LACS has offered a rewardfor information directly leading to a conviction under the Hunting Act 2004 in England and Wales or the Protection of Wild Mammals Act 2002 (in Scotland).
LACS chief executive Joe Duckworth said; “Our work relies on good intelligence such as when and where illegal hunting is taking place.”
However a CA spokesman countered; “This smacks of increasing desperation from LACS, who are desperately trying to support their failing campaigns against hunting.
“Offering rewards of this kind could be seen as an incitement to further bullying and harassment of hunts as they go about their business, perfectly legally and within the Hunting Act.”
This news story was first published in H&H magazine on 18 September 2014
Autumn hunting is now well underway. If you’re looking to buy a hunter for this season but are struggling to navigate the hunters for sale on the market, take at look at our top tips, from the benefits of miles on the clock to not being swayed by flashy movers.
1. Many failed competition horses are re-sold as “hunters”. This is not always a good thing as the fault that ended their competitive career can sometimes reappear on the hunting field.
2. If you buy a horse at a sale and he was advertised as a “good hunter”, you would have legal redress if he acted up the first time he saw hounds.
3. If a horse is advertised as having hunted with a particular pack, ask hunt members if he is known to them.
4. Some horse dealers specialise in hunters and you could save yourself a lot of time and money by going to this type of yard to find your horse. The horse dealer will be able to assess the kind of horse you need, and he should be able to offer a selection for you to try.
5. Do not expect to be allowed a day’s hunting as a trial. Very few sellers, private or trade, will let a stranger take a horse out hunting because of the obvious risks to horse and rider.
6. The best way to buy a hunter is through recommendation. If a horse you like isn’t being openly advertised, it’s always worth asking the owner if they would be prepared to sell.
7. When you buy a hunter privately always get some sort of statement in writing or verbally in front of a witness. Ask clearly whether the horse has hunted, how often and with which pack. In case of problems later this can be presented in court and you would have a good case if there has been deliberate misrepresentation by the seller.
8. Do not expect a horse that has only hunted quietly with a slow pack to tackle Leicestershire hedges confidently on your first outing together.
9. Do not be swayed by flashy looks when you buy a hunter. The aim is to enjoy your sport and the best-looking hunters are not always the safest ones.
10. Unless you are an experienced rider, it is better to go for an older horse with some miles on the clock. It takes skill and knowledge to introduce a young horse to hounds and, if this is done badly, the repercussions will stay to haunt you.
Never been hunting, but would love to have a go? Take a look at our guide for beginners
Many of us would need a lot of encouragement — or failing that, a large whisky — before hunting a young horse. But there are plenty of people who insist that, approached in the right way, it can be very gratifying.
Of course experience is important and the rider needs the knowledge of both hunting and riding to make up for what is lacking underneath. A novice rider on a young horse can be a recipe for disaster.
People choose a variety of approaches, but they all agree that a gradual introduction is best. If you are not a morning person this will be tough, because there is no better start for a young horse than some gentle autumn hunting.
Early on in the season, it is all about the hounds and long periods of inactivity at the covert or beside a field of maize which will have a soothing effect on a young animal.
If they make the association between hounds and galloping full tilt in a herd early on, you are in trouble.
Take a look at our dos and don’ts to make the experience as pleasurable as possible.
Do
Take things slowly — start off gradually with autumn hunting
Be mindful of every situation and think ahead. If you anticipate potential problems, you will be prepared to deal with them without a fight
Have a nanny on a quiet horse or companion for the first few days to help you out if necessary
Wear a green ribbon and make sure other members of the field know to give you plenty of space
Face hounds at all times
When jumping, try to follow people who are guaranteed to leave the ground
Do plenty of schooling, jumping and socialising with other horses before you go out
Ring the master and ask if you can go on hound exercise
Don’t
Ever forget that you are on a young horse
Get among the hounds
Walk before you can run — volunteering to go on point or do a gate should be left until later on in the season
Get left behind or stay nervously at the back with a tight rein — let your horse go with the flow
Feed your young horse too much until he has settled — if possible, hunt him from the field
Get into a tricky situation — one hairy incident will stay in the horse’s (and other people’s) mind for ages
The Labour MP for Vauxhall said she was “sad” to be resigning.
