Tallyho

Picture this: people on horseback in hunting livery charging across the countryside. Dogs in pursuit of their quarry. The English countryside? No. Russia. And the dogs aren’t foxhounds or beagles but Russian borzois.

While fox hunting is often seen as a traditional British activity, hunting with hounds takes place all over the world. Russia has a centuries-old tradition of hunting on horseback. Because of the perceived class issues associated with it, it was abolished in 1917 when private estates were confiscated and horses and hounds commandeered by the state. Now, however, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, a number of organisations are introducing hunting again as a way to attract overseas hunting enthusiasts who aren’t able to indulge in their passion anymore because of the ban. Companies advertise this so-called "Tsar’s hunt” against the background of the vast untouched countryside and the huge variety of trophies ranging from brown bear to wild boar.

What they fail to mention are the extra advantages offered by lax trespass laws and the virtual non-existence of the anti-field sports movement.