TIM LANGLEY was a top-class professional huntsman who served the Berkeley for 30 Years and was held in great esteem, both in his own country and throughout the land. I was privileged to have been able to watch him hunting the Berkeley hounds with such skill when I was an agricultural student.
Many years later, and some 40 years ago now, following his retirement, I went to see him and his wife Alison in their cottage at Berkeley to ask him about his career.
Remembering the pre-war days when he started, he said a huntsman only had to please his master and the whipper-in had to please his huntsman.
He emphasised how the role of the post-war professional huntsman changed.
"These days you have to please a lot of people," he told me. "A smile and a word for everyone. We are, after all, in the business of entertainment." Langley had no hunting background and was brought up in Cheapside, a village near Ascot. He said he remembered the moment he vowed to be a huntsman one day. It was a winter's evening when the Garth hounds passed by on their way home from hunting. The huntsman, Wyndham Daniels, winked as he rode by and called a cheery, "Goodnight, boy." He knew then it was what he wanted to do.
STARTING YOUNG
AT 14, Tim left school to work full-time at the local riding school in return for what he learnt. In 1936, he successfully answered an advert in Horse & Hound for a second horseman with the Enfield Chase.
“Call the huntsman ‘Sir’,” he was advised on his first day, but he need not have worried. Ted Cox hardly spoke to him all the time he was there and then it was only to curse him for some misdemeanour.
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der May 09, 2024-Ausgabe von Horse & Hound.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent ? Anmelden
Diese Geschichte stammt aus der May 09, 2024-Ausgabe von Horse & Hound.
Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.
Bereits Abonnent? Anmelden
'Sorry, but I wasn't feeling it'
Fresh from the opening meet, Tessa Waugh hasn't quite yet been bitten by the hunting bug. Without the crisp autumnal air and cheek-pinching cold she hoped for, it's a sluggish start
New pair pull off a win
A former European Championships pony is on form with his new rider, while elsewhere former showjumpers and eventers take ribbons
Lording it over the rest
Horses who have returned from injury, a second generation homebred and a long format specialist score on the final weekend of the British season
Smith hits flying form
A \"her way or no way\" mare helps Zoe Smith to an impressive ribbon haul and a rider beats his own boss to the top spot
Jankorado hits the jackpot
Paul Sims is triumphant despite his interrupted jump-off preparation and a borrowed horse comes up trumps
Peanut
From \"dangerous, scary\" to hedge-hopping brilliance, hunting has been the making of this unstable but very lovable equine character
She's a corker
Communication, says long-standing and highly respected Belvoir master Lady Sarah McCorquodale, is the key to all, as Catherine Austen discovers
Access all areas Cavalier Centre
The Cavalier Centre is a fully accessible, state-of-the-art equestrian centre designed to improve lives through horse-based activities. Ellie May Forrester pays a visit
'Use it or lose it'
Not everyone wants to reach for the pipe and slippers at a certain age. Becky Murray speaks to some veteran horse-and-rider combos for their secrets of human and equine longevity
A new way forward
Worm control in horses is vital, but established methods will not remain effective for much longer. Tim Mair FRCVS explains why and how we need to change