I want to go Hunting!
 Pre-requisites
You will need a suitable horse, clothing and your
field money or visitors cap.
Your horse and turnout.
Your horse should be good in company, not liable to
kick other horses, and preferably used to dogs. It
should be reasonably fit and able to jump modest fences.
For hunting it should be clipped and have it's mane
either plaited or hogged. For autumn hunting it is not
necessary for your horse to be plaited or clipped, it
should however be clean and tidily turned out.
Your clothing.
For hunting, suitable clothing is a black or navy hunt
coat, black top boots, white or fawn breeches, a white
stock or hunting tie, a hunt cap or bowler hat. The
dress code is slightly different for early season autumn
hunting which takes place in September and October. For
this you should wear a normal tweed or twill hacking
jacket instead of a hunt coat. You should also wear a
coloured stock or collar and tie instead of a white
stock. A hunting whip has several uses: the leash can be
used to keep hounds away from your horses legs, the crop
can be used to open and shut gates, the whip can be used
to make 'noise' when holding up a covert and of course
it can be used as a riding aid. If you want to know more about hunting etiquette
go to The etiquette of hunting.
For a Glossary of Terms Click here
Your first day out
If you are unsure of how your horse will behave it is
often a good idea to make your first day an autumn
hunting morning. Autumn Hunting is a lot slower and
there is little or no jumping. This early season hunting
is a good way to introduce a green horse to hunting. You
should plan to arrive at the meet in plenty of time to
get your horse out of its transport and yourself mounted
with perhaps 10 minutes to spare before the published
meet time. You should ask who is collecting the cap and
offer your money to them. You should also get this
person to point out who the Field Master is for the day.
Introduce your self to the Master and tell him or her
that this is your first day out hunting. He or she will
introduce you to a more experienced hunt member to show
you "the ropes" during the day.
Key things to remember during the day.
It is most important never to ride in front of the
Master and to listen carefully to any of his
instructions. "Gate please!" means that
the gate you are passing through needs to be closed. If
you are the last person through you must close the gate,
if not pass the call back so that the people behind you
know that the gate needs to be closed. "Headland
please!" means you must ride round the edge of
a field and not across it. "Car please!"
means cars are trying to get through and you should make
room to allow the traffic to pass. Always thank
motorists who have been held up. "Whip
please!" means make room to allow a whip to
pass through. There may be warnings issued about wire on
the ground or holes or hounds coming through. These need
to be heeded. When jumping, make sure that your exit is
clear. If your horse refuses, allow others to jump
before trying again. Always walk through farm or stable
yards.
Payment
Initially you may want to come out as a visitor or a
guest of a member. If you decide that you want to take
up hunting there are a range of subscription options.
Subscription costs and visitor cap details are contained
in this leaflet. subscription.pdf
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