Cottesmore Hunt to meet on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day
Hunt supporters and saboteurs will gather at meets during the Christmas period.
The Cottesmore Hunt will hold its annual Boxing Day meet at Exton Park at 11am.
The annual meet, which has been taking place for more than 356 years, attracts hundreds of supporters as well large groups of people who oppose the tradition.
It is expected there will be about 70 people on horses as well as packs of hounds.
Hunt secretary Clare Bell said: “We are really excited - it is such a super meet.”
She added: “We are looking forward to seeing everyone.
“It is very important for the public. People love to see hounds over the festive period.”
The meet raises money for the charity ‘For Rutland’, which holds a collection on the day with volunteers who talk about the support they offer.
Money raised goes towards funding advisors who help people with long-term illnesses.
The Cottesmore Hunt is also raising money for the Air Ambulance.
“It is a charity used occasionally by us,” said Clare.
“When equestrians are unwell in the countryside an air ambulance is often deployed.”
The Fitzwilliam Milton Hunt will hold its annual meet in Stilton High Street at 12pm.
A week later on New Year’s Day a Cottesmore Hunt meet will take place in Melton Mowbray with people encouraged to gather near the council offices at 11am.
There will be about 40 huntspeople on horses with crowds of about 500 expected, according to Clare.
No hunt was held on January 1 this year as it fell on a Sunday, which breaks tradition.
The legal method of hunting with hounds involves a fox-scented trail being laid by a horse rider, which the hounds follow through the countryside. Hunting foxes with dogs or by using illegal traps and snares is a criminal offence.
Saboteur groups often follow hunts around the countryside, documenting what goes on and sharing their views on social media.
2023 marks 60 years since the Hunt Saboteurs Association was created.
A spokesperson for the Northants Hunt Saboteurs said: "On Boxing Day this year we will be present at the Cottesmore Hunt’s meet at Exton Park and will be monitoring their activities as we have been doing on a weekly basis during the hunting season for the past five years.”
They added that saboteurs believe the ‘time of gathering and celebrating a red coated huntsman and a pack of foxhounds’ on Boxing Day is ‘outdated’ and ‘unjustified’.
