Daring side-saddle enthusiasts are being invited to enter a newly launched hunt scurry that will take place over a 2.5-mile course this autumn.
The Staff College Drag Hunt, based at Sandhurst, Berks, is organising the race, which will also feature an open (astride) and a junior class.
“The last two seasons have been a bit of a disaster for hunts, with terrible weather followed by Covid, so we are working hard to fundraise,” said organiser Rebecca Hathaway-White, who has hunted side-saddle for the past 12 years.
“I wanted to see something aimed at side-saddlers as well as catering for the astride rider as we have a fantastic following of both ladies and gents who regularly follow the hunt tackling both hedges and timber with huge amounts of style throughout the season. So with this in mind we decided to run a hunt scurry and have put together a really jumpable course.”
The scurry is due to take place at Loddon Court Farm on 12 September, over a course made up of natural timber fences and hedges, and numbers will be restricted to 15 entries per class.
Side-saddlers already on the entries list include Bruce Langley-McKim, who will be riding his Cleveland Bay stallion Pembridge Justice, and Roger Edmunds, who previously garnered attention for hunting in a side-saddle while his leg was in a plaster cast.
The schedule will also include a 90cm inter-hunt relay, open to teams from hunts, Pony Club branches or riding clubs.
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