FOXGLOVE

Most of us had been drenched at least once by midday, while attending to livestock, exercising horses or taking out dogs, but we dried off, assembled suitable clothing, and went to support our hunt.

And in accordance with the sun shining on the righteous, the cloud lifted and the rain dwindled away for the afternoon. There was even a glimpse of blue sky: not enough to make a Dutchman a pair of trousers, as they said in my youth and probably for centuries previously, but there nevertheless.

We were not there to look at skies, though. We were being shown the young hounds, whelped last year and brought up 'at walk' by staunch supporters, most of whom had hound-raising in the family tradition as well.

Young hounds need socialising, freedom but not too much, direction but not over- strictness, plenty of good food and fresh air.

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette July 11