Second place in a competition

Hare coursing is the pursuit of hares with greyhounds and other sighthounds, which chase the hare by sight and not by scent.

In some countries, it is a legal, competitive activity, in which dogs are tested on their ability to run, overtake and turn a hare, rather than a form of hunting aiming at the capture of game. It has a number of variations in its rules around the world. Coursing can also be a form of hunting or pest control. It is a long-established hunting technique, practiced historically in England, especially with greyhounds or sighthound breeds, or with lurchers which are crossbred sighthounds. The sport grew in popularity in Europe during the 19th century, but has since experienced a decline due in part to the introduction of greyhound racing with betting, and animal welfare legislation.

In recent decades, controversy has developed around hare coursing, with some viewing it as a cruel bloodsport. Hare coursing is illegal in Scotland, Wales and England and became illegal in Northern Ireland in 2011. It, however, continues elsewhere in the world as a regulated and judged, competitive sport, in e.g. the Republic of Ireland, Iberia, and the Western United States.

Whether for sporting or hunting purposes, hare coursing was in Europe historically restricted to landowners and the nobility, who used sighthounds, the ownership of which was at certain historic times prohibited among the lower social classes.

The oldest documented description of hare coursing is the work known in English as On Coursing. It was written by Arrian a Greek historian of the Roman period, circa 180 AD and is known in Anicent Greek as Kynegetikos and in Latin as Cynegeticus. Arrian felt compelled to describe the sight hunt and sighthounds because the Ancient Greeks only knew the scent hunt; On Coursing complements Xenophon's classic work on that subject, Cynegeticus (On Hunting). William Dansey, an English clergyman, translated On Coursing in 1831.

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