I am a huntsman. My name is Julian Barnfield and I have been in Hunt Service for over 20 years. I am at present the professional Huntsman of the Cotswold Hunt, based in Gloucestershire.
From starting at the bottom of the career ladder as a stable boy, it has taken me many years to reach the top7 and although it has been very hard work, not a single day has passed when I have not wanted to go to work. This is a way of life for me and indeed for all other Hunt Servants, there is not anything else in life that I would rather do.
It is difficult to explain to someone the pleasure I get from my work, but it is not just about my passion for hunting, it is my livelihood and my way of life. I feel angry when I am held in judgement by people who know nothing about what is involved.
Along with my job I get a rent free house to live in, which is home also for my wife and two young children who have both been born and bred in the countryside. Without my job we would not be able to continue to live in the countryside. I am grateful for being able to raise my children in this environment, away from the drugs and crime associated with our towns and cities, and I believe my children will grow up to be decent people with good moral values.
I am responsible for breeding the Cotswold Hounds, a difficult but vital job. The breeding of the foxhound has been carried out to perfection for hundreds of years, second only to the thoroughbred horse. Unless you have been involved in this, then the bond between a Huntsman and his hounds is unexplainable. The pleasure of bringing a litter of puppies into the world, watching them grow, develop and then learn the ropes in their first season is similar to that of a shepherd working with his dog. Last summer, despite the best efforts of out vet, I lost one of my best bitches whilst she was giving birth. The sadness and the sense of loss was enormous, and I cannot imagine how I would feel if I was to lose the whole pack. I know this is what would happen if hunting was banned.
There is not a Huntsman in the country who could face putting down their hounds, and I would challenge anyone who could look me in the eye, and then shoot my hounds with a clear conscience.
Hunt kennels play a very important role within the farming community. We work very closely with farmers in the collection of fallen stock in the Cotswold area. This is a 24 hour service, 365 days a year. We also work alongside many veterinary surgeons and racecourses in the removal of sick and injured horses. At times I can barely cope with the demands of this service which continues at no cost to the tax payer, and yet goes unrecognised by a government that has failed its rural communities so miserably.
The fox is vermin and has to be controlled, and I honestly believe that hunting is the most humane method of achieving this as the fox is either caught by a pack of hounds and dies within seconds, or it evades the hounds and gets away completely unscathed. Whereas shooting and snaring are indiscriminate and do not have a closed season. Therefore the fox is persecuted for 12 months of the year. There is also no guarantee that the fox will die quickly - in fact there is a high risk of the fox being badly injured and dying an agonising death over many weeks. Foxhunting is about keeping a manageable balance of numbers and not killing every fox in an area.
Foxhunting, along with shooting, fishing and farming are all parts of our countryside each being a cog in a large machine and if one cog is removed then the whole machine grinds to a halt.
Signed; Julian Barnfield. 11th February 2000.
Date uploaded to site 8 June 2000