# Care after a days hunting?



## foxhunter2000 (27 January 2008)

Was just wondering what people do with their horses after a days hunting? Obviously they get hot, sweaty and tired. 
-Wash down?
-Turnout/ keep in?
-normal/ Small feed?
-Do you think they need a day/ couple of days off or keep going? Any thoughts?


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## Hels_Bels (27 January 2008)

we wash down, leave them to eat a normal feed y they dry off, ours our rugged up so we put rugs on and turnout, cause that way they wont stiffen in the stable! and then they get a couple of days off!


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## monica987 (27 January 2008)

Edited as computer went wierd and posted 'G' so appologies 

Wash off immediatly
Thermatex on
Check for thorns etc and/or cuts/scrapes/bruises etc
If time go out in field if not walk around as pony gets cold easily and to stop him stiffening
Given normal feed but first time he drinks, it has to be 'room temp' so not cold like normal. Once he has had a drink then he is fine, stays in at night then day in te field.


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## KatB (27 January 2008)

Mine gets washed off, and rugged up warm. Depending when we get back, may go in the field for a few hours to keep everything moving, then will be checked over and brought in over night with normal feed and a bucket of normal water and an extra bucket of water with electrolytes in. Then gets trotted up the next moring, and has a day in the field


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## muffinino (27 January 2008)

By the time we get back the horse has usually cooled down. I leave him in with a bit of hay and water for 20 mins or so to let him have a quick munch, a drink and dry off, while I grab a cuppa! I then put him out for a stretch&amp;a roll and to let him unwind while I get his stable ready. He gets a normal feed with a couple of treats and electrolytes. The next day I usually go for a quiet hack or sometimes long rein after a hard day.


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## foxhunter2000 (27 January 2008)

does anyone bandage at night after?


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## monica987 (27 January 2008)

ooohh yeah - sometimes deending on how hard we hunted and how long we were out for


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## madgirl (27 January 2008)

&gt;wash off 
&gt;thermatex on with wool rug underneath
&gt;hay and feed later
&gt;Brush off and change rugs
&gt;trot up in the morning
&gt;have one day off


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## Starbucks (27 January 2008)

Ours don't get much aftercare TBH!!

They are normally dry/cool by the time we get back so have their normal rugs on, and we leave them to chill out with a nice big hay net.  Then feed a bit later on.  Clean up the next day and they go out if it's not too wet or a quiet plod round if it is... 

Don't think we've ever bandaged legs after - whats it supposed to achieve?


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## KatB (27 January 2008)

I will ice tight if the ground was iffy. Do it with out bandages and just paper over the top.


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## only_me (27 January 2008)

wash off
cooler on
walk for a minute or 2
if home early and weather nice out in field
otherwise in stable well rugged up and with plenty of haylege
later on will give them a bran mash for tea

in morning then will trot up, 
check for thorns, swellings etc
cold hose for 10mins on each leg anyways
and then usually a day off!


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## Maesfen (27 January 2008)

Depended whether horse was still sweaty or had cooled off by the time it got home.

If still sweaty, I'd cool wash down after a small drink and while munching a haynet  (Bad news to give a haynet to a dry horse! ), scrapered off, plaits out, anti sweat rug then old rug on top (would now be updated to a Thermatex!) legs and feet checked over and stable bandages on; tail washed and tied up; left to chill out for an hour before a bran mash with some of his normal feed; water bucket and hay refilled; checked every hour hour until bedtime; tail bandage off, bucket and hay refilled.  If horse had been dry when it came in, virtually the same but sweat and mud lightly rubbed off with hay and would only wash tail.  I personally think it's unfair to harass a tired horse, it needs to be able to relax as quickly as possible after a hard day.
Next day, half ration feed, done over, walked out then turned out for day off.  Start normal exercising the day after that.

Who was it that asked what stable bandages do?  
If legs are still wet and muddy, put them on and they will be dry enough to brush out an hour later; they also give support and warmth to tired legs; if it's been a bitter day and horse is cold, they'll warm it up (bit like bed socks for you!), if you wash off, legs will dry a lot quicker if warm.   
No self respecting hunt yard would dream of not bandaging hunters after a day hunting for those reasons alone unless it had an allergy to bandages or ate them; it was considered very lackadaisical and unprofessional and your horsemastership skills would be called into question to not bandage after hunting.


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## RunToEarth (27 January 2008)

Warm water to drink, wash them down with hot water, chuck thermatex on and bandage his legs, then tuck him up to bed with a big fat haynet and a yummy feed


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## Starbucks (27 January 2008)

No self respecting hunt yard would dream of not bandaging hunters after a day hunting for those reasons alone unless it had an allergy to bandages or ate them; it was considered very lackadaisical and unprofessional and your horsemastership skills would be called into question to not bandage after hunting.
		
