C’mon, Gotta Walk a Few Hounds..  /   Sheri Buston photoIt’s a week and a half since huntsman John Harrison was suddenly faced with, then miraculously dealt with what could have been a horrendous outcome of that day’s electric storm. A bolt of lightning struck the power meter at the Deep Run Hunt kennels and the building burned to the ground.

We’ve all heard how, with flaming shards falling from above, John was unable to reach hounds to free them from their pens. Needing another way in, he took a tractor to the perimeter and used the bucket loader to smash a way through, saving virtually all the foxhounds. The nightmare that ‘could have been’ was mercifully averted by John’s quick thinking and bold action.

As one would expect, as soon as word of the fire raced through our little world of foxhunting, the plight of perhaps a hundred frightened and homeless foxhounds pierced the breasts of countless Masters and huntsmen of other packs. The Deep Run phones started ringing with offers of temporary refuge from hunts all over Virginia and around the country.

In the main, the Deep Run pack was split between the Middleburg and the Blue Ridge Hunt kennels, and we thought readers might enjoy the accompanying photo of Blue Ridge huntsman Graham Buston walking two