“The organisation has achieved much in the past nine years, but I will always be most proud that having joined when hunting faced such uncertainty, I leave with new generations queuing up to join the hunting field,” she said.
Her successor is to be discussed at the next board meeting.
Deputy chairman Lord Mancroft added: “Kate’s contribution is immeasurable. Her determination stiffened us all for the fight and there is no way that hunting would have weathered the storm as successfully as it has if it had not been for her.”
This news story was first published in H&H magazine on 25 September 2014
There are plenty of things for us to moan about when the evenings draw in and the leaves turn — mucking out, mud and wet rugs spring to mind. But surely the joys of autumn hunting make it all worthwhile?
An organic food company has received abuse on social media for appearing to support its local hunt.
Guy Watson, who owns Riverford Organic Farms, has been subject to criticism on Facebook and Twitter. His sister Louise is a joint-master of the South Devon.
The hunt is allowed to ride across her land but not the parts owned by Mr Watson or Riverford Organic Farms. His sister Louise’s business sponsored the South Devon Hunter Trial.
Customers took to social media to complain about the connection with some calling for a “boycott” on the business.
“My latest order will be my very last because I refuse to purchase something that will financial support a hunter,” said one client.
“Have just cancelled my regular orders and this is one very angry customer,” added another.
Mr Watson released a statement to try and explain the position.
“I do not hunt, never have,” Guy said.
“My family is made up of individuals who agree on most things and disagree on a few. My sister Louise, who I love dearly, rides and hunts. I don’t agree with her but I tolerate her position.
As a result of the statement some customers have rallied to the defense of the company.
“Get off your ‘high horses’ everyone and look at your own lives before condemning a respectable farmer,” said Wendy Woo.
“To hold you and Riverford accountable for the actions of others is bordering on the obsessive and scary,” Keili Lawrence added.
Popular eventing greyLenamore — who won Burghley at the age of 17— has now taken to the hunting field.
The New Zealand team stalwart, who is now 21, has been out autumn hunting with the Warwickshire and his owner Lexi Jackson.
“Everyone thought I was completely bonkers but he was actually very well behaved,” Lexi told H&H. “ I think it was probably ignorance. Everyone warned me —which I already knew — that he will probably be worse next time.”
Lexi is planning to take him out again this Saturday (11 September) and will then see what the ground conditions are like before deciding whether to do anymore with him this season.
“He really enjoyed himself,” Lexi said. “We even jumped a hunt jump. It would have been very embarrassing if he had stopped, but luckily he didn’t!”
The Seacrest gelding, bred by trainer Ted Walsh in Ireland, evented with Lexi up to three-star level before Caroline Powell took on the ride in 2004.
Caroline and “Ed” represented New Zealand at two Olympic Games — Hong Kong and London, winning team bronze at the latter — and the World Equestrian Games in Aachen, 2006. They also completed Badminton seven times in a row, finishing in the top 12 five times.
“He doesn’t feel any different,” Lexi added. “He loves being out and about.”
Autumn hunting is the busiest time of year for masters, staff, hounds and horses, who surface for a gasp of air just before the opening meet. I have, however, found time recently to watch a re-run of a fascinating BBC documentary from the Human Planet series.
It featured a mounted fox hunt with golden eagles in the most stunning countryside. It was not a scene from a hunt in the English Elysian Fields, employing the most obscure of the exemptions available within the Hunting Act 2004 — flushing to a bird of prey — but a young Kazakh, hunting in the jaw-dropping Altai mountains ranges, where they split to reveal a bleak plateau on the border of Kazakhstan and Mongolia.
The fox hardly posed a threat to the local ecology or farming practices, however its pursuit and inevitable demise had several purposes: to provide fur for clothing (although other materials are readily available) and the rite of passage for a Kazakh hunter.
The young hunter clearly took pride in his bird and enjoyed the battle of nature as he galloped down the perilous mountain-side and across the boulder strewn moonscape, holloaing to encourage his eagle.
The fox’s death was hardly glorious. In the end it had to be finished off by the handler and was therefore far longer than any swift demise by a foxhound.
A few years ago there was much mention of hunting being protected by the European Court of Human Rights as a traditional, national activity — similar to the Spanish defence of bull-fighting.
