I'm a horse lover and I've been hunting with hounds - only once to give myself and my mount the experience and to be honest I didn't quite know what to expect so went with an open mind.  This is what it was like for me.
I had a five and a half year old horse - keen as mustard and green as grass.
We galloped up tarred roads.  Whey hey! this is fun - look at all the sparks flying! (lets count the swollen hocks and shin splints when we get back)   Two choices - keep up or end up in the middle of no where not having a clue where you are or how to get home :(  Jump fences with exposed rusted barbed wire :(
The fox went down a hole!  damn.  Well that's sport you win some you lose some.  Oh no it's not over yet! here's a bloke with a shovel and some little terrier things to dig him out to be killed.  Only the sick and diseased foxes?  I don't think so :rolleyes:
Never again!
If that's the regard they have for their horses then they can shove it.  I'm glad it's banned.  Spent ages with a hosepipe on my horses legs trying to minimise any damage done when I got home.

strange - I've followed before and never seen this? did you not follow on foot beforehand to see if that was what you wanted to do?

and from what i understand some farmers insist on the fox being dug out as part of the agreement?

Edit - with my local hunt you do not have to jump anything. There are always people who don't jump.

You mean you're a horse lover & you deliberately galloped your horse over tarmac & jumped exposed barbed wire.... just so you wouldn't get lost......

That's what it says.

No I've never had the interest to follow on foot.  I just wanted to ride with them.

You didn't go and pre-check what you would be doing on your horse before you went??! Thats asking for trouble. I wouldn't even hack anywhere new without checking the route first.

You live and learn ChloeH.  I was fifteen and went with a friend and that experience put me off for life :(

you can follow & not follow exactley you know. id never have put my horse at risk like that

fair enough - at 15 you are less likely to ask folk around and just go with what everyone else is doing.

oh come on,i dont believe shes actually gone at all!!!!

to be honest, I'd rather hear Lara's opinion than that of an anti-hunt person who uses emotive language based on no experience at all!

Well said Chloe

i think there IS a choice to wether you gallop up a road or not!!!!!
the hunt staff dont want to be replacing their hunters each year so dont want to knacker their legs do they?

re digging out,its also better to dig out an exhausted /injured fox & to put it out of its misery than to let it suffer down the hole for days

Give over - of course it wouldn't have suffered down a hole for days.  It would have crept out as soon as the coast was clear and probably that night :rolleyes:

you know that from your one hunting experince do you???

No I know that from logic :)  An animals instinct is to survive :)

maybe you were the girl next to me at the meet ,who when offered a sausage roll said "no thanks im a veggie!"

the youngsters around here are totally looked after by the hunt staff & regulars

im feeling abit calmer now! sorry!
ive only hunted for the riding too,& to socailise with the people that organise alot of the local shows/events & social events .

at our hunts you would have been totally b*******d for galloping up a road,so maybe you picked the wrong pack???

It's ok no offence taken.  I know I was stupid and if I'd had a bit more about me then - I wouldn't have done it.  If I'd known beforehand the way they rode I wouldn't have gone :)

my mare Hallie was really embarressing,not only would she want to over take the field & the master but also the hounds!!!!!!

anyway i used to just wander about by myself,watching & keeping out of the way ,unless it was going toward a good bit.
our local hunt never really catches much anyway,too busy chatting & passing the hip flask around! however its their way of life,i havent been out for years & years but im really sad for them,
theres whole villiages here that are going to come to a standstill. pubs & resteraunts that literally all their customers work for the various hunts,
farriers that shoe 100s of hunters,will their charges now be rising to try to keep going?

I think the number of people who have ever seen a fox ripped to pieces would be in the minority Snoopy, thats the Huntsmans job, not the followers.

Mind thats not what LACS would lead you to believe.

People are worried about what will happen to the hounds and horses if fox hunting is banned. (A good job to if it is). But have any of you asked yourselves what do the hounds do and the horses when the season is closed ie the fox hunting season is between 1st November and 1st May and Cub hunting is august to October. So, hounds and horses must have something to do in the months that they are not used. They can carry on doing whatever all year if not employed for the use that they were originally bred for.

I think I am right in saying they do very little during the closed season.  The horses are generally turned away to stretch their legs, chill out and be horses.  The hounds spend the summer being exercised to maintain a basic level of fitness, and lolling around the kennels, lying in the sun - doing the same sorts of things you average pet dog might do during the summer - only with lots of buddies!........  I am sure somebody else will be along to correct me if I'm wrong..

BUT - they still need a human being to care for them - and this human, at present is paid for by the hunt subscriptions - who would fund that if there was no hunting....

You are spot on digger that is exactly what happens to them.

This idyllic life style is paid for by Hunt Subscriptions, so no Hunt, no subscriptions, no subscriptions, no horses!!!!

& not only enemployed but also homeless hunt staff!

