In the South quail hunting on horseback used to be common. Field trialers follow their big running pointers and setters over manicured plantation grounds as a usual matter down here. I remember my quail hunting grandfather in bed recovering after a quail hunt when the horse he was riding got caught up in some briers and panicked. The horse fell over backwards and mashed grandaddy's leg pretty bad.
There is a story down here of a gentleman preparing for a horseback hunt on a plantation asking the guide whether he could shoot off the horse when the birds flushed. The guy saddled up and at the first covey point he rode right on in and shot from the saddle. The terrified horse bucked him off of course. When the hunter woke up he began berating the guide saying "I thought you said I could shoot off that horse." The guide replied "I told you you could shoot OFF the horse not ON him!"
Geo
