‘Hunting is the perfect challenge’
catherine.austen@futurenet.com
WHAT makes a good huntsman? There is no quickfire answer. It’s complicated; the role requires such a diverse breadth of qualities. In such a public arena the degree of success is invariably offset by a very private and gnawing fear of failure. How a huntsman deals with this balance divides the great from the good.
“It is the perfect challenge,” says Will Bryer who, at the peak of his career, relinquishes his mantle at the Cattistock on 1 May. “Yes, you are only as good as your last day, but it isn’t quite as simple as that. You have to be a little mad, really, to be a huntsman – and pretty blinkered.
“One of life’s real characters, Brian McMahon, once Irish junior European showjumping champion, was also my amateur whipper-in in Limerick. He recognised my madness and I applauded his. He is also a great thinker and once said to me, ‘Our greatest strengths are also our greatest weaknesses.’
“Timing is key to every aspect of this job”
WILL BRYER ON HUNTING HOUNDS
“Timing is key to every aspect of this job. Without intending, therefore, you are always creating an area of failure. Lucy Pinney, our incredible amateur whipper-in, has likened me to a circus ringmaster, but it has often felt like a theatre production of juggling and conjuring acts on an ever-evolving –
