It may have been a 4:30am start, but it was without a doubt worth it!
It had to be said getting of bed when you've only been asleep for a matter of hours is never easy... However, with an exciting day ahead of me, I was up in a flash. A bowl of porridge at 5:00am so seemed odd, however I needed the energy to fuel me for the day. 60 miles later and an hour and a half of driving North West, I'd arrived at the kennels. As
Soon as I arrived I was greeted by Huntsman and Master, Phillip Hague, as well as Kennel-Huntsman, Antony.
It was lovely to watch them on their morning routine. They showed such compassion for their Hounds well has one another. It was a fantastic environment, which thrived off everything in it. They went in for breakfast at around 9:30, so I wandered over to the horses, attempting to learn some of their names! Two of them stuck, however, Freddie - a 15hh Cob and Paddy, Philip's finest horse. Both of them loved a good scratch!
Before I knew it they were tacking up and preparing which hounds to take. They took 17 1/2 couples that day, some younger and some older to parent the younger ones. It was lovely to see the hounds all working together that day, a truly beautiful sight. I was fortunate to be taken around but Daniel Hague for the day, and that god he showed me the way, otherwise I'd be totally hopeless. The day was full of hedges, ditches and boggy fields.
I got a tremendous sense of hospitality from the VWH kennels and the staff, it was an absolute joy to photograph them for a day. I cannot thank Daniel and Philip Hague enough for allowing me to follow them around for the day.
