Saturday 24 September 2011

Paddy, first time hunting

We went cubbing this morning, it was the Bicester festival ( a two day fest starting off with a hearty breakfast after hunting) which meant that there was an awful lot of people out on horses (170). We took Jess (Doug) Leon (me), Paddy (Laura) and Jake (Lucy) - Paddy and Jess had never been hunting before and their eyes were on stalks but they behaved beautifully. The only hiccup came when Paddy didn't want to leave and had a little tantrum. It was just lovely to see his enthusiasm though, as when he first came to us he was a very 'tired' horse, and you couldn't imagine him getting excited about anything. Leon already knew what to expect and was a bit of a handful as there was a lot of standing around. He just wanted to gallop, which is great, as that is exactly what we want him to do on the racetrack!
We got the horses home, washed and fed and then Doug and I went back for breakfast. The ladies do a great job and served 200 people, a very good fundraiser for the hunt and a great social event for the community. After breakfast they always have a sale of lambs and chooks, I was getting very excited as I want some bantam hens but there weren't many this year and they were too expensive. There were a few Tamworth gilts which I was very tempted with, but I don't think Matilda and Prudence would appreciate sharing their five star accommodation with unruly 'young things' M & P are living the most perfect piggy life at the moment - They get out of their deep straw bed for breakfast served by Dad at 7 am, run down to orchard to eat apples before Mum gets there, when the apples have gone they wander down to the oak tree for an acorn feast, snooze under the tree until tea time and then waddle back to bed in their own time. They have been very well behaved lately abut I'm sure if we introduced some young blood they may be encouraged to wander, which would be a shame, as then we would have to shut them up.
Anyway, back to the horses, we were delighted with them all this morning and Doug was over the moon with Jess (We never give up) who he said gave him a great feel.