Hunting

    One of the oldest surviving horseback sports is hunting.  In the beginning, the stag was the main quarry, but now, in English-speaking countries, it is the fox.  In both the USA and Australia, hunting is based on the British model.
    In the past many different animals were hunted, but for the last two centuries, the fox has been the most popular quarry in most countries.

    One of the earliest representations of a man mounted on horseback is of an Egyptian, about 2000 B.C.  Probably this daring feat occurred among many different peoples, at roughly the same time, but horses were driven before they were ridden to any great extent.
    The Assyrians and the Persians hunted with the use of chariots, but a bas relief of around 600 B.C. depicts an Assyrian king on horseback spearing a lion.  The great horse expert, Xenophon, galloped across country after gazelle and wild boar.
    Horses have always played an important part in hunting, and hunting has always been considered the sport of royalty.  There are numerous examples of this throughout history.  Anglo-Saxons resented William the Conqueror's Forest Laws which interfered with their hunting.  Richard Coeur de Lion pursued a stag from Sherwood Forest to Yorkshire.  Elizabeth I rode to the chase as assiduously as her father, Henry VIII.  Today hunting is still a popular sport, although wild boar have been replaced by the fox. 
(For more information, see Profiles and History.)

    Hunting on horseback is a sport which is gaining in popularity.  It is to be found in parts of the United States, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand and France.  (For Australia and New Zealand, see the Search - Locations page.)  Many of the finest hunters come from the Middle Atlantic states of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia.
    A good hunter stands quietly, ignores hounds, horses and "refusers," and jumps anything from wire to water safely and at any speed.  He will go first or last without a fuss, will not pull unduly and has the stamina for two-and-a-half days' hunting a week throughout the season.  He is anything from a bloodhorse to a native pony and is both rare and extremely expensive.
    However, given both a reasonable horse with a good temperament and a sensible owner, good hunters can be made.  The quietest horse will "light up" when hunting.  The most experienced horse may kick at hounds on his first day out.  "Little and often" is the young horse's correct introduction to hunting.  A tired hunter only reflects his rider's ignorance of good horsemanship.
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Fox Hunting

    Followers of the hunt think little of its dangers; its satisfactions are too great.  Once or twice weekly throughout a five-month season (between fall harvest and spring planting) they meet to ride after foxes at breakneck speed.  The quarry is fast and clever, traditional courtesies are observed, and always there is the rider's thrill in taking a fine horse over whatever jumps may loom.
    The development of the Thoroughbred breed made this modern form of hunting possible.  Before the 18th century, woodland hunters after the stag, the boar, or the roe might amble along at two miles an hour, with an occasional stop for refreshment.  Today's fox hunters are likely to ride for five hours and cover 40 miles, much taken at the gallop.
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History

    Hunting on horseback is a sport of ancient age.  Wherever horsemanship was cultivated in early civilizations, there were horsemen who turned the mundane matter of killing animals for food into something more exciting--a test of themselves and their horses.
    It was in the Middle Ages that the modern form of the hunt began to evolve.  It still bore resemblance to the hunts of antiquity.  The game might be a boar or some other fierce animal, and to keep the flesh intact for the table the animal was dispatched with lances rather than by the dogs.  Yet the ritual courtesies and standards of sportsmanship that mark today's hunt were already being established.  An important step was the manual of the hunt written in the 14th century by the French Count Gaston de Foix (Gaston Phoebus), and later given to the English by the Duke of York in his book The Master of Game.  In adopting the courtly French style of hunting, the English simply anglicized such field calls as Ty a hillaut (the game's afoot) into "Tally ho"; illoeques (here's the spot) into "Yoicks."  First mention in print of a formally-conducted fox hunt is dated 1581, during the reign of Henry VIII.  In the 1600's the number of people riding to hounds in England was swelled by the addition of men and women from the prosperous middle class. 
(For more information, see History.)
    The 18th century saw fox hunting established in America, largely in Maryland, Virginia, and Massachusetts.  New Jersey and Pennsylvania also initiated hunts that have become venerable traditions.  In fact, fox hunting has taken hold in almost every state where topography allows it and where people have the time and wherewithal to pursue it.
    (Light but durable Thoroughbreds turned fox hunting into sport of fast-paced pursuit.)
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A Day Afield

    On the day of a hunt, the field assembles in the morning at the time and place designated.  There is time for riders to greet, for a courteous salute to the Master of Fox Hounds.  Close to the mounted huntsman hounds wait eagerly for the signal to move.  They are numbered in two's; 12 "couple" means a pack of 24 hounds.
    After the horn sounds and the field begins to move, there may be an uneventful ride of many minutes before a fox or a scent is found.  Riders take these moments to appreciate the beauties of the day, the keenness and discipline of the pack, and the display of horsemanship by the other members of the field.  It is not a time for "larking" (taking unnecessary jumps), though some restless young rider may give in to the temptation.
    Suddenly the hounds give tongue; they have found a fresh scent and the field of riders holds back to let them work.  Soon they start off on the line of the scent, the field following.  The pace is restrained.  There may be periods when the hounds lose the scent and the huntsman guides them in finding it again.  With luck, they are soon running hot on the trail and in full cry.  The chase is over streams, fences, stone walls, and meadows, and finally one of the riders in the field catches sight of the fox.  Pack and field take after it at top speed, horses galloping, hounds baying.  "Charley Fox" sets a lively pace, but the hounds are sure to outlast him unless he can elude them.  If a kill comes, the riders at the front claim their trophies--mask, brush (tail), and paws of the fox.  The huntsman may cast the pack again, or--if the day is late--sound the call for "going home."

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