Festive_Felicitations
Well-Known Member
you could also say I was Fieldmaster and the Field but more on that later...
2 reports in 1 again and no photos as its been too yucky...
July 29th: Was freezing. Proper winter bloody freezing! So to combat the cold I had three stirrup cups
In retrospect I should have asked what was in them first as I was decidedly drunk by the time I got on!
Landowners said there was a fox on the hill opposite the house that was enjoying their chickens so we started there and caught him! Great start to the day & much to the relief of their chickens!
Drew blank at the next few coverts and then hounds found and hunted well, at top speed for a good 5km (for some reason fox appeared to prefer the open country to any of the possible thicket/cover it passed) so we had a lovely long gallop before they checked by the end of which
B was rather puffed! Picked up the scent again and we passed back through the field where everyone was parked before hounds took off again!
Sadly my day ended here as B. had lost a shoe and he has such thin feet that he is instantly foot sore.
Following weekend (5th Aug) it was another freezing day that started with a stiff breeze and ended in a gale (severe weather warnings issued etc), for various reasons there were only 3 of us: huntsman, 1st whip and me! Which meant I got a very rapid promotion to 2nd whip!
We had a great day! Hounds hunted well though we lost touch with them a few times due to wire fences. By the time we'd hooked the top wire down and chucked a jacket on it to jump they were well away! It was a lovely experience being 'up there' and involved. And I now know what the whips are doingwhen they canter off in apparently random directions! Tp be honest I suspect I was awful at it - but it was fun!
B was absolutely super though! Jumped his first wire fences, 100% fine about having a lash dangled off him and flicked at hounds (can't crack it off him he is terrified of the sound & always has been God know what happened to him before we bought him!). Happily went off on his own etc and coped very sensibly with the extremely boggy bits of ground we had to cross.
Off out again tomorrow
2 reports in 1 again and no photos as its been too yucky...
July 29th: Was freezing. Proper winter bloody freezing! So to combat the cold I had three stirrup cups
In retrospect I should have asked what was in them first as I was decidedly drunk by the time I got on!Landowners said there was a fox on the hill opposite the house that was enjoying their chickens so we started there and caught him! Great start to the day & much to the relief of their chickens!
Drew blank at the next few coverts and then hounds found and hunted well, at top speed for a good 5km (for some reason fox appeared to prefer the open country to any of the possible thicket/cover it passed) so we had a lovely long gallop before they checked by the end of which
B was rather puffed! Picked up the scent again and we passed back through the field where everyone was parked before hounds took off again!
Sadly my day ended here as B. had lost a shoe and he has such thin feet that he is instantly foot sore.
Following weekend (5th Aug) it was another freezing day that started with a stiff breeze and ended in a gale (severe weather warnings issued etc), for various reasons there were only 3 of us: huntsman, 1st whip and me! Which meant I got a very rapid promotion to 2nd whip!
We had a great day! Hounds hunted well though we lost touch with them a few times due to wire fences. By the time we'd hooked the top wire down and chucked a jacket on it to jump they were well away! It was a lovely experience being 'up there' and involved. And I now know what the whips are doingwhen they canter off in apparently random directions! Tp be honest I suspect I was awful at it - but it was fun!
B was absolutely super though! Jumped his first wire fences, 100% fine about having a lash dangled off him and flicked at hounds (can't crack it off him he is terrified of the sound & always has been God know what happened to him before we bought him!). Happily went off on his own etc and coped very sensibly with the extremely boggy bits of ground we had to cross.
Off out again tomorrow
Last edited:
