David Seymour
Big Future for Hunting
David Seymour
David Seymour spent most of his career on Fleet Street, principally on the Daily Mirror where he was Group Political Editor for a decade. He also worked on the Daily Mail and Today. He appeared regularly on radio and television, and has lectured on journalism at a variety of universities and training schemes.
Since leaving the Mirror Group he has combined journalism with media and political consultancy. The day after leaving the Mirror, the main anti-hunting newspaper, he hunted for the first time, which was immortalised on the cover of Horse and Hound. Shortly afterwards he became a Board Member of the Countryside Alliance. He has chaired CA meetings at party political conferences and wrote the Alliance's Rural Manifesto before the last election. He is a governor of Hartpury college.
The ban was supposed to put an end to hunting with hounds. Instead it has been a terrific boost for the sport, with hunts growing in size and even more followers as the people of the countryside unite to show the tyrants in Westminster that they will not be downtrodden and defeated.
Most encouraging of all, to my mind, has been the growing number of children and young people who have begun hunting, and who now form a significant part of many meets. There is nothing new to youngsters going out, of course. Long before Siegfried Sassoon lovingly chronicled his early pre-First World War adventures in the field in Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man, it had been an eagerly-anticipated rite of passage for countless children.
Today there is a remarkable variety of young riders who take to hunting. Some don’t start until they are in their teens while others begin well before then. As one mother said to me at a recent meet of the North Cotswolds: “There’s nothing to stop them going out as soon as they can gallop across a field.”
They come from different social backgrounds, too. They are not the offspring of the landed aristocracy that opponents of hunting like to portray us as.
This increase in the involvement by young people is encouraging not just because it is fantastic to see them out and so obviously enjoying themselves. These youthful entrants to the hunting field are going to be the life blood of the sport for a long time to come.
My daughter Clem started hunting with the North Cotswolds when she was 13. Even though going out for her is a treat rather than a regular occurrence, her conversation is dominated by what she did the last time, and when she will be going out again.
Her reasons for enjoying it so much are typical of how young people feel: “It’s a great way to catch up with friends - laughing and joking as you gallop over the countryside,” she told me. “The jumps are sometimes challenging but the range is fantastic.
“I think there is nothing better than enjoying something with the horse you love and your friends, too. It’s also nice that hunting has been around for a long time and now it is our turn to keep people loving the sport.”
Clem’s friend Henrietta Trevelyan has been hunting since she was nine. She says: “It’s a great way to keep your pony fit and something you can enjoy together. It is also the best way to keep the old tradition alive.”
I have always thought that the fanatics who forced through the ban in the most disgraceful abuse of Parliament I witnessed in 30 years of working around Westminster believed that whatever the immediate impact on hunting (and some were foolish enough to think it would stop completely overnight) the sport would eventually die out because there would be no new recruits willing to take up an outlawed activity. Stupid people.
The ban has not only fired up parents to encourage their children to hunt, but it has made many youngsters determined to go out. And once they start, of course, they are hooked.
Many unkind things are said about today’s young people. They are supposed to be inconsiderate, lazy and unappreciative, if you read certain newspapers. Personally, I think most of them are much better than we were at their age. The way they have taken to hunting I think shows I am right.
Their appreciation of the sport is no different from that of adults. They love not just the riding but the comradeship, the enjoyment of the countryside, the excitement and the challenge. As the quotes from Clem and Henrietta show, they also understand the importance of the tradition – something young people are not usually supposed to consider.
For a while I did wonder whether some of the youngsters who had taken up hunting were doing it out of a spirit of rebellion against an unjust law, but I haven’t found anyone who felt that. The spirit of uniting to protect and preserve an ancient countryside activity is very different and very positive.
Hunting has always been a crucial part of maintaining rural communities and the ban was symbolic of politicians turning their backs on the countryside. They closed schools, hospitals, post offices, bus services - and then they tried to shut down rural pursuits, too.
Even though those other centres where country people could meet have gone, hunting has continued to provide a focus for communities and young people realise that. Where in cities - or elsewhere in rural areas - do you get hundreds of people turning up as you do at a meet, to chat, meet friends and enjoy a sandwich, piece of cake and a drink?
It is exciting enough for adults, even those who have been doing it all their lives. But for a young person, the thrill of actually being mounted and about to set off behind the hounds can have no equal. What a grown-up feeling it is, especially when they are offered a small glass of port. Most decline (though a few do take a warming sip) but just being offered it makes them feel equal with those older riders towering above them in their pink jackets.
Hunting teaches them some crucial lessons. The importance of good turn-out of themselves and their horses is a valuable lesson that will stand them in good stead in other areas of their lives. In an era when too many people - of all ages - “dress down”, there is no lowering of standards on the hunting field, even for the smallest child. That is as it should be and always must be.
These young people who have come into hunting are not just the lifeblood which will ensure its continuation for many decades. Hopefully their children and grandchildren will be encouraged to take it up, too, ensuring that hunting will thrive into the 22nd century. Now there’s a thought.David Seymour