Shooting Times & Country Magazine
Kennel Diary
With the opening meet on the horizon, the season proper is finally upon us, writes Harry Beeby
With our opening meet less than a week away, the start of another season is upon us. The structure of things brings a little order to the chaos. There seems to have been more prime ministers than I’ve had days hunting over the past month or so! With the dry summer and autumn there is still plenty of cattle out and this means getting the wire down and opening the country up so we can follow hounds across country is proving difficult.
The going too could be a problem unless we have a bit more rain. What little rain there has been has done nothing but make things very slippery, and the ground in front of a lot of fences, still poached from last season, is rock hard and not fit to be sending a horse into with much gusto. Fingers are firmly crossed for more rain and a drop in temperature by a good few degrees. Facing the prospect of the first few weeks of the season with the mercury tipping high double figures is not filling me with much joy it has to be said. Oh the woes of a huntsman.
This month, 30 October sees the first official British Hound Sports Association (BHSA) Trail Hunting Hound Trials. The recently formed BHSA is tasked with preserving, protecting and promoting the future of hounds and hunting. This hound trial is the body’s first big event aimed at promoting hound sports and showcasing the work of hounds and the skills required to hunt a trail to the wider public. Three packs will take part in the trials — the Crawley and Horsham, Cheshire Forest and East Essex. Each pack will be given an area of country near Bibury in Gloucestershire to lay and then hunt their trails.
The Beaufort’s Matt Ramsden MFH and VWH huntsman Philip Hague will be mounted judges, assessing the packs on accuracy, voice, drive and how well hounds cast. It will be very interesting to see how each pack adapts on the day and copes with the scenting conditions. Hound trials are very common in America and Europe but have not often been held Britain. Hounds are judged plentifully for conformation over the summer at hound shows but never on hunting ability. Hopefully they prove popular and become more widespread.
Most of the puppies have returned to kennels from their walkers and it has been
“The love and attention given to hound puppies across the country is first-rate”
wonderful to receive them back looking so well and full of beans. I am very lucky to have some excellent puppy walkers here at the Fernie, and what a superb job they have done with this season’s charges. As I have mentioned here before, puppy walking is not the easiest of undertakings.
It starts pleasantly enough with a small cuddly bundle turning up at your door, but that bundle soon grows into a lawn vandalising, shoe chewing, pantry raiding and, as happened this year, a rather expensive cartridge bag annihilating monster. The love and attention given to hound puppies across the country is first-rate, and makes the life of hunt staff so much easier as a result. Learning their names, wearing a collar, walking on a lead — all this is learnt while out at walk and takes a good amount of time and patience on the part of the puppy walkers, and should never be underestimated.
The puppies will soon start walking out with the pack, on couples at first to learn the ropes from the older hounds. Some only need a few days on the couples, some a bit longer but most usually get the idea fairly quickly. We’ll get opening meet out of the way first, though. I’m glad to say the bill for the cartridge bag hasn’t landed on my doormat yet.
Harry Beeby lives in Bedfordshire, is a keen huntsman and a dedicated conservationist with a passion for country sports.