Today we paid a visit to the Tedworth Hunt with friends from Southampton and Dorset.
There was an unusually large mounted field gathered at the meet, presumably because it’s the last Saturday before Christmas. Initially they gave us the run around, often doubling back on where they had already been and seemingly doing very little hunting. We managed to stay close to the hunt and for the first time in recent years actually saw them trail hunting!
This didn’t last though, as most of the younger members of the field left between 1 and 2pm the huntsman did revert to hunting of the traditional variety. Foot sabs lost the hunt for a short while around 3pm but happened to stumble across a pheasant shoot. Unfortunately we were too late for some of the poor birds blasted out of the sky for the entertainment of these rich muppets but the shooters broke their guns when we rocked up. After some debate and a short stand-off the shooters got the message, packing up and leaving!
By now the light was fading and we were a while away from any roads but the vehicles had since found and kept on the hunt. With word that hounds were in cry and a fox had been spotted fleeing a covert, our foot sabs were soon back on them after a bit of a jog and a lift in our trusty Land Rover. Unsuccessful in his pursuit, the huntsman gathered the hounds and was blowing for home once we arrived. As we followed them back to the meet we were treated to a beautiful winters sunset. A good end to a good day.
