MOTORISTS AT THE MEET

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 45, 22 February 1930, Page 20

MOTORISTS AT THE MEET

CARS THAT "HEAD THE- FOX 33

Many of us who have been accustomed from our infancy to ride- to hounds or follow them on foot bavo deplored the wholly unnecessary business of digging out'cubs and throwing them alive to the pack, or tho equally appalling cruelty ofv throwing a dug'cub about twenty yards ahead of the pack and calling tnat "law," writes S. P.,Mais In the "Daily Telegraph." Luckily the whole world is taking a more human, attitude towards the torture of animals) and lovers'of hunting, demand more and more that the fox shall have a reasonable chance of escape. Unhappily the coming of the motorcar has considerably lessened ' these uhauces. The whole business of foxhunting depends upon tho animal getting a clear run. Realising that man aiid-man-propelled vehicles are his.en-' eniy, it is at once obvious that if he sees a car in front of him he will change his course and double back.

Now, a car is an enormous convenience for hunting. In the first place, meets are usually held as far from stations or railway lines as possible, in •soilages and at. houses only reachable Oji: horseback or by car. In the old days we thought nothing of hacking fifteen miles to a meet, hunting all day, and tiding perhaps ten, even tweuty miles home, all on the same horse. i, To-day we not only drive to the meets in comfort, but even the horses and- hounds are carted in horse-boxes and hound-vans. This is all to the good, as it leaves everybody fresh for the hunt, but it becomes all to the bad as soon as the hunt begins, for there then starts a long procession of noisy, smelling cars, not in the rear of the hunt, but'at all sorts of angles to it, ■which make it quite impossible, with the best will, to avoid heading the fox. •TMost of those who follow in cars have no knowledge of and. really take very little pleasure in the sport.' They treat the meet as a social function, and continue to follow in their t cars merely to waste time till, luncheon. ' ;If they were to-shut off their engines as soon as ever hounds found, and then followed as far as they were-physically able on'foot, they would sense some of the pleasures of hunting, get healthy exercise, and ,be sure of not getting in the way. ,- '. v

It is customary with most packs.'- to have a Field Master to direct both ' tho mounted and unmounted followers, so that they may not interfere with the huntsman's strategy. Even well-season-ed and knowledgable hunting men are apt to fall foul of their Master through sheer, ignorance of; his tactics' unless some 'interpreter in the shape of a Field Master is close at hand to help them. How much more do the ignorant motoring'section need a motoring Field Master to'keep them in order. - It is a natural instinct which prompts a man to get as ;near to the flying fox as he can. The'thruster does it on horseback; the cutter-of-corriers docs it on foot; but to the man in the car it is merely a question of pressing the accelerator to outpace riders, hounds,; and even>the'. fosS v Itis, howeveiy^butrageous that the' whole of a glorious run may be' totally ruined by the whim of one thoughtless motorist. v; It is, then, imperative, in the interests of the sport, that all cars taken to the meet should be under the absolute jurisdiction of a Field ..Master. ?;; of Cars, who would be able, to regulate the traffic and, see-to it that-cars which have other business should not-beheld up by the procession, and that those who wish to follow shoiild: be kept _so far in the rear that they run no risk of interfering. r , ";. £'_' On foot we inhale.; all;, the earthly smells of autumn leaves : and turned-up1 soav.wßilo';:'W©-: Vait:.'oii;.-.terit.erhj9pks,;i : at the covert side for the fox to break. When that magic moment comes we have the incomparable delight of watching hounds string out on a line with the whole field of galloping horses streaking after them over the green meadow and" red plough, skimming tho hedges and brooks with the ease of flying ; birds. . ■':' ■ Think what he may of the ethics of hunting, no honest man witnessing such a sight can refrain from a gasp of delight at the pagean^y of it. Tho sight of the swiftly moving cavalcade and tho exquisite blend of .harmonious, .colours arouse in even--the dullest of us a sensuous joy th& we get from no other sight in: the world, It is essentially English. The man who follows in the car neither sees nor feels this at all. He merely prevents others" from seeing and feeling it. ; ■ ■ ■ • < -- -■■-■ -