Well I can't answer your question either Trevor, as a hunt supporter who follows the hunt on foot I am not responsible for the hounds or horses. In my opinion I can't see many horses being shot, more likely rehomed (as show dog owners do when their dogs stop winning/get too old or have had their allotted amount of litters). As to the fate of the hounds, again imo I do think they will be shot, if the hunts fold there will be no money to pay for them & no staff to look after them. As for my dogs, I own 2 Lurchers & 5 Border Terriers all of whom hunt, I will be keeping all of them, & I will use them to hunt (rabbits of course) however if my dogs come across a hare or a fox while hunting rabbits then of course I will TRY to recall my dogs, but, in the unfortunate circumstances I find myself in court, then it will be up to them to prove I was out to break any laws...

Geoff

>as show dog owners do when their dogs stop winning/get too old or have had their allotted amount of litters

A minority do, yes. The huge majority keep them as pets who no longer go to shows at the weekend.
:)

Big difference between keeping a dog and a horse JG.

Oh I agree, Chloe. I was just pointing out to Geoff that most people keep their ex-show dogs. He seems to have the idea that they all get dumped on rescue.

Oh come on JG where did I say 'dumped on rescue' I said rehomed....

True. I read an implication that you didn't intend. I apologise.
:)

No probs JG... :)

I'm not sure its a minority JG, I think people who are heavily into dog showing, breeding etc... couldn't possibly keep all of their stock (as they call 'em)... they'd be over run with dogs in no time....

Geoff

I don't think I know anybody who sells off their old stock. Most people I know from the show scene have plenty of much-loved oldies around.
:)

See, what *some* folk don't seem to understand is that horses are not like dogs. For one: some people and horses don't form an emotional attachment! I do with mine, but I don't kid myself - my horses do not need me and they couldn't care less if I disappeared because I am a human and they are horses and they prefer their own species.

Therefore some folk who keep horses for hunting - because they enjoy the social aspect and the sport mayL not wish to keep their horses any longer because of the expense and the time required. There are also the hirelings to think of.

They also enjoy fast work (as do the horses), well, fast hacking is extremely limited without the permission to use farm land.

Most hunt horses are also far far too much to handle for the standard rider and are used to riding out in big groups, going fast and jumping. They are not going to be suitable for the average horse owner - not all, but some.

So, what happens if the current owners can no longer hunt and sell (I'd liken it to keeping a car thats costing over £500 a month whilst you are banned from driving!) - to unsuitable owners? The horses are THEN going to end up being pts or worse, in the sales.

This is just my opinion mind - and I am not saying its right, but I think its what will happen.

probaley in sales & sold aboard for god knows what.

indeed - live export - now THATS cruelty

its ok though cos the foxes are safe!!!!

Thats the point Michelle, after all this the foxes are far from safe, they'll be shot, poisened, trapped & still hunted illegally....

Geoff :(

that will really give the antis something to think about then wont it?

Well said Snoopy! If it's so humane instead of taking our pets to be PTS at the last hour lets throw them to a pack of dogs to shred.
Why on earth is the idea of humane traps and using the same method that a vet uses on any other animal so ridiculous to some folk? What is so 'fun' anout hunting an animal down, terrorising it en masse then killing it so savagely.

Spook, what's a "humane" trap then, is that the one that captures them alive to be held for up to 24 hours, terrified and madly tearing their claws trying to get out before the trapper does his rounds to see what he has got?

The 'humane' traps cause a wild animal many hours of terror. Most vets, naturalists and others who study animal behaviour consider that to be torture.

Never forget that the fox's death by hounds is identical to the death it causes to its own prey. Whether it's done for food or not is immaterial. Nature doesn't 'do' cruelty. Nature deals in reality. A death by being bitten is identical, whether the victim is a rat, rabbit, fox, lamb, wildebeest, elk ...

Humane traps are used by welfare agencies worldwide. In the UK they're regularly used to catch feral cats. They are large cages placed near colonies, containing adequate food and water and shelter. They are never left for long periods of time, that defeats the purpose and contradicts the animal welfare workers intention. The cats are caught and neutered/spayed in a bid to control population growth, they are only PTS if they are carrying diseases or already suffering ill health. It seems to me a very pausible solution to the great fox debate. Isn't it better to humanely control their population numbers and maintain the species than risk yet another species becoming extinct at the hands of hunters.

I think you will find it will be done very differently for pest control as oppose to welfare agencies who no doubt don't attempt a trapping campaign unless they have the man power to check the traps frequently but a busy farmer is more likely to conform only to the law which is traps are checked within 24 hours - if the fox is lucky 'cos after all who will be checking!

I think you may find that foxes do not cope well with being trapped with food and water and approaching humans. And I can't think of one farmer that would adopt this method - poisoning far cheaper

I think you are probably right ChloeH

god! think about all the pet dogs that might take that up!!!!! dosent bear thinking about!!!!

I think you'll find feral cats, which are used to people, and wild foxes are very different in the levels of human interaction they can tolerate.