Bert was very excited to be at the Fox Hunt, actually too excited. He had an adrenalin rush which we had never witnessed before but were told later is common on third hunts, and especially in Thoroughbreds.
Our Hunt Master from the Fraser Valley Hunt Club in BC. 
The official welcome and explanation of hunt rules.
This is our group of riders from Taryn's horse club. Note the horn. Every hunt begins with the horn calling the riders together. This year Michele played the hymn "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of Creation" to call the rider and that was so incredible.
These are drag hunts, meaning that the scent of the fox is laid down or dragged in a manner to simulate live hunting. The weather was so bad it was hard to get a good picture of the hounds on the actual hunt. They really go for it howling the entire time they are on scent. You will always hear them before you see them. These hunt hounds are a pack of purebred English Foxhounds.
The hunt is on!
Taryn & Bert are on the right...
...and it poured the entire three hour hunt.
There were different spots we could wait to see the riders emerge from various trail. Coming out of this section of the woods the horses wereso hot steam poured off them which looks like fog in several picture.
This is all so beautiful on a nice fall day, but in this hard of a rain - not so much!
The ground was so saturated the horses struggled for footing in places. They were headed for a steep grade here and Bert nearly went down on his back end maneuvering down it. The riders were warned to take every grade straight up or down in these conditions.
After three hours of riding in the pouring rain they made their way back to the staging area where the horse trailers were parked.
The hounds are then rewarded with a treat, and they put on quite a show tearing it up!
Taryn on Bert, and Mackenzie Kope on Solomon's Grey drenched but very excited about completing a grueling but exciting Fox Hunt. This was Taryn's third hunt - on her first hunt she rode Emma and this was her second hunt on Bert. For Mackenzie this was her first hunt.
This is all so beautiful on a nice fall day, but in this hard of a rain - not so much!
The ground was so saturated the horses struggled for footing in places. They were headed for a steep grade here and Bert nearly went down on his back end maneuvering down it. The riders were warned to take every grade straight up or down in these conditions.
After three hours of riding in the pouring rain they made their way back to the staging area where the horse trailers were parked.
The hounds are then rewarded with a treat, and they put on quite a show tearing it up!
Taryn on Bert, and Mackenzie Kope on Solomon's Grey drenched but very excited about completing a grueling but exciting Fox Hunt. This was Taryn's third hunt - on her first hunt she rode Emma and this was her second hunt on Bert. For Mackenzie this was her first hunt.
1 comment:
ok, sister....
it's been a month! time for a new post!! :)
Post a Comment