Hunters in lockdown

TALK about all dressed up and nowhere to go. Nearly every hunting person in the country has a horse that’s fit and primed for the good spell of sport that so often follows Christmas. However, we’re in lockdown.

There’s no point trying to second-guess; we don’t know when we might be able to get going again, but let’s stay positive. Certainly if there is any chance of a few more days’ hunting, we want our horses to be ready to be able to make the most of them. And it’s January, it’s freezing cold and there’s no grass. Everybody’s setup is different, but just chucking your horses out doesn’t seem fair or kind.

Event rider and Beaufort field master Beanie Sturgis says, “I always think of [former Heythrop hunt secretary] Guy Avis quoting a poem called , which describes