I was very pleased with all our young entry and the way they went. Possom, out of Poet ’10 by Woolem ’09, walked by Miss Aimée Straughan went very well and hardly missed a morning and ran up with the pack even on a big morning. Two young dog hounds hunted especially well, Artic and Aramis, out of Article ’07 by Spitfire ’08, walked by Mr Allan Morris and Mrs Emma Howie, this was very pleasing as they could be some of the last dogs by Spitfire as old age is finally catching up with him! They also have four of the best Old English lines in their breeding, Belvoir Poacher, Limerick Tenor, Brocklesby Speaker and Holderness Wolburn, which nick in very well and keep producing big strong low scenting quality hounds. I couldn’t really split these two on their work but Artic did a shoulder on New Year’s Day and was off for three weeks whereas Aramis hardly missed a day, so best working dog is Aramis walked by Mrs Emma Howie.
All the older hounds hunted very well with Posie ‘13, out of Porridge ’05 by Woolem ’09, walked by Miss Aimée Straughan, hunting exceptionally well whilst Alder ’14, out of Alaska ’10 by Woolem ’09, walked by Miss Eleanor Morris, was also very impressive. We have three pups to enter this year out of Posie which I hope will hunt like their mother.
We lost another of our old favourites this year with old age catching up with him, Gamble, he joins Ripple and Worcester, they are all much missed.
The Opening Meet was held on Saturday 31 October 2015 at Chatton Fish Ponds, a big thank you to the Brown Family. Once again we had a big turnout and a cracking day.
We hunted eighty four days in total this season in what turned out to be a good season with many days of note. The best day of the season was from Plantation Farm, hounds had three good hunts, the best was eight miles without check at a very good pace. We had many three, four and five mile points and despite the very wet weather we never missed a day. Due to the very wet weather we did go on foot for two weeks. It says an awful lot for our farmers that we managed to keep going and were allowed on their land, a massive thanks to them. It also says a lot for our Masters and Committee for their running of the Hunt and Country.
We had a very good Hunt Ball, big thanks to Mark Bridgeman and his team. We also had a very good day’s hunting that day. Luckily the hounds checked in a field of roots so we could get them picked up, there was only hunt staff left with four quads but we somehow managed to get to the Ball for eight o’clock!
Our last day of the Season, Saturday 05 March, was at Quarry House with a very big Meet courtesy of Malcolm Smith, a big thanks to him. We had a cracking day with three good hunts getting off very tired horses at 6.30pm.
As always this season was a massive team effort at kennels. Phillip McCarthy in his first season as stud groom did a cracking job with the horses, they looked immaculate and felt tremendous all through the season. He was helped by his partner Lisa Brown who was a great help to him. Our whipper in, Matthew Sewell, also did a great job both out hunting and at home where he puts so many hours in which is a big help. Allan Morris is also a great help both on and off the hunting field. Stephen McCarthy, our unpaid kennelman, is at the kennels six days a week and we would be lost without him. He is also our main trail layer which is such a big part of modern hunting. Also thanks to the rest of the team who help so much at kennels, Aimée Straughan, Chris Newlands, Lisa Halpin, Ben Lambert, Lizzie McCarthy, Emma Howie, Ali Grey and Lynn and Jimmy Walker. As always I had a lot of help in the country, many thanks go to Joe Vickers, Rob Dobson, Neil Potts, Mattie Mattison and Mark Bridgeman. Also thanks to Toni McCarthy who helps with all the ever increasing paperwork at the kennels plus all the fallen stock billing and the running of the web site.
We will once again be showing hounds at all the shows this year but due to the last two years success we will be taking a very limited squad but we will be there.
Our Pre Puppy Show date is Wednesday 22 June at 6pm and our Puppy Show date is Saturday 30 July at 3pm, both at kennels, all are welcome and I look forward to seeing you all there.
On a personal note myself and Lizzie got married on 07 May, we had an amazing day and an unbelievable honeymoon. I would just like to thank everyone for all the very many kind messages, cards and presents, thank you all so much.
Good Hunting
Robert McCarthy