Hugh Robards
Remembering Al Schreck, MFH
Albert R. Schreck, ex-MFH, Los Altos Hounds (CA), County Limerick foxhounds (IRE) Like many in the hunting world, I was saddened to learn of the passing of Al Schreck, MFH. Al was a great influence during my years as a huntsman, not only in America but also in Ireland.
Al had been a Joint-Master of the Los Altos Hounds since 1969 and had visited Ireland every year from the early 1960s to hunt with the County Limerick foxhounds and adjacent packs. I first met Al in 1970 when I went to Ireland to hunt the County Limerick foxhounds for Lord Daresbury, MFH. I immediately became friends with him and his lovely wife, Jo. Sadly, Jo predeceased him.
The Find: How to Watch and Listen
In this excerpt from “Foxhunting: How to Watch and Listen,” the author reveals what goes through the huntsman’s mind as hounds find their fox and push it into the open. In Robards' celebrated book, the entire chase is chronicled from beginning to end, first from the standpoint of the huntsman, then from the viewpoints of the whipper-in, the Field Master, the hounds, and the fox.
Hugh Robards and the hounds of the Middleburg Hunt / Middleburg Photo
Try to position yourself so you can hear what the huntsman is doing. You may hear a hound whimper. The huntsman has not only heard, but he has seen Wagtail trying to take a line to the edge of the covert where some thick briars cover the boundary ditch. The pack also heard the whimper and, knowing it is Wagtail, a hound on whose opinion they can rely, have come in close to her and the huntsman. Now you might see the huntsman quietly edge his hounds toward the ditch. As you strain to hear what is going on, everything in the covert falls silent.
How Close Should the Field Be to the Huntsman?
Hugh Robards and hounds
A reader writes, “We were discussing the proper distance a field of foxhunters should keep between itself and the huntsman. Is there a rule of thumb that can be applied generally? We thought one simple rule might be to keep the same pace and a reasonably constant distance.... so the huntsman would always know roughly where his field is. But would love to hear what the experts say.”
Here is a question for which there can be no simple rule appropriate for all hunting situations. There are too many factors that modify the “appropriate” distance, even during the course of a single hunt.
We asked huntsman Hugh Robards, just retired after a fifty-five-year professional career in England, Ireland, and America, for his opinion. For twenty-seven seasons, Hugh hunted hounds for Lord Daresbury, MFH, at the County Limerick, showing world-class sport to members and foxhunting visitors from all over the world. Even before becoming a huntsman, Hugh whipped-in to some of the most illustrious British huntsmen of the twentieth century, including Captain Ronnie Wallace at the Heythrop and Brian Gupwell, later to become huntsman for the Duke of Beaufort. Hugh writes:
Saxonburg Hunt Extends Its Season in South Carolina
Author Hugh Robards is huntsman of the Saxonburg Hounds (PA). / Alex Farnham photoThe foxhounds of the Saxonburg Hunt in Pennsylvania now have a winter kennel in South Carolina of which full advantage is taken from January 1 to the end of March each year. Since Mr. Floyd Wine, MFH invested in property close to the small town of Salley (population about 450 and home of the annual Chitlin Strut!), the harsh Pennsylvanian winters are no longer an obstacle to continued hunting.
As the country hunted is shared with the Edisto River Hounds it was decided this year to have a Hunt Festival Week. Each pack hunted on alternate days with tailgate parties, dinner parties, and a Hunt Ball thrown in for good measure.
