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Horse_amp_amp_Hound__06_February_2018

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HUNTING<br />

Covering<br />

the country<br />

The production of a meet card is the first indication for<br />

many of what the season holds in store. Polly Portwin<br />

explains what is involved in the planning process<br />

“DEVISING a meet card is<br />

like putting together a large<br />

jigsaw puzzle,” explains Tim<br />

Easby, director of the Masters of<br />

Foxhounds Association (MFHA)<br />

when asked to describe one of<br />

the most challenging — and<br />

important — aspects of the role of<br />

a master of a pack of hounds.<br />

“The fact is, things have<br />

changed considerably over the<br />

years and the majority of packs<br />

have moved on from issuing<br />

identical meet cards year on year.<br />

“The number of influencing<br />

factors is getting larger, effectively<br />

meaning the number of pieces in<br />

the jigsaw is increasing — and if<br />

one piece is missing, the whole<br />

thing very easily falls apart and<br />

you have to start again.”<br />

Every hunt country has its<br />

unique challenges and with those<br />

come many of the varying factors<br />

that influence the structure of<br />

a pack’s meet card planning. By<br />

the time that <strong>February</strong> meets are<br />

revealed, there is a likelihood that<br />

some of the most fashionable<br />

parts of the hunt country that<br />

have been hunted regularly<br />

since the autumn will no longer<br />

feature. Farming practices such as<br />

lambing, or environmental factors<br />

including waterlogging, may<br />

inevitably mean that some areas<br />

are simply inaccessible. However,<br />

the end of the shooting season<br />

often means that where one door<br />

closes, another one opens.<br />

The importance of getting<br />

a meet card together that satisfies<br />

the desires of all those who<br />

follow hounds, the landowners,<br />

the shooting fraternity and any<br />

others that may need to know the<br />

hunt’s whereabouts cannot be<br />

underestimated.<br />

Each master will know how<br />

often it is acceptable to visit<br />

a particular part of their hunt<br />

country. This will influence the<br />

rotation of draws to ensure that<br />

no one area is over-hunted, while<br />

other areas are covered sufficiently<br />

to ensure the country stays open.<br />

A pragmatic approach is vital<br />

to knowing when to accept that<br />

certain parts of the hunt country<br />

are perhaps no longer viable,<br />

while plenty of “summer hunting”<br />

around the country will help to<br />

avoid planning a meet where an<br />

entirely new housing estate — or<br />

solar panel farm — has been<br />

erected virtually overnight.<br />

As a child, the arrival of a new<br />

meet card was highly anticipated;<br />

within moments of arrival, the<br />

highlighter pen was usually in<br />

action with suitable dates written<br />

straight on to the family calendar.<br />

Seeing the much-heralded and<br />

traditional “Pony Club proficiency<br />

Picture by sarahfarnsworth.co.uk<br />

48 <strong>Horse</strong> & <strong>Hound</strong> 8 <strong>February</strong> <strong>2018</strong>

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