Heythrop hunt raises £4,000 with charity talent show

The Heythrop hunt cast aside their hunting kit and proved to the audience that they really do have talent.

Over 350 people gathered at the Cotswold School in Bourton-on-the-Water on 7 March to cheer and holloa the hunt’s charity talent show.

The Heythrop’s “singing secretary”, Guy Avis who has been in office for 18 years, pointed out: “The last event the hunt did in this vein was back in the early 1980s when they put on a review — it was definitely time to make fools of ourselves!”

All generations took to the stage in 18 (alcohol-enhanced) performances, including Abba, the Worzels and Take That — aka Hunt That.

No act evoked more cheers than that of huntsman Julian Barnfield’s rendition of Once Upon a Time I had a Lover.

More than £4,000 was raised for the hunt, from which a donation will be made to the young people’s charity, Eloise and Katie Memorial Trust.

This news story was first published in Horse & Hound (19 March, ’09)

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