with Horse and Hound

March 19, 2012

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A Joint Meet with the Navajo

DSC 0128Canyon de Chelly

The Navajo mounted on his paint pony looked wistfully at the hand and footholds cut a thousand years ago. They snaked precipitously up the steep rock face perhaps some 2,500 feet to the canyon rim and 500 feet vertically. I followed his gaze and added less than solemnly, “Wow, scares me just to look at that! Have you ever climbed that in your life?”

He indicated that he had—many times. Now having been born at night, but not last night, I had both heard and read that the Navajo will sometimes spin tall tales about their special places, provided the recipient is sufficiently gullible.

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George S. Hundt, Sr., ex-MFH, Dead at 81

George S. Hundt Sr., MFH of the Radnor Hunt (PA) for twenty-two years, died of Alzheimer’s disease at the age of eighty-one on Tuesday, March 6, 2012, at Neighborhood Hospice in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Mr. Hundt made his home at Braeburn Farm in Malvern. Mr. Hundt rode, hunted, and showed horses from an early age. His mother, Rebecca, was a Master of the Princess Anne Hunt (VA) in the 1930s. While Master at Radnor, Mr. Hundt was responsible for the hound breeding program. After retiring from the Mastership in 1990, he continued to follow hounds for another ten years. Mr. Hundt served as district director of the MFHA, president of the American Foxhound Club, and president of the Bryn Mawr Hound Show Association. He was a longtime stockbroker and retired from UBS as vice president in 2002. Click for the complete obituary by Inquirer Staff Writer Sally A. Downey in Philly.com. Posted March 19, 2012
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The Party Whip: Where Politics Meets Foxhunting

We have all heard and read of the party whips—both Republicans and Democrats—who are primarily responsible for mobilizing votes on major issues along party lines. The party whip wields political power within a state or federal legislative body, and the post is aggressively sought after by ambitious politicians. The Charlotte Observer tells us that the term comes from foxhunting, whips being “members of the hunting team responsible for keeping the dogs from straying during a chase.” The reader may form his or her own conclusion about the aptness of the term’s usage! Posted March 19, 2012
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Foxhunting in Ocala, Florida

In September of 1896, Ocala, Florida wasn’t preparing for the influx of horse show enthusiasts from the north as it does now. At the time, however, a recent resident to the town was planning to establish a fox hunt there, according to columnist David Cook in Ocala.com. John Vogt told the Ocala Banner he was “inaugurating a genuine fox hunt at least twice a week on old fields surrounding Ocala. Vogt was making his home on South Second Street, complete with 10 of his purebred hounds, which were noted, he said, ‘as the finest hunters in the country.’” Vogt said there were plenty of foxes in the fields around Ocala, and he felt Ocalans would enjoy joining the hunt for them, following his hounds. As we all know, owners of field hunters eventually seek other diversions to prove the worth of their horses—racing and showing. Perhaps Mr. Vogt’s initiatives were at least partly responsible for the beginnings of horse show interest in Ocala. Posted March 19, 2012
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