Click to expand...

That would be us then!  :grin:  I'll inform my mum cos she thinks she's pretty good at keeping hunters - clearly not! :smirk:

Just to be clear - do you think it's more of a warmth/comfort thing then??  Or do you think bandages would reduce the severity of say - a tendon injury?


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## jellybaby (27 January 2008)

Yes, I always do, and if the grouns has been a bit rubbishy, or I am out on someone elses horse I will clay their legs. I use 'like ice' which IMHO is better than Icetight as you can out it over cuts with no problems.

JB xx


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## kirstyhen (27 January 2008)

My horse is usually dry by the time he gets home, plaits out and checked over, and then turned out for a hour to stretch his legs whilst i get 
everything sorted (he doesnt do waiting and being tied up), then in, rugs changed, sloppy feed slightly more chaff and less concentrate than normal.
Next day he is turned out and usually given the day off, sometimes will be hacked out, just a gentle plod. Hard feed slightly cut back.
I dont bandage,partly because he has never been bandaged in the stable, partly because i dont have enough confidence in my bandaging skills to leave them on over night and also because i have been given conflicting advice re.bandages, been told that they are vital, but also been told that by warming up the tendon they make it more susceptable (sp?) to injury. 
Same reason pony never has bran mash, whilst being told it was wonderful, i have been also told of the damage it can have on the natural calcium to phos. ratio.
Just seems logical not to do something i dont have enough belief in the benefits of!


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## Starbucks (27 January 2008)

I totally agree with you.. I think it's each to their own to a certain extent.


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## kirstyhen (27 January 2008)

Yup, depends on what you were taught to do.
Touch wood, pony is ok after days hunting, although luckily hes a pretty tough old chap!!


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## Starbucks (27 January 2008)

Yea ours all tend to be that type! 

I think it's more about having the right fitness and food, and looking after them while you are out that is more important.


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## kirstyhen (27 January 2008)

Definately, if your prepared right everything is much easier.


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## Vicki1986 (28 January 2008)

when we get back we usually have to muck out as left to early to do it before we went. although will NOT be doing that again even if i have to get up at 4am!! mucking out half cut with a tired horse in the way, not good.

i brush her off and check her legs. 
she travels home in a full neck thermalux so is dry by the time we get home. i rug her up in whatever rug she is wearing of a night.
normally we don't get home early enough to turn out so they get tucked up in bed with nice big haynets and usually some warm bran &amp; electrolytes mixed into their tea if its been cold/wet.
the next day usually give them the day off or go for a gently stroll. they get turned out 8-4 either way so walk off any stiffness.
i don't usually bandage but if we were to go out on very hard ground i would, my pony is in her teens now and her legs do fill over night and she gets stiff so anything to help after a hard day i'm all for. i don't all the time as she if very funny with her legs and sometimes can be very difficult to get them on her and i dont think its fair to be faffing around her and making her upset when shes had a hard day on the field.


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## rooooosie (28 January 2008)

First time i went we hacked there and back so had a good walk home
ginger-washed off then kept in with a haynet (she usually lives out) for 2hrs
then had a normal feed 
then went back out


then 2nd time i went we took them in the lorry
went to her owners, she had bran mash with bute, then walked her 15mins home (so she could stretch and walk off any stiffness)
then ginger-washed her and she went back out


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## Starbucks (28 January 2008)

Why did she have bute?


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## atot (28 January 2008)

I will always try and bung mine out in her field for an hour or so, just while I get things ready to go home - then I just check her over, wash her legs down if they really can't be left to dry, and then leave her be, tucked up with haylage and supper.


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## henryhorn (28 January 2008)

I remember visiting a lady who hunted three days a weke and owned a huge high class dealing yard. 
We arrived as she was unloading her hunters and watched in amazement as they were led into a special stable with a centre sloping floor and showered in warm water from head to toe!
Before seeing her we had always wrapped their legs in bandages etc and carefully brushed off the mud. 
She maintained provided they were scraped off, rugged and stuck under an infra red light they never suffered any ailments and were far happier..
It may not be practical for everyone to do this but thinking about it , it makes sense, what do you want after a day's hunting, a bath of course!


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## Starbucks (28 January 2008)

True, but I'd like a bath and then to go downstairs and sit in front of the fire, NOT have to spend ages drying off in a cold stable!  But then if we all had infra-red lights for them to stand under then that would be different!