This defence came to nought, but it did highlight an important principle.
It would be naïve to suggest that the moral consensus doesn’t shift slightly between the Altai Mountains and SW1A, but the viewers are not invited to pass judgement on the young Kazakh.
Swap him for a young huntsman in the Home Counties and the chorus of disapproval would be deafening, albeit from a vocal, yet powerful minority.
Surely the rights of farmers and country people to manage and enjoy their environment responsibly and without ill-considered, prejudiced interference, should be respected.
Edging closer to repeal
Defections, exposures (literally), resignations and rumours — who would want to be a party leader?
Fortunately, the Prime Minister did have one victory to celebrate recently, even if he did have to share it with Messers Miliband, Clegg and Brown.
To promote a positive “No” campaign north of the border was never going to be easy — at times David Cameron has a tendency to apply a liberal dash of complacency to important matters — but the Tory Party’s post-Scottish Referendum strategy is arguably more coherent than any of the previous month’s stumbling.
In wrong-footing a slightly embarrassed Ed Miliband into refusing to accept “English Votes for English Laws” — and thereby protecting Labour’s unrepresentative power in Westminster over English legislation — Mr Cameron wins hands down.
In a deft manoeuvre, the Prime Minister should also snuff out the fire in Nigel Farage’s nationalist rhetoric with these reform proposals.
We are being encouraged to respect those tempted to cast their vote for the intellectually adolescent, policy-light UKIP (oops). The party’s new recruits will add to their weaponry and may even destabilise their leader, but they have yet to offer the countryside a decent set of policies.
The package of reforms to the Union outlined by Cameron will make repeal of the Hunting Act 2004 (England and Wales) increasingly possible without the army of Scottish Labour MPs instinctively voting against hunting.
A handful of “experts” and prophets of doom will always find a good reason why this can’t happen, but it is surely much closer.
The Prime Minister has set William Hague the task of recasting the Union by the General Election in May, a task which, despite his considerable talent, he is duty bound to fail. However its primary proposals should also provide a brilliant blue-print for resolving the scandalous voting imbalance in Westminster.
In passing, this will hopefully sound the death knell on the Hunting Act 2004 for England and Wales.
This comment was originally published in Horse & Hound magazine on Thursday 9 October, 2014
Hunts from Dartmoor to Berwickshire are welcoming new faces during the Countryside Alliance’s (CA) annual Hunting Newcomers’ Week
The week, designed to encourage riders to try hunting kicks off on Saturday (18 October) and finishes the following week (25 October).
There are meets tailored to introducing new people to the trail-hunting field, practice jumping sessions, BBQs and tours of hunt kennels planned.
CA’s Newcomers’ Week organiser Henrietta Rutgers said she’s had “a huge number” of enquiries from people wanting to get more information about their local packs.
“Despite the ban hunting is as popular as ever and people are keen to show their solidarity with their local hunts,” she said.
Meets are taking place all over the country and include:
North – Dumfriesshire & Sewartry West – South Pembrokeshire East – Thurlow South – Dartmoor
Three members of the College Valley and North Northumberland were found guilty of one charge under the 2004 Hunting Act yesterday (14 October).
Joint-masters Ian McKie and Timothy Smalley and kennel huntsman Andrew Proe all appeared at Berwick Magistrates Court in connection with an incident on 27 February.
The three had been secretly filmed by League Against Cruel Sports investigators during a meet of the College Valley and North Northumberland in and around West Kyloe Farm near Lowick.
District Judge Bernard Begley concluded that they had intentionally hunted a fox by encouraging hounds to chase it.
The defendants had argued they were following a legal scent trail of fox urine laid that morning and the foxes were disturbed unintentionally.
McKie was fined £1,150 and must pay a £115 victim surcharge and £385 court costs. Smalley’s fine was £2,075 with a victim surcharge of £120 and £385 court costs.
Proe must pay a £480 fine with a £48 victim surcharge and £385 costs. A fourth member was acquitted.
Tim Bonner, director of campaigns at the Countryside Alliance, said: “We are surprised by this judgement and will support the individuals from the College Valley in whatever further action they may decide to take.
