Foxhunting in New Zealand (Part 3)
Hunt #3
At this hunt, Amy was privileged to ride a new horse. The only advice our hosts gave her before the ride was, "you'll want to use the bathroom right before you start the hunt."
This hunt was held on very hilly terrain and the fences were big. They told us that the fixture had been newly sparred, but during the entire hunt the only sparred fence we encountered was the very first fence. And Amy missed that spar and jumped the section of fence next to the spar, as had become her style. Later in the day Amy got her horse in much too deep at a large fence. The horse jumped anyway and they broke the top strand of barbed wire. Amy landed in front of the saddle but was able to push herself back into the saddle as the horse galloped on. Megan, who was following behind Amy, found the fence much smaller and much more inviting after that.
The riders at this hunt were good: they could ride fast over brutal hills and jump full, bare wire, all the while keeping track of what everyone else was doing in the field. So after the hunt, everyone gathered around for food and drink and to razz each other over the events of the day and to hand out fines for visible panty lines. After razzing Amy for breaking a fence, they also told us about a certain bigwig in American foxhunting who had previously hunted with them. They couldn't remember exactly how he fared, but some were certain that he had fallen off at the very first fence.
We left without paying our fines, so I guess we will have to go back next year to settle up.