April 23, 2013
Martyn Blackmore Is New Huntsman at Loudoun Hunt
Completing the recent round-robin of “Huntsmen on the Move,” Martyn Blackmore will be the new huntsman at the Loudoun Hunt (VA) come the month of May, the traditional month for hunt staff to move to their new posts. Blackmore is the departing huntsman at the Loudoun West Hunt, just across town. With this announcement, a circle is completed as three huntsmen trade places among three hunts. Huntsman Andy Bozdan moves from the Tennessee Valley Hunt (TN) to fill the vacancy at Loudoun West. Huntsman Ryan Johnsey leaves the Loudoun Hunt to fill the vacancy at Tennessee Valley. And Blackmore, departing from Loudoun West, fills the vacancy at Loudoun. “Sue and I look forward to meeting Andy and Erin Bozdan,” said Martyn, “and will offer them any help they may need.” To most members of the field, the huntsman is a heroic figure on horseback who gives us great pleasure in our moments of recreation. For the huntsman, however, those glorious moments are but brief episodes ina career for which their are very few opportunities available in the entire world! What brings these men and women to commit their working lives to such a career? Foxhunting Life will be starting a new series of articles focusing on huntsmen and their own stories of how they came to their profession. It promises to be a fascinating glimpse of lives most of us know nothing about. Watch for it! Posted April 24, 2013
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Foxhounds With a Difference
Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds (PA) boasts a sporting field of superb horsemen and women that love to gallop and take their own lines over the post-and-rail line fences in their country. Seven years ago, the Cheshire Masters and staff embarked on a bold experiment to breed a new foxhound for that country. Our feature article below tells of their decision to cross the The Old English (also called the Traditionally-Bred English) foxhound and the Penn-Marydel foxhound.
Their plan was a gamble because the two breeds are about as dissimilar in type as foxhounds get, and the crossing of the two types would produce litters that varied greatly from pup to pup. However, the Cheshire Masters and huntsman believed that the strong points of each type would tend to compensate for the perceived weaknesses in the other and result in a foxhound superior to either type.
Here are some examples of the perceived differences between the types. Just remember that generalizations are only generally valid!
