Matthew Higgs
Support for Beagles is Greater Than Ever
Matthew Higgs
The tiny violets studding the hedgerows at our meet last Saturday were a vivid reminder that the season is drawing to a close. It has been an interesting one, full of challenges but as enjoyable as ever, even if when slogging over some interminable piece of wet plough, it has not always felt like it.
A dryish autumn marked by slow growing crops gave way to the early cold weather and all its attendant problems. When the thaw came scent improved but only briefly and then deteriorated as the land dried up. February “fill dyke” has compensated for that and hounds are running - but they’re hard to live with.
We only lost one day to the weather and that was a surprise to those living in the east of our country where there was no snow. At the planned meet the surrounding roads were packed ice and it would not have been safe to hunt so we cancelled. I stole a day with the Stowe as a result but nearly regretted it as a blizzard meant I only just scraped home afterwards. Poor Philip Kennedy, the Stowe’s affable kennel huntsman returned to kennels to find several barrow loads of snow covering the yards, hardly what he would have wished for after a busy day. The Stowe have an admirably strong body of support from outside the school and there was no shortage of people willing to watch the roads on the day.
I have been lucky to steal days with all the school packs, the Eton College, the Radley College and the Stowe this season, as well as our Oxford counterpart the Christchurch and Farley Hill, and all have an enthusiastic following.
The latter have a particular challenge as their masters are often inexperienced when they take the hounds and find themselves on a steep learning curve. They rise to the challenge wonderfully and have a lot of fun while introducing many newcomers to the sport.
no experience that can beat having a go oneself
The Ampleforth College used to have a professional huntsman, to whom the boys whipped in, in the belief that they would learn more from observing him than hunting hounds themselves. It is an interesting point of debate, certainly they would have enjoyed more consistent sport and that must have had a value, but perhaps there is no experience that can beat having a go oneself.
As always I doubt there is a particular “right” answer but the hunting world certainly owes a great debt to those who are prepared to hunt with the “school packs” and pass their knowledge on sometimes under trying circumstances.
Eton College Beagles
I can remember when the great Nat Thornton was kennel huntsman at Stowe, watching a hunt on a tricky scent. Hounds managed to keep the thing going on their own for three almost identical circuits before eventually grinding to a halt. The young huntsman stood dumbfounded and quietly Nat sidled up to him and suggested that the earlier course of the hunt might hold some clue as to what to do next – if the general pattern had been right-handed so far - which way might the hare have gone now? The huntsman thought for a bit then purposefully struck off to the left, to no avail. Nat turned and rolled his eyes, his expression saying it all.
Wayne O’ Brien has settled in well in his first season as kennel huntsman at the Eton College Hunt and they are having a storming time enjoying days throughout the country. It will be no surprise to those who know Wayne that the Eton boys now sing and the journeys to and fro from hunting are much enlivened.
We saw the Radley from their meet at the Belvoir Hunt kennels, the first time anyone can remember beagles hunting as close to the Castle as this. The boys and their smart pack made a brave show in front of the Huntsman’s House and there was a good crowd to greet them including a mounted contingent from the Belvoir Pony Club. There is much to recommend this, always providing the farmers are happy with it. Too often children can be over-faced by a day with the beagles getting left behind after an initial wild burst so allowing them out on ponies seems a good idea. Again a day with the beagles perhaps gives them an opportunity to see some hound work close up- the foxhounds might not. There is, of course, the potential risk to conventional beaglers from the stampede but happily on this occasion there were no casualties.
valuable experience for later life
Those of us lucky enough to have hunted at school or college with our own hounds will know how valuable the experience can be in later life and the incomparable memories it can afford. Away from the hunting field the experience of organising meets and dealing with problems and people has a huge value in itself. We are lucky that the various school authorities continue to recognise this and support packs which perhaps might have thought to have been particular casualties of the times we are in. The hunting world owes them a great debt and should congratulate them.Matthew Higgs