Different hunts have been targeted by the anti-hunting group behind a website hosted in Iceland, on which personal contact details have been published. H&H finds out more, from those involved and affected

By Abigail Butcher

HUNTS are standing defiant following a spate of data breaches involving three different packs over the course of this month.

Last week, personal details including names, addresses and contact details of supporters and members of the New Forest Hounds and Cottesmore Hunt were published on a website run by an anti-hunting group. It follows the release of similar data from the Mendip Farmers’.

Police in Hampshire are investigating and have written to those identified as part of the leak advising them to review “online and home security” by changing passwords, reviewing privacy settings on all online accounts and so securing their digital footprint.

Hampshire Police has also recommended supporters “consider home security options including any outbuildings, kennels and/or stables”.

A spokesman for the New Forest Hounds said: “A hacking event has occurred. We have reported it to the relevant organisations. The police are actively investigating so we cannot comment further at present.”

The Cottesmore has reported the matter to Action Fraud, the UK’s national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime, which told H&H the incident is “currently being assessed by the City of London Police’s National Fraud Intelligence Bureau.”

A spokesman for the Cottesmore said: “We hope those responsible will be punished appropriately as a result of this data breach, which highlights the purely vindictive nature of those behind this crime.”

One supporter whose details have been published said he is “concerned but not worried”.

“Anti-hunting groups have photographs of me going back to the 1980s, so I’m sure they have much more information on me than I know they have got, but I do wonder why they have this because I’m participating in a legal activity,” he said.

“They don’t have my consent to hold any of this information and I think it’s time these organisations were brought to account.”

The group behind the leaks is posting documents on a website hosted in Iceland, which has laws protecting freedom of speech.

Activist Jay Tiernan has previously acted as a spokesman for the group. He was found guilty of contempt of court in 2015 for harassing farmers during badger culls in breach of an injunction.

But new spokesman Ernie Goldman last week described his group’s publishing of information as a “tit-for-tat GDPR conflict”, seeking the removal of a central database on anti-hunt activists that he believes the Countryside Alliance and Hunting Office hold.

Mr Goldman said a prolonged campaign is planned, saying: “Some information is coming from within the hunting community, some from groups within the anti-hunting community and some we have no idea where it’s come from. [In other cases] we found everything we need online.”

A spokesman for the Countryside Alliance (CA) said it retains video evidence of incidents of animal rights extremism and records of social media posts, which could be used as evidence in criminal investigations.

“Legal advice suggests this is entirely compliant with GDPR,” he added.

‘Causing upset’

CA chief executive Tim Bonner is robust in refuting claims that the information held contravenes GDPR, and that some of the information being published by activists came from within the hunting community.

He told H&H: “All this information [being posted by the anti-hunting group] has been accessed through illegal hacking activity targeting personal email accounts, and the claim that they’re being given access to this data [by individuals] within the hunting community is just another intent to cause upset and distress within hunts.

“What they’ve published is of no public interest to anyone – it’s harassment and intimidation.”

Mr Bonner said cybercrime is being used across all sectors of society, and cited a previous data hack of a National Farmers Union database around the time of the badger cull.

Both the CA and the Hunting Office have issued advice to packs and supporters across the country on how to tighten online security, but Mr Bonner said: “The simplest and most effective way to deal with this is to regularly change passwords.”

He added: “This is a significant and law-abiding part of the rural community and these attacks are completely unacceptable, but will not have any effect on the future of trail-hunting or other rural activities. People are determined they will carry on.”

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The Cottesmore Hunt’s traditional Boxing Day meet in Oakham has been saved.

The hunt has been meeting in the town on 26 December for at least 100 years.

However, at a meeting on 25 November Oakham Town Council denied the hunt permission to hold the meet in its usual location of Cutts Close.

Rutland County Council has now stepped in and given the Cottesmore permission to meet in one of its car parks.

“Oakham Town Council has been clear that its objection to holding the Boxing Day meet at Cutts Close is a response to damage to the park and health and safety concerns relating to mess left behind by the hunt in previous years,” said county council leader Roger Begy.

“Fortunately, the county council is in a position to offer Catmose car park as an alternative location for the event.

“The car park is a large tarmacked area which can be marshalled and cleaned with ease.”

Hunt secretary Clare Bell said they are “absolutely thrilled” with the news.

“The county council has been hugely supportive,” she said.

“I completely understand the town council’s point of view — if you put 100 horses, 40 hounds and 700 people on foot on grass, it is going to make a mess — but they just did not handle it terribly well.

“Luckily the county council has offered a large car park in Oakham that will suit our needs brilliantly.”

She added that they will continue to carry out a collection for the charity For Rutland – In Rutland, which usually raises about £1,000.

