have been safer on my horse as he's used to the hunt and I've had him for over 4 years, so know how exactly he'd react (excitment!) ;) and generally, you'd be safer staying on but as all was well, you did the right thing :)

Ah, wasn't me if it was Pontardawe as I was in Llanfabon/Cilfnydd area to the east with the Gelligaer, but my old boss was field master for the Banwen years ago. Do you think you'll hunt your horse once you're used to her? :)
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LatetohorsesLaura said:
Mildly amusing story to add to this....

My Great Grandma lived in a small village in Shropshire and ran the local shop. she used to do deliveries in a horse and cart. Her horse was an ex racer and ex hunter (can you see where this is going??). Hunt came through the village, Great Grandma and horse and cart and various groceries unwillingly (at least on my GtGmas part) followed the hunt for a while until they took pity on her and one of the whippers in helped lead her back to the village (with a few dozen broken eggs).
:D
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Ha ha! PMSL Brilliant! :D
 
Just a suggestion - you could ring the local hunt secretary and say where you stable, and ask if/when the hunt are going to pass. This doesn't mean you have to avoid hacking on those days, but most hunting doesn't start before 11am, so you could hack early on if neccessary. You could go one step further and ring again the day before the meet and say are you coming up xyz road tomorrow, are you going through abc wood, is it an early part of the draw - meaning you can hack happily knowing roughly when/where the chaos is!

As a secretary myself, I have a good few people ringing me for this reason. If we do meet other horses out hunting we generally walk past them, make sure they are OK and carry on. Can't speak for every hunt on that on though!
 
tractor said:
Just a suggestion - you could ring the local hunt secretary and say where you stable, and ask if/when the hunt are going to pass. This doesn't mean you have to avoid hacking on those days, but most hunting doesn't start before 11am, so you could hack early on if neccessary. You could go one step further and ring again the day before the meet and say are you coming up xyz road tomorrow, are you going through abc wood, is it an early part of the draw - meaning you can hack happily knowing roughly when/where the chaos is!

As a secretary myself, I have a good few people ringing me for this reason. If we do meet other horses out hunting we generally walk past them, make sure they are OK and carry on. Can't speak for every hunt on that on though!
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Thanks thats a good idea, and don't get me wrong the hunt people did walk past us,(well lil bit of jogging/prancing sideways etc but just excitement) i hope i didnt imply that they werent behaving courteously, because they were. the whole thing just took us by surprise i think because they just appeared around a corner of a narrow country road, so there wasnt the option to avoid them (or them us) and it was kind of a split second decision! as i said though the main thing is all ended well, but i think i might take your advice and find out when they'll be around our hacking routes in future
 
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