Richard “Pinky” Edmonds, Popular Horseman, Dead at Eighty-Six
Richard “Pinky” Edmonds, 86, died on Wednesday, March 9 from post-operative complications following knee replacement surgery the week before, according to Jon Massey of Folsom, Louisiana. “He will be profoundly missed by everyone who knew him,” said Massey. “Pinky was one of the first real horsemen that I met when I started foxhunting,” said Jef […]
Full Cry Largo Wins Top Honors at Belle Meade
Full Cry Largo, hunting back home, just after being judged top hound at the Belle Meade Foxhound Performance Trials. She still carries her number 17, which was painted on her for the competition. Adrian Jennings photoFull Cry Largo was judged top hound at the Belle Meade Foxhound Performance Trials held in Thomson, Georgia on February 25 and 26. Belle Meade Lifeguard was runner-up to Largo, and, with three hounds in the top ten, Belle Meade took top honors among the hunts. For complete results, click here.
“Largo’s story is a great testament to how hunts and huntsman can work together to help each other out and find the right fit for hounds,” says David Hyman, MFH and huntsman of the Full Cry Hounds (AL). “It’s truly a unique fraternity.”
Uncle Mo Is Still the Horse to Beat in the Derby
Uncle Mo is being touted as the horse to beat in the upcoming Kentucky Derby on May 7. In fact, the undefeated two-year-old champion that ran away with the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile by more than four lengths is renewing serious talk of a potential Triple Crown winner this year, an accomplishment not seen since Affirmed’s […]
Eyes and Ears
Current news from around the hunting world is something Foxhunting Life readers appreciate, and we want to ramp up this part of our content by having more eyes and ears in place. Would you like to be a Regional Correspondent for FHL? Don’t say yes unless you know you’ll have a lot of fun doing it!
If you have your finger on the pulse of events among the hunts in your territory, we’d like to hear from you. We’re not asking you to write the news reports (although we’d be pleased if you would like to do that). Just give us the facts by phone or e-mail, and we’ll write the story.
Regional correspondents will earn a free subscription to Foxhunting Life for their efforts, along with the occasional gift of a book, CD, or DVD from our Bookstore. They will be listed on the site as the go-to person for news in their region and will have their byline on the story, if published.
Dr. Lewis McCurdy, Popular Alabama Foxhunter, Dies After Hunting Accident
Tragedy struck Saturday, February 28 at Belle Meade Hunt in Thomson, Georgia, according to a press release from Epp Wilson, MFH and huntsman. Dr. Lewis McCurdy, a visiting huntsman from Tuscumbia, Alabama, fell from his horse when it missed a turn while hunting. Dr. McCurdy, a large animal veterinarian, was visiting along with several other […]
Fox Shoots Foxhunter
A determined fox in Belarus turned the tables by accidentally pulling the trigger on his assailant’s rifle and shooting the foxhunter in the leg. The hunter had approached the fox after wounding it, with the intention of finishing the job with his rifle butt. The fox resisted strenuously and in the ensuing scuffle managed to […]
Good News and Sad News with Personal Connections
Foxcliffe Hickory Wind greets her admirers with regal dignity.Two news items recently posted on the Home Page touch me somewhat personally—one joyous, one sad: the Scottish deerhound that won Best of Show at Westminster and the destruction by fire of William Frazer’s custom tailor shop in Ireland. What follows in this blog are just sidebars to the stories below. Scroll down to see them.
Foxcliffe Hickory Wind
As every dog person knows, Best of Show at Westminster is huge. Even so, foxhunting veterinarian Scott Dove was completely unprepared for the widespread exuberance, the congratulations, and the excitement of friends and strangers over his Scottish deerhound being anointed with that honor.
Scott is a long-time foxhunter and honorary whipper-in to the Old Dominion Hounds. My wife has been a client of his for her field trial Labrador retrievers. I wanted to meet Hickory and my first opportunity was a party at a local restaurant/pub in Flint Hill, Virginia.
Foxhunter Has Best in Show at Westminster
Foxhunter Scott Dove’s Foxcliffe Hickory Wind Is Best in Show at Westminster Kennel Club Jack Grassa photoFoxcliffe Hickory Wind, a Scottish deerhound bitch owned by foxhunter Dr. Scott Dove, his wife Ceil, and Sally Sweatt, was judged Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club in New York yesterday, February 15, 2011. Hickory is the first of her breed ever to capture that honor at Westminster.
The news clips on TV showed her to be not only a magnificent specimen of a dog, but an astoundingly beautiful mover. Watching her trot across the ring, one would think she was filmed in slow motion—floating effortlessly—were it not for the legs of her handler doing double-time beside her!
William Frazer’s Tailor Shop Destroyed by Fire
Michael and Elsie Frazer just four days before fire destroyed their tailor shop Noel Mullins photo
The shop of famous Irish sporting tailor William Frazer in the village of Hospital in County Limerick was destroyed by fire on Wednesday, February 16. William Frazer passed away years ago, but the business was continued by his son Michael and Michael’s wife Elsie.
Besides the complete loss of stock, fabrics, and equipment, all their records were destroyed, including measurements and memorabilia of the many well-known customers like Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and other larger-than-life foxhunters and sporting figures for whom the Frazers built hacking jackets, hunt coats, vests, breeches, and trousers for over two generations.
Farmington Hunt and J.B. Birdsall Honored for Conservation Success
J.B. Birdsall (holding trophy) is flanked by the Farmington Masters (l-r) Carol Easter, Pat Butterfield, and Joy Crompton. Cheryl Microutsicos photo
The Farmington Hunt and J.B. Birdsall received the 2011 Hunting Habitat Conservation Award at the MFHA Annual Meeting in New York City on Friday January 28.
Each year with each recipient of this award we witness yet another testament to the role of foxhunting in the preservation of open space. Arguably no other sporting culture has done as much to preserve land and natural habitat.
But, it often takes a leader, an individual driving force, to establish a culture of conservation within an organization. J.B. Birdsall—longtime foxhunter, landowner, and hunt member—provided that passion, commitment, and leadership for the Farmington Hunt to become a force for open space conservation in their hunting country.