The thrill of the kill

An early start this morning, Mum and Dad needed to be at the airport by 9am so up at 7.30 to check flights. All ok so Jim set off with parents and I stayed home to do the horses.

It was light by 8.30 so I went down to put them out, I could hear the chasse in the distance, not very far away, but not close enough to be a worry (or so I thought).
The horses were on their toes. I put Corky out first and instead of mooching around the gate she set off down the hill into the front field. We vary the going out order and they're pretty chilled with it and even today when they were a lttle on edge there was no problem. Bonbon went out next and stood calmly until I'd unclipped her before cantering up the field to Corky. Remy doesn't have as much confidence as Bonbon but he was very good and when I unclipped him he stood with me for a few seconds before galloping, tail in the air, to the others. Back in the stables, Anky could hear the others cantering in the field and she was standing, head up, ears pricked and, not for the first time, it hit me how beautiful she is.She was trembling slightly and as I stood watching her she turned toward me and walked up to me, very calmly. I walked her out to the gate and into the field with no problems, again after unclipping her she stood for a couple of seconds before kicking her heels up and galloping over to her pals. I really get a kick out of their confidence in me.

The horses were in our front field and the chasse were on the other side of our land in a small wood. As I was mucking out I could hear the incessant howling and barking of the dogs and they were obviously getting closer.  I went out and I could see a few orange jackets ( the members of the chasse must wear these for safety when they're hunting) just on the edge of the wood, and then 3 or 4 shots.
The horses are pretty good with the chasse, they've got used to the sound of the dogs and guns, but I'm not good at all. I've been ok this season, but that's mainly because we've seen very little of them. I make a mental note of the whereabouts of all my animals when they're around, from what I've heard the chasse manage to dispatch many cats during the season. This morning I could account for all except Tiger and J.C. one of our two ginger kittens ( not kittens now but we call them the kittens), so I was  worried about them. The whole idea of the chasse makes me feel vulnerable and I hate it when they cross our land, it frightens me. Jim says that my reaction is OTT.  I heard  a very loud shot and shouts and as I emerged from the stables I saw an orange jacket at the very edge of our bottom field. As I watched him he let off 4 or 5 shots across the field.  I didn't see anything, but Jim who had just arrived back from the airport said that he'd seen  a fox running across the bottom of the field.  Suddenly a group of orange jackets ran out of the wood clapping and laughing, obviously delighted.
I find it incredibly gut wrenching that a group of grown men get so much enjoyment from killing a fox(well, any animal!) .Of course, I ended up in tears and Jim says that i'm far too soft for country life!
Having finished the mucking out I found J.C. asleep on my bed but Tiger hasn't appeared yet.