Thousands turn out to back foxhunting as Tory split reopens
Conservative MPs row over repeal of ban as traditional Boxing Day meets are held
SUPPORTERS of foxhunting turned out in their thousands yesterday as a new row erupted over the activity.
Nearly 300 traditional Boxing Day hunts took place around the country, with supporters cheering on huntsmen and women in towns and villages.
One of the biggest turnouts was at the meet of the Heythrop hunt in Oxfordshire, which attracted 6,000 supporters to Chipping Norton.
Vanessa Lambert, the hunt’s joint master, said: “The support we have from our local community is absolutely fantastic. Nothing beats riding into the square and seeing the thousands of people who have turned out to see us. This is the day when we get to thank them for their continuing support.”
Peter Morritt, general secretary for the Quorn Hunt in Leicestershire, said there were 200 riders and 3,000 people who came to support the 300-yearold hunt. He said: “It was tremendous. We are very much part of the Leicestershire rural community and we have tremendous support from not only the farming community but everyone.”
In the village of Elham the East Kent Hunt was met by a small but noisy contingent of “antis”. There were similar scenes in Ludlow, Shropshire; Blandford Forum, Dorset; and Matching Green, Essex. There were also angry confrontations in Lewes, East Sussex, where a handful of police officers had to keep the peace after one woman held up a poster reading “Only scum kill for fun”.
The show of defiance by hunt supporters came as the issue threatened to reopen bitter divisions within the Conservative Party.
Tracey Crouch, the sports minister, condemned the activity as a “pursuit from the past” that should be “consigned to history”.
She said that Parliament had “better things to be concerned with” than fulfilling her own government’s pledge to hold a vote on repealing the Hunting Act. But her comments prompted an angry response from others in the party, with fellow minister Sir Gerald Howarth saying he did not want to be lectured on the issue.
Sir Gerald, the minister for international security strategy, who was himself attending a hunt close to his Aldershot constituency, said Ms Crouch had been wrong to express her anti-hunting views on Boxing Day.
He told The Sunday Telegraph : “It was completely uncalled for. Many thousands of loyal Conservative are at hunt meetings today and we don’t need to be lectured by a minister who should keep her personal opinions to herself, particularly on a day when so many people are out demonstrating their support for the countryside.
“A quarter of a million people of all views, classes and conditions have come together on Boxing Day to celebrate what is a very traditional British activity.”
The stand-off came as a survey suggests more than 80 per cent of the public oppose legalising hunting with dogs again. The activity was banned in England and Wales in leglislation that came into force in 2005.
combines so many of the things that make life worth living: the matchless beauty of our countryside; the camaraderie of shared danger; the glamour of a mobile cocktail party; the spirit of a warehouse rave; the application of hard-won skills; the escapist joy of living purely in the moment; the thrill of the chase; dressing up in fabulous costumes; rampant sex and passionate affairs (well, apparently).
Of all these, what I’ve come to enjoy most is the relationship you have with your horse. I don’t come from a riding background; I used to dislike horsey people. Once you’ve been out hunting, though, you get it totally. Your survival – it’s quite a dangerous sport – depends almost entirely on the wildly unpredictable, almost uncontrollably powerful beast between your legs. The bond between you during the four or five hours of a hunt is so intense it’s like becoming one united creature: no longer human and horse; more like a centaur.
And the weird thing is, your horse is even more up for it than you are. Horses are herd animals and like nothing better than to hang out with a crowd of mates – especially if it involves galloping at reckless speeds and flying over hedges. When horses in a field see a hunt go past or even hear a horn or the “music” of the hounds, they go almost insane with excitement.
The people who want to ban hunting – including celebrities such as Ricky Gervais – claim to be animal lovers. But in my experience, the people who love animals best – because they understand them so deeply – are the ones involved in hunting: the kennel man who cares for the pack of 40 hounds (never “dogs”); the huntsman who can think like both fox and hound and can marshal his pack like a battle fleet; the terrier men on their quad bikes; the riders and their cherished mounts.
Children: I haven’t yet mentioned them but I must for they are one of hunting’s greatest joys. Rosy-cheeked pony clubbers in ties and hacking jackets, vying, fence for fence with the adults. There’s no other activity on earth where children and adults can compete and bond on equal terms – same hardships, same risks, same buzz. Truly it’s a pleasure to watch.
Then, of course, there’s the fox. It’s a complete misconception that hunting people hate foxes, let alone that they take pleasure when – only by accident, of course, these days – the fox gets despatched by the hounds.
Charlie (as he’s known) may be a pest and a villain but he’s also the hero. The fox that meets his maker after a 10-mile point (not that this happens these days; we can but dream) will live forever in the hunting hall of fame. (Which is more than can be said for the many thousands of foxes who die each year in the slower, more “natural” way of disease and starvation.)
If, on occasion – whoops! – the hounds do chase a fox, things get rather exciting. When you learn to ride there are all sorts of sensible rules about safety you follow: don’t jump when it’s too muddy or hard; don’t gallop round tight bends. But following fast-moving hounds gives you licence to ignore them all.
Afterwards, it feels a bit like it must do when you’ve survived a battle. Everyone’s amazed to be in one piece; you feel an extraordinary bond with those who have shared the experience. People who were strangers an hour before now feel like your oldest, most intimate friends.
Hunting has a reputation for exclusivity. But it’s really not the case: you can do it too, if you want. Admittedly the horse hire and the kit and the “cap” don’t come cheap but what I mean is it’s not necessary to be the world’s greatest rider (I’m not) or even to be able to jump (there are always gates). The only things you do need are an appetite for speed and a steady nerve (though the booze does help) and a love of life. Perhaps you’ve left it a bit late to be ready for the hunt on New Year’s Day. But Boxing Day 2016 – why not? You’re not getting any younger…
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