Foxhunting on the Lakeland Fells

by Richard Clapham

All this could be avoided if the show standard was considered from the point of view of the suitability of the hound to its particular country. Masters could then afford to breed hounds with this object, knowing that when they wished to get rid of them they would fetch a sum commensurate with their working ability.

It has often been stated that hounds require blood to keep them keen and up to the mark. Now, I think there are few hounds keener than those which hunt the fells, yet they seldom, if ever, break up their foxes in the accepted sense of the word. Now and then I have seen hounds break up and eat the greater portion of their fox, but, as a rule, they are content to kill it and leave it at that. American-bred hounds never get blood, yet they hunt season after season as keenly as English hounds which are “blooded up to the eyes.” During a long sojourn in Canada, I met and corresponded with a good many keen hunting men, quite a few of whom had imported English hounds to that country and the States. Much of the hunting country out there is very rough, and hounds are hunted on foot, or ridden to by nicking in and making for likely points. All the American foxhunters I got in touch with were emphatic in their denunciation of the Peterborough type of hound, yet they had imported fell hounds, which exactly suited their requirements, and crossed well with the native-bred hounds.

It is curious, but, nevertheless true, that in England when a low-country pack run their fox to the hills they often lose him, but let the fell hounds force their fox off the fells down to the low ground and they generally kill him. The fell hounds, accustomed to do most of their work on more or less precipitous ground, no doubt feel as if they were having a day off, as it were, when they descend to the level of the dales, whereas it is the other way round with the hounds of the lowland packs. In summer the fell hounds go out to walk at the farmhouses and other places in the dales, and are brought back to kennels in the hunting season. Although a pack of fell hounds can hunt and kill a fox in any description of country, which is more than can be said for the fashionable sort, “hounds for countries” should be the breeders’ motto. Hounds could be quite as easily judged on this principle at the shows as they are now, by always keeping in mind the ideal of working conformation.

ULLSWATER FOXHOUNDS: THE PACK WITH THEIR HUNTSMAN.

In every country there are men able to judge a collection of hounds from the view-point of real utility in that country, and as there are many countries in which the same type, or practically the same type, is suitable, there should be no difficulty in securing proper awards.

Fell hounds are, owing to the roughness of their country, far more liable to accidents than hounds which hunt the low ground. Considering the dangerous nature of their work, it is really surprising how comparatively few serious accidents occur. A severe loss through distemper or other causes is more to be feared, as it takes time and patience to fill the gaps thus made in the pack. All the fell packs are small, and seldom, if ever, have hounds to spare, and few outside packs possess hounds of a type in the least suited to the country; so the fell-country Master has to rely on hounds of his own breeding. There is one temptation to which fell hounds are more liable to fall than low-country hounds, i.e. sheep worrying. It may be a wild, windy day, and hounds are on a catchy scent, and eager to be pushing on. No one is near them, and perhaps a young hound happens to view a solitary Herdwick sheep scurrying off. He gives chase, pulls down the sheep, and his example may be followed by several others. When this happens the huntsman is reluctantly forced to put down the culprits, no matter how short of hounds he may be at the time.

Although, luckily, such a contretemps as the above seldom happens, it is always liable to happen with certain young hounds. Death is the only cure for a hound which takes a liking to mutton on the hoof, for he can never be thoroughly trusted afterwards.

In judging the appearance of a hound from a utility view-point, many people are apt to pay much more attention to the fore limbs than the hind. This is a great mistake, for pace, freedom of action, and power to overcome obstacles, such as high stone walls, are much more dependent on the hind limbs than the fore. The power which enables a hound to spring up a high bank, or heave himself on to the top of a wall, is entirely developed from the hind quarters, and, as I have already mentioned, the small, compact hound that can get his hocks well under him is much better fitted for jumping than the big hound. In judging the hind quarters, particular attention should be given to the muscular development of the second thigh as well as to the same development of the inside of the leg. A tendency towards “cow hocks,” i.e. a deviation from the straight line between the hock and ground, should be condemned. A “cow-hocked” hound lifts his hind quarters higher than he should at each stride when travelling fast, the reason being a want of flexion due to shortened tendons inside. In other words, the more acute the angle between the foot and the stifle joint the shorter are the tendons that work the feet. This means reduced spring in the latter, and a consequent loss of propulsive power.