Tally Ho!
Hunting enthusiasts are now preparing for their most
exciting time of the year, and looking forward to the opening meets in
November. After a summer of relaxation and indulgence, horses and riders need
to become fit and muscled and able to withstand long days, inclement weather
and hard riding! So now’s the time to get both horse and rider fit, and maybe
try your hand at some Autumn hunting in late September and October.
Rider fitness
Riders will need to tone everything up and can start with
some gentle walks and swims, building up to longer episodes of training until
not much causes a shortness of breath. Even a brisk ten minute walk a day will
do the trick, and the heart-rate will improve.
Equine fitness
If you have access to a horse-walker, ten minutes, building
up to twenty minutes once or twice a day will be an ideal start when getting
your horses ‘up’ from any recent downtime. Now’s also the time to do some gentle
hacking daily, to build up muscle, fitness and ‘wind’, or respiratory health.
Avril Clinton-Forde contests Medium dressage with her mare Grand
Duchess at level, and says hacking and road work is brilliant for fitness. “You
could build up to a gentle jog trot all the way round the block, and after a
few weeks introduce short, and then longer canters, using some good uphill
stretches whenever you can. Around the beginning of October is a good time to
clip for the first time, maybe a trace clip whilst still in the fittening
process, and moving on to a full clip for when hunting proper starts at the
beginning of November,” she suggests.Working together
If you have the time available, why not try Autumn hunting? It’s
the ideal introduction to hunting if it is all a new experience for you or your
horse. The stubble fields will provide good going and there is plenty of slow
work and only some gentle cantering. You can stay out as long as the hunt does,
or you can leave early. Plan your presentation for the big day well in advance,
with clean tack and boots, and a well turned out horse. (Clothes-wise: during
autumn hunting, wear a tweed jacket and shirt and tie or coloured stock, pale
breeches - e.g. buff, light brown, cream or yellow - clean boots and
gaiters/half-chaps or long boots, dark gloves and a hat with a dark cover. In
full hunting season, you can wear a black or navy coat, although tweed is
sometimes seen too. Plait for the full hunting season; check out H&H’s
guide HERE,
and also The Field’s guide HERE
- it contains the sage and amusing advice: “Bum
freezer jackets are rarely flattering, and are best avoided.”)Comfort in the saddle
Once you’re out hunting, you will be ‘in the saddle’ for
potentially many hours at a time, although with Autumn hunting especially,
there are more breaks. We asked Avril Clinton-Forde for tips on staying
comfortable in the saddle. “Without question, the right underwear is key,” she
says. “Personally I’d recommend the Derriere Equestrian Performance Padded
Shorty - no ‘vpl’ through your breeches, so no rubbing, chaffing or abrasions due
to stitched seams, especially if you get wet. Importantly, the Shorties protect
the area just behind ladies’ foofoos [the perineal area!] from friction, and
that agonising feeling that you have dropped a farrier’s rasp down there!”
Avril laughs. “They also give good bum coverage for warmth on those cold
mornings. It would be great to wear Derriere’s white Cannes Competition
Breeches, however it is only ‘members of the Field’ who should wear white
breeches out hunting, together with their red coats. ‘Seat-savers’ tend to be
frowned upon in formal hunting circles, however you can get some excellent,
discreet seat-savers a with matte surface, which to be honest, few people will
even notice - great for derriere comfort!”
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