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.