June 1, 2022
Fort Leavenworth Drop Zone Is Grand Champion at Central States
Grand Champion of Show, Fort Leavenworth Drop Zone 2020 and (l-r) Annette Deguchi; judge Spencer Allen; Teresa Griffith; Amanda Siegner; Mark French, MFH; judge Andrew Bozdan; Dr. Steve Thomas, MFH and huntsman / Kathy Wismer photography
Dr. Steven Thomas, Master and huntsman of the Leavenworth Hunt (KS) was casting back a couple of years.
“Drop Zone was my favorite puppy,” he recalled. “He was home-raised. We always take in a few of the puppies to raise in the house,” he explained.
Drop Zone had recently been judged Grand Champion of Show at the 2022 Central States Hound Show hosted by Fort Leavenworth Hunt at Master Thomas’s Blue Valley Farm.
Hounds from six hunts were shown: Brazos Valley Hounds (TX), Bridlespur Hunt (MO), Fort Leavenworth Hunt (KS), Harvard Fox Hounds (OK), Mission Valley Hunt (KS), and North Hills Hunt (NE). Hounds were judged by huntsman Spencer Allen, Long Run Woodford Hounds (KY), and huntsman Andrew Bozdan, Camargo Hunt (OH).
North Galway Foxhounds at Canavans’ Bar, Belclare
North Galway huntsman David Masterman and hounds / Noel Mullins photo
The history of foxhunting in North Galway goes back to the Galway Blazers, who hunted the county of Galway before lending the northern portion to the Bermingham & North Galway Foxhounds. That hunt was founded by Sir Dermott and Lady Molly Cusack Smith in 1946. Lady Molly was the principal huntsman and Master. In 1985, her active participation in the field having waned, the hunt was renamed the North Galway Foxhounds. Lady Molly, who also had the distinction of being the only lady to hunt the Galway Blazers pack, continued as a Master of the North Galway until her death in 1998. Her daughter Oonagh Mary was also a Joint-Master with her, and her grand-daughter Joanna Hyland follows in her footsteps as a Joint-Master of the North Galway and, currently, the Galway Blazers.
