The hunt saw a huge turnout of 55 riders on Boxing Day many of whom are not regular hunters. This kept the various field masters – Penny, Andrie and Graham – very busy and on their toes as the novice hunters came to terms with what a hunt is all about. Some riders were even seen swapping bits at the checks. All seemed to be have a very good time.
The day’s events
Tim Payne, Inanda Country Base (ICB) manager, planned, prepared and laid the drag for the first three lines. His intimate knowledge of ICB created some interesting tricks and turns that made the hounds pay attention and work hard to find him. The riders particularly enjoyed these lines and appreciated the amount of time that had gone into the preparing the jumps and the mowing in between. On the first line Tim’s horse fell in a hole and ran home – no trouble to Tim Payne – he jumped on to the back of Adrian’s quad bike and completed the drag for the line! The hounds did not seem to notice and carried on as normal.
Mark took over the planning and the drag for the last two lines of the hunt. The two water crossings went well except for a horse who insisted on fly leaping through the water which was a little unfair on the rider, who ended up being dumped in both crossings.
The riders then had a great breakfast at the clubhouse after the hunt; the breakfast food was all generously donated by many of the regular Rand Hunt members, followers and riders. All the proceeds from the breakfast go directly to feeding our enthusiastic hound pack who gave such a wonderful morning’s sport.