Kennel Diary

Harry Beeby enjoys the hound show and imagines the ultimate huntsmen’s dinner with his idols

- Harry Beeby

At the Oakley we are well into hound exercise on bicycles. We are lucky to have such quiet lanes and farm tracks to take the hounds in the mornings. Being able to go out and not see a car is fantastic. The hunt horses have also been back in work for a few weeks, hardening their legs and increasing their base fitness. When we start the mounted hound exercise, we will be able to go a bit further, in the build-up to the start of autumn hunting in September.

It is always interesting getting back on the hunt horses after they have enjoyed a few months off over the summer. This year they have had more time off than usual because we finished hunting at Christmas. Getting back on them after that amount of time can sometimes throw up interesting results. Most have been well behaved, but one of our younger horses was feeling very fresh the first morning and deposited me unceremoniously in the yard.

There was no harm done, but it’s always worth keeping in the back of your mind when you pull them back in from the field after a summer off.