Gone To Ground: Hunt Recap

YASSSSS HUNTING!

Foxhunting season is officially HERE for Team PONY'TUDE! While the hunt itself has been cubbing since late summer, Dino and I haven't been able to get out to a meet until this past week. I'm an official member this year, claiming status as Sully's Mom's groom, so get ready for a whole lot of hunting posts from now until it gets too cold and icy out! We'll also see how many witty hunt-themed blog post titles I can come up with.

It was a gorgeous, misty morning and I was super excited to be out in the field with my WonderPony again. As we set off into our first canter of the day, I was already smiling like a fool.

Foxhunting is a beautiful drug, you guys.

Sully doing what Sully does best!

I went second flight, wanting to ease Dino and myself into the season a bit, and also being cautious of jumping on the hard ground topped with slick wet grass. It wasn't a super safe day for jumping footing-wise, especially without studs, so we opted not to hop over any coops. We were having a grand old time hanging out in second flight, tucked in behind the fieldmaster's awesome 27 year old horse. Even at his age, that guy was raring to go the entire time! I just love to see old horses out there doin' their thing, sound and happy.

After the first or second check, however, Dino put his sassy pants on and got wild. He was doing great at all of the galloping, not so much at the stopping. Or the not-bucking. For the majority of the hunt I was battling it out a bit with him to get him to stop when I asked, and we had one close call where he bucked at a hound coming out of the corn while we were galloping and I lost both stirrups. Thankfully Dino's bucks are pretty tame, but it was funny how full of piss and vinegar he was!

Our master looking lovely

The hounds never really got on a good line all morning, and the one time they did, the fox quickly went to ground. Regardless, it was still a fun ride and we got to experience a lot of different territory over 9 miles in about 3 hours. Open fields, woods, hills, flat straightaways, heavy brush, we did it all! Dino was an absolute star at all of the technical questions we encountered: steep slopes, creek crossings, ditches, and tricky paths up rocky banks were no problem for him. He hesitated the first time over a deep ditch with a creek running through it, unsure whether he ought to walk down into it or jump over, but once the horse in front of us showed Dino the way, he tackled it with ease and popped right on through the second time we encountered it. He handled the slippery footing beautifully, and only slipped when he decided to over-ride my suggestions to SLOW THE HELL DOWN in the turns. All in all he was great, if not a little overly-exuberant! I think he just needs a few more hunts to settle into the routine and remember that stopping is also a part of this game.

Cheeky little monster.

I'm just so grateful that I get to ride my pony in our beautiful territory and experience a kind of life and a part of the world that few get to see. It's such a blessing to be able to go hunting!