The follower's choice - own or roam?

Going hunting without your own hunter is an increasingly popular choice for a range of reasons

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ONE might think that – of all the luxuries that might be whittled away by rising taxes and economic uncertainty – hiring a horse for a day’s hunting might come pretty high on the list. In fact, Britain’s hireling businesses are thriving.

“I had my busiest season ever last year – better than the past four years,” says Katie Ayres of Shropshire Horse Hirelings, “but you just never know how people are feeling each year.”

This is partly down to the ever-rising cost of high-quality hunter livery yards, which, like so many other businesses, have been afflicted by minimum wage and National Insurance increases, not to mention a poor harvest affecting hay and feed prices.

With hunter livery now costing £350 to £400 a week in some areas, hiring is very cost-effective if you hunt only once a week or less.

“Financially, it’s always made sense to hire, but it’s nothing like the joy of having your own horse and knowing all his quirks,” says Diana Jack, who is known to many in the Warwickshire and Northamptonshire area for her lovely horses.

Those of us who have had the pleasure of picking our own line across country on a horse we know well will agree. Indeed, one lady due to speak to me about her switch from hunter to hirelings cancelled from her hospital bed, having taken a tumble.

But buying a good made hunter is far from easy, as Suzie Belsham found when her hunter of 11 seasons reached the end of his career. Two successive replacements proved disastrous, resulting in broken ribs and then a broken back.

“As a slightly older lady who’s become so used to one horse for a long time, it’s quite hard learning to ride a different one – I’m not the only person who’s had huge trouble trying to find the next horse,” says Suzie, now 65 and Thursday field secretary of the VWH.