Maldon Fields Crematorium

National Trail Hunting Day - 14th September 2024

A review of the day!

With just a week’s notice the Cotswold Hounds were invited to take part in the National Trail Hunting Day hosted by the Ledbury Hunt at Carodoc, Monmouthshire.

“Great” we said “we know our hounds will do a good job”. Then the reality set in, we need to lay three separate trails in an area we’re totally unfamiliar with!

So with just three days to go myself and Anthony headed off to Carodoc to meet with Dave Thomas, Joint Master of the Ledbury Hunt and Huntsman Mark Melladay who couldn’t have been more helpful. They had done a superb job of mapping out the trails on paper and we spent the afternoon with them familiarising ourselves with the route. Ant and myself worked out a plan for suitable conclusions to each trail and looked for any possible problems that we may encounter (a large bull in a field being one of them!).

The morning of the 14th dawned bright and sunny and we received a warm welcome from our hosts on our arrival at Carodoc. There was a sizable turnout of riders and foot followers from numerous Hunts and a sense of anticipation. Prior to the speeches I set off on a quad piloted by the Ledbury Hunt countryman to begin the first trail. While I waited for the Hounds I felt an enormous sense of responsibility to get things just right. I needn’t have worried, the sound of the Horn and wonderful cry of the Cotswold hounds could be heard far in the distance, they duly arrived and marked the first trail. This set the tone for the day and off we went again and again, with Anthony and the Cotswold Hounds demonstrating exactly how it should be done!

At the end of the third, and what was to be the last trail, it was decided to lay one further short trail along the banks of the River Wye in front of the waiting crowd who had been unable to view much of the trail hunting. What a sight to behold; hounds in full cry with Anthony blowing them on and the field following behind!

And that was that. Our Huntsman and the Cotswold Hounds had done it in fine style!

The Hounds then enjoyed a refreshing dip in the river to cool off, the horses were washed down and we all enjoyed a superb picnic and welcome cold drinks back at the lorry.

Karen Charlton MFH

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