After 2 seasons hunting my own pack of bloodhounds in southern Scotland I am forced, for personal reasons, to return to the south of England. On the one hand I am very sad, because I have enjoyed the last 10 years hunting in Scotland (9 with foxhounds and 2 with bloodhounds, including 1 year hunting both) and have made many good and loyal friends there. But on the other hand I am looking forward to renewing friendships in the south, which have been difficult to maintain with so many miles between us .

I know there will be some suspicion and possibly even opposition from some people in the south who may view my move as opportunistic - given the current threat to conventional hunting in England at the moment - and a thus a threat to conventional field sports; but neither is true. Firstly I am moving because had I not done so, I would not have been able to maintain contact with my 6 year old son, who was abducted to Kent, and secondly there is plenty of justification for other field sports and to argue that hunting with Bloodhounds or Draghunting are alternatives to foxhunting, is as sensible as arguing that we should ban football because people could play rugby, or ban tennis because people could play squash. Foxhunting, Bloodhounds and Draghunting are three entirely different sports. Some people may do one, two or all three of them and the existence of one does not diminish the value of another.

There can be no better example of just how irrelevant this is than by looking at the case in Scotland as conventional foxhunting has been banned there. Before the Wild Mammals Protection (Scotland) Act 2002 (WMPSA) we had a system which, encouraged tolerance of a managed fox population, tended to kill the weak, injured and diseased while leaving the strong, was without possibility of maiming foxes and encouraged the sustainability and improvement of habitat for foxes and thereby other wildlife. Since the banning of foxhunting in Scotland we have a system which, has encouraged intolerance of foxes, only permits the killing of foxes without regard for their health, age or condition and actually increases the chance of maiming. The introduction of a pack of bloodhounds in 2002 has made absolutely no difference to the declining welfare of foxes in Scotland.

In attempting to start a new pack in West Sussex and Hampshire, I have many obstacles to overcome, not the least of which is finding somewhere to live!

After that there is the job of finding ground to hunt on and during the 23 years of hunting hounds I have completed, I have never underestimated the need for goodwill between a hunt and its farmers and landowners. I have been lucky to date in enjoying extraordinary hospitality from these people and I can only hope that some will give me a chance to prove myself worthy of their trust again.

Then of course I need someone to hunt! Again I have been extremely lucky for the last two years in having Les Turnbull as my Quarry Captain. Running for bloodhounds is an art and he has been incredible, not only in making hunts as interesting as possible, within the constraints of agreed routes, but he has also encouraged others to take part and taught them the art of making hounds (and the huntsman!) work. I am sure there must be some people in the south who would like to be pursued by a pack of dogs baying for their blood and then licking them to death once they are caught! Go on ring me!!

Once all the above is in place, we need people to hunt with us, but here I am very confident we will find plenty of people wanting to take part in this increasingly popular activity. My aim is not to provide an activity which is only suitable for the advanced rider with a top class eventer, but a sport with appeal for all. There will be an emphasis on this being a hound driven sport rather than an activity that has hounds as window dressing.

The development of the mounted hunting bloodhound is in its infancy compared to other hound sports. As we do not use pure bred bloodhounds, because they are unsuitable, the aim is to develop the current cross breed into a type which provides houndwork and a good ride.

My experience to date is that anyone who tries this activity with an open mind, will enjoy it. However if you are looking to compare it with foxhunting, don't bother, it is not the same; not better, not worse, just different.