Hunting today! Sunday dawned, well, sunny and warm. Us Virginians were still madly trying to organize our power-less homes back north, and figure out driveway plowing (me) and generators (Barbara) and childcare (Leslie) but, by day’s end, all our power was back on and we’re much relieved.
Gale (Pb), Barbara (Farley), me (Gabe) and Leslie (Leo) shipped about 20 minutes north of town to the Hunt Club Farm fixture, a neat quail hunting plantation that’s being converted to a horse farm (for sale.) Neat barn and shop, a couple cute cottages, lots of space, railroad tracks crossing the property.
Hounds cast at 10 am (after a nice stirrup cup), and we rode out (me and Gale with first flight, Leslie and Barbara with second flight) with 150 other riders (literally. LITERALLY. It was a huge field.)
Hounds were quiet for a full hour-plus, but they struck in an overgrown field near the railroad tracks, and master Lynn Smith viewed the coyote away, headed towards the power line and a place we’re not allowed to go on. They could not carry, but they worked well, and we ran a little. Farley was perfectly behaved. Pb was doubly perfectly behaved. Gabe was fairly behaved (he sparked up after the big school in the park yesterday, I figure, and thinks he ‘knows it all’ about hunting since he’s now done it a big total of twice (!) Leo was, well, well, let’s just say Leslie didn’t fall off, and she didn’t kill him. She’s comign to the realization that the horse has embraced his semi-solo sport of endurance racing, and no longer appreciates the foxhunting. (Stepahie - I’ll put you on one of mine for hunting - don’t worry - you can still pick up expense$ for Leo as planned.)
It was a long day - we came in after 2 1/2 hours and washed the horses (I’d brought a jug of nice warm water) and then tucked into a scrumptuous breakfast in the stunning barn. There were so many people - including Julie Martin Matheson (Charlie’s wife, from Rose Bank in Markham) and a bunch of nice people from Newmarket Middletown and Goshen in Maryland.
We didn’t get back to the farm until almost 4 pm (did I mention it was a longgggg day). Jackie had gone to the Woods with our neighbor Mindy (she took Oscar - he was great and they ‘went alllll over the place.’ They parked at South Boundary entrance. Mindy’s young horse jumped his first Aiken fence, and Oscar ‘was a good influence’. Tip hacked here around Full Gallop with Jackie, earlier today.
We picked up Bonnie tonight at the Columbia Airport - she’s here the rest of the time (she’ll ride home with me in the van.) Gale leaves in the morning to head home to California - she’s still got that ear to ear grin - she really likes Pb and has had a dream of a time here in SC. Leslie’s flight to Reagan National for tomorrow was cancelled so she’s rebooked for early Wednesday morning so she can do 2 more days’ training/riding on Leo.
Stephanie arrives here tomorrow. She and Leslie will hack out around Full Gallop tomorrow afternoon (she and I have to work in the morning at the library.) Jackie, Bonnie and Barbara are going to hack in the Woods tomorrow morning, then we’re all doing this fancy cocktail ‘do at the toney Willcox Hotel to benefit the Hitchcock Woods Foundation (very very chichi) tomorrow night.
Soup for dinner, then early to bed. (Did I mention it was a longgggg day?:o)