Hare Coursing

Bretland was born in Nottingham, the eldest son of Peter Bretland, the owner of a coach and carriage painting business. Bretland sketched from an early age and wanted to train as an artist, but his father discouraged this and in 1816 Thomas became apprenticed to him in the family business. Around 1828 he began to paint animal portraits and received commissions. By about 1840, after his father's death, he left the family business and took up the full time occupation of animal painting. He was much encouraged by Lord Middleton one of his first important patrons. Other major patrons included the Dukes of Buccleuch and Montrose, Lord Chesterfield and Baron Rothschild. He worked mainly in oils and his subject matter covered animal portraits generally as well as hunting scenes and landscapes. He was influenced to a degree by one of his fairly close neighbours, John Ferneley Senior.

Hare coursing, until banned in 2005, was traditionally practised for centuries by the nobility and gentry in Britain. The earliest record of a hare coursing club is that of the Swaffham Club, founded in 1776. In 1836 the first Waterloo Cup meeting for competitive coursing was held at Altcar, near Liverpool and Bretland painted this work when the sport was at the height of its popularity.