Melton Hunt Club Ride, 17th Feb 2019 – virtual course walk

UPDATE – The ride has been POSTPONED due to the ground conditions and we will try again on Sunday 17th February.

UPDATE – The gate onto Pasture Lane (next to fence 19) will be open.

This year The Melton Hunt Club Ride is sponsored by Chestnut Horse Feeds and RoR to whom the organisers are very grateful.

Download the course map. The car park postcode is LE14 4NQ.

This year’s race is hosted by The Belvoir Hunt and starts just outside Harby. Leave the Harby to Waltham on the Wolds road (Harby Lane) not far out of the village of Harby, just after RES Tractors and opposite the sign for “Shire Sailing”. Continue down the concrete road which starts after the first bend. After the cattle grid you will see the start on the right-hand side, heading towards the house.

[x_alert heading=”Disclaimer” type=”warning”]I have done what I could do indicate different possible routes but obviously the rules allow a lot of variation and your own course walk is essential. Gates which will be open on race day are labelled appropriately on the gate itself. My fence numbers are as I interpreted the route and may not be the same for you![/x_alert]

Fence one is a straight hedge perpendicular to the course not far from the start line and is followed by another as you head toward the house.

After fence two the course bends left over fences 3 and 4.

After fence 4 the course bends to the right round the first course marker.

Fence 6 is jumped into an arable field. The going was good at time of writing but in the case of heavy going there is a headland around the field.

Fence 7 offers two options. Continuing on the arable land means crossing a post and rail fence and then continuing around a small copse.

The alternative is to keep left on the old railway line and jump this:

Fence 8 is bordered by the second course marker after which the direct line bears round to the right, down hill to fence 9, with an open ditch in front. If fence 9 is not your cup of tea then continue in more of a straight line after fence 8 to an open ditch alternative, pictured below. The alternative route then continues up hill to an open gate after which riders can bear right back towards the more direct route.

Fence 10 has a shallow ditch in front and a range of different jumping options.

The obvious place to jump fence 11 is a tiger trap at the bottom end, but there are other options.

Fence 14 offers jumping options. The direct route, shown in the first photo below, beside the marker, is shortest, but requires crossing ridge and furrow afterwards.

Round the corner to the left is a fence beside a gate which then presents a route along the ridge & furrow towards the railway tunnel.

After the tunnel the course direction is right-handed and there are a number of jumping options. The most straightforward is straight on and then right.

After fence 15 there is an open gateway followed by angled gate, fence 16.

There is an oblique drive crossing after fence 16.

UPDATE – It has been confirmed that the gate next to fence 19 will be open. What follows are two lovely photos of a fence which does not need to be jumped.

Then across Pasture Lane to fence 20.

After the road crossing there is a straight gallop to the last three hedges…

Course length is at least 3.6 miles, depending on route.