A statement from the county council said that it will consider the venue as a “long-term solution” for future Boxing Day meets.

The car park is opposite Rutland County Museum and the meet, which often attracts between 700 and 1,000 people, will start at 10.45am.

The number of hounds will be capped at five couple, both horses and hounds will be confined to hard standing areas only and arrangements are in place to clean up the car park as soon as the hunt moves off at 11.25am. No vehicles will be allowed.

“Collections made at the meet have raised thousands of pounds for Rutland charities over the years,” said Cllr Begy.

“Many of our local hostelries also benefit from increased trade due to the crowds which attend.

“A large number of people within the community have expressed sadness and disappointment that the event might disappear entirely.

“It would be a shame if this were to happen simply because a suitable location could not be agreed.”

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The Cottesmore Hunt has been denied permission to hold its traditional Boxing Day meet in an Oakham park.

Oakham Town Council made the decision at a planning and parks committee meeting on Wednesday (25 November).

The decision was not unanimous — two councillors voted to keep the meet, with conditions, but the remaining seven present at the meeting voted against.

The conditions were that the hunt clean up and repair any damage to Cutts Close and that it does not serve alcohol in the park.

Hunt secretary Clare Bell told H&H that they are meeting with town councillors to try and find a way forward.

“Yesterday was quite a traumatic day because it was such a shock to have an age old tradition declined,” she said.

“We are trying to work our way through it — there is a huge feeling that it should be allowed there.”

She added that as well as the mounted followers, between 700 and 1,000 people attend on foot each year.

“For some it is the only time they see hounds,” she said.

A petition calling for the council to reverse its decision was started yesterday (26 November) and has so far received more than 1,900 signatures.

Mrs Bell added that the reaction against the council’s decision “speaks volumes” for the popularity of the hunt in Rutland.

“People have been very supportive and it is lovely to see,” she said.

At Cutts Close, the general public can stand safely out of the way of the horses on mounds in the park.

“This is not about foxhunting, this is a tradition that the Cottesmore hunt has,” said meeting chairman Cllr Adam Lowe, who voted to keep the meet, at the opening of the discussion held in Victoria Hall.

“It may be of interest to know that next year is the 300th anniversary for the Cottesmore’s association with the county and they have been meeting in Cutts Close for many years.”

He added he has a photograph of the hunt’s Boxing Day meet in the park from 100 years ago.

Concerns were raised by councillors about the circus also renting the park at the same time, but it was decided that both the hunt and the circus would fit.

Cllr Vincent Howard said that he would like a caveat to say that the hunt repair any damage and clean up any mess.

Cllr Joyce Lucas said that the market place would be a better option as it would be easier for the hunt to clear up the mess.

“I cannot see why we have to have it on grassland,” she said.

She added the issue is not to do with whether she is for or against the hunt, but that she is against where the meet is held.

The weather, lack of public consultation and the political nature of the event were also raised during the discussion, which became heated at times.

Cllr Jasmine Hopkins added: “I agree it is a traditional thing, but there are quite a lot of things that would fall under being traditional that no longer happen such as caning children in schools. The list is endless.”

Speaking to H&H today (27 November), Oakham Town Council chairman Cllr Alf Dewis said the council considered the application in relation to previous years.

He said that the hunt has been allowed to use the park on the understanding that everything is “made good” once they have left.

“Though the hunt may try its hardest to clear up, they cannot totally clear up the dog mess that has been trodden into the mud,” he said.

He added that Cutts Close is increasingly becoming a childrens playground and suggested that the hard standing of Burley Road car park — owned by Rutland County Council — or the market place would be better options.

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Tributes have poured in for the joint-master of the Cottesmore, Gems McCormick, who has died after a fall out hunting.

Ms McCormick was hunting with the Fitzwilliam (Milton) hunt on Wednesday (4 November) when the accident happened.

She reportedly fell after a fence and suffered a head injury.

Gems was a supporter of Team GBR international showjumper Holly Gillott, owning Elore and having an involvement with Holly’s top horse Dougie Douglas.

“She gave me a real leg up,” Holly told H&H.

“I wouldn’t have done all I have in the sport without her. She didn’t have much interest in showjumping but she must have seen something in me to give it a go, and she really helped me. She was a great support to me.”

Photographer Nico Morgan told H&H Gems was “one of the most generous and helpful people I have ever known”.

“She was loving her hunting and it is fitting that she should pass doing what she loved most,” he added.

Former H&H hunting editor Nicola Jane Swinney said: “I first met Gems some years ago at the PPORA lunch at Stratford.

“Her energy and boundless enthusiasm for all things horse and hunting were infectious and we became good friends. I shall miss her verve and zest for life greatly.”

