WWW.THEFIELD.CO.UK 105
breeding.“I hunteda mixedpackanda pure
bitchpackonalternatedayssothatduring
theseasonallhoundsexperiencedthesame
terrain,”hesays.“Thebitcheshavetheedge
becausetheyareanabsoluteunitandtheir
cohesionis sogood.Theyalsoenterquicker
asyounghoundsandaremoreresponsive
underpressure– butthedifferencebetween
themis triflingstuff,likesplittinghairs.Nei-
therpackisbetterthantheotherbutif I go
backthroughmydiariesit’sa factthatthe
bitcheshaveprovidedthebestsport.”
During his earlier mastership of the
three-day-a-weekTynedale,Tyackehunted
a purebitchpackonSaturdaysanda mixed
packonMondaysandWednesdays.“Itwas
lovelyhavingthebitcheseverySaturday,but
a moredifficultsystemto manage in ken-
nels,”heremembers.
Tyacke was following something of a
traditionattheWynnstay,forSirOwenWil-
liams-Wynn,whowasmasterofhisfamily
packformorethan 30 yearsfrom1957,also
retainedjusta handfulofthebest-looking
youngdogsafterthepuppyshoweachyear
and drafted the remainder to neighbour-
ingpacks.Leicestershire’sCottesmorehunt
hastraditionallyhunteditsglamoroushigh
grasslandwiththebitchpack,andthelow-
lyingarable fens withthe doghounds, but
the hunt no longer maintains separate packs
sincereducingtothreedaysa weekduring
the open season.“We hunt a mixedpack
nowadays,”saystheirJointMaster,Andrew
Osborne, whohasjust given upthe horn,
“but I preferred a greater proportion of
bitchesontheHighLeicestershiredaysand
more doghoundsonthe arableside; dog-
hounds steadyupracybitches and bitches
chivvy the dogs along.”CHANGEAHEAD
The VWH’s professional huntsman, Philip
Hague,hasenjoyedhuntingtwopacksinhis
four-days-a-week Gloucestershire country
sincehisappointment 14 yearsago.“Iprefer
the dogsondifficultscentingdays,but the
bitchesreallyflywhentheyareonfire– and
they’re handierif you needtomovethem,”
hesays.ButHaguealsorevealsthatchange
could liearoundthe corner. “We huntour
Thursday country with the doghounds but
with the encroachment of Swindon, pony
paddocks, solar panels and shooting, it’s
becomingincreasinglydifficult,”heexplains.
“It’snolongera two-horseday,andwecan’t
hunteveryThursday,either.”AstheHeythrop
hasdiscovered,thesolutionmaybetoreduce
the number of doghounds in kennels and
hunta mixedpack.“IfwekeeplessdogsandI
needmorehoundsfora daythedeficitcanbe
made up with bitches, it’s easier in kennels,too.I’vebeenthinkingthatwayfora fewsea-
sonsnow,”Haguemuses.“Movingtoa mixed
packis a naturalprogression,justthesameas
huntamalgamations.Youdon’twanttopush
it,butthat’sdefinitelythewaywe’reheading.”
Althoughmanyhuntsmenclaimambiv-
alenceover a dogorbitchpack, it seems
thereiswidespreadacknowledgementthat
bitchesaremoreforgivingandsettleback
ontothelinequickerfollowinginterference.
Doghoundsarecelebratedfortheirsteadfast
reliability but are often slower to recover
themomentumofa huntif somethinggoes
wrong.ButasFarquharpointsout,“Thereal
measureofa pack’ssuccessis definedbyhow
theyarehandled inthefield.”Noworking
dog ofanydescriptionappreciatesunnec-
essaryinterferenceandthebesthuntsmen
knowinstinctivelywhentolettheirhounds
beandwhentostepinandofferhelp.With
morehuntsamalgamatingit is alsobecom-
inglesspracticaltohuntspecificareaswith
onepackoranother.Increasingly,it makes
bettersensetohunteithera mixedpackor
deploydogsandbitcheson alternate days
regardless of the venue.Aboveleft:theCottesmorenowhuntsa mixed
pack,althoughwitha higherratioofbitchesinHigh
Leicestershireandmoredoghoundsonarabledays
Above:the Heythrop, too, hunts a mixed pack