Hunting with Why Worry

Why Worry is THE most appropriately named hunt of all time.

First of all, we walked. The whole time save a little canter that lasted maybe 100 yards, so you didnt have to worry about going too fast, or the jumps being too big.  You didnt have to worry about anything, really. Not to mention, the dress was casual, albeit some dressed in their tweeds, but most were dressed for the weather, which was neither warm, nor cold, but somewhere floating in the "comfortable" range.

And if you were runny late, no worries, because they were too!

But yet again, the country was absolutely stunningly gorgeous, and made for beautiful photos.

christa and jen

Christa on Wynton, Jen on Journey,

and me on Hubert.

had to grab a snack, because he worked so hard, walking soooo far.

and.... a bigger snack. why be bored when you can nosh on dried grasses?

why worry hound. you would think with how much energy she had after the hunt.....

this was charlie. i think. he belonged to one of the girls working at the other barn on the property where the horses were stables in Aiken.

and THIS was the best fried cheese i've ever had. breaded and fried with caramelized red onions, goat cheese! i would eat it every day if i could. Sorry jen and christa for not advertising how delicious they were at the time.... i was speechless.

Whiskey Road Hounds. Thursday

riding out of the meet with Whiskey Road hounds, thursday

bad Ranger

good Ranger

just as we left the meet, reached the first big field, and one of the whips went to jump out of the field over a mid-sized coup, and took a departure from his horse, ending up on the opposite side of the jump than his horse. here we are regrouping

still regrouping, christa, jen, calvin, and a whiskey road member

bog

we spent a lot of time walking and chatting. calvin demonstrating his backwards riding skills.

Ranger showin some love

"dear calvin, please give me some of your almonds, i promise ill be good for christa if you do! love, ranger

the boat swallowing bog. curious how it got there.

the most treacherous footing i've ever ridden on. in a forest actively being logged, to the sweet sounds of trees being bulldozed

still walking

 Well. needless to say, i had plenty of time to take photos this first day of hunting. though it certainly seemed  like a crazy fast and exciting hunt compared to the one we participated in on friday.


Maybe i am being a little too harsh. It was beautiful, and i have never been through so many different ecosystems as we hunted through on thursday. (except for a trek from san jose over the mountains to the rainforest when i visited costa rica last winter, but that was different i suppose)


We started out in the tundra, huge open fields, brown and sparse. Then we rode through the desert, huge sand dunes, low brush, pine trees of the gnarly variety and sun warming us. Then we went on to ride through a few highly wooded areas one of which being a very maine-like forest that was in the process of being logged. That was a crazy experience.... all the logs were covering the ground, and by covering i mean there was no way for the horses to step on the ground, only tree trunks, and they were slippery and unstable. I was commenting to one of the other folks out hunting that it was the craziest footing i have ever ridden on, and he said, "Oh. When they are on a run, they will gallop through here." like it was no big deal.
Then we picked up a trot up a hill and around the turn, i thought it was curtains for springer and i. Oi. Down on a knee with one front leg basically sticking out between his hind legs. thankfully he has some sense of self preservation and got us out of the sticky situation. Hopefully I will never have to do that again. That was scary.


Anyway. Hunting is always an experience. That. Is for sure.

just a little sumn sumn

To tide ya'll over until i can stay awake long enough to load some more photos, here is a video i took while hunting today. We went out with the Aiken hounds in the Hitchcock woods, which is one of the largest in-city parks in the U.S. or  so we've been told.

The hounds were beautiful though there was one in particular who had wonky legs, or atleast when he ran, it was a miracle they all ended up touching the ground before his snout for his crazy leg-flinging lope seemed a bit less energy efficient than any other creature's movements, ever. I mean, he had a seriously crazy way of running.

anyway, it was a super fast and super fun drag today, jumping loads of jumps, including cathedral row, which is a series of brush jumps that were originally built to train/ school steeplechase horses over.

It was really fun.

wait, did i mention it was fun?

first "kill"

second "kill"

a slightly out of focus christa and springer

cause it definitely was.

note: all these photos are from today, saturday, our last day of hunting.... the other ones will go up hopefully sooner rather than later. but i need my z's right now.

whiskey road

today we went hunting with whiskey road, and there were plenty of clay sad roads, and definitely not enough whiskey for my sore bum after the almost 5 hours of hunting we did today that consisted of mostly walking. and not walking as in the most beautiful area i've ever seen in my whole life walking, but walking through woods and clay-sand dunes that looked identical for hours, trying, trying and trying to get a scent.

much to the hounds avail.

but, it was fun. we took four/six horses and jumped a couple little coups. it was fun. and exaughsting. but we go again tomorrow, so i guess we will just cross our fingers and go to bed, hoping tomorrow brings a bit of runig and leaping and running and leaping.

stay tuned for photos tomorrow.

photography 101

       let me preface this photo entry with the note that it is a crazy mash up of the last few days.... there are a dozen or so photos that i will also put up at some point that have little anecdotes to go along with them about the little things that slipped through the framework of "the bigger picture"

this first photo is one of those... on the way to hunting with Live Oak for the second time, this store caught my eye, as i was the back seat commentary provider and let me tell you. this one certainly got some squeals from Missy and Jen. although its not the greatest photo i've ever taken, it certainly has some nice qualities :)

after the second huge rainstorm we had, with tornado warnings and all, the grass suddenly grew like crazy, and turned the landscape into huge swaths of greish brown, and neon green. this is the view out of the back of the barn the horses stayed in.

keeping the horses fully drugged happy and pain free. happy is of course referring to the treats

our two doggie roomates in ocala. jamie and riley

using classic suitcase -closing-style

this is the inn we are staying at in Aiken. it's incredibly old, and has quite a bit of charm including a few doors that dont stay closed and a number of original architectural details.

to dinner to dinner to eat like a hog.(both of us obviously)

home again home again to fall asleep like a baby in a bog. or something. the rhyming needs a little work i suppose.

a dessert menu i pan to sample from every day we are here

the road into the farm where the horses are stabled while in Aiken.

it pains springer to give kisses.

the bog on the side of the drive into the farm, across from the riding arena

riding arena with pony sized jumps just out of view.

on our morning walk

i really love wyntons troll doll hair style. its so effortless.

a pasture i would retire in

two of many peacocks roaming the property

afternoon nap time

lunch brought these into our lives. jen received the top one, and i the bottom. hmmm.

a nice finish to another long day. thanks c&c.

and now, yet again, the clock has crept by without me realizing how much time has pasted.
hunting tomorrow with whiskey road.
hoping to have a fun day with four of our horses out. a black cat was waiting outside for jen and i when we went to finish at the barn this  evening, so i think things should go our way tomorrow. mmmm good luck omens.