opening meet
My First Opening Meet
One of the quiet moments in Carla Lake's first Opening Meet
My first Opening Meet has been about a year in the making, and I can hardly believe I’m here. By here, I mean standing on top of a log, cursing my horse, who, instead of standing quietly for me to remount, has decided to leap over the log while I try to stay calm and not burst into tears.
It’s been a trying weekend so far.
My borrowed horse, Seven Up, is completely sick of me after I spent a total of six hours Friday night and Saturday morning grooming the living bejezus out of him. Up to this point, I never had to braid for any kind of equestrian event, so on Friday night I arrive at the barn around 6:30, brush and bathe him, and separate his mane into little sections.
Images of Opening Meet
Here's a poetic kaleidoscope of Opening Meet images conjured up by Martha Drum the evening before, while braiding her horse and cleaning her tack.
Opening Meet! Hounds assemble
Veterans chitchat, newbies tremble
Chilly wind, sky clear blue
Scent on frost, turning dew
Youngest rider nods and yawns
Oldest recalls many such dawns
Gents and ladies grin and greet
Ponies yank to reach and eat
Scarlet coats, mounts in braids
Flasks, in case courage fades
Some in perfect kit adorned
Others serviceably well-worn
Green horse wheels and tries to buck
Old horse naps beside the truck
FHL Banner Features Opening Meets
This is the season for Opening Meets. We’ve been getting some lovely photographs of that special day, so we decided to populate our website banner with them. Take a look at the show in our Foxhunting Life banner above! Although Virginia is well-represented, we need images of Opening Meets from other hunting countries as well. If you have a good photo of your hunt’s Opening Meet, send it to us. Go to the Horse and Hound drop-down menu and click on How to Submit. Note: When selecting photos to send us, choose ones that will fit into the long horizontal format you see in the banner above.
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