FOR MANY hunting enthusiasts a visit to the Wales & Border Counties Hound Show at the Royal Welsh Showground on the last Thursday in June is a highlight of summer. There are several rings for different hound breeds at the spectacular setting within a natural bowl of the mountains at Builth Wells, where the Brecon & Talybont, Golden Valley, Irfon & Towy, Radnor & West Hereford and Teme Valley foxhounds all converge. But the most important ring of all is the one run by the Welsh Hound Association, founded in 1922 under the presidency of Sir Edward Curre “for the purpose of preserving and promoting the Welsh foxhound as a specific British breed”. A dedicated stud book has been maintained ever since, and each year registered hounds compete for championships just as prestigious to Welsh hunts as Peterborough is to their English counterparts a month later.
Pure-bred Welsh hounds are not shown off the lead in the English style but exhibited by their huntsman kneeling down to support the hound’s chin and stern with each hand,
