Foxhunting

This past Saturday I had the privilege of getting to go Foxhunting as a guest at the Woodford Hounds Blessing. It was amazing. I haven't hunted since I went years ago with Alston Kerr and Iroquois Hounds. I have also never ridden around Shaker Village on horseback. What an experience that was. The Blessing was amazing and the hunting we experienced after was fun.

I must say that the more I do it the more I love braiding. I am fairly decent at it and when a horse looks good, the braids just complement the picture.

Details Braids

Now on to what the Hunt entails. Its much similar to a horse show. You have to be up at 4:30AM so you can make sure your horse hasn't decided to become a creature from the mud lagoon overnight. If they have a bath should follow. The bath is for the horse...to be followed by you because when you are finished you will no longer be clean because all of the mud from your rhinoceros (read horse) will be transferred to you. If you have escaped sharing in the bath then its time to braid. With Detail who is an impatient as Nascar drivers waiting for the green flag (at least I hope that's the one) you also need a twitch. A twitch for those of you who don't know is a piece of rope attached as a loop to a stick. We put it on the horses lip below the nose and twist. It doesn't hurt the horse, it releases endorphins and allows them to relax (however if they are a 17hh broodmare about to be checked for pregnancy it is merely a bat to swing around and smack the handler with). It only takes about 30 minutes to braid if you get good at it, but can take up to four hours if your horse becomes a fire breathing dragon and tries in vain to eat you alive.

Then theres the trailer ride. Did I mention I live in Midway/Georgetown...Shaker Village is somewhere out in east Egypt Harrodsburg up some of the most narrow, winding, vertigo inducing roads that a horse trailer should not be traversing just to go gallop with some friends. It is amazing once you get there though, even though the actual trailer parking area is another three miles out in the middle of nowhere (I heard banjos).  You then tack up your horses and everyone hacks back down that three miles to the Village for the blessing. It is an impressive sight seeing all of those horses going down the road. The pictures just don't do it justice. For little Detail who had never hunted it was very confusing, but he followed along because all of his new found buddies were headed in the same direction....he really is a herd horse. If the others went and jumped off a cliff he would follow (that's a tribute to all the parents out there who like mine used to ask that of their kids---“If Billy jumps off a bridge would you do it too??”).

After packing almost 100 horses into a small area at the center of the village they brought in the hounds. I was impressed when one errant pretty little hound trotted right up and touched noses with D. I was only slightly worried that he was telling Detail how he was going to help him rid him of his rider somewhere later on the trail by jumping out in some marlin-like fashion from the woods. The actual Blessing was short, sweet and to the point. I think they knew that putting so many humans, horses, and hounds in one place for that amount of time was just screaming for the great stampede to happen.

They then separated us out into 1^st Flight (the jumpers), 2^nd flight (the non-jumpers) and 3^rd flight (anyone too terrified to gallop like a herd of elephants and small children). Somewhere in the separating we got put in 2^nd flight because we had never been out with the hunt and we were guests so due to Hunting etiquette we weren’t allowed to go with 1^st Flight. I’ll admit at first I was a bit miffed because I know I would be fine riding with those guys, but then I slowed down and thought about it (I know slowing down and thinking is a novel idea coming from me..) and realized I didn’t know the etiquette to ride in 1^st flight, I didn’t know the countryside, and my friend who asked me to come along has a horse who isn't ready to jump.

It still ended up being a boatload of fun. I love galloping cross country (especially with jumps-BIG ONES) but it is also tons of fun to go galloping across country with friends, although the chatting is slim to none because like skydiving when you try to talk the words get torn from your mouth before you can think them. I was disappointed to not see our quarry and to only sometimes see the hounds (though you can hear them the whole time) but come to find out, its rare for anyone to see the quarry.

At the end of the day, poor Detail had been subjected to long gallops, losing both of his front shoes (it was SO boggy because of all of the rain we have had), and having to stand in a line in the woods like a trail horse while we waited for the hounds to get something running. And my partner in crime, Sara lost her camera….on 4,000 acres. We were sad when we found out because she had just gotten the thing, but somehow (and it was shocking because it was 4,000 acres) someone found it and brought it back (I don’t know whats more shocking, someone finding it…or someone returning it).  

We did hunt a couple of coyotes, but no fox on Saturday. I blame the beautiful weather, but won’t complain because rain would have been miserable. It was a fantastic experience that I hope to get to repeat sometime, although without the thought of Sara losing her camera, and only as long as the weather cooperates. I am a fair weather rider ya know…. Even if I do event….

signing off~ Mandy