We’re not proud of all our heritage

Regarding Nigel Thornton# s article on P26 last week. I am not a fox hunter, I have rode a horse but that’s about it. You emphasise “protecting our heritage” as a plus for the pursuance of fox hunting’s majestic image. I agree, our British heritage is arguably very worthy of protection. However, what elements of our heritage are we proud of and what elements do we brush under the table? Some would argue that fox hunting is a “sport”, others would totally disagree. I tend to agree with the latter. The definition of sport to the layman is, an ability to compete with other human beings toward achieving a common target objective that wins! Does the activity of fox hunting achieve this? With whom are the gentlemen and ladies competing with? The fox; the dogs; the environment? Difficult to decide this. But I can only see one result – the live fox loses against overwhelming competition. I fully appreciate that riding horses as a group presents an ideal social networking opportunity and a sense of environmental appreciation for our fantastic countryside, plus - the dogs get plenty of exercise. The aristocrats of our UK society promote tradition and heritage, I welcome this, however, The Birch and the Guillotine are no longer used! I say, keep tradition, keep heritage but move on with modern thinking and adapt to the views of the general UK populace, not the elitist and powerful Etonian club members desire for “no change”. Maybe its time the participants in this countryside activity invested some of their wealth and time in “technology and humanist thought”. Let’s invent a “fox scent” that is distributed on a route throughout the grounds prior to the hunt with a rag fox at the end! Mind you, the dogs wouldn’t be happy to savage a fluffy lifeless imitation Fox at the end , or would they?