To be honest with you, I did fox hunt as kid, I was brought up with it and I have seen both sides of the coin. I have many pro hunting friends and many against. The fact is that nower days we do not hunt a fox, but the rest is pretty much the same as it has always been. I gallop about, jump hedges, drink from my hip flask, laugh profusely, freeze my ass off and have a generally awesome time gallavanting around the countryside.
With the hunting season just kicking off now, there are many options for the aspiring hunter. You can go out with a drag hunt, blood hounds, fox hounds or no hounds - none of which actually hunt a fox - most of which hunt a few exceptionally keen and fast humans across the countryside - all of which is completely consensual I might add. These are not folks that were caught stealing from the local bread market, no, some of them are training for marathons, triathlons or just trying to keep fit and they do a great job.
They lead us over ditches, up hills, through gates, over hedges and more. They then get a quick break between lines while we all chat and quickly reach to pull our hip flasks out before galloping off once more. If you are considering hunting and just don't know whether you and your horse could cope, take a look at my hunting guide which provides some great hunting tips and info - in a nutshell, man-up, you will love it. I have seen a first timer go home without a huge smile across their face - do ensure you wear thermals, it gets a bit nippy :)