User:KRey1998/sandbox/Fox Hunting with Horses

Did you know that dogs are not the only animal that will help you hunt don't that sly Mr. Fox, well horses can too!!

In the equine world there is an event called fox hunting or fox chasing, where you train the horse to be able to track the scent of the fox. Which enables the horse to eventually find the fox for you, so you (the rider) can hunt it down (but not necessarily kill it). This fun event started off in Europe, Australia and then the USA. Now a days fox chasing is very popular in the United Kingdom. The foxes that are normally hunted down are red foxes. Ideally the best breed for the job would be a three-quarter horse, with Irish Draught and 16hh-17hh. This horse needs to be bred for the job considering it needs to have good footing, a decent stature (to make you feel safe) and a short back/legs. In order for your horse to be ready to hunt it will need to of course be trained to have good stamina, you don't want them to get tired easily. They will also need to learn to not be spooked easily, you don't want them to freak out when a fox is in the same vicinity. They will also need to learn the scenting of the fox, to be able to track them down. Scent training is where it becomes difficult, you just need to make sure that you are rewarding your horse any time they do find the scent, so they understand they're doing the correct thing. During my research to figure out when fox hunting horses retired, answers varied. A majority of hunting horse handlers, said you just need to understand when the best time for a horse to retire is. You need to start seriously considering retirement for your horse, if they show any signs of lameness, start becoming less-effective at tracking horses and so on. During an official fox hunt, the hunter, whippers-in and the master of the hunt are required to be in bright red. The rider also needs to be pretty experienced with horses and riding, considering hey will be the one training their horse to find scents and such. They will also need to feel comfortable on the horse if they decide to buck in uncomfortable situations. This hobby can however be on the pricier side, considering that training and extensive exercise will need to go into your horse to prepare them for the hunt. These horses tend to be on the pricer side as well, ranging any where from costing 1,000$-4,000$ to purchase. Lastly, there was so specific "pinnacle" for fox chasing, it's normally a club experience. For example, there are different clinics and organizations that get together and perform a hunt.

Some fun facts about fox chasing, is that the chase goes down with a group of people. In a youtube video I watched it's not just one horse trying to find the fox, it's roughly around five to ten horses. With certain riders having specific colors to show what their job is. They also don't kill the foxes, they just "chase" them down. The killing of foxes by dogs was actually banned in 2005, so rules are very specific and need to be followed during this event.

Sources:

https://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/forum/discussion-forums/hunting/133158-training-a-newbie-horse-and-rider-to-hunt

https://www.thefield.co.uk/hunting/best-hunting-horse-21692

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZkGReWYyn8

https://www.chronofhorse.com/forum/forum/discussion-forums/hunter-jumper/301803-your-responsibility-as-a-horse-owner-re-retirement

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1988-01-20-8803230764-story.html

http://marlbhuntclub.clubexpress.com/content.aspx?page_id=4002&club_id=991525&item_id=860638