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Wolfie's Hunting Adventure

by Jan Maday, Running Fox Farm, Virginia

Thought I'd share our huntride adventures last nite....since I was again so proud of this month's posterboy. As a bit of background, a group of about 40 folks gather each thursday nite at rotating farms. We usually split into two groups...high jumpers and low jumpers (me). We ride for an hour and a half and end w/a BBQ potluck at the host patio. The evening started innocently enough. I greeted a couple folks I hadn't seen for a while, marched the mexican quiche I fixed to the pot-luck table, and finished tacking up Wolfie. Just as I'm ready to mount, my friend Kirsten is mounting her big TB...hold on...her TB rears up, whacks her in the face with his head and splits her lip and knocks out her upper front tooth! She's sitting on him trying to shove her tooth back into it's socket. He's dancing and prancing and acting nutty. I'm still on the ground holding Wolfie and offering her assistance, getting ice and wondering how soon we can get her to a dentist.

Meanwhile...along comes John with his arm in a sling...battle scars?? Not so lucky...on closer look, he's got pins and screws and all kinds of hardware in his arm and his hand is swollen and numb. Oh lord...another TB accident.

Finally we are all mounted and ready to roll. Of course I get my share of inquiries about Wolfie...he was sparkling! I had bathed him yesterday PM and used lots of whitener and conditioner to get him extra handsome. He looked great. I took my share of jokes about being able to walk beneath some of the nearly 18h hunt horses. What pleased me was that while everyone noticed him...he stood sanely and quietly while their mounts were dancing and prancing. We launched, and he was right up there with the leaders.
We started out thru huge open fields, down the mountain and into the woodlands...all the while picking up speed. He kept up with the best of them, while the people near the rear were falling more and more behind.

In the woods, the wildflowers were awesome...what we had time to see, since we were clipping along the trails and above the rocky banks. We were rolling and even our low-jumpers ended up splitting into 2 more groups...the speedbombs, and the lazy bombs. We zoomed! We crashed across several streams, both clear water and muddy water. We returned wearing our colors on our backs, boots and britches -- mudbath colors!! While in the woods we were jumping downed trees left and right. Some in and outs, all unrelated distances. Wolfie was taking them all in stride, and I was having a ball. Towards the end of the woods, along comes this huge downed log w/air above and beneath...I gasp realizing that our striding is not right...we're 4 ft out and he decides to take it. He takes it BIG...I scream WHEE, and we're clear. The gal behind me takes it
and proceeds to ask me to please keep it down because I'm frightening her horse with my shreak!! heehee What can I say...I'm a noisy thrill seeker :o)

Out of the woods and into the marsh, Wolfie and a big grey horse are in the lead blazing the trail. The big grey is sweating from head to toe. Wolfie is barely wet. The gent riding is a polo player (he wore the special helmet). He can't hold back his polo pony and Wolfie is right there with him. We have a gaggle of riders streaming along behind for maybe a block or two. We stop to get a gate, then its across another stream and onto the gravel road at Beaver Dam. Once on the road the leader rejoins us, and it's a
RACE!! We raced for better than a half mile, and took a sharp hairpin back into the woods. In the process we lost half of the group. (The slow ones). Eventually they caught up. Back in the woods it's more downed trees and logs...and squirrels popping out of the trees left and right! One almost landed on my shoulder, and Wolfie didn't blink. We're on our way back now, and the horses know it and are keen. We're headed up Turkey Roost and we see the first group of high jumpers...one yells "Loose Horse"...oh dear. Another TB has flipped it's rider like a pancake. The gal is gimping up to fetch her trailer to try to find her horse. We round up the runaway horse and head back to the trailers, sponge down our trusty mounts and off to the BBQ to lick our wounds and share our victories. By now the jokes had subsided, and all noted what a solid citizen
Wolfie had been.

We flipped bubba burgers on the grill and enjoyed an hour of banter and a toast or two. Walking back to the trailers we commented what a great meet it had been and how blessed we were to be able to enjoy a good chase. Wolfie greeted me with his low nicker, all was good and home we went. It was a another special evening. Gotta love these Haflingers! Sunday Wolfie and I will ride at Bull Run on a competitive ride. Wish us luck. Haflinger Hugs -- Jan in Purcellville, VA :o)