Covid-19 Secure Guidelines    ***PLEASE READ***

Mounted and non-mounted followers must follow this behaviour protocol which is based on requirements issued by the Hunting Office and MDBA*
 

• All riders MUST book in with the Hunt Secretary Jess NO LATER than 4pm on the Friday preceding a Sunday meet and 4pm on the Monday preceding a Wednesday meet.

• All bookings must be accompanied by bank transfer payment. Riders will be sent bank details when they book in. Payment must also be received by the 4pm deadline.

• Before attending a meet, all followers must undertake a self-assessment for any Covid-19 symptoms.  Do NOT leave home if you or anyone in your household has symptoms of Covid-19.

• Riders living or keeping horses within a local lockdown area must not come out.

• Riders may bring ONE helper but must retain their contact details for track and trace purposes.

• All foot and car followers will be asked to provide their names and contact details for track and trace purposes to a Covid Compliance Officer.

• All followers both mounted and on foot must respect social distancing guidance at all times, maintaining 2m spacings unless from the same household.

• Please pay particular attention to avoiding any congestion or congregation in gateways or on tracks and roads.

• Please wash your hands before leaving home and sanitise your hands regularly throughout the day.

• All followers both mounted and on foot should carry a mask and hand sanitiser in case they need to assist someone in an emergency.

• Food and drink brought from home must not be shared with others.

• Followers should not engage with hunt saboteurs in any way.

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*The Hunting Office is the executive arm of the governing bodies for Hunting with Hounds in the UK. The Staff College Drag Hunt is a member of the MDBA (Masters of Drag Hounds and Blood Hounds Association).

Hunt Buttons

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Huge congratulations to Bex Hathaway-White and Stuart Bruce who were awarded their Hunt Button by the Masters at last night's awards evening.

An enormous amount of work goes into running the Drag Hunt throughout the year, not just on hunting days. For this, we rely on people volunteering their free time to help out at events. Members of the field are awarded their 'Hunt Button' for consistently going 'above and beyond' in their service to the Hunt. This means that they may wear a green collar on their hunt coat and their buttons are printed with the insignia of the Drag Hunt. It is a way for the Masters to formally recognising the time and effort that they have put in.

Thank you Stuart and Bex, you are an asset to our Hunt and your contribution is very much appreciated!

Catherine Ingleby Prize Draw

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***CONGRATULATIONS NICOLA CHALK!***

A huge WELL DONE to Nicky Chalk who had the winning ticket for our Catherine Ingleby - Art Prize Draw. Nicky wins a personal commissioned portrait of her horse or dog by professional artist Catherine.

Thank you to everyone who bought tickets and a special thank you to Catherine for offering such a fantastic prize.

If you'd like to take a look at Catherine's work, you can visit her website here:

Hunter's Challenge

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Thanks to everyone who came to our Hunter's Challenge on 16th August 2020 and a huge thank you to our kind sponsors for this event: Little Red PR, Ellie Osborne Photography, Eira's Equestrian Extras & The Sussex Riding School.  Here are the results from each class:

60cm - kindly sponsored by Ellie Osborne Photography

1st Isabel Wilson
2nd Emma Manngan
3rd Lottie Crocker
4th Gemma Beckett
5th Jaime Mangan
6th Rebecca Noone

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70cm - kindly sponsored by Eira's Equestrian Extras
1st Lucy Prendergast
2nd Nelle Cromack
3rd Kay Briggs
4th Julia Hoskins
5th Catherine Hiley
6th Charlotte Hardman

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80cm - kindly sponsored by The Sussex Riding School
1st Juliet Pascall
2nd Nelle Cromack
3rd Lucy Prendergast
4th Pandora Dabliz
5th Taymar Townsend
6th Barnaby Calthorpe

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90cm Team Relay - kindly sponsored by Little Red PR
1st New Forest Hunt Stockley Team
2nd New Forest Hunt Ipley Team
3rd Home Team
4th Hares Hooligans
5th Beauties And The Beast
6th Hungerford Hunters

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CONGRATULATIONS everyone!

If you haven't already purchased your photos of your moment of glory, they can be found here:

Teddy Bear Adventure!

Thanks to all the mini fun riders who joined us for the Teddy Bear Adventure on 9th August 2020. There were lots of smiling children and happy ponies searching for the teddy bear scenes around the ride, tackling the handy pony course and saying hi to our resident unicorns. 

Special thanks to Brewer Chandler for hosting our event and to the Chandler children for creating such a fantastic handy pony course. Thanks also to all our wonderful helpers who gave up their Sunday to steward the course - we love you! And last, but not least, thanks to Bex Hathaway-White for coordinating and running the day.

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Don't forget to check out the Forthcoming Events page of our website to find details of all the fun things that we are running over the Summer months, for example a Hunter's Challenge competition with a £500 prize fund, hedge jumping and side saddle clinics...and our ever popular Minley Fun Ride!

Welcome to the 2020/2021 season!

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The 1st May 2020 marks the start of the new Drag Hunting season and we have much to look forward to! We have two new additions to the Mastership - Jayne Chewter and Captain Daniel Gregory. We are also delighted to announce Vic Ruffy is also joining the team as a Director. A warm welcome to all three!

