Head over heels for rider at the hunt
A BOXING Day hunt came to a shocking halt when this horse and rider plunged into the ground head first after jumping a hedge.
The unnamed woman rider was said to have been injured after her mount apparently clipped the 8ft hedge, although her condition was not known last night.
The start of the hunt was attended by former Ukip leader Nigel Farage, who saw members of the Old Surrey Burstow and West Kent Hunt set off from Chiddingstone Castle, near Edenbridge in Kent.
Around 250 hunts are thought to have taken place yesterday as hundreds of demonstrators followed the traditional Boxing Day events to protest about the controversial sport. Police had to intervene at the
‘A huge part of the community’
Tredegar Farmers Hunt in Bassaleg, near Newport, Wales, when the riders and campaigners started arguing.
Anti-hunting protesters also attended the the Grove and Rufford Hunt in South Yorkshire, and a meeting at Elham, in Kent.
But at other meets, the hunt riders of tomorrow were on display – with some of their tiny ponies only slightly bigger than the hounds.
Henley Mills, four, was the star of the show in Hagley, Worcestershire, riding his pony Radish, also four, at the Albrighton and Woodland Hunt.
At the Essex Hunt meet outside The Chequers pub in Matching Green a boy was pictured proudly parading through the crowds while a hunt member accompanied a tweed-wearing youngster on his horse.
The hunt has met in the village, near Chelmsford, since the early 19th century. Some meets, such as the Heythrop Hunt in David Cameron’s home town of Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, reported a crowd of up to 6,000 people watching them ride off.
Joint-master Nessie Chanter said: ‘Every year we are humbled by the number of people that turn out – whatever the weather – to greet us in the square.’
Another large meet was that of the Duke of Beaufort’s hunt at Worcester Lodge, Did-marton in Gloucestershire. Matt Ramsden, joint-master, said: ‘We had a crowd of several thousand here again today to show their support for the Beaufort hounds.
‘Hunting is a huge part of the community with people from all walks of life coming to be a part of this very traditional day.’