Hill Beagles of Oxford University, the Trinity Foot and South Herts Beagles of the University of Cambridge, and the Royal Agricultural University Beagles). Some packs of beagles also have associations with the British armed forces, such as the Purbeck and Bovington Beagles (Junior Leaders Regiment, Royal Armoured Corps); the Pimpernel (Royal Signals) Beagles; the Catterick Garrison Beagles; the Colchester Garrison Beagles (amalgamated with the Sproughton Foot Beagles in 1994 to form the Stour Valley Beagles); Per Ardua Beagles (RAF) and Britannia Beagles (Royal Navy). The harrier and beagle packs are represented by the Association of Masters of Harriers and Beagles (AMHB). There are currently over sixty packs of beagles registered with the Association based in England and Wales. In the last thirty years there have been a number of amalgamations between packs, mostly brought about by the reduction in the amount of country available for hunting due to roads and associated urban development. This means that some packs, particularly in more built up areas of southern England, cover parts of several counties. Following the 2004 Hunting Act, packs of beagles, bassets and harriers have switched to hunting artificial (rabbit or hare scent) pre-laid trails, hunting rabbits, flushing hares to guns or birds of prey or retrieval of injured hares following hare shoots (the last three are legal under exemptions within the Act). Other forms of hare hunting Hunting with Bassets In the United Kingdom, there are also a handful of basset hound packs, which formerly hunted hare. Despite being less thorough and "checking" less frequently, bassets work more slowly than beagles, but are admired by many for their strong and deep voice, and for their considerable stamina. They are more independent and headstrong hounds; it has been said that they hunt "less as a pack, and more as a collection of like-minded individuals". Most packs have opted to breed the 'English Basset', which is considerably longer in the leg and lighter boned than the traditional variety. This gives them greater speed and endurance when hunting, but many also have a slightly higher pitch when speaking on a line (scent). The UK governing body for basset hound packs is the Masters of Basset Hounds Association (MBHA), separate from the Association of Masters of Harriers and Beagles. Hunting with Harriers Harriers are normally followed on horseback as the hounds, being larger than beagles, could push a hare faster and straighter, enabling a