Todd Kern
Juniors Rule at Snickersville’s Junior Meet
Connor Poe whipped-in with Robyn Harter. / Middleburg PhotoLike most days at Nelson Gunnell’s Banbury Cross we expected a large field. But this was Junior Day—a day when the juniors take over the positions of staff and make all the calls. So the group that gathered for this nine o’clock meet was huge. I’m not sure, but I heard rumors there might have been eighty people out to hunt. We had fifteen couple of Penn-Marydels and Penn-Marydel crosses under open skies, with temperatures warming to sixty-eight degrees.
Don’t get me wrong; I like a large field. I want visitors and guest alike to see what one of the best packs in Virginia can do. But at some point it can get too large! We had a first field, second field, and a beginner field for children. We also had, besides the Field Masters, field stewards in the back to help along those who might fall out, to check gates and riders, and generally to keep order at the tail of the field.
Snickersville at Banbury Cross
Huntsman Todd Kern / Middleburg PhotoRide a cock horse to Banbury Cross
To see a fine lady upon a white horse
With rings on her fingers and bells on her toes
She shall have music wherever she goes
Although we can’t vouch for bells on toes, there were fine ladies on white horses on Sunday, September 18, 2011 when the Snickersville foxhounds met at Banbury Cross Farm in Middleburg, home of Nelson and Wendi Gunnell. Those fine ladies (along with everyone else) heard plenty of good hound music wherever they went from the pack of seventeen couple of Penn-Marydel and PMD crosses brought by huntsman Todd Kern. His report follows. [-Ed.]