It was the Fitzwilliam’s opening meet, and the hunt has “expressed sincere condolences” to her family.

“We are extremely sad to hear to the death of Gems. She was a huge supporter of hunting in Leicestershire and beyond,” said a spokesman for the Countryside Alliance.

“Hunting was a very big part of her life and she will be long missed by the Cottesmore country.”

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From one of hunting’s most popular hunt countries in Leicestershire to a small pack in Wales that hunts more often on foot than they do on a horse, the H&H hunting correspondents continue to visit hunts around the country to find out exactly what fun can be had. We find out who the characters are and how the hunt operates from week to week.

Were you out with either the Cottesmore or the Towy & Cothi recently when our reporter and photographer came to visit? If so, why not take a look at some of the pictures below to see if you can see yourself or anyone you know.

Cottesmore

The Cottesmore country, still as popular as ever with the hunting fraterity, lies in Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire, stretching 18 miles north to south and 22 miles east to west. In the heart of hunting country, the Quorn, Belvoir and Fernie are some of the neighbouring packs.

The first records of hounds hunting foxes in the Cottesmore (pronounced Cotsmore) country, dates back to 1666 and they continued to hunt legally until the Hunting Act 2004 was passed. Complying with the law, the hunt now uses a combination of laying trails and flushing to a bird of prey for the bird itself then to hunt.

Pictures taken by Peter Nixon

A member of the Household Division enjoys a day out with the Cottesmore

Louise Sophia

Monica Tebbutt-Wheat

Harriet Walker

Margo Benoit

Nick Wright and Roger Weatherby

Roger Weatherby

Towy & Cothi

The Towy & Cothi, based in north Carmarthenshire in Wales, is named after the two rivers that offer its boundaries. Founded in 1914, this is predominantly a gun pack, hunting on foot two days a week but with a mounted field on Saturdays. Although not experiencing the large fields seen in the Shire packs, this pack has a very loyal following on foot, on horseback and even on quads.

Pictures taken by Peter Nixon

The Towy & Cothi followers enjoys impressive views

Huntsman John Hughes

The field heads through dramatic country

Stamina is needed to cope with the hilly Carmarthenshire country

Holly Harris

Lidia Morgan

Rosemary Cookson and Amy Powell

Crowds gather outside the Neuedd Arms

Angharad Jones on Mr Panache and Samantha Jones and Ffion Jones at the Neuedd Arms

Don’t miss our full reports on both packs in the 4 December issue of Horse & Hound magazine

To see the full range of pictures taken by our photographer, visit www.horseandhound.co.uk/galleries

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If you were out with either the West Percy Hunt for their opening meet on Saturday 1 November, or the

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now

Leicestershire rider Jo Lomas died after her horse kicked her and she fell, hitting her head on a stone trough, an inquest in Loughborough heard on 11 October.

Mrs Lomas, 49, who hunted with the Cottesmore and had qualified for the 2013 Mitsubishi Motors Grassroots Championship at Badminton, died almost instantly, said pathologist Michael Biggs.

She was found in a field at her home in Pickwell, Melton Mowbray, on 5 July.

Coroner Trevor Kirkman recorded a verdict of accidental death.

This news story was first published in the current issue of H&H (1 November 2012)

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The Leicestershire equestrian and hunting community is deeply shocked and saddened by the sudden death of event rider Jo Lomas, aged 49.

A natural and accomplished rider with a warm, out-going personality, Mrs Lomas was found collapsed with a severe chest injury in the paddock at her home at Pickwell, Melton Mowbray on Thursday 5 July.

It is believed she had just turned out two horses into the field, and may have been kicked inadvertently. The air ambulance was called, but paramedics confirmed death had taken place. A post mortem was due to take place today (Monday 9 July).

Jo married Mark Lomas QC two years ago and they were both keen members of the Cottesmore hunt.

Having previously represented Britain at Young Rider level, Jo resumed eventing recently and she had qualified for the Grassroots Championships at Badminton Horse Trials next spring.

Brought up in Derbyshire, Jo Lomas (nee Wigglesworth) began eventing in the Meynell and South Staffs Pony Club. She came second on her mare Magenta in the Pony Club eventing championships, before going on to compete in the European Young Rider championships at Burghley in 1983.

Mrs Lomas is survived by her married daughter Harriet Herbert, who is also an event rider, and two sons, Freddie and Jack, from her first marriage to Richard Allen.

Stay in touch with all the news in the run-up to and throughout the major shows and events during 2026 and beyond with a Horse & Hound subscription. Subscribe today for all you need to know ahead of these major events, plus online reports on the action as it happens from our expert team of reporters and in-depth analysis in our special commemorative magazines. Have a subscription already? Set up your unlimited website access now