I just survived my first drag hunt!

fitz

fitz

Active Member
May 3, 2005
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Near Dublin
Hello

Went hunting today for the first time in 8 years. I was so nervous this morning. Duchess was great! (as usual) she just made one mistake where she tried to jump a bank (rather than bank it) and I lost a stirrup. We jumped 100 jumps I'd say, from 5 bar gates just off the vertical to banks to hurdles. Definitely not for the faint hearted (until the adrenaline kicks in anyway). The hunt were really nice to me and genuinely welcoming, which I wasnt expecting.
I have one good picture, but no cable to upload it, so ye'll have to wait. Now.. my warm bath and glass of wine is calling..... nice....
 
Sounds great... I can't wait till my riding's up to scratch! :)
 
Rob, once you have super glue on your bum and a good reliable horse, there isnt really that much skill to hunting. Definitely not as much as there is to showjumping or eventing or whatever. I probably couldnt ride a decent dressage test. The first half hour is fairly scary though, my goodness, it was frantic today.
 
wow that sounds soo scary!!:eek:
you're very brave! :D would love to see a pic... :)
and 100 jumps :eek: your horse must be fit!

well done :D
 
100 jumps!:eek: How long were you out hunting!:p

Glad you had a good time.:)
 
Aw sounds great, who did you go out with? Guess you didn't have our weather then, I was out in bucketing rain and wind all day.
 
I realy want to go hunting, especially drag hunting, werent you scared though? What was it like as i'd realy like to try it but im not sure Pepsi a 14.1hh cob is capable of jumping a bar 5 gate....my other worry would be that she might think of it being acceptable to jump fences and gates at home in the field.
 
The reason there were so many jumps was that the former owner of the estate I'm living in built 60 of them through the estate. These were mainly quite doable hurdles. I was out for 3 and a half hours. I was glad Duchess was quite fit, as parts of it were definitely demanding. I have to say it did feel different to fox hunting. There seemed to be less of a 'point' to it, but you are guaranteed a good spin on a drag hunt, whereas with foxhunting there are great days and also a lot of bad days.
Rips, I was out with the Brays, and the weather did turn nasty in the afternoon, but it was more like drizzle than torrential rain.
The five bar gates were at a 45 degree angle so it was more like a spread than a vertical jump, so not as big.

quite proud of myself today that myself and Duchess came back and did it. She's fine this morning, just a tiny bit stiff. She's such a warrior.:D
 
Whanejit, from the looks of him, I reckon Cooper (is that what you're calling him?) would definitely be the ideal candidate for it. And you only need bravery for the first half an hour, after that its ok...
 
I understand that a lot of drag hunts in England provide alternative routes around jumps, but that wasnt the case here. Whilst you could have avoided most of the jumps, there were some big ones that had to be taken. There was a group at the back taking it easy, but they still jumped everything. There were no children on this particular hunt and no ponies below 14 hands (which was unusual to me). The heights ranged in size from two foot hurdles to lovely banks that were about 3ft 6 (maybe). Then there were some ditches as well that could have been 6 feet wide. Its hard to tell though when you're so worked up. Its not like jumping that height in an arena, as steering isnt really an issue, and you always have a lead.
 
Wow, well done.
Wish I could just go for it.
But havent been riding for 6 months now.
When the day get longer, bighter I will go back for riding lessons then hopefully have a go this autumn.
Really thought I would do it before this season end. Damn.

Other thread, My neighbour convinced she is in foal so instead of being constantly negative Im going to cross my fingers and hope so.
Expectly around July.
 
aww sounds like you had great fun!never been hunting would love to try it though need a horse though or can you 'borrow' hunting horses ive heard of someone doing this cost her quiet abit of money though! i think id just have my eyes closed all the wya round and hoping for the best lol i spose though youll get more conficdence as the hunt goes on hehe
 
YAY! :D :D

Me too! I did my first hunt ever this Sunday, I am stiff as a brick, but I am the HAPPIEST person in the world this monday!!

It is so exciting!!!
 
Drag hunting

I loved drag hunting with the west shropshire drag hounds, Thay are not a hunt anymore, but it taught me to stick on. And what a way to teach a young horse to jump, ride in groups etc.( make sure you have good brakes!!
I would recomend it to any one. The cheshire drag hounds are fab too !!!
 
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