“We believe that the hunt was operating openly and that no attempt was made to break the Hunting Act.”
The RSPCA appears to be showing no signs of changing its prosecution policy after it emerged that it is mounting a fresh case against the Cattistock.
William Bryer (pictured), who is joint-master and huntsman of the Cattistock, is accused of one offence of breaching the 2004 Hunting Act on 11 March this year and is to appear at Weymouth Magistrates Court later this month (27 October).
The report, carried out by former chief inspector of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) Stephen Wooler, made 33 recommendations on the charity’s investigation and prosecution activity.
“It is quite extraordinary that just days after the RSPCA’s own independent review accepted that there were serious difficulties with the society bringing private prosecutions against hunts it should launch proceedings against another pack,” said the CA’s Tim Bonner.
“We are confident that the case will fail, as do 80% of prosecutions launched by the RSPCA against hunts.”
LACS prosecute
The League Against Cruel Sports (LACS) has also launched a private prosecution against the Lamerton Hunt, which operates on the Devon and Cornwall border.
LACS alleges that the hunt broke the 2004 Hunting Act in an incident near Lydford in Devon on 26 March.
Six members of the hunt have been asked to appear before magistrates in Plymouth next month (21 November).
A statement from the League said it had been left with “no option” but to prosecute after Devon and Cornwall Police “failed to deal” with the evidence supplied by the charity.
“The League has obtained written independent legal advice that there is sufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction and that it would be in the public interest to prosecute,” it added.
However, Mr Bonner argues that the prosecution is an “ongoing campaign of harassment against the hunting community”.
“We don’t believe there is any evidence to justify a prosecution, let alone a conviction,” he told H&H.
“There is also a wider question of the abuse of ‘charitable funds’.How on earth can a charity justify wasting donations on such a pointless vendetta?”
This news stroy was first published in H&H magazine (16 October 2014).
Most hunting people have a rough idea of how much they spend each year on their horses, but how many have actually costed it out? Tessa Waugh looks at how it all adds up — from shoeing and forage, to bedding and rug cleaning.
Shoeing — New set every four weeks while in work (July-March) at £80 plus trimming during the summer months, and callouts for lost shoes in between — approx £1000 per year.
Forage — Hay at £5 per small bale generally lasts two days per horse or large, round bales of haylage at £35 each, which has higher protein levels than hay.
Bedding — Large, round bales of straw at £20 per bale delivered or shavings at approximately £8 per bale.
Hard feed — Two £7.50 bags of pre-mixed feed per week plus additional chaff, barley and any supplements.
Teeth — Anthony Tory, an equine dentist in the south of England, says: “An average hunter would be done once a year at a cost of £45, slightly less if there was more than one horse.”
Rug cleaning — The Smelly Rug Company in the Scottish Borders charges £11 to clean a stable rug and £19 to wash and re-proof an outdoor rug so you are looking at roughly £50 per horse per year.
Clipping — £40 every four weeks unless you do it yourself, at least three times per season amounts to £120.
Worming — Twice per year comes to around £50.
Insurance — Covering both horse and vehicle will set you back roughly £1,000.
N.B Costs will vary between regions and feed prices depend whether you buy per bale, per tonne or per lorry load.
Read the full article about the cost of a hunter — and ways to save without compromising care — in this week’s special hunting issue of Horse & Hound magazine (23 October 2014), which includes our full hunting directory
Owner Guy Watson tried to clarify the situation explaining that the hunt were not allowed on land owned by Riverford Organics but that his sister Louise Watson — who is a master of the South Devon — allowed them on her land.
Riverford Organics rents some land from Miss Watson to grow vegetables and also uses milk from her farm.
A petition that was set up to boycott the company — which provides more than 47,000 boxes of vegetables to homes around the UK each week — received nearly 5,000 signatures in less than 48-hours.
Mr Watson initially maintained that it was up his sister what she allowed to happen on her land.
However, a spokesman from the company has now told H&H that the “hunt will no longer be permitted to cross any Riverford land, owed or rented by the Watson family”.
“We know we have lost some customers and are very sad about this, but we’ve looked at our statistics over the past couple of weeks and overall sales have been unaffected,” Mr Watson added in a statement.