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Subscriptions for the new season are now due and new for this season, we are also offering a non-riding subscription for those who enjoy regularly following the Hunt. Please see the Subscriptions & Cap page of the website for details of prices and how to pay. Please contact Jess our Hunt Sec if you have any questions

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So what does your subscription pay for? Staff College Drag Hunt is a 'not for profits' limited company run by a team of unpaid volunteers and ALL money raised from subscriptions (and other fundraisers) goes into running the Hunt - for example - feeding the hounds, employing Stephen our Huntsman, running the kennels and building and maintaining the fences for you all to enjoy jumping over on a day out in our wonderful country. We also have a policy of 'everybody pays' in this Hunt, which means that all of the Masters, leadership team and Hunt Sec pay a subscription the same as everybody else.  We all believe that our Hunt is something worth investing in and have enjoyed watching it go from strength to strength over the last couple of years.

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Despite everything that the 2019/2020 season threw at us (weather, equine herpes, Covid19), Staff College Drag Hunt continues to thrive and we are super excited about the new season. We have you, our wonderful supporters, to thank for that and now can't wait until the Opening Meet!

End Of Season Awards

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Thank you to everyone who Drag Hunted with us during the 2019/2020 season. Here are the winners of the End Of Season Awards as chosen by our joint Masters Ash Hambridge, Caroline Bullen and Johnny Hathaway-White.

***WINNER - TUMBLERS' CUP ***

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There are always a large number of contenders for this award and we thank everyone who has drag hunted, and face-planted from their horse, this season!

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The winner is the faller that the Masters felt provided the most stylish slither to the ground after coming unseated over the smallest of fences...which made it even funnier. So it gives us great pleasure to award the 2019/2020 Tumblers' Cup to Duncan Green for his fall at Moundsmere. As you can see from the photos, Duncan provided Ellie Osborne with the opportunity to capture the perfect sequence, and he also looked rather pleased with himself afterwards! Huge congratulation to Duncan and thanks for always being such a good sport!

***WINNER - MASTERS' CUP ***

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This award is for the horse that the Masters would most like to take for a day's drag hunting. The Masters have been carefully casting their eyes over the field this past season and looking out for the horse that always gives their rider a super day out and puts the biggest of smiles on their rider's face.

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The decision on the winner was unanimous - the Masters have chosen Welly Dabliz as the worthy recipient of the Masters' Cup. Congratulations Welly and the Dabliz family - what a fabulous horse!

***WINNER - BEST TURNED OUT ***

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This award is for the person who always makes 100% effort to look their best on a day out with us. Being correctly attired on a clean, plaited horse is of the utmost importance when Drag Hunting - it is a sign of respect to the landowners and farmers who's land we are very privileged to cross and it upholds the traditions of our military affiliated pack. Thank you to everyone who makes the effort week in, week out - we know all too well the joys (!) of bathing horses in the winter months and cleaning mud splattered tack and riding kit.

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There were several strong contenders this year, but the Masters are delighted to announce that they have chosen Leah Hayden as the winner of the Best Turned Out Award. Leah is always looks fantastic, with not a hair out of place, a perfectly tied stock and polished boots. She drag hunts on a whiter-than-white pony who sports the most beautiful, neat plaits in both his mane and tail. Once, she even had to re-do some plaits that Dad Peter had put in as they were not up to her high standards! Well done for keeping him in line Leah!

***WINNER - BEST HUNT TEA ***

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The tea we offer our followers after a day's Drag Hunting is a well known feature of coming out with our pack. Visitors are always amazed and delighted with the spread. A huge thank you to everyone who has made Hunt Tea this season, and thanks to Siobhan Brookman for coordinating the tea rota. It is a sign of how cohesive our hunting community is that we all come together for a chat and a debrief at the end of the day, rather than all disappearing off our separate ways. Long may it last!

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So it was a difficult decision for the Masters to decide on the Best Hunt Tea award, but after much deliberation, Caroline Bullen, Johnny Hathaway-White & Ash Hambridge are delighted to announce that they have chosen Katy & Sarah Hayward as the winners of the Best Hunt Tea Award. Katy and Sarah made the most delicious and hearty stew for riders and followers to enjoy, and everyone who tasted it said it was fantastic! Thank you and well done Team Hayward!

***WINNER - BEST CAKES ***

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The Masters are delighted to announce that they have chosen Brewer Chandler as the winner of the Best Cakes Award. Brewer provided an epic spread of delicious cakes for the Lead Rein Meet and the Minley Meet, and also always stuffs everyone full of cake when she kindly hosts a Meet on her land. Thank you and well done Brewer!

Welcome to the world, puppies!

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We are very excited to announce a litter of whelps who arrived on 4th April 2020.  Huntsman Stephen Hall chose Lavender (bitch hound) and Danger (dog hound) as the parents and they have produced this beautiful litter of pups who are all doing well. We hope you'll enjoy watching them grow and join the rest of our pack when they are older to develop their future Drag Hunting skills!

Lavender

Danger