Hunt Service

[Rat face 1,655]

just out of interest dose anyone now or in the past ever worked in hunt service and how did you hear about the post, now i know some information doesn't want plastering all over the web so pm if preferred, just wondering whats its like from people that have actually done it and what role did you start in,

 

atb adam

[DIDO.1 22,630]

Kennelman, horse n hound mag

[Rat face 1,655]

cheers bud

[Lutra Lutra 611]

Hello Rat Face,

Just a short response to your previous post regarding employment within the Hunt service. I have been involved with many fox hound packs over the years and have used my terriers in all types of situations and different types of terrain. My brother was kennel man terrier man to the South Durham 25 years ago and saw some considerable sport with the pack in question. My brother also followed the Albrighton with Bert Gripton many years ago now. I have been witness to many good days with various packs like the Pennine and once our local pack, the South Notts. Many days also were spent with the Grove and Rufford, Blankney, South Wold, Cottesmore, Quorn and the Vale of Belvoir. I did have some good days when our friend Grahame Wing hunted the Vale of Aylesbury country. My brother applied for the position of terrier man for the Heythrop under Captain Ronnie Wallace but unfortunately the vacancy being fulfilled. I did experience over the years many good days with the South Shropshire, United under Shaun Hutchinson and the Cheshire when he was Whipper in. He now is the Huntsman down in the Suffolk country. Without beginning to become negative, like many more things in this country, certain situations have certainly declined, especially concerning HUNTING! Like one reader mentioned, one can find certain posts in the" Horse and Hound"magazine and the Hound magazine also.It can be a good life but I think it takes a certain, type person to be successful in such what sometimes can be quite a demanding role.

Best regards. Lutra Lutra...

P.S.There is quite a good book called:"Our Hunting Fathers".

Well worth a read to any interested parties.

[Rat face 1,655]

thanks for that lutra i will defo give that a read, just ordered try back 2 just hoping its as good as the first one

its just somthing i would really like to try even in a part time role, who knows whats around the corner

[Philluk 181]

If your young do it, I left school and went into hunt service, terrier man, then whip then huntsman and it's fantastic, it's a good job when your young but 6 hrs on a horse 4 days a week does have an impact on your body as you get older.

 

Give it a go best days of my life, also the poorest

Edited December 12, 2017 by Philluk

[terryd 8,385]

Used to do the skinning. Clean and feed the hounds and help exercise the horses. Got paid pea nuts but didn't care. This was going back 30 years. Really enjoyed it. But the high light was riding around in the van with the terrier lads. That was where I was happiest

Edited July 17, 2015 by terryd

[desertdog 149]

hard work, but enjoyed it,worked for some horrible men,and got treated like shite,but had 20yrs at it, i got to kh,and then came out,came into it through helping out at local kennels,then got on the hunt servants list, didnt like ronnie wallace, an arrogant arse, and they all called him "god",youd see others creep up his arse, hunt service is not what it was 30 yr ago and older retired huntsmen will say the same if your going in go in when you leave school,atb dd

[Bo Duke 420]

Hello Ratface, best of luck mate it can be a rocky road and your first few jobs will almost certainly be testing but if you stick with it and prove yourself, work hard and show commitment the right job will come your way.

 

This would be your first port of call

 

Hunt Staff Registry (Jobs within Hunts) – office@mfha.co.uk

[Rat face 1,655]

thanks for all the help lads

[Welshborder 10]

I was I hunt service a few yrs bk put ur name down on the list with the mfha and ask everyone u know who is involved with the hunts its who u know not what u know

[foxbolter 447]

Used to do the skinning. Clean and feed the hounds and help exercise the horses. Got paid pea nuts but didn't care. This was going back 30 years. Really enjoyed it. But the high light was riding around in the van with the terrier lads. That was where I was happiest

[foxbolter 447]

If your young do it, I left school and went into hunt service, terrier man, then whip then huntsman and it's fantastic, it's a good job when your young but 6 hrs on a horse 4 days a week does have an impact on your body as you get older.

 

I love the post above from Lutra had some great names, I came out of hunting in 1990 after a bad experience with a twat amateur huntsman, but did work for some great names, Michael Farrin, Clarance Webster, Robin Jackson and the best huntsman I ever worked for and became great friends Guy Sanderson, (wish I knew where he was now) and had some great days but I'm afraid hunting today is not what it once was.

 

What has concerned me over recent years is how quick you can become a huntsman, you might be able to ride a horse and blow a horn but that does not make you a good huntsman, years ago you were a whip for 10 yrs at different packs all over UK, you learn under different huntsman all aspect of kennel work, hound work, then on the field the tricks of the trade, which are now going to the grave with old huntsmen. I'm not saying all are bad now but if hunting was still allowed it would slowly kill itself off with lack of people coming in and the information being passed down. I've seen a few current huntsmen who are doing the job and get away with it, the theory now seems to be find a fox hunt it lose it find another. In my day the skill was to find that original fox and stay with it.

 

I guess times change but if you do it when your young, you can still do something when you come out.

 

Give it a go best days of my life, also the poorest

[Philluk 181]

hard work, but enjoyed it,worked for some horrible men,and got treated like shite,but had 20yrs at it, i got to kh,and then came out,came into it through helping out at local kennels,then got on the hunt servants list, didnt like ronnie wallace, an arrogant arse, and they all called him "god",youd see others creep up his arse, hunt service is not what it was 30 yr ago and older retired huntsmen will say the same if your going in go in when you leave school,atb dd

True about Wallace, but if you were in the in club it was ok, fortunately I was, never applied for any jobs got them all through word of mouth. It is what happened then. I got one job and didn't even know where I was going, I was a terrierman and the huntsman said to me to stay one more season and he would get me one of the best whips jobs going and he did.

[foxbolter 447]

Philluk that was a good post which made alot of sense especially when you say about huntsmen today finding foxes losing it and going to find another I believe it has ruined many hounds hunting in that way it causes hounds not to persist in trying to find the line when it has lost it, lifting its head too easily waiting for the huntsman to pick them up and taken them to the next draw when really the huntsman should come there and quietly cast his hounds where the line might be which will then teach the hounds to do it their selfs better especially if they find the line on a cast given them their reward. But each to their own as the say all the best foxbolter