“It’s been a really difficult — and at times frustrating — situation as lots of inaccuracies have been shared about us as a business despite the fact that we have spent the last 30 years striving to be as ethical as possible.”
Diana Jack (far left in bowler), Emily Johnson, Mati Amaya and Tessa Collet during the Pytchley meet at Winwick Hall, Northants on 22 February 2014
Having spent the 1970s living in USA, upon my return to the UK and foxhunting I thought how best to share the excitement I enjoyed so much with visitors.
In the early 1980s you still had to be invited to “ride to hounds” before you could appear at a meet and there was the additional problem that a man would be happier to lend his wife to a friend than his best hunter!
My father, Derek Pritchard, was chairman at the time of the Pytchley. I had come up through the Pytchley Pony Club, having hunted there and with all the neighbouring packs throughout my childhood, so I had lots of contacts in the hunting fraternity. When I suggested having overseas visitors to stay and to take them hunting on horses I had trained, the idea was welcomed with caution and a certain amount of scepticism.
The main reason I was allowed to bring “foreigners” hunting — i.e. anyone who lived outside that particular hunt country — was that I always accompanied my guests and I had to be responsible for their turnout, horses, and hunting manners. That was sometimes quite a tall order.
Memorable moments
Once with the VWH I had to ask permission from the master to hunt in my Australian floppy hat because I had lent my bowler to one of my clients from Florida.
Another time I refused to take two race-riders from Pennsylvania — who were on a whistle-stop fox-hunting tour of the UK — to a lawn meet at Guilsborough because they turned up in their kit from the day before’s particularly wet and muddy day hunting with the Quorn. We followed on after the hunt had been out and about for about 20mins, but they were still obvious from their mud-spattered clothes on immaculately clean horses. I wasn’t going to let them insult our hosts at the meet.
Once, with the Bicester, I had a collection of French hunting guests who hadn’t told me they intended to hunt complete with swords and horns. They were invited to show off their musical talents at the meet, but had to do so on their feet after my horses reversed at a rapid rate from the front of the field to the back.
Then there was the Swiss gentleman, out with the Fernie, who got off for a piddle when we were stopped in a narrow lane without bothering to find a suitable bush or tree. The conversation of the field hesitated only for a moment before everyone looked in the other direction and continued talking at a slightly increased volume.
Other memorable moments include: having a group of people from California out with the Beaufort, four of whom fell off before we got to the meet; being asked if I had a spare tampax while changing horses with the Belvoir; telling a lady from Spain she could pee in the back of the box only to have her come out some three minutes later saying she “couldn’t find it”; jumping under a JCB over a construction ditch on a closed road with the Warwickshire; and out with the Cheshire, jumping a wrought-iron gate into parkland, from a trot, off a cobbled canal bridge — all my horses did it!
I’ve jumped the central reservation fences of both the M40 and the A14 — during their construction, obviously, hunted in November over unharvested fallen wheat in Yorkshire, in March drawing flowering oil-seed rape with the Bicester and had the huntsman opening gates for my two Portuguese guests and myself as the only ones left out with the North Cotswold one day.
Wonderful people and incredible horses
Myrecord is six consecutive days hunting with six different packs of hounds on six different horses — it wasn’t planned, it just happened that way.
Along the way I have met lots of wonderful people, hunted with more than 90 packs of hounds and had some incredible horses of whom I am tremendously proud. People ask me why I do it — it’s certainly not for the money!
After the ban, I lost my foreign clients as they all think they can drag hunt back home, so why should they travel all this way to do the same thing. However, to my great surprise there is a home market who still want to follow hounds, so I have continued after only a slight blip.
The world has changed and now hunts welcome guests to help with diminishing revenues, other people have started to hire out horses and UK clients don’t need the “nannying services” I used to provide.
My hireling horses are my friends who I allow other people to ride in return for the necessary expenses to keep them fit, well and suitably turned out.
Nowadays I try to get additional income by running cross-country clinics during the non-hunting months, and otherwise life goes on running a difficult business in difficult times. But I still meet lots of lovely people, visit some wonderful places, and ride some fabulous horses!
