Island Life Magazine Ltd February/March 2012 | Page 96

EQUESTRIAN

Lucky 13 Meet!
Around 1,000 spectators joined
the 68 mounted followers who
gathered for the annual New
Year IW Hunt Meet.
The Meet was held at Gotten
Leaze, by invitation of David
Biles and by kind permission
of Sam and Fiona Biles, for the
13th successive year. But because
January 1 fell on a Sunday this
year it was held the following
day.
By tradition, David Biles
supplied bacon and wine for
all those who attended to enjoy
a bacon sandwich and mulled
wine, which was followed by a
very successful day of following
the trails.
The IW Beagles were also
in attendance along with two
carriages, driven by Ray Penn
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and Robin Smith, which added
even more authenticity to the
Meet.
David said: “The whole day
proved a big success, and the
weather was kind as it rained the
day before and the day after. It
has been a great privilege to host
the Meet for the past 13 years,
and provides the opportunity for
a lot of old hunting friends to
meet up – I think we can regard
it as lucky 13!
“The numbers who came along
underlined the support for fox
hunting, even though only
trails were being followed. The
Meet has become more popular
than ever, and even though fox
hunting has been banned for
several years, the tradition lives
on.”