The Boxing Day Hunt

From The Telegraph:

"This will be a grand day for traditional England – Boxing Day always is. Folk will turn out in force to watch the merry spectacle of the local hunt, as it mills around on the village green or beside the ha-ha of a country house: mince pies and port; horsemen uncertain how to consume them without dropping whip or reins; cream and tan hounds under the eye of a leathery huntsman; red-coated masters receiving the gratitude of all, as well they might, since making good any holes in the hunt finances falls to them; everyone as smart as guardsmen, the steaming horses seeming to share the sense of anticipation, if not bonhomie, with their riders, as the pageant moves off to follow hounds into the frost-spangled, midwinter countryside."

What is England without fox hunting? The mere fact that it was outlawed four years ago does not keep hunters from participating. Over 300,000 showed up this year.