About Us

The Masters of Draghounds and Bloodhounds Association (MDBA) was formed in 1997 following a merger between the old MDHA and the MBHA.

It now represents all draghound and bloodhound hunting in Great Britain, along with some packs in Southern Ireland.

Draghunting involves the pursuit of a pack of hounds following an artificial scent laid down by a runner or mounted rider earlier in the day. A pack of Bloodhounds, on the other hand, hunt the "clean boot", the scent of a human runner, with no artificial scent.

The routes for both types of hunting usually takes the following mounted horseback riders over a variety of jumps including both Hunt built fences and natural obstacles such as stone walls, hedges, ditches and farmer's fences.

Draghunting is not a new sport. Oxford University was one of the first to form a drag hunt closely followed by Cambridge University. The Household Brigade formed a drag hunt in 1863, the Royal Artillery at Woolwich in 1866 and the Staff College and Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 1869.

Many of these packs still continue and thrive today, with many additional packs formed during the past few decades - The North East Cheshire in 1958, the Anglesey in 1973, the Berks and Bucks in 1974 and the Saddleworth (re-established) in 1985. The last five years have seen even more packs applying for registration.