Young supporters' day at Curre and Llangibby kennels is a great success

A group of young riders enjoyed a day at the Curre and Llangibby hunt kennels during half-term.

The youngsters' day, held by the hunt on 26 October, attracted 48 children to the kennels in Itton - including those from two Pony Club branches - and a number also signed up for the hunt's new Young Supporters' Club.

Hunt secretary Charlotte Breese said: "It was such a lovely day! Our joint-master and huntsman Peter Swann gave them a kennels tour, they saw all the coats and did some horn blowing, took part in a quiz and had lunch, then we allowed them to become feral with some of this year's puppies. We also launched our Young Supporters Club that day and 10 of the youngsters signed up.

"They will get regular newsletters and events like a Christmas party and ferreting display and there will be a Tumblers' Club, where any of the children who fall off whilst out with the hunt this season will pay £2 into a pot and the money will be used to pay for them to go skateboarding."

Fiona Williams of the Curre hunt branch of the Pony Club said: "The youngsters' day was really well supported by members from our branch and the Llangibby hunt branch, as well as other local children.

"They all learnt a lot about how hunts are organised, what happens on a hunting day, the hounds, the hunt horses, horn blowing and there was lots of interest in coming out for a day's hunting!"

Henrietta Rutgers of the Countryside Alliance said: "This lovely event comes on the back of a very successful Hunting Newcomers Week (17-24 October), where hunts encourage new people to try hunting. It is incredibly important that we preserve hunting for future generations and days like these at the Curre and Llangibby help to do just that. Hunting is a great educational tool about the countryside and attracts children from all sorts of backgrounds; and we encourage all hunts to consider such schemes."