‘That bond is a brilliant thing’
THE sight of a very small person, cocooned in a body protector and attached to a lead-rein and clucking mother, “Just kick on, darling, and you’ll be over it in a blink!” is a familiar one to all hunt followers, especially over the Christmas holidays.
Less common are the parents who’ve come to hunting following their children’s lead, through intrigue, protectiveness, or — in the case of Jason Kelly — jealousy.
A father of four girls, three of whom have succumbed properly to the pony bug, Jason asked a friend one day if he would accompany his elder daughter Akysha in the pairs class at her first hunter trial.
“They both came back beaming,” remembers Jason, “and I thought, ‘Right! In a year’s time I’m going to do the pairs class with her and have that bond myself.’”
When Akysha
