Chris Ryan staying with his Scarteen Black and Tans / Catherine Power photo
It is generally recognised that only a very special horse will suffice for a huntsman of a premier pack. Many of these horses acquire fame in their own right and often become even better known than their riders. No horse should ever be considered too good or too valuable for a huntsman on a big day. Capt Harry Freeman-Jackson regularly hunted the Duhallow hounds off St. Finbarr, which he rode when representing Ireland in the Rome Olympics. Many of the greats are a one-of and often unridable unless they are up front.
Michael Dempsey leaves the meet with the County Galway Foxhounds, the Blazers / Catherine Power photo
Researching this article I was privileged to speak to Michael Dempsey, now in his nineties, but whose feats in the County Galway Blazer country became the stuff of legend. Special horses? “Definitely two stand out,” said Dempsey. “Gavaroche, who I bought in my brother Patt’s dispersal sale…not a big horse, about sixteen hands.” Legend has it that Michael and Gavaroche jumped the railway gates in Craughwell with the Dublin train imminent. He landed on the tracks and had barely a stride before meeting the exit gate. This feat is still spoken of in hushed tones anywhere west of the Shannon where hunting people foregather.
Another special horse in Dempsey’s life as a celebrated huntsman was the aptly named Superman (by Middle Temple). The horse had such a turn of foot that he would act as lead horse for local race trainers. Michael’s son Tom, who later took over the horn for the Blazers, whipped-in to his father off Ringleader. That horse, ridden by its owner, went on to win the European Junior Championship in Rome. Ringleader never made the return trip to Galway, but a small lorry load of Lire returned instead. Tom also speaks fondly of Frosty by Black Frost, a jet black with a white star produced by Jim Derwin. What made him special? “Bravery,” said Tom. “He never refused and he was thinking all the time. You could depend on him for your life.”
Master and huntsman Thady Ryan with the Kerry Beagles of Scarteen, the Black and Tans, and whipper-in Tommy O’Dwyer, 1982 / Oil painting by Peter Curling
Thady Ryan, when Master and huntsman at Scarteen, had Jacko who was destined for greater things with David Broome but remained at Scarteen. Thady’s son Chris had several horses who became legends in their lifetime. He started with Keelo, who might have passed off as a nondescript bay but had the engine of a Ferrari and the courage of a lion coupled with the brain of a mathematician. He had been bought by Scarteen Master Semon Wolf from the Coleman’s in Duhallow, but Wolf soon realised that Keelo required a special jockey and was not for him.
Like many of these special horses they can only be ridden in front and Chris’s last horse, Sprite, produced by Fergus O’Shea of Nenagh, was sold on the basis that “he had to be upfront or nowhere,” said Chris. “He was a natural leader and couldn’t bear to be headed. Toward the end of the day if his tank was running dry, he had only to be passed by another horse to be re-invigorated and full of running for another hour.” Sprite had been sold in England for decent money, but was returned for a fraction of his original price and so back to Scarteen. Rumour has it that the English rider is still receiving counselling!
Kevin O’Donahue and the Ballymacad foxhounds / Catherine Power photo
Kevin O’Donohue, Ballymacad huntsman for twenty-three seasons, says, “Above all the huntsman needs to be the best mounted in the field and needs a very special horse.” He has had several outstanding horses during his reign but two stand out. Caruso came as a five-year-old from Joe Moore in Edenderry. “He had a bit of a buck in him but loads of scope and forward thinking. He hunted thirty-seven days in his first season.” Then there was Allenwood, a seventeen-hand grey by Dunkerrin Grey Mist. “He had endless scope, forward thinking, and a big stride.”
Duhallow huntsman Ger Withers and hounds / Catherine Power photo
Ger Withers has produced marvellous sport in the demanding three-day-a-week country that is Duhallow. They specialise in long days over the unruly banks and trenches that make up that very special part of North Cork and is certainly not for the faint hearted. They have produced such sportsmen as Vincent O’Brien, John Magnier, John Joe O’Neill, Norman Williamson, and not forgetting Capt. Becher who lent his name to the famed Grand National fence. The bar is high in the Duhallow country!
Ger talks lovingly of some of the great horses that have carried him over the barony of Duhallow. There was the big bay, Davy, by Yascham who stood at Denis Vaughan’s Clongeel stud. He had been produced by James Fleming, son of long time hunt chairman Pat Fleming. “As good as you will ever get,” recalled Ger. “He galloped for fun and never turned away.” A huntsman who has reason to question the ability or bravery of his hunter is beaten before he starts. Ger continues, “Then there was the chestnut white-faced Ruler by Home Rule bred by Alex Ott. A horse of unlimited ability, he had been produced and schooled by Patrick Coleman. When the Coleman’s had him they would tack him up well before hunting and give him an hour in the horse walker before leaving.” This reduced, but didn’t eliminate the risk of being bucked off, and he has often dropped Ger even before leaving the meet.
Ruler’s ability in the field, however, more than made up for early misdemeanours. Ger takes up the story. “He loved the hounds and wanted to stay with them. Above all, when you jumped into a strange field, he would start looking for a place to jump out, and he was rarely wrong.”
On an average day a huntsman’s horse will probably cover fifty percent more milage than the average hunter. While followers are chatting as hounds draw, the huntsman’s horse is rarely out of a canter. Added to that he is generally jumping without a lead often over a fence which may never have been jumped before. Whether it’s a yawner of a bank, a canal style trench, or a five-bar gate, the proper huntsman’s horse has to take them in his stride. These horse are born and not made.
Posted October 9, 2020