Suzie Clemas-Howard
View a slideshow of the Tivyside - TMV | Tivyside April 2009
View the Tivyside April newsletter - Tivyside Newsletter April 2009| PDF
Hunting in the Welsh Mountains
Suzie with Bracken
The difficulty with writing this column in early summer is that very little of hunting interest appears to be happening at the moment. The hunt horses are out on grass and enjoying their freedom.
The weather has been kind to us so far, and looking out from the kennels over to the fields the scene is so evocative of what summer is all about. I can see the horses through a slight heat shimmer over the grass, grouped under the shade of the big Elm – oh, if only I could paint…
We have recently introduced six young hounds into kennels and they have been assimilated into the pack well enough. Rasper, the hound puppy we walked, started his apprenticeship by aiming to reduce our home to rubble by the time he was returned to kennels. I must say he achieved very nearly full marks for his practical.
Rasper
For all that he was destructive, loud, pushy and head-strong, when he went back to kennels he was missed terribly. He was initially returned back to a lodge with his siblings and fellow young entry who he immediately tried (and succeeded) to dominate. Now he’s living with the hunting pack, he is a little less bouncy but I can sympathise with the old hound that will be coupled with him when hound exercise starts. Hound exercise will be starting very shortly which, for me, will mark the real start of the hunting season.
Throughout the summer we have many social hunt events and one of the first items on our summer agenda was the Inter-hunt Relay at the Cothi Bridge Agricultural show. We had put our name forward to enter a team in the Relay with just a couple of weeks to go before the big day, but most of our male hunt members were away in London filming for the new Robin Hood move, together with a vast array of horses lent to those taking part.
So our first problem was to find a team, but in true Tivyside Hunt fashion some other members stepped up to the mark: Hannah Havard riding Captain, Georgie Davies on Charlie (her regular mount was filming in London), Helen Morris was on Bryn (a magnificent grey loaned from Hannah) while James Jeavons (kennel huntsman) was on Libby's mare Megan, as his mount Cassie was also in London filming.
Seven other teams had entered and we found out we had been drawn against the South Pembrokeshire in our first heat. I must say I don't remember much about the race other than our entire team put in some excellent performances.
Bryn (ridden by Helen) seemed to have something of a speed wobble on his back end as he turned into the jumps, but ably controlled, he took it all in his stride. Georgie rode like a demon, Hannah looked as if she were taking part in speed trials, and James gave an impressive display on Megan, and we won our heat. What a victory...I could have gone home happy after that.
Captain's rodeo skills
In the semi-final we were up against the Pembrokeshire who are a really tough, professional lot. We gave them a really good run for their money, but they just piped us. In a bizarre starting ritual, Captain had felt the need to show us all his rodeo skills at each start, before he tore off down the course (all credit to Hannah for hanging on!).
We were set against the West Wales Bloodhounds in a decider for third and fourth place which we won comfortably (yes, including the rodeo exhibitions). James managed a victory salute as he leapt through the bullfinch, the bloodhounds still having two laps to go.
The Pembrokeshire team went on to deservedly win the competition but I truly believe we had the most fun (we certainly had the loudest supporters). The team went just to enjoy themselves and finished knowing that they put in very brave and spirited performances with some outstanding horsemanship. Then it was time for rosettes and a victory lap. We are all very proud of their efforts, and look forward to having more fun summer evenings like this one.
We have barbecues to run, not to mention a barn dance, a fun ride over the Preseli Mountains, puppy shows, open days and a Grand Summer Draw to organise. It will be a relief when the season starts, and we can concentrate on hunting.
The rural cycle of the seasons outside the hunt continues to turn, with all hands on deck for the first of the silage crop. The roads seemingly packed with agricultural machinery from dawn to dusk - and quite often long after.
At this time of year we get the annual clash of cultures where car loads of tourists and holidaymakers appear on our roads, getting irate with the silage contractor whose tractor forms the head of an ever lengthening ‘tetchy snake’ along our narrow lanes. This scene is often reversed when the impatient silage baler is held up in a queue behind the tourist pulling a caravan. Whilst the contractors almost always pull over into a lay-by to let traffic go by, I have yet to see the same happen with a caravan?
Tourism has always played a big part in our local economy: we live no more that six miles away from a handful of beautiful sandy beaches, with the local population increasing tenfold during the school summer holidays. I know anyone living in Cornwall, or Devon, or any other holiday destination will understand what we all go through in the summer.
Our corner of Paradise
It must be said we do welcome everyone who wants to share our corner of paradise for a couple of summer weeks. Although the patience of the locals does wear thin at the number of near death experiences we have forced upon us, driving though our high-banked country lanes.
Perhaps it’s the lack of white lines down the middle of the roads that makes the oncoming tourists drive at speed down the middle of lane, with enough space between them and the verge for an overweight cob to ride through. The driver, maybe at their wits end at having to spend two weeks in the company of their family, expects you to take your vehicle up the bank to allow them to pass safely.
There are three skills that differentiate a country driver from a ‘townie’ and these skills are never taught, or found in any driving text book. The first is the ability to gauge the width of your vehicle down to half an inch. The second is an innate understanding of the location, and the distance back to the nearest passing space; and the third is the ability to reverse confidently into said passing space.
The peak of the tourist season is yet to come, but soon it will be September - when, not only do we get our roads back, but most importantly autumn hunting begins and the cycle of life seemingly returns.
Suzie Clemas-Howard