Fitzwilliam Ex-Huntsman Convicted; Falconer Cleared
Fitzwilliam huntsman George Adams and hounds with falconer John Mease at the kennel meet, Milton Park, 2015 / James Barclay photoIn 2015, when James Barclay, ex-MFH took the photo above, hopes were still high for eventually reversing the Hunting Act of 2004 in Britain. Barclay wrote, “Hunting with the Fitzwilliam [UK] is always a treat, especially as my family and I spent twelve very happy seasons there. Although Peterborough is on the doorstep, the Park is beautifully laid out for hunting and many good days are enjoyed there. The kennels are situated on the eastern side of the Park and have a history going well back into the 1700s.
The Stop
{loadposition thestop} Mouseover image and click play to view the entire sequence. / Douglas Lees photoEclipse Award winning photographer Douglas Lees shot this harrowing sequence of Elizabeth Scully when her horse Girlsruletheworld refused near the officials’ stand at the Piedmont Point-to-Point Races on March 24, 2018. The incident occurred nearly in front of Alexandra McKee […]
Old Dominion Point-to-Point at Ben Venue
Trained and ridden by Amber Hodyka, Manacor returns to the races as a timber horse, and wins. / Douglas Lees photoManacor is back. Remade into a timber horse and now trained and ridden by Amber Hodyka, Manacor won the first race, Lady Timber, at the Old Dominion Hounds Point-to-Point Races on Saturday, April 7, 2018.
The bay ten-year-old was brought to the U.S. from Ireland by trainer Jimmy Day and was a frequent winner over hurdles out of Daybreak Stables for four years. He disappeared from the point-to-points last year and is back in the capable hands of Hodyka, a friend of the Days.
Manacor led throughout most of the race, held off a bid by Erin Swope’s Sweet Talking Guy, and won comfortably. Sweet Talking Guy—another familiar horse on the point-to-point circuit with a regular habit of winning Lady Timber races—was one of the top six Leading Horses in Virginia in 2017. Just off a Lady Timber win at Piedmont this season, he came up short against Manacor.
Hillsboro Four-Times Champion at Southern Hound Show
Hillsboro Walnut 2017 (Hillsboro William 2013 ex their Sable 2013) is Grand Champion of the 2018 Southern Hound Show. (L-R): Hillsboro huntsman John Gray, whipper-in Leilani Gray, Orrin Ingram, MFH, and Lee Ann Ingram / Leslie Shepherd photoThe twelfth Southern Hound Show, hosted annually by the Live Oak Hounds (FL), will be remembered for the rain and the Hillsboro Hounds (TN) entries that swept four of the five Championship classes.
Hillsboro Walnut 2017 was judged Grand Champion of Show and Champion Bi*ch. Hillsboro hounds also won the Champion Unentered and Champion Two-Couple classes. Live Oak Assault was Champion Dog Hound and Reserve Champion of Show. “For Hillsboro to win all but one of the championships is a major accomplishment for Master Orrin Ingram and Huntsman Johnny Gray,” said Daphne Wood, MFH, Live Oak Hounds.
Fout-Norris Dominate at Orange County
With four wins and two seconds of ten races on the card, Kieran Norris was leading rider at Orange County. / Douglas Lees photoKieran Norris had an outstanding day on the racecourse at beautiful Locust Hill Farm—timber, hurdle, flat—whichever course he rode. Norris, Virginia’s Leading Rider in 2017, rode four winners at the Orange County Point-to-Point on Saturday, April 1, 2018. He finished the day with two seconds as well, making it first or second in six of the ten races run.
Entries were reasonably strong, with the Maiden Flat and the Maiden Hurdle Races being split. Trainer Doug Fout saddled four winners as well, three of them with Norris aboard.
Macron: Revive French Presidential Hunts
French President Emmanuel Macron is calling for the tradition of “presidential hunts” to be revived. This in the face of increasing public support for a ban on hunting with hounds. Presidential hunts were abolished in 2010 by then President Nicholas Sarkozy. One a useful asset in French diplomacy, according to Macron, presidential hunting parties were […]
The Classic Style of Carol Lee Thompson
The foxhunter is an expert on the breathtaking beauty of the early morning light. Who of us hasn’t been entranced on an autumn hunting morning as the first rays of sunlight refract through a gazillion dew-crystals on the trees and the natural world morphes from gray to brilliance. I am especially taken by artists who can capture those fleeting moments, allowing us to dwell on the scene—something the sun never does!
Carol Lee Thompson is a full-time professional artist, classically trained in the methods of the Old Masters. She paints a wide range of subject matter, including equine and animal art, landscapes, foxhunting, and western themes. And she loves to play with light.
Timber Horses Show Up to Race at Piedmont
Teddy Davies, shown between (l-r) father Joe Davies and grandfather Bruce Miller, won two pony races. Trainer Joe Davies is a Maryland Hunt Cup winning rider. Trainer Bruce Miller is ex- MFH of Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds (PA) / Douglas Lees photoTwo of the four timber races at the Piedmont Point-to-Point on Saturday, March 24, 2018, were split, giving race goers six well-filled and exciting races over the beautiful timber course at Salem. Turf conditions were good.
Dakota Slew, a multi-winning timber horse was back. Slew had the honor of retiring the Rokeby Bowl here two years ago after his third consecutive Open Timber win at Piedmont. Still trained by Richard Valentine, the old favorite that for a time practically “owned” the course settled for a second place finish under McLane Hendricks in the first division of the Amateur/Novice Rider Timber Race.
Hunting Convictions Reversed; Critical Evidence Withheld?
Huntsman Paul Larby and the foxhounds of the Grove and Rufford, UK / James Barclay photoThree happy foxhunters in Britain just had their convictions quashed after having been found guilty and fined last year in court.
Two men and a woman affiliated with the Grove and Rufford Foxhounds in Nottinghamshire were charged and prosecuted in a British Magistrates Court for illegally hunting a fox. Huntsman Paul Larby, terrier man Peter White, and whipper-in Jane Wright were convicted and fined £1,128; £853; and £448 respectively. But did the police and Crown Prosecutor withhold evidence that would have exonerated the three?
Ned Bonnie, ex-MFH: Horseman, Equine Lawyer, Conservationist
Edward S. “Ned” Bonnie, ex-MFH of the Long Run Hounds (KY), died on Saturday, March 17, 2018, in Louisville, at age eighty-eight.
He was a Master at Long Run from 1988 to 2014 and served terms as a director of the Masters of Foxhounds Association. He was a complete horseman, conservationist, and a leading equine lawyer for top Thoroughbred breeding farms in Kentucky.