Photography I: Shooting Foxhounds at the Hound Show
This may come as a surprise to new hound show photographers, but…
…your primary purpose at the hound show is to produce hound portraits that clearly display the conformation of those hounds recognized by the judges as superior examples of the breed.
Shopping for the Hard to Buy For?
A few Meltonians sport blue birdseye stocks under their scarlet coats in this painting by Sir Francis Grant (1839)
Several years ago, Foxhunting Life published a story about an attractive item of attire from foxhunting’s earliest days―the blue birdseye stock tie. Eye-catching and colorful, it can be seen in eighteenth-century foxhunting prints if you look closely.
Verdict of Guilt Is Reversed
Last year, a senior UK foxhunter and board member of the British MFHA, Mark Hankinson, was found guilty in Westminster Magistrates’ Court of contravening the despised Hunting Act of 2004. He was also ordered to pay the court £3,500 in fine and fee. The deputy chief Magistrate concluded that he was “clearly encouraging the mirage of trail laying to act as cover for old-fashioned illegal hunting.”
The case involved the question of whether or not Hankinson, in a webinar seen by about one hundred hunt leaders, promoted ways for hunts to covertly hunt illegally by making it appear they were trail hunting.
This year, a court heard his appeal and considered whether Hankinson’s words were intentionally encouraging an offense. The court decided to the contrary, reversed the original verdict, and Hankinson was adjudged not guilty.
Hankinson explained he was referring to the practice of laying dummy trails to fool saboteurs.
Saturday at the Museum
-Tommy Lee Jones, David Wendler, and John J. Carle to be honored by induction to the Huntsmen’s Room
-Exhibition and sale of artworks by Sam Savitt and Kathleen Friedenberg
The mansion at Morven Park, Leesburg, Virginia
In concert with the Virginia Foxhound Show, the Museum of Hounds and Hunting at Morven Park, Leesburg, Virginia, is preparing for its “Annual” Reception and special events over the Memorial Day Weekend on Saturday, May 28, 2022, after a two-year hiatus.
At 4:00 PM, Robert Ferrer, MFH, Chairman of the Huntsmen’s Room Committee, will step to the podium and open the formal ceremonies. Ferrer will introduce the presenters for each new inductee to the Huntsmen’s Room―Bill Fendley, ex-MFH, Casanova Hunt (VA) for Tommy Lee Jones; Scott Tepper, ex-MFH, West Hills Hunt (CA) and the Red Rock Hounds (NV) for David Wendler; and Mrs. John J. Carle for her late husband, Jake. From three disparate but all-American backgrounds, the three huntsmen followed three separate paths to this honor by their peers. Read on.
At 5:00 PM, the Huntsmen’s Room in the Morven Park mansion will open for viewing, as will the art exhibit and sale of the works of two well-known equestrian artists, the late Sam Savitt and Kathleen Friedenberg.
Old Dominion Point-to-Point
Going to the Start / Douglas Lees photo
The Old Dominion Point-to-Point Races held on April 9, 2022, at Ben Venue drew the healthiest list of entries so far this season. No jump race went off with a field of less than five horses, and the second race, Maiden Hurdle, was split into three divisions of from seven to nine horses in each. There was fine weather and a number of close and exciting finishes, making it a good day for the spectators as well.
Adam Lindsay Gordon (1833−1870)
Adam Lindsay Gordon, c. 1860
English-born Adam Lindsay Gordon was a maverick. At least from the standpoint of a series of boarding schools through which he passed, having been shipped off from home at the age of seven. At age nineteen, he was again shipped off, this time to Australia. His father hoped his son would find a fresh start.
Adam’s life was short but active. He was an exceptional horseman. After arriving in Australia, he joined the mounted police. He trained and rode steeplechasers, never shrank from a dare, was elected to Parliament, and is considered one of Australia’s finest poets. A statue of Gordon was erected in Melbourne, near Parliament, bearing these words from his poem, “Ye Wearie Wayfare.”
“Life is mostly froth and bubble
Two things stand like stone,
Kindness in another’s trouble
Courage in your own.”
What follows is a toast by Gordon, written to be sung. The first line is especially familiar to foxhunters when raising a glass. With apologies, I must admit that this toast was pretty much written for the men’s bar.
Piedmont Fox Hounds Point-to-Point
Maiden Timber Race: (l-r) Profiteer (Eric Poretz up) finishes third; Cracker Factory (Brett Owings) places second; Ya Boy Ya (McLane Hendriks) is first. / Douglas Lees photo
Piedmont ran seven races over the Salem Race Course in Upperville, Virginia on Saturday, March 26, 2022―four timber races and three on the flat.
McLane Hendriks rode two winners this day, book-ending the day’s races. His first came in the First Race, Maiden Timber, and his second in the Seventh Race, Virginia VHBPA Flat. In the Maiden Timber, Hendriks held Ya Boy Ya off the pace, content leading the middle runners in the six-horse field most of the way around. In the final quarter he asked his horse and won the race in the stretch by a length-plus. The Irish-bred Ya Boy Ya is owned by Bon Nouvel Chasers II and trained by Julie Gomena.
Warrenton Point-to-Point Attracts Strong Entries to Airlie
First Race, Open Hurdle, (l-r) Decisive Triumph (#4), (Jamie Bargary up) is the winner. Gerard Galligan on Bet The Pot finishes third. / Douglas Lees photo
Spectators and horses enjoyed a comfortable day of racing over the Airlie racecourse at the Warrenton Hunt Point-to-Point on Saturday, March 19, 2022. Entries were strong, especially in the hurdle races. There were just two, Open and Maiden, but the latter was broken into three divisions of seven to eight entries in each, making the eight-race card more like a ten-race day.
Martin Letts, Longtime MFH, Leading Hound Breeder
Martin Letts, MFH / photo courtesy of Daphne Wood, MFH
John Martin Letts died February 28, 2022, at the age of eighty-eight, still fulfilling his position as a Master of the College Valley/North Northumberland Foxhounds (UK). Appointed Master in 1964, he held the position for fifty-eight seasons.
His hounds hunt the hill country of the English/Scottish Border. A highly regarded hound breeder, the bloodlines of his Fell/Modern English crosses are to be found in many hunt kennels today in Britain, Ireland, and America. He was formerly huntsman of the pack, which he skillfully bred and assembled. Martin Letts was well-known in North America and frequently judged the major hound shows here.
Rappahannock Kicks Off Virginia’s Point-to-Points
Chewy, Will Slater up, wins the Small Pony Race.
Rappahannock wisely and prominently promoted the rain date for their first-of-the-season race day, knowing all too well the vagaries of Virginia weather in early March. Fortunately, on March 5, 2022, the scheduled date was a highly pleasant day to spend outdoors at the new steeplechase course on Larry Levy’s Hill Farm just outside Culpeper, Virginia. A week later, as I sit filing this report, snow is still falling on three inches of the stuff already on the ground.
Seven races were carded: three pony races on the flat―Small, Medium, and Large―and two Timber Races followed by two flat races. Of a total of twenty-eight entries for all seven races, nearly half―sixteen entries―were ponies. I hope the strong showing of pony entries interests other race planners looking forward.