In Memoriam: Andy Hamilton – Joint Master of the Mid Antrim Harriers
The Hamilton Family at the Dalriada Beach Chase
It is with deep sadness that the Mid Antrim Harriers have to announce the death of their dearly loved Joint Master Andy Hamilton who passed away on Saturday 30th November aged 52, after a six year battle with cancer.
He will be very greatly missed by all the members of the hunt to which he devoted so much time and energy even when he was seriously ill. He endured a terrible roller-coaster of illness and was given a very short time to live six years ago but with typical courage and feistiness he battled against the illness, steadfastly supported by his equally courageous wife Judith. His two sons Joe and Bob have grown into fine young lads who put in an incredible amount of work on the farm and with the horses, and no-one was prouder of their equestrian talents than their father.
Andy was delighted that Joe is now whipping in for the Hunt, following in his father’s footsteps. Andy had a huge number of friends as was shown by the turnout for his funeral in Broughshane on Monday 2nd December where the church, which seats 700, was not big enough to fit in all the friends and relations who came to support the family and show how much Andy had meant to them.
No-one who knew him will forget him and there are very few people on the hunting field, adults and children alike, who were not helped or encouraged by this generous man. They might be shouted at too for any transgression but everyone knew that if they ever got into trouble at a sticky fence or on a difficult horse, Andy would be the first to come to their rescue.
He was a wonderful horseman and his friends spanned the equestrian and farming communities. Andy had been involved in so many aspects of the horse world from riding in point-to-points to training point-to-pointers, showing, team chasing, working hunter and hunting. He was a master at breaking horses and training them for hunting and even the show horses who had such success in Dublin, were schooled over every type of obstacle, with Judith putting in the serious flat work training.
His young horses were so well experienced that they had done more than most ten year old hunters, and many hunting people have enjoyed the benefits of this when they bought horses from Andy. He had recently built some very imaginative working hunter courses for local shows including fences such as the Seven Towers of Ballymena wall and even a very well constructed spider. He was passionate about his hunting and never stopped coming up with new ideas to help the hunt. He had not been strong enough to ride for the last few months but followed the hunt by jeep or quad and only the previous Saturday had hosted a Meet at his farm in Broughshane.
Andy and Judith have helped so many people young and old, over the years, through their encouragement and generosity with their horses and time. Andy’s life was cut short but he packed an unbelievable amount into it and his courage over the past few years has been an inspiration to everyone. His passing will leave a huge gap and deepest sympathy must go to his all his family.
