I HUNTED for the first time with my home pack the Galway Blazers in 1952, and since then I have hunted hounds on foot and mounted. I penned my first hunting report for The Irish Field in 1982 and reported on hunting from most European countries, Australia, New Zealand and the USA.

The reason I mention this is because in the meantime I have seen so many changes and challenges to mounted hunting and how packs are adapting to this new environment. One significant challenge is that hunt clubs don’t own the playing pitch so it is an absolute privilege to be allowed to ride across a farmer’s work space where he earns his living.

Hunting in Ireland has never been so popular with about 100 mounted packs and 150 foot packs that have widespread support from the farming communities. Many farmers like following hunts as farming can be a solitary life, particularly if a man or woman is farming alone. One section of society dread winter but hunt followers could not care less about the weather forecast, with autumn hunting in full swing. Hunting is affordable for everyone because if you can’t afford a horse or pony you could borrow one, and if horses are not to your taste just get a pair of good boots and follow the foot packs as it is cheaper than joining a gym!

Changes in farminG

PRACTICES

For hunt administrators and hunt staff there are significant challenges particularly with the REPS system and the introduction of wire, often sheep wire topped by a couple of strands of electric fencing. Wire in itself is not a problem but hounds that come in contact with a live fence will often cower away and not hunt for the rest of the day. Hunt staff do the rounds early in the morning and help farmers turn them off but one fence can be missed which is often the culprit. I could never understand the EU ‘one solution fits all’ with the necessity of putting wire fencing each side of some of the finest walls in Galway. Could they not have thought of another way to compensate the farmer maybe for just maintaining walls. To minimise the impact of wire fencing many hunt packs have an on-going program of installing hunt fences with the permission of farmers. The Bray Harriers also have a farmers committee that advises the main hunt committee.

Motorways and

development

When I was a teenager I would hack horses to and from hunt meets, often 20 miles each way, and rarely meet a car. Now motorways criss-cross many hunt countries, with housing and commercial development particularly affecting packs that are close to towns and cities. With restricted country, packs can reduce the number of meets, have joint meets away, or amalgamate with a neighbouring pack which allows the possibility of putting on more meets in an enlarged country. Some packs even hunt a drag mid-week so they can skirt around developed areas and live on the weekend.

Running costs

It costs usually €100,000 and more to finance a hunt club but subscriptions only account for about 40% of the total which means that the rest has to be raised by fundraising events such as hunter trials, point-to-points, and social functions.

Attracting the

younger generation

With hunting so popular some packs are thriving and have to restrict the numbers hunting, while other packs are on a balance with members retiring, injured or not hunting for economic reasons, so there is a need to constantly attract new members. The Ballymacad Foxhounds host Newbie Hunt Days for people trying out hunting for the first time that have a jumping and non-jumping option. Side saddle hunting days have proved extremely popular, attracting overseas visitors with many hunter sales recorded as a spin-off, particularly to the UK, France and the USA. For the younger generation hunting teaches life skills like horsemanship, balance and recovery, courage, judgement, how to weigh up danger, the countryside, wildlife, handling animals and social skills. Many members come through children’s meets, schools, pony camp and pony club. Hunting is very much like the GAA, it is community based. Many children have walked puppies and see them later performing at a puppy show, and take a great interest in seeing their progress out hunting. The South County Harriers have a Junior Hunt section, and it was interesting to see juniors from the West Wicklow Hunt being given the responsibility of showing hounds at the National Hound Show, and they won a class.

Hunting Associations

Hunting associations need to add skilled resources in social media to communicate with members, the media and schools, and present a positive image of hunting to a population that is shifting from rural to urban. Emphasis also on the economic contribution that hunting makes to rural Ireland in employment, the purchasing of animal feed, bedding, veterinary, transport, insurance, and contribution to pubs, guest houses and hotels. The role that hunting makes to the breeding, production and sale of the much sought-after traditional Irish-bred hunter, an endangered species, and hunting’s role in the conservation of habitat, native Irish red deer and the Kerry beagle.

The Hunt Bursary is a positive initiative, training future hunt staff professionally by placements with knowledgeable packs. There is a need to educate new hunt staff and masters. An induction course in farming practices for followers not living in the country would also be welcome. Help them appreciate seeing hounds work and not just be out to count the number of fences they jumped. A solution has to be found to halt the proliferation of unregistered breakaway packs. It is putting pressure on available hunting country. The message is clear, hunts don’t own the playing pitch so the future is in their hands to pass onto the next generation.