December 3, 2013
Macy the Foxhunting Mule Is a Keeper
It’s the ears, of course. At a walk, the long, warm-brown ears swing with metronomic precision forward and back, forward and back, to her hoof beats. At the trot, they stiffen forward, and at a check they go into neutral, except when something catches her attention. Then she points with them, head up.
Macy the foxhunting mule is an eight-year-old, 15.2-hand molly (or mare) with zebra markings on her hocks and knees, a dorsal stripe, and a cross on her withers. Her coarse dun hair and sparse tail are more similar to her donkey father than to her quarter horse mother.
She is owned by Suzanne Dow of Dundalk, Ontario, honorary whipper in of the Eglinton and Caledon Hunt and MFH of the Bethany Hills-Frontenac Hunt from 1998 to 2004. Suzanne kindly offered to let me ride Macy for a Monday hunt recently, and I took her up on the offer. A landowner issue caused the hunt to be cancelled, but we did go out for a trail ride so I could sample the virtues of a mule. There are many.
Hamilton Fox, ex-MFH, WWII Hero, Dead at 93
Hamilton Phillips Fox, ex-MFH, died at his home on Maryland’s Eastern Shore on November 26, 2013 at age 93. He was a decorated Naval veteran of World War II and enjoyed a distinguished law career in Salisbury, Maryland for nearly fifty years, starting in 1947. He served as MFH of the Wicomico Hunt (MD) for forty years, starting in 1964. Friends and colleagues describe Mr. Fox as a kind man who treated all people fairly both in his sporting and professional life. He served two terms as State’s Attorney between 1948 and 1956. Foxhunting was his favorite pastime. Mr. Fox enlisted in the Navy after the attack on Pearl Harbor and began his military service as an ensign. He commanded landing a craft ferrying tanks to the coast of Sicily in 1943. General Patton boarded his craft in Sicily to commend the crew for a job well done. Mr. Fox, who recalled hunting behind the general in Virginia as a teenager, talked foxhunting to Patton’s delight. On D-Day—arguably the most important single day of the twentieth century—Mr. Fox ferried troops and equipment to Omaha Beach in Normandy. He is mentioned in Stephen Ambrose’s definitive and best-selling history of that day, D-Day: June 6, 1944: The Battle for the Normandy Beaches. Mr. Fox left the Navy as a First Lieutenant having won five battle stars. He was a graduate of Randolph Macon Military Academy and Washington and Lee University (1941). After the war ended, he graduated from the University of Maryland Law School in 1947. Click for more details in DelMarvaNow.com. Posted December 3, 2013
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Foxhound Wins Best of Show at National Dog Show
Jewel, the American foxhound barely edged out (according to knowledgeable observers) at Westminster by the affenpinscher last February, was judged Best in Show at the National Dog Show at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center. More than 1,500 dogs were entered in the all-breed show. The three-year-old female, GCH Kiarry’s Pandora’s Box (aka Jewel), is the first dog from the Hound Group to win Best in Show in the twelve-year history of the National. She is the winningest AKC-Registered American foxhound in the history of the breed. Her grandfather was the previous record holder. While it’s often scary to see what AKC shows have done to some breeds, I have to admit that Jewel would look pretty nice in any pack of hounds I know. A caveat: some judges in the foxhunting world would take issue with her stern, which curves over her back. Jewel is a lovely mover as can be seen in a video of the seven champions of the various dog groups selected for the final judging. “I never have seen one that good [as Jewel] and may never see one better,” said Judge Randy E. Garren. Jewel is owned and handled by her breeder, Lisa Miller of Mechanicsville, Maryland. “Jewel flies around on a loose lead, then she stops and free stacks with a look that says, ‘Beat me.’ She is probably the best American Foxhound I’ve ever bred,” Miller said. For more details, click to read the Associated Press article published by NBC Sports. Posted December 3, 2013
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