June 4, 2014
Missing Live Oak Hounds: Update
The Masters of the Live Oak Hounds very much appreciate the concern of the foxhunting community and the efforts of many in trying to recover the two young foxhounds that went missing from the Virginia Foxhound Show at Morven Park. The good news is that, although they have separated, each has been seen recently. Daphne Wood, MFH sent us the following update as of June 4: “I just spoke to Spencer Allen [huntsman, Piedmont Fox Hounds]. He got within ten feet of Charter today. He said he was one hundred percent sure it was him. (The picture he has of Charter from the Southern Hound Show is a closeup). Several others have also seen him [in Middleburg], but understandably he is thoroughly terrified because he has made it all the way to Zulla Road and is hanging around between the tennis club and Ardarra Farm. Maybe he can be enticed into the trap we borrowed from the Loudon County Animal shelter. Perfect has recently been seen still at Morven Park near the pond in front of the mansion. Kevin Palmer [former huntsman, Fairfax Hunt] has been wonderful trying to get Perfect. We are putting up a trail camera above a feeding area in hopes of confirming her recent sighting. As we only have the one trap, hopefully Charter will get caught soon so we can take the trap back to Morven Park.” Posted June 4, 2014
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My Holiday with Hounds
Kennel huntsman Nick Hopkins exercises the North Cotswold foxhounds through the village of Broadway. / Denya Massey Clarke photo
On holiday one spring day in 2008 my husband (non-horsey) and I were walking down High Street in Broadway, enjoying the charms of one of the most attractive towns in the Cotswolds. Suddenly I heard hounds.
I determined to find the source, while my husband is thinking, “Really? We’re on vacation, and she finds hounds? Out of the blue? Really?” I saw a lane called Kennel Lane, and there, one block off High Street, were the kennels of the North Cotswold Foxhounds!
I was enchanted by the hounds living right in town. It made them so accessible, yet they weren’t. The North Cotswold foxhounds are a beautifully bred, highly respected pack. I imagined seeing them out of their kennels on a hunting day, yet, since we travel regularly to the Cotswolds in May, that wouldn’t happen.
While planning our third trip to Broadway, I couldn’t resist. I knew that the Joint-Master of the North Cotswold, Mr. Nigel Peel*, was a contributor to Foxhunting Life—in fact a member of FHL’s Panel of Experts. I asked editor Norman Fine if it would be impolite to ask to see the kennels. He kindly offered to introduce me by email to Mr. Peel, who bred this beautiful pack, hunts them himself, and whose reputation as a breeder and judge of foxhounds is universally renowned.
Fast forward: the phone rings in our Cotswold ‘cottage.’ It’s Nick Hopkins, kennel huntsman for the North Cotswold Foxhounds, calling on Mr. Peel’s behalf to invite me to walk out with the hounds on the twentieth of May at 7:45 a.m. Of course, I say. Thank you. Oh, mentions Nick, we’ll have a bike for you. A what? A bike. Oh, ok.... We hang up.