Thing is if they get an injury out hunting then giving them a nice warm shower and putting bandages on isn't going to heal it!?


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## sevenoceans (28 January 2008)

At Hunts

Wash off 
Thermatex on
Checks
offer Water
Hay
Come home
brush off 
rugs on 
Feed (i often prefer to leave feed until at least good few hours later) 
Late checks top up water, check for poos, feed

Local hunt

Wash off/checks
Thermatex
walk about for 10/20mins
Back in stable, Hay and water
Once dry, turn out rug on chuck him out for few hours
as per normal bring in/rug change/feed/hay

Day off next day depending on how hard the hunt was also my horse is 19 and is getting on a bit so i give him few days off to gather himself back together (he'll be on high for few days)


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## RunToEarth (29 January 2008)

I've always bandaged, my horses fill up, and TBH I just copy what my mum has always done, its the drill, always bandage legs.


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## atot (1 February 2008)

mine is turned out for an hr or so, then washed/brushed down, and tucked into bed with haynet, and is fed later. I've never bandaged - don't trust myself enough to leave them on for very long, and I'd just rather leave my horses legs alone - she has wonderful ones, and I think they'd just p*ss her off  tbh, as she hates things on her legs - she's never worn travel bandages or boots, and is not often 'booted' up for jumping, because I just don't think she needs it.

obv, as T_h, personal preference and all. but I do think big hunter yards should bandage, (although it wouldn't bother me if they didn't) and for good reason I guess - but they're hunters are more likely to do a longer, harder day than your average 'go a couple times a season' horse.


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## JenHunt (2 February 2008)

i wash legs in cold water (with hibiscrub for any cuts/grazes etc) 
then use a hot sponge bath with a spot of shampoo in over the rest of his body, followed by a rinse with another hot sponge bath.
i don't usually turn out, cos even if i do he won't even roll, he just stands at the gate.
i then leave him for about an hour with electrolytes, hay and water. (he usually empties 2 buckets of electrolytes and most of his barrel of water - but he is a very sweaty horse) 
after i've put my tack away and had a cup of tea, i go out and put stable bandages on, fill up his water, check his rugs and then depending how tired he is, i either feed as normal, or if he's very tired i split his normal feed in 2 and give the second half late on when i do the late night check.
i don't give him a day off usually unless we're minus a shoe, or he's come home lame (thankfully only once so far - touch wood). i tend to ride him from the stable and then turn out after i've ridden. think its a good way to make sure nothing is stiff or sore and to get them to stretch off properly.


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## henryhorn (2 February 2008)

No it won't heal injuries but at least you can then see any!  Depending on what type of injury a hot shower isn't likely to do much harm anyway I'd have thought.
I am sure she would have checked the horses very carefully once clean, she was that sort of lady..
It was a big professional dealing/hunting yard in Cheshire and she took us inside later for coffee laced with a dollop of brandy..... it surprised us at the time because they were the first infra red lights/proper wash system I had ever seen, it was many years ago when people still had jute rugs!


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## siennamum (3 February 2008)

I always do the bare minimum after hunting, like them to be unfussed and allowed to relax.
I rarely bring a really tired horse home these days as I'm too idle to stay out for more than a couple of hours. I used to hunt twice a week with a big Midlands Pack though and was sole groom to the MFH. Even then did the same things.
Arrived home with a dry horse, would have always walked for a good while and they would have cooled off.
Quick wash or brush to ensure they are comfortable &amp; uninjured. Everything else as normal. Normal feed, hay, bedding an extra rug (Thermatex or similar). Have never bandaged an uninjured horse (apart from excercise bandages). Wouldn't turn out, as they would still expect to see hounds over the horizon, and they would have had a 20 minute walk home. If a really hard day's hunting they wouldn't go to bed till tea time anyway. If a short day then no real reason to fuss.
Next day a proper groom &amp; all day in the field.
We used to feed bran mashes but haven't made one for 25 years and not about to start now.


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## Nickymac (4 February 2008)

Ours come home and in turn go into the wash box with the heat lamps on. Legs are washed off with cold water to close the pores, then hot bath (head to toe), checking for any injury as we go along. Then plaits out, squirt of homeopathic stuff in the mouth (RRA - Rhus Tox, Arnica and something else beginning with R that I can't remember!), Thermatex on and into stable so the next one can be washed off. Once the last one is done the first one goes back in, heat lamps lowered to get them dry and toasty, then night rugs on, No Bruise spray and leg wraps on. 

