I absolutely adore the traditional dress, etiquette and history around hunting. I think that sometimes it’s so lovely to keep traditions even though they no longer really serve a function. The Four Shires Bloodhounds are trained to follow a scent, they will have a human runner go in with them so they all get a good sniff, then that person goes for a run around the lovely countryside and the hounds track their scent. It’s a pretty impressive skill and they’re such lovely creatures.
For hound exercise there is no trail to follow they are literally being taken out for a good run around, get used to bigger groups of horses and generally just get them ready for the hunting season. Hound exercise requires the riders to wear tweed and the horses to be well turned out but not necessarily plaited.
I tried my best to make Tissy properly presentable (I wish I’d had enough time to clean my leather tack properly, I love the process of cleaning and treating leather, then putting it all back together) and I even tried to mouse her plaits in……they didn’t last very long though! I even wore a shirt and tie and I thoroughly enjoyed getting dressed up and having a great time blasting through the Peak District with everyone else. It actually would make excellent training for an Endurance horse before their first mass start and race rides as it definitely gets them used to riding in big groups with horses passing them.
Beth Endurance 