To find out more about running a hunter hireling service, turn to p14 of H&H magazine, 23 October 2014
From time to time you have that moment when you spot someone completely out of context and can’t put a name to their face. It’s that teacher in the supermarket situation.
In an equestrian context, it may have happened to you on the hunting field — but with a horse rather than a rider. Some of our biggest equine heroes — from a double Badminton winner to a four-time Cheltenham World Hurdle winner — have taken to hunting in their retirement.
Equine superstars who’ve hunted in their retirement
1. Lenamore, eventing
The 21-year-old former eventer has been spotted out autumn hunting with the Warwickshire. “Everyone thought I was completely bonkers, but he was actually very well behaved,” said owner Lexi Jackson. “He loved it!”
2. Denman, racing
The 2008 Gold Cup winner has had a second lease of life hunting and team chasing under Charlotte Alexander. Denman had a life-threatening blood and bone infection in October 2012, but has since found a new career on the hunting field.
3. Supreme Rock, eventing
Pippa Funnell’s double Badminton winner was still seen out with the Grafton at the age of 24. A visitor famously once told his owner Emma Pitt that she should “try eventing him”.
4. Big Buck’s, racing
Andy Stewart’s four-time Cheltenham World Hurdle winner, who retired last season, was out autumn hunting with Lucy Tucker last month.
5. Little Tiger, eventing
Phoebe Buckley’s 14.3hh Little Tiger spent her life after eventing hunting and team chasing, having been retired at the age of 16. The gutsy mare even came third in the Melton Hunt Ride in 2012.
Don’t miss this week’s special hunting issue of Horse & Hound magazine (23 October 2014), featuring our complete hunt directory, a look at modern and traditional hunting gear and the true cost of keeping a hunter
Hiring out your most faithful hunter would not appeal to everyone. So, it is important to establish a few ground rules to ensure the arrangements can be satisfactory for both yourself and the person who may hire your horse.
Carefully consider the horses you are going to make available for hire and before taking a booking, assess exactly who you are catering for and what their requirements are.
There is an element of trust involved with both parties and you will have to rely on each other to fully explain the position with regard to the rider’s ability and the performance of the horse. Make it clear from the beginning whether your horse is suitable for novices and/or experienced riders and be realistic about his capabilities and scope.
Your horse may need a different bit for male or female riders so ensure they are used to a variety as well as carrying heavier weights. It is vital to know how much riding and hunting experience the person hiring your horse has. Ask questions to ensure you are comfortable they are responsible enough to ride your horse and take references from people they have hunted with previously if necessary.
Even the most experienced rider won’t necessarily want to pay you for the pleasure of schooling your horse out hunting so make sure that the horse you are offering for hire is well-educated and mannerly. The type of hunt country your horse is accustomed to can determine which packs you wish to cover.
It may be that your horse can jump hunt rails all day out of 6in deep mud but isn’t keen on jumping hedges or ditches.
If you decide to hire only to those coming out with the local pack where you are familiar with the hunt country, you will know if your horse is suitable for particular meets.
Contact the secretary
If you are willing to take your horse to other packs where you may not know the country, it is advisable to contact the hunt secretary beforehand.
Some hunts have regular hireling providers and may not be aware that you offer this service so it is wise to make contact with local packs. Referrals from hunt secretaries can be a major source of business too.
It is essential to discuss with each hunt who will make the necessary arrangements for the visitors — the hunt may prefer to deal directly with you so you can just confirm names or numbers and pay their cap, or it may wish to deal directly with the individuals concerned.
It is not uncommon for people hiring horses to subsequently subscribe to a pack following a particularly good day. By taking out potentially new subscribers, most packs will be very appreciative and make you and your visitors very welcome.
“It is so beneficial to have a local hunter hireling provider, not only for visitors but also for local farmers and subscribers if their own horse happens to be out of action,” says Phillippa White, secretary of the Grafton.
“We welcome visitors and try to offer them guidance if required, however generally they are briefed beforehand or sent out with somebody more experienced.”
Some packs may have a policy that newcomers and the less experienced should be accompanied. If you have two hunters, you may only be able to hire out one horse at a time and then ride alongside the hirer, to ensure you are responsible for their introduction to the hunting field.
