A long-held English tradition is being kept alive by a dedicated group of riders in northern Tasmania. But the Northern Hunt Club has put its own twist on tradition, they hunt a scent instead of a live animal, and most of the riders are women.
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00:00On this brisk morning at the historic Clarendon estate in northern Tasmania, anticipation
00:10is building.
00:11About 50 riders of all ages and abilities are about to set off on the hunt following
00:18the scent of roadkill.
00:20We have a drag skin which will be seen, which is a wallaby that gets donated and the hounds
00:27hunt that but they don't hunt live.
00:28They only hunt the drag.
00:30Riders follow the hounds at their own pace.
00:33At 83, Sandra Atkins prefers it that way.
00:38She joined the hunt club in the 1960s and is a much loved mentor.
00:43It was just riding across all these properties, taking the ground as it comes.
00:49It makes the horses so amendable.
00:54A large number of eventing thoroughbreds and retired racehorses are part of the hunting
01:00community too.
01:01I love it because it's something to do in the off-season of competitions and it's just
01:07so nice to get out and you meet so many new people.
01:10It's just great.
01:11Even after double hip and knee replacements, Sandra Atkins can't imagine giving up the
01:17sport.
01:18Terrific.
01:19I'm the horse.
01:21On the ground I'm on a crutch.
01:23I can't go very far.
01:26My dual hip replacement is very weak but on the horse I'm fine.
01:32Most of the Northern Hunt Club's members are women.
01:35Yeah, a lot of women, which is really funny because it hasn't always been that way.
01:39It was quite a male dominated thing.
01:41I'm actually the first female master of the Northern Hunt Club, probably in Tasmania.
01:47Some traditions in the hunt are strictly followed, like a glass of port to toast the landowners
01:53for loaning the property, the hunt club, the hounds and the horses.