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BeforetheQuornwascompelledtoreduce
thenumberofdayshuntedeachweek,the
Leicestershirehunt’shallowedMondayand
Fridaycountriesweresynonymouswiththe
bitches,leavingCharnwoodForestandless
popularareastothedoghoundsonTuesdays
andSaturdays.Inthesamevein,theDukeof
Beaufort’s bitchesenjoy the SodburyVale
and Badminton hotspots on Wednesdays
andSaturdays,but theirformerhuntsman
of 26 years,CaptainIanFarquhar, holds no
predilectionforeithersex.
“Ihadabsolutelynopreferenceovera
dog orbitch pack, and neverhave had,”
Farquhar declares robustly, but admits
that the bitches are probably easier to
handle. “They are more forgiving; you
cangetawaywithshiftingthemarounda
bitmorethanthedogs,butit’snonsense
toclaimtheyaresuperior.Whenwefirst
visitedotherhuntingcountries,wetended
totakethebitches;theyweremorecohe-
siveandeasiertokeepuptogether,butin
timeI wasjustashappytaking thedog-
hounds.” He might have added that the
quality of their hunting country is also
signicant – Farquhar’s doghounds per-
formedimpressivelyona visittohuntthe
Quorn’sCharnwoodForestin1998,butby
thena plethoraofroadsandurbanisation
had renderedthehost pack’sunfashion-
able country so difficult that the Quorn
doghoundshadbecomesignificantlyless
effectivethantheirfemalecolleagues.
Like the Duke of Beaufort’s, hunt staff
at the Heythrop wear green coats and
huntfourdaysa week,buttheirMFHand
huntsmanofthe past sixseasons,Charles
Frampton, recentlychanged the policyof
hunting specificparts of the countrywith
separate packs,which hadbecome rather
unfairon the doghounds. “The poordogs
hunted themoredifficult,eastsideofour
country,”heexplains,“andtheysometimes
hadtomissa daywhenwehadnowhereto
go.I remembertakingthebitchesthereand
theywereseriouslyimpressive–butthat’s
probablybecausetheywereinbetterform
asa consequenceofregularlyhuntingeas-
ierground.Wenowhunta mixedpackand
keeplessdoghoundsthanbefore,butevery
hound gets a fair crack – I don’t favour either
sex,butina mixedpackthedogs and bitches
complementeachother.”
Farquharrefutesclaimsthatbitchesare
fasteracrosscountrythantheirmalecoun-
terparts– whichisnolongerthevirtueit
oncewas– byrecountinga fasthuntacross
theBeaufortSaturdaycountry.“Wehuntfive
daysa weekoverChristmas,” he explains,
“duringwhichthedogandbitchpackshunt
onalternatedaysinsteadofspecificdaysof
theweek.Onthisoccasionit wasthedog-
hounds’turnforSaturdayandtheywentlike
smoke.Soquicklythata formerhuntsman
telephoned to say he had never seen the
bitchesrunsofast.”
Farquhar’ssuccessoratBadminton,Matt
Ramsden, is also ambivalent about the
sexes,but havinghunted thetwo-days-a-
weekBedaleinNorthYorkshiremissesthe
widerrange of music offered by a mixed
packofhounds in fullcry.“I don’tfavour
eitherpack,”hesays,“butthebigdayson
a Wednesday andSaturday do fall to the
bitches–it’sfairtosaytheyaremoretol-
erantoftheinterferencethat’ssometimesa
consequenceoflarge,hardridingfields.”
During histenure of the three-days-a-
week Wynnstay hunt, its recently retired
Masterandhuntsman,RichardTyacke,kept
significantlymorebitchesthandoghounds,
which provided him with greater scope for
Doghounds steady up racy bitches
and bitches chivvy the dogs along
