Barbury 28th October 2007
Suddenly,
surprisingly, we were allowed to hunt a line again as FMD restrictions were
lifted. Many thanks to the Bunters for having us at Barbury at such short notice
– the scheduled meet at Milton Lilbourne could not be prepared in time as we had
all thought that hunting would be on hold until mid November at the earliest.
Biosecurity measures were in place in deference to the decimation
by FMD in the
2000 outbreak here.
What promised to be a thoroughly nasty wet day turned into a dry, if windy one for the period we were on horses. Horizontal, soaking fine stuff came down as we went in for tea. We were lucky! Those who failed to turn out for this, our only pre season meet, missed a super day. New horses, reschooled horses and hounds all performed well and some newcomers declared that it was both awesome and addictive!
Line 1 may have
been a bit of a “buggers' muddle” (forgive the Somerset!). Penny thought that
the scenic route to the start of the line would be nice but hounds were so keen
and certain that they knew where they were going that they took off without
questioning their noses. OK, ¼ mile, no scent, they cast about and we retrieved
them! To be fair, Penny was the only one mounted who knew where we should be
going and she was otherwise engaged managing airs above the ground! A fellow
joint master had already tested the softness of Barbury turf as a result of
equine over exuberance! Gently increasing height of big timber on perfect grass
was a wonderful way to start. There was a long hack to the
start of line 2,
order restored and cobwebs blown away, literally and metaphorically! This line
had bigger jumps (including a new, attractive forked bough that gave several
choices of height) and took in the only steep uphill climb – an indication of
fitness for the coming season. Another hack, this time along the sky line,
giving a superb view of the estate and the event site, took us to the start of
line 3. More nice fences on perfect going. Jeff Hobby, grounded by a show
jumping fall, gave us all a flash of the damage… maybe the bruising benefited
from cooling in the wind!
Here's to this season's Hunting