For the final sab of the Christmas period we visited the Eggesford hunt at their usual New Year’s Day meet at the Waie Inn in Zeal Monachorum.
The meet was a smaller affair than previous years, no doubt because paying to watch Jason Marles hunt is like paying to watch grass grow. He quickly left behind all of his field and support and spent most of the day racing around Zeal Monachorum at break neck speed, trying to draw every copse and hedgerow in a 5 mile radius, while the support stared in the wrong direction, and the young riders in the field were left in the loving care of prison warden Lloyd Heard.
Marles initially went west towards Hayne and drew the quarry, with hounds skittering dangerously up and down the rock face. Just to the south, sabs saw a fox slip away to safety beneath the notice of the hounds and covered its scent. After that, the hunt went west with foxes seen running as far as Ashridge, then turned about and raced east, back past Zeal Monachorum and up to the Old Mill, disturbing families and dog walkers on the roads and paths.
Jason made a relatively brief stop in Lammacott Farm, a favourite killing ground, and then had a half hearted attempt to hunt around Tuckingmill and the Devonshire Heartland Way, before returning to Serstone farm and boxing up uncharacteristically early. Presumably going home to nurse a hangover and plan his next exciting day of murdering foxes and running away from his field.
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