Harry Stephenson
The season is in full swing now and I expect many huntsmen will be as frustrated as I have been by the lack of decent scenting days. Many a day the trail layer has just set off and hounds are laid on only to find they turn to look at you as if to say what do you expect us to do with that!
We have managed one or two good days but November always has been a difficult month, and we can only hope things will improve. The frost and snow have made things interesting this month. We haven’t lost a day yet, although we had to cut a day short due to the fog. I’ll have a go in most conditions but when I can’t see my hounds trotting along in front of me because of the eerie gloom I have to say enough.
The other day my kennel huntsman and I arrived at the meet with hounds to find everyone dressed for hunting but without their horses. Admittedly, there was a fair bit of snow and ice about and people were reluctant to unbox their horses. I politely told them we were going and to hurry up and get mounted. We had a reasonable day too, finishing in the dusk. Where I came from at The Bilsdale it wouldn’t have entered my mind to cancel, but then the folk up in the hills are a hardy lot! (or do I mean
foolhardy?)
Master and Huntsman Harry Stephenson with the York & Ainsty South
Everyone asks me if I have seen much difference in the hounds. The Bilsdale were modern English foxhounds with a touch of fell blood, and they could really operate. On a good scenting day you couldn’t stay with them, but it didn’t matter up there because they couldn’t really get into much (serious) trouble. (I can say that now because I have left!)
The York and Ainsty South are pure bred Old English, and I must admit I love them. Yes, they can be a bit sulky and sullen but to be honest I haven’t really seen much of that. They are easier to stay with in a trappy country, and when there is even the smallest amount of scent they keep on going. These hounds are very responsive, but it isn’t the type of hound that matters so much, it is the way they are handled.
The modern hound will forgive being messed about more readily than the old English, so I try not to mess them about at all. If there is no scent, it is pointless galloping a pack of old English hounds about to various points because pretty soon they will switch off and say sod you. The modern English will also say sod you - but will forgive much more quickly.
The country here is very different. Some will think why on earth leave an unspoilt wide open hill country to come to a tight trappy country with main roads and railways in abundance. The answer is I grew up here. I hunted with this pack as a boy when James Bloor was Master and Huntsman, and I fell in love with the Old English hounds.
I whipped in here before going as Master and Huntsman to the Bilsdale. And I like terra firma: that is - not wondering if in the next stride my horse will sink up to its neck in a bog, as is prone to happen on the North York moors!
This country is not as commercially shot as The Bilsdale, although there is certainly a lot of shooting. One thing I have noticed is that to organise a day’s hunting in Bilsdale four or five phone calls would often do it, because there were several massive estates and we could usually stay on two of them for the day. Here I have 30 or so different calls to make for each day, but all our farmers here at The York South are fantastic, especially when you think how wet the Vale of York is this season.
Boxing Day is fast approaching. Every one who hunts should make the effort to be out mounted and looking immaculate on this special day. Everyone, whether mounted or on foot, should make sure the professional hunt staff get an envelope with something in it, and I don’t mean a recipe for mince pies! It is a day when you can all say thank you to the staff, many of them unseen, grooms, kennel men, countrymen etc.
You don’t need to give the Masters anything, but a thank you is always appreciated. Nobody except a Master knows the amount of organisation that goes into every day’s hunting, and the responsibility that goes with it, especially in these difficult times.
I hope you all have a great Christmas, lots to eat and drink, and most importantly, some great hunting.
Harry Stephenson