When things go wrong
It is essential to establish what happens in an emergency and when your horse needs to be returned. When sending your horse off at the meet, make sure you have exchanged telephone numbers and have emergency contact details too.
Some people routinely insure their horses but the viability of that depends on the number of horses covered and the level of insurance required. Owners with one or two horses are generally considered more likely to insure for vet fees and permanent incapacity, while those with numerous horses can find the costs too high and are willing to accept the risks.
If taking out insurance, make sure insurance companies are aware you will be hiring out a horse to ensure this does not invalidate any future claims.
There are many types of insurance cover for businesses and proper advice should be sought with regards to individual requirements. However, it is vital that you have a significant level of third party liability cover, as is recommended to all horse owners.
Some hireling companies request that those hiring also have their own personal accident insurance cover while others require a waiver to be completed. These are usually to confirm that the rider accepts that hunting is a high-risk sport and effectively taking responsibility for their own actions.
Essential considerations 1. What time is reasonable for the horse to be returned?
Most hireling providers will want their horse returned by 2.30pm or within an hour after second horses.
2. How much can I charge?
In the region of £200-250 for a half-day is the going rate, with some additional charges for fuel depending on distances. Some can also provide second horses at a full-day rate of £375-£400. In addition, the hirer will need to pay their cap to the hunt so must be aware of that.
3. How often can my horse go out?
A fit hunter should be able to manage five days a fortnight, depending on each day’s strenuosity. This should be assessed on an individual basis.
This article was first published in Horse & Hound magazine (23 October 2014)
Finding yourself the perfect hunter can make or break your season — and determine how much of your hip flask needs to be consumed before you jump anything.
But with so many hunters for sale, knowing how to sort the wheat from the chaff can be difficult. So what should you be looking for?
H&H’s hunting editor Polly Portwin says: “The key is to be realistic about your riding ability and then to buy a horse suitable for your own standards.
“Don’t go buying a green four-year-old straight off the boat from Ireland if you don’t have the time or the knowledge to make it into a suitable hunter.
“For those who are not quite the riders they once were, there is no shame in admitting that the time has come to rely on a saintly schoolmaster that will try to keep even a wobbly passenger in the saddle and continuously forgive those that have to hang on over a fence!
“As with buying any horse, soundness and conformation are key, and in particular try to ensure the horse at least has good feet — there is nothing more irritating than going across the first muddy field to find your horse has pulled a shoe.”
7 dream hunters for sale
1. ‘Will go side saddle or astride’ Height: 16.3hh Age: 8 Sex: gelding Price: £6,000 Selling points? This gelding has been brought on slowly, hunted all last year and is now fit and autumn hunting. He has three good paces, impressive conformation, is light and responsive, a good doer and is great to hack alone or in company. He has a lovely temperament with many admirers and will go side saddle or astride. View the advert
2. ‘Would easily carry a gent across the biggest country’ Height: 16.2hh Age: 9 Sex: gelding Price: £15,000 ONO Selling points? This gelding is a lovely, upstanding horse who would easily carry a gent across the biggest country. He has regularly hunted with the Middleton, Quorn and Cottesmore and is very brave and careful to gates, rails, the biggest hedges and dykes. He stands at the meet and is good with hounds. View the advert
3. ‘Super safe and unflappable‘ Height: 15.3hh Age: 6 Sex: gelding Price: £5,500 Selling points? Super safe and unflappable, a genuine nice guy, easy to do in every respect and a pleasure to own. He is a fantastic hunter, would take a novice rider and will have a go at anything. He will stand all day long and is never strong or silly. View the advert
4. ‘A stay out all day horse’ Height: 16.1hh Age: 10 Sex: mare Price: £4,100 Selling points? This mare is a true old-fashioned stamp. She is straight forward, never kicks and is never lame — she’s a tough as old boots girl. She’s done a bit of everything and has a very willing, kind and generous nature. She’ll go first or last and is not fizzy, but she’s forward thinking. A stay out all day horse. View the advert
5. ‘Mannerly and very brave’ Height: 16.2hh Age: 9 Sex: mare Price: £7,000 Selling points? This grade B showjumper has hunted with the Bedale, proving to be mannerly and very brave — she’ll cross the biggest country. View the advert
6. ‘Tez’s forte is hunting’ Height: 12.2hh Age: 11 Sex: gelding Price: £1,850 Selling points? Tez’s forte is hunting, hacking and pleasure rides; both on and off the lead rein. He would suit a family that wants to do all of these things. He has a very smooth canter to teach a beginner and has taken our daughter from being on the lead rein out hunting to jumping hedges on her own. View the advert
7. ‘A safe and sensible hunter’ Height: 16.2hh Age: 6 Sex: gelding Price: £5,000 Selling points? This gelding is a safe and sensible hunter/all-rounder. He’s currently hunting hounds, but is equally happy to be ridden in the hunting field. He has the attitude and ability to excel in any sphere. Good to do in all ways. View the advert
NB: Horse & Hound has not checked the accuracy of the claims made in these adverts and cannot be held liable if the information included above is inaccurate in any way
Have you picked up a copy of this week’s special hunting issue of Horse & Hound magazine yet (23 October 2014)? It includes our full hunting directory, a look at the cost of keeping a hunter as well as traditional and modern hunting gear
An anti-hunt campaigner has been found guilty of assaulting and harassing a hunt’s countryman after she witnessed him shooting a fox in January.
Judith Hewitt, 67, from North Wales, reportedly became “absolutely hysterical” and started hitting Robert Smith on the back after he legally killed the fox in his role as a licensed vermin control officer.
Llandudno Court heard last Friday (24 October) how Hewitt, who denied the charges, had recorded the confrontation and put an edited version of the incident on YouTube.
Mr Smith, who has been a countryman for seven years, told the court he had been controlling a fox that was harming pheasants on the Plas Newydd estate at Trefnant on 28 January.
“I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. She ran up the bank and was screaming and shouting, calling us devils and tried to take the fox off me.”
A separate harassment charge alleged she trespassed on land and obstructed Mr Smith as he went about his work, posted offensive items on the internet and allowed offensive material to remain on websites.
The judge found her guilty of both charges against her and she has been bailed for a pre-sentence report.
Hewitt’s QC John Cooper has objected to a restraining order sought by the prosecution banning her from private land in Denbighshire during meets of the Flint and Denbigh Hunt.
Tim Bonner from the Countryside Alliance said: “Robert Smith was undertaking important, and completely legal, wildlife management work for the landowner.
“It is outrageous that he should have been harassed by Ms Hewitt in this way while going about his job.
“This case shows how important it is that hunts take action over harassment from activists.
“If hunts help themselves by collecting evidence and are willing to make a statement we can support their complaints.”
More than 120 people, including many children, attended the inaugural opening meet of the newly formed Woolaston Bassets last week (Saturday 25 October) at the Old Rectory in Woolaston, Glos.
The pack’s 3½ couple of drafted basset hounds were hunted by joint-master Norman Matthews following the official opening by hunt president Diana Bown, a former master of foxhounds (MFH).
Hannah Matthews, Norman’s wife and joint-master, told H&H: “It has taken over 12 months to get here. We had to become registered with the MBHA [Masters of Basset Hounds Association] and draft hounds from various packs, however today has made it all worthwhile.”
Hannah continued: “Having been in hunt service, Norman now wants to share his knowledge and encourage the younger followers by teaching them how to whip-in and hunt hounds.”
The Woolaston Bassets are one of only two newly formed packs of hounds this season, the other being the Moorlands foxhounds in Derbyshire, which was formed following the disbandment of the Staffordshire Moorland at the end of the 2013-14 season.
Including the newly-formed Wollaston Bassets, there are now eight UK packs registered to the MBHA plus a further two member packs in the USA.
Basset hounds, which are scent hounds, are known for being slow and methodical movers. This enables the hunt staff and their followers — who are on foot rather than on horseback — to keep in contact with the hounds and watch them work.
Traditionally, basset hounds were bred to hunt rabbits and hare and their sense of smell for tracking is second only to that of the bloodhound. They are usually bi-coloured or tri-coloured, and easily identifiable by their short legs.
Following the implementation of the Hunting Act 2004, basset hound packs operate within the confines of the law by following the trail of an artificial scent or by one of the other means of exempt hunting.
This news story was first published in Horse & Hound magazine (30 October 2014).
