Blackmore & Sparkford Vale Hunt, Four Foot Farm, Hornblotton

HIT REPORT : Saturday 12th Jan 2019
BSV Hunt 
MEET : Four Foot Farm, Hornblotton

Today’s meet backs onto Park wood where it is known foxes frequent and unsurprisingly the hunt headed straight there. Mark “Lugz” Doggrell began casting the hounds through here desperately trying to pick up on that elusive trail of theirs, and before long the hounds went into cry. The hounds crossed the A30 and went into Fosse Wood beside the A30. This is a very dangerous and fast moving road and Sabs were once again left wondering why lay a trail would be laid in such a dangerous place.
We drove along the road leading to Hornblotton Green and it was absolute chaos, so many people out desperate to see a fox ripped apart !

The terrier thugs were parked down the track leading to Orchard Park Farm whilst the hounds were searching a copse by Mendip Farm. The hounds crossed the road as the headed East towards Home Covert with the terrier thugs in hot pursuit. The hounds went into cry in Home Covert so two teams went in on foot keeping them in a classic pincer movement. One team went in at the church, a fox was seen away to safety through the church grounds. The other foot team went in by the old Rectory – Ben Harris decided to follow the 2 female Sabs who went in at the old Rectory and film them at close proximity. As per usual the claims of “your not on a footpath” soon ensued – Ben really needs to consult an OS map !! Both foot Sab teams soon made the surrounding areas safer for the foxes.

From here the hunt moved north West possibly to Wake’s Covert. We soon caught back up with them as the huntsman took the hounds back in to Home Covert again via a track North of Brue Farm. The hound van, driven by the Whipper In’s wife was waiting in the church grounds for a change of horses. She thanked us for the live videos and other footage we put up saying that it was the only chance she now gets to see hunting. When asked if she would like to put a donation in our pot she quickly replied with a curt “F@ck off”

Continuing East towards Clanvilles Manor so a foot tram went in at Ansford Bridge. The Landy went round to Sutton and the hounds were brought along to higher farm where they crossed at middle house and headed north. A foot team got out at Easton Trow Bridge and headed south to meet them at the farm where they were drawing hedgerows. The Sabs were on a footpath but terrier thug John Penfold was obstructing the gate – which clearly had a footpath sign on it. A Sab asked him to excuse her and he said “f@ck off”, after asking 3 times and no reasonable reply one Sab attempted to climb over the gate. Once on the gate John Penfold opened the gate and began shaking the gate violently to try and shake her off. Once safely through the gate these two sabs were then cantered at by the field and yet again accused of not being on a footpath.

The huntsman gathered the hounds and headed North back towards Eastern Trow Bridge. From the bridge they headed north west along eastern Trow lane. Ben Harris and his friends ( all 2 of them that had been called in for support ) followed Sabs again but only got half way across the field until the Sabs heard them say “it’s too muddy” and they turned around. The hounds ping ponged from Pincushion to a couple of fields in the Kilkenny Lane direction several times before picking up on the line of a fox at Way Close Path. This fox took them back to Pincushion in full cry. Sabs believed a fox had been marked to ground in a tiny copse and the arrival of two terrier thugs fuelled that suspicion. They tried to get a better vantage point but as they tried to get through the gate the field closed all the horses in around the gate to prevent entry. Sabs squeezed past and could see terrier men at the edge of the copse with the huntsman. The field began getting aggressive blocking the view with horses and telling Sabs they were not on the footpath. Sabs went back through the gate to the other side and hearing the hounds still marked to ground and no clear view into the copse one Sab jumped the barbed wire into the copse and ran in direction of hounds. The hounds were seen trying to enter a very dense thicket (video to follow) Sab filmed and set about calling off the hounds who were digging desperately trying to gain entry to the thicket. Mark Doggrell, seeing the sab present and witnessing began also calling the hounds off. One of the terrier thugs entered the copse along with one of the field masters wearing a red coat and began shouting abuse at the Sab and pushing and shoving her. A member of the field was filming from where the sab went into the copse and told sabs that she funded us. We will make this very clear – You DO NOT fund us, we work, if we didn’t we would be out every day with you …. We cant afford to take 4 days off work to keep your organised crime in check !!

After this incident the hunt headed back to the meet and packed up ! It is becoming ever more apparent that the field are aware when the hounds are onto a fox which with the BSV is every time they go into cry. The BSV make no attempt to lay a trail nor even look like they are trail hunting – dorset police need to take notice of this, the BSV are breaking the law four times week and the police are doing nothing about it !!

As ever thank you for your support, it is in fact you who keeps us out in the field and we really appreciate you all. We are faced with another big Landy repair bill so if you can spare a few quid please do.

If you want to join us please send us a PM or email to dorsethuntsabs@riseup.net