Denya Clarke and Norman Fine
Judges Engage Spectators at 2017 Canadian Hound Show
Admiring Canadian Grand Champion Wentworth are (l-r) TNY Huntsman Roslynn Balding; Judge C. Martin Wood III, MFH, Live Oak Hounds; Apprentice Judge Mary Ewing, MFH, Arapahoe Hunt; Carl Feairs, MFH, TNY; Laurel Byrne, MFH, TNY; Judge Ian Farquhar, MFH, Duke of Beaufort's; Mike Byrne, President, TNY; and Teresa Robinson. / Denya Massey photo
Two world-class judges of foxhounds turned a good day, June 17, 2017 at the Canadian Foxhound Show, into an exceptional and informative day for spectators. MFHs Captain Ian Farquhar and C. Martin Wood III shared their insights as to the choices they made after the results of classes were announced. The experience was an invaluable master class for both those showing hounds and those watching. Each man has judged every major hound show in the foxhunting world, including Peterborough, and each is esteemed among the very best in the breeding of foxhounds.
Grand Champion Foxhound of Show was Toronto and North York’s Blue Ridge Wentworth 2015, an English dog hound. Judge Farquhar especially demonstrated consistency in his choice, since he chose Wentworth as Grand Champion of the Bryn Mawr Hound Show last year!
The Accident that Saved Countless Concussions
Caroline Treviranus and Comic Relief / Leslie Treviranus photo
Caroline Treviranus and Comic Relief were an experienced horse/rider team at the 1978 World Championship Three-Day competition in Lexington, Kentucky. It was Caroline’s second World Championships representing the United States, and she had ridden Comic Relief to Horse of the Year status two years earlier.
As the pair entered the stadium jumping arena for the third and final phase of the competition—having completed the dressage and cross country phases—they were standing in fifth place. A few minutes later Caroline lay unconscious in the grass, bare-headed. Her hunt cap—traditional headgear for all show riders at the time—had parted company with her in mid-air, and a whirling fence rail struck her head.
What followed was evacuation by helicopter, two weeks in a coma, and months of rehabilitation for Caroline. What resulted in quick succession for the rest of us were mandates by the United States Pony Club, the United States Combined Training Association (USCTA), and the American Horse Shows Association for the wearing of approved safety helmets. Eventually, as riders became used to wearing safety helmets, their use was adopted by foxhunters and approved as acceptable, indeed recommended attire.
