Holderness Hunt holds first meet>video
Horses, hounds and hundreds of foot followers enjoyed an afternoon in the countryside at the annual Holderness Hunt.
The event at Rise Park, near Skirlaugh, on Saturday marked the first meet of the season and the fields were awash with colour as riders donned their traditional red jackets and velvet hats.
Avid countryside enthusiasts were out in force to celebrate the start of the season and watch as more than 100 riders took to their horses to follow a pre-laid synthetic scent trail through the fields and woodlands.
Tammy Mathieson, 28 of Seaton, attended the hunt with her children, Poppy, five, and three-year-old Oliver.
She said: "We usually make an effort to go to the opening meet.
"My husband and I used to take part but now we go mainly for the children.
"We followed the hunt for a bit and were out for about an hour.
"Oliver was really pleased as they jumped a log - it may have been a twig on the floor but to him it was definitely a log.
"Oliver was riding Bob, his sister's old pony, while Poppy was riding her new pony, Lily.
"Poppy has been going to the opening meet since she was 18 months old, whereas this was Oliver's first time mounted."
The Holderness Hunt is one of the oldest in Britain with a history stretching back more than 250 years.
3 Comments
by Gary, hull
Tuesday, November 03 2009, 1:01AM
“Did the previous commentors read your article or attend the hunt. I attended the hunt and as your article states this is a pre-laid synthetic trail that the hounds follow.
At no point in the hunt did i see a fox or the hounds chase any wild animal.
Maybe if these people just stopped commenting and acually went and looked at what had been organised they would get a better perspective.”
by An Honest Country Lover., Holderness.
Monday, November 02 2009, 12:47PM
“I was thinking of voting Conservative at the next General, but if they persist in their pledge to repeal the present ban on the "barbaric sport" of fox hunting, then I will not. And before the pro hunting fraternity reply with their usual rhetoric .... "you know nothing about the country life and traditions" let me point out that I was born and raised on a farm that had been in the family for many generations and have been witness to the disgusting practices that use to occur in the "tradition" of this abhorrence.”
by Arthur Foxache, 'Ull
Monday, November 02 2009, 10:21AM
“I hope social services have read this article.
What sort of sick pervert takes a 5 year old and a 3 year old to an event where they could potentially see a fox ripped to shreds.”