Grand Champion of Show Live Oak Dandy and (l-r) Sally Bickerstaff; Daphne Wood, MFH; Judges Linda Armbrust, Nigel Peel, and Franklin Whit Foster, MFHs; Marty Wood, MFH; and huntsman Dale Barnett / Cathy Taber photo
The eighth annual Southern Hound Show was held at Live Oak Plantation, Monticello, Florida on April 5, 2014.
It is interesting to note that of the fifty-four ribbons awarded, not including Two-Couple or Championship classes, thirty-seven ribbons went to Crossbreds and seventeen went to English hounds, which proves the value of breeding the best English hounds to the best American blood.
The day was cloudy and cool which made the spectators comfortable and allowed hounds to show at their best in the large grass ring. Kennels were set up nearby in a three-sided hay shed where hounds from Fox River Valley (IL), Green Creek (SC), Hillsboro (TN), Midland (GA), Mooreland (AL), and Bear Creek (GA) were kenneled. The Live Oak were shown out of their home kennel.
The show traditionally invites a senior English and a senior North American judge plus an apprentice judge who hopefully will take a serious interest in properly assessing conformation and movement.
English judge Nigel Peel, Master and Huntsman of the North Cotswold Hounds for the past twenty-six seasons, judged his first hound show forty-one years ago. He has judged the Royal Peterboro, England’s top show, several times. He has produced countless winners over the years.
His co-judge, Linda Jenkins Armbrust, MFH of the Blue Ridge Hunt (VA), likewise has judged shows on both sides of the Atlantic for decades in addition to breeding many winning hounds.
Apprentice judge Franklin Whit Foster, MFH of the Green Spring Valley Hounds (MD), was in the ring for the first time and was a very quick study according to the judges and showed great interest and a “good eye.”
A particularly interesting winner was Midland’s Staffordshire Mooreland Stunning ’11, an English bitch given to Mason Lampton, MFH when the Staffordshire Mooreland recently disbanded. The all bitch pack was hunted by David Barker’s wife Elaine. David Barker was the long serving able huntsman of the Meynell.
Stunning is five generations back to Exmoor Orange County Barber ’89 through her sire and five generations back to Midland Hardaway ’89 through her dam. That double American cross makes her an ideal outcross for the Midland.
The Grand Champion of Show, Live Oak Dandy ’12, was Champion English Dog at the Virginia Hound Show last year and is by Live Oak Maximus ’09 a past Grand Champion of Virginia. The Reserve Grand Champion of Show, Live Oak Fanfare ’10, is a litter sister to two past Grand Champions of Virginia, Farrier ’10 and Fable ’10.
Their sire is tail male to Live Oak Drummer ’89, the most dominant sire line at Live Oak and out of Live Oak Famous ’06 who was given to us by our dear friend Dick Webb, Master for fifty-two seasons of the Moore County Hounds (NC) where he still rides to hounds. Famous’s dam, Footloose ’03, was sent to North Carolina in whelp from the Duke of Beaufort just prior to Jody Murtaugh being hired as huntsman there. As he wanted Penn-MaryDel hounds, the whole litter was given away unentered, and we were fortunate enough to be sent one dog and a couple of bitches, each of which we bred from successfully.
Hillsboro Hounds (TN) served notice on next year’s show by winning first, second, and fourth in the Unentered Bitch class, no small achievement in a show with stacks of quality if not quantity. These “G” bitches represented two litters.
At the conclusion of the Entered Bitch class Nigel Peel told several people that he didn’t recall ever having judged a better class. That was high praise indeed for this small show and a great compliment to its exhibitors.
Posted April 21, 2014
Live Oak Dandy 2012, shown by huntsman Dale Barnett, was Grand Champion of the Southern Hound Show. / Cathy Taber photo