Follow that hunt!
Saturday, December 29th, 2007
First blog post for a while now, on here as much as my development blog. Today however, I went to follow the Essex & Suffolk Hunt.
Having never seen fox hunting for real, I was a little unsure of what to expect. On arriving at the meeting place, it was a magical sight; so many beautiful horses, all neatly clipped and looking their best, all the riders in their hunting gear were also looking very smart.
Upon finding Livi and Lucinda amongst the other riders I was dragged right into the experience as I was requested to go round into the field in which the horses were gathering to help Livi by adjusting the length of her stirrups. Not a greatly involving or difficult process, but one which left me among all of the horses.
The girls moved their horses over towards the back-end of the crowd, giving them a little more room to run some of the excitement from the horses. I was snapping pictures left, right and centre on both my phone and Paul’s – whilst enjoying a tasty glass of port that was handed out by a kind old gentleman.
Eventually the riders were ready to set off, which looked amazing as they left the field at the lower end and then proceeded to take another climb up and into open land. I’m sure I could see Livi on the climb and felt so proud to see her doing so among the leaders!
The following of the hunt took a bit of a turn for the worse at this point as we couldn’t actually catch sight of them from the road, despite Paul’s best efforts of navigating the vicinity.
Eventually we met up with another follower that Paul knew and who successfully managed to guide us towards the hunt. At this point we seen a larger Police presence, as it seemed that the anti-hunt protesters/saboteurs were out in force.
The hunt was not stopped however, and carried on with another scent.
We retired from the following not long after this, although managed to meet up with Livi and the others before doing so.
With any luck I will get to join Livi and Kerry for another hunt sometime in the New Year, this time I should hopefully be able to join Pete, Kerry’s boyfriend, and follow with him. This will allow me to kill 2 birds with 1 stone so to speak. Not only will we be following the hunt, but Pete is a game keeper and should be able to inform me about the whole shooting scene, one which I am eager to get into as my interest in country pursuits increases.
Livi, on Peggy, enjoying her Port
The master and the hounds, and of course more Port being drunk!
As Kerry and Livi pose, Mickey and Peggy seem unimpressed.
It was such a lovely day weather wise, bright sunshine and very cold too.
One of the Masters of the Hounds
A few of the anti-hunt saboteurs, following the Master
The local police; making sure everything is legal with the hunt, and ensuring that the saboteur’s presence doesn’t cause tempers to flair on both sides.
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