The next day they are trotted up and turned out for a little while (as long as it's not chucking it down with rain or freezing cold - it's a bit bleak at ours! ). Then when they come in they have the magnetic/massage rug on to soothe any sore/tired bits, all ready for a normal day the next day.

I know we're lucky with the facilities we've got, but I would always wash off even if we didn't have the heat lamps and wash box.


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## KatB (4 February 2008)

A hireling year near us used to bring them off the lorry and power wash them with cold water ( Horrid IMHO!!! Mine gets washed off before boxing up after finished hunting, and travel in fleeces/thermatex. Pony used to have 2 normal fleeces and a full neck fleece on way home as he used to stay hyper and had to be kept relatively warm.


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## Heidi1 (4 February 2008)

Mine gets washed down with warm water with a antiseptic body wash in, she will then be bandaged and have a couple of fleeces on to travel home and offered a small drink, once home she will be turned out for an hour to chill out and then will have a large net of haylage, two buckets of water one with electrolytes in and the other plan, with the slight chill taken off them, a smallish feed will be offered, but she tends to leave it anyway.  Next day she will be turned out for the whole day and returned to a normal routine.........


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## k9h (4 February 2008)

Ruta is the other one Nickym!

When I was at the Percy with 25 hunt horses, staff horses &amp; Lady V's.
When they came back into boxes untacked  &amp; plaited turned out one after the other in indoor school to roll (as stables were rubber mats &amp; they lifted if they rolled on them.
We had auto bowls in stables so on certain horses we would turn these off &amp; put in 2 buckets with warm water &amp; electrolytes. When they had drunk them we turned the auto's back on.
We had two hot shower wash boxes, 2 of us washed &amp; the other 2 tack.
After their roll, into wash box a showered down to get rid of sweat, mud &amp; to check for any injuries. Warm water on body cold on legs. Then thermatex on &amp; into stable with haynet. 
We never bandaged, them ever. One or two would get ice tight if had a hard day or been bogged, Chippy got it everytime as he was the retired Huntsmans horse &amp; he himself was in his late teens &amp; not the best of legs!
When finished washing went to help with tack. 
When tack done back to check horses, those that were dry got their night rugs on. One horse use to always break out in the night no matter what, so we put 2 thermatex's on him to keep him warm &amp; dry.
Then when all done we would feed up, on hunting days I use to boil linseed for them. 
Do a late check to check everything OK around 11pm.
Next day, they would get turned out in the field to rest &amp; stretch their legs &amp; chill out. Then back to exercise the following day.
We hunted 4 days a week in the season so we had it running like clock work!


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## MandyMoo (12 February 2008)

well....when i get back 2 the lorry, if they r wet at that moment, wash off with warm water and hibiscrub (dissolves dirt away easily) put on thermatex and load up, but if they r dry, then just thermatex and load up and when i get back 2 the yard cactus cloth them down to remove dried sweat. when i put them in their stable i give them 1 bucket of water thats had the chill just taken off it with some warm water. then once their thirst is quenched give them as much as they like...then i give them a normal feed as usual (after atleast 30mins) i like to keep feed the same as to not upset digestive system. and whether tyo keep them in or not i decide whether the day has been fast or not...if its been relativly gentle and short i turn them out...but if it has been a 4 hour fast hunt...then keep them in as i think they will benefit from a good nights rest. =] thats generally what i do with my horse after hunting LOL =P mandy xx


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## emma69 (15 February 2008)

Routine for dealing with liveries after they have been hunting

Unload their horses for them, as the humans were generally in far worse shape than the animals. Owners couldn't comprehend how half an hours schooling 3 times a week did not leave them in tip top shape. 

Wash down horses, and liveries too. Warmer water used on horses than humans

Watch owners try to bandage horse. Giggle quietly. Eventually take pity on them and help

Decide to put kettle on for well earned cuppa. Race out mid-tea making to confiscate bran mashes that had appeared from no where, as I have no desire to deal with the resulting colic from giving horses giant feeds of a substance they have never had in their lives.

Return to making cuppa. Realise while adding milk that slightly drunk-from-her-hipflask-livery hasn't bothered to bolt stable door and horse is now on an escape mission

Having returned horse to stable, whilst simultaneously putting the rug on the right way around, find cuppa is now cold. Think stuff it and decide the pub is a better plan. 

Get stopped on route to car by owner claiming horse has life threatening injury. 

Remove thorn

Try to get back to car

Get stopped by livery because 'you know human first aid too right'?

Pick self off floor after having seen perfect horse shoe print in bruise on liveries bum

Re-tell tale at pub to ensure some free booze  

And they wondered why I didn't want to go out for the entire day with them.......


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