Yesterday we had a joint meet with Tanheath in Pomfret, Connecticut. It was a beautiful day and it seems a shame to miss out on any opportunity to explore some new territory.

Pomfret is about an hour and 20 minutes from where I live — more of a drive than I generally do for hunting (I’m spoiled in that regard). But it was worth the haul. Even if it was only 24 degrees when we left the barn!

As we drove up to the parking area we were already excited about the ride to come — the countryside was lovely. Very reminiscent of England with its open fields and greenery.

The hunt started with their Blessing of the Hounds. With the hounds and staff silhouetted in the morning

sun and the light mist that rose of the fields it was a special moment where we gave thanks to the hounds, our horses and the fox.

Freedom was very excited when he saw the hounds come out of the truck but he was a good sport and stood quietly for the blessing. I bought a small camera off of eBay last week that fits neatly in my saddlebag and he was quite co-operative as I took photos.

We rode off through some exquisite fields peppered with inviting looking natural fences. Sadly, the fields were still very wet from the freak snow storm last week, so we were only able to jump two of them. I must come back and ride here again!

We didn’t get to see much of the hounds on the hunt — they disappeared soon into the hunt; I’m not sure what scent they were following, but only a few of the hounds stuck with us. I know from friends who’ve hunted with Tanheath before that this is a great pack and we were just unlucky that that we missed out on their music.

We did have some nice canters and enjoyed the new views and vistas. For Freedom the most exciting part of the hunt was the llama. We were cantering up a dirt road and there was a fenced in field on our right that held two llamas and a goat. Right when we got next to them, the white llama moved! That caused a huge spook to the left (he didn’t know they were alive until the moved) that torqued my knee something terrible and left Freedom snorting in disbelief.

All in all, it was a very pleasant ride. We met some nice people, enjoyed the territory and even basked in the sun (it was 62 degrees when we got back to the trailers).

One thing that I really enjoyed was the chance to ride with our huntsman. She is generally working the hounds and so she rarely gets to ride with the field. That was a treat on its own.