What the heck is a Hunter Pace?

For foxhunters and horse enthusiasts of all types, the Hunter Pace allows us to feed into the dream about the season to come.

by Rhonda Schop

Wait... what the heck is a Hunter Pace?

This is an organized but essentially low-key competitive riding event that originates from foxhunting. Teams of 2-4 ride together through a marked course that typically covers 10-15 km. Originally, the time was set by the Huntsman, riding the course himself, at what he would consider as a proper “hunting pace”. The time was then recorded and sealed in an envelope. The riders then tried to match what they considered to be the proper pace and the team that came the closest to the Huntsman’s time was the winner. These days there’s all sorts of rules for timing the event, first flight, hilltopper, fastest, slowest, etc. to accommodate people of all levels and disciplines. Not all hunter paces have jumps, and if they do, they are made of natural materials such as one would see in the hunt field.

Riders arrived in teams to register with Maria Britto and Laura Allen at the trailer. The Eglinton Caledon Hounds are very grateful to three sets of landowners who have worked extremely hard to host Hunter Paces, as fund-raising events for ECH.

First in the season, in beautiful Mono, ON, the hunter pace starting out from Hilltopper Hollow, owned by hunt club members Deb and Morley Shortill. This year, with additional landowners (6 landowners in total) there was access to more trails, resulting in a course that was 18 km long. Weather was spectacular, and the catered lunch (provided by Janis Dixon and her husband Mark Cowan) provided the eighty-five riders with a well-deserved feast upon completion. The trail wound its way through Mono, with beautiful escarpment views and part of the Bruce trail.

In July, new to the hunter pace series, the aptly named 11th Line Hunter Pace (a collaboration of owners/riders from the 11th Line of East Garafraxa), was organized by owners on

the 11th line and hunt club members Sue Murdoch, Phil Schwab, Charlotte Palmer-Benson, Priscilla Reeve, Rhonda Schop and Mark Hurtig. The whole neighbourhood came together to host 45 riders. Starting at Weybread Hill Farm, the trail wound its way through gently rolling hills which crossed over 7 farms and included 22 inviting, optional jumps (some of which were newly made for the hunter pace) for a course length of 12 km. Again, a catered lunch saw riders and landowners meeting up to share the stories of the day.

Starting out at High Hill farm in Mulmur, the third and final hunter pace of the series, hosted by hunt club member Margie Spence and her neighbours, did not disappoint! Blessed again with great weather, Margie and her amazing crew of landowners and helpers including Deb and Norman Gee, set out a course that was complete with enough twists and turns to keep the riders concentrating on the orange ribbons marking the course. As the course wound its way through forests and open fields, views of other riders including eventers, hunters, western games and barrels racers was an amazing sight to see. My appreciation for those riding these fit and athletic horses cannot be understated…well done! As always, laughter and smiles were non-stop.

A special thanks to the Comisso’s for hosting the rest stop, including water for the horses and Timbits for the riders! Unbelievable views of the hills of Mulmur, fabulous footing and a delicious lunch afterwards capped the day. Course length for this event was about 14 km. Over 90 riders made their way to Mulmur to help raise money to support the hounds of ECH. With at least 36 hounds and puppies…that’s a lot of mouths to feed and provide veterinary care for! Thank you everyone!! ~ RS

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Mount & Member Spotlight

Kim Merrill

I am currently hunting a 24 yr old thoroughbred named Sedge. He was a gift from ECH 5 years ago after aging out as the Huntsman's horse and has hunted like a dream taking care of me every step of the way. My Mother Sally was a keen Fox Hunter and started me hunting at the age of six on my pony named Danzy. Now at 64 yrs old I realize how blessed I am to have enjoyed a lifetime of hunting. The attached photo is me on Sedge with my Dear friend Earl Barnet who also hunted for many years and still enjoys coming out to the local meets! Hunting is a rare Sport in that Everyone returns home feeling like a Winner! My wish is to enjoy many more years of hunting and when my number's up I hope I'm atop another horse of my dreams skipping over fields to full cry! Tally Ho!! ~KM