Tommy Lee Jones Honored

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Liz Callar photoCongratulations to Tommy Lee Jones, the first recipient of the Ian Milne Huntsman’s Award, presented by the Masters of Foxhounds Association on Saturday, April 21, 2012 at the Biennial Staff Seminar dinner. Jones has hunted the foxhounds of the Casanova Hunt (VA) with distinction since 1970. The award is named for the late […]

Rescue on Cat Luggs

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What is dog to man? What is the worth of one terrier to a band of stoical countrymen who live in a harsh place in a depressed time? How hard and how long will such men strive to save a dog from perishing, out of pure respect? Our late Cumbrian friend Ron Black gave us a story to remember.

IMG 2492-resizeThe rescue, 1934

It’s a long pull from the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel to the site of the borran. You first climb up Stickle Ghyll following the track as it ascends, beside the beck, at first gently, but just before Tarn Crag there is a steeper section. At Tarn Crag the track swings right-handed, and you can cross the beck and follow it up to the tarn on the left bank picking your way through the rocks.

Rescue on Cat Luggs

IMG 2492-resize

What is dog to man? What is the worth of one terrier to a band of stoical countrymen who live in a harsh place in a depressed time? How hard and how long will such men strive to save a dog from perishing, out of pure respect? Our late Cumbrian friend Ron Black gave us a story to remember.

IMG 2492-resizeThe rescue, 1934

It’s a long pull from the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel to the site of the borran. You first climb up Stickle Ghyll following the track as it ascends, beside the beck, at first gently, but just before Tarn Crag there is a steeper section. At Tarn Crag the track swings right-handed, and you can cross the beck and follow it up to the tarn on the left bank picking your way through the rocks.

Foxhunting Life to Exhibit at MFHA Staff Seminar

Foxhunting Life will participate in Covertside’s first expo being held in conjunction with the MFHA Staff Seminar on Saturday and Sunday, April 21 and 22, at the Westfields Marriott in Chantilly, Virginia. Norm Fine will be there to talk about the website, to listen to subscribers for their ideas and reactions, and to showcase some […]

Old Dominion Hounds Point-to-Point

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odh12.mischiefAfter winning three consecutive Amateur/Novice Hurdle Races and placing second in four starts, Annie Yeager and Mischief wind up in the turf at Old Dominion.The Amateur/Novice Hurdle team of Annie Yeager and her brilliant gray horse Mischief experienced a frightening moment at the Old Dominion Point-to-Point on Saturday, April 7, 2012 at Ben Venue Farm in Flint Hill, Virginia. With three consecutive wins and a second place finish in four starts in the division, Mischief went down with Yeager, who was airlifted from the course.

The good news is that the horse is fine, and Yeager was released from the hospital the following day with a concussion and a broken collar bone. Those who witnessed the fall close up, including this reporter, expected a far worse outcome, and that expectation clouded the rest of the day’s racing.

Peter Patrick, Lord Hemphill, ex-MFH

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lord hemphillPeter Patrick, the Fifth Baron Hemphill, passed away on Friday, April 6, 2012 at the Galway Clinic after a short illness. He and his wife Lady Anne Hemphill are well-known to many North American sportsmen and women who have hunted with the Galway Blazers. His father, the Fourth Baron, married his mother Emily Sears in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral in New York.

Lord Hemphill was an exceptional individual—charming, entertaining, and a great friend to the Galway Blazers where he served as Joint-Master in the heyday of hunting in Ireland. He made his estate, Tulira Castle, regularly available to the hunt. American film director John Huston was a fellow Joint-Master when he lived at St Clerans not far from Athenry. The two men hunted and socialised together with their respective wives, Toni and Lady Anne, the latter serving as Field Master of the Blazers for many years. They all sailed frequently in Galway Bay with many of the prominent visiting Hollywood film stars, often visiting the Aran Islands where a sing-song was always on the agenda at a local hostelry!

Mosquito-Born Viruses Kill

Mosquito-Born Viruses Kill Spring is here, and it’s time for horse owners to protect their horses from two serious and potentially fatal viruses spread by mosquitoes: Eastern Equine Encephalomyelitis (EEE) and West Nile Virus (WNV). Foxhunting Life reminds you to contact your vet and schedule spring vaccinations. The New York State Department of Agriculture notes […]

Camden, South Carolina: It’s Old Timey

Horse racing in Camden, South Carolina is the way racing used to be, says Eclipse Award-winning journalist Claire Novak in ESPN.com. The venerable Springdale Race Course was founded there in 1928 and hosted its signature steeplechase event—the Carolina Cup—two years later. Thoroughbred trainers from the north would bring their flat racehorses down to this gentler […]

NC Conundrum: Opening Coyote Season May Endanger Red Wolves

The North Carolina Wildlife Commission has a problem, says the highly respected Scientific American magazine. The state wants to expand the legality of daylight shooting of coyotes to allow night shooting as well—no permit required; no bag limit. Although night hunting of coyotes is permitted in many states, North Carolina is unique in that the […]

Orange County Hounds Point-to-Point

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och12.open hurdleOpen Hurdle winner Old Timer and Chris Read (right) lead Robert Walsh on Better Than Ever.The Orange County Hounds Point-to-Point Races were held at Locust Hill Farm in Middleburg, Virginia on Sunday, April 1, 2012. Trainer Neil Morris made the most of his home turf by saddling both the win and place horses in the Open Hurdle Race. Kinross Farm’s Old Timer ridden by Chris Read jumped to the lead at the last fence and beat second-place finisher Humdinger to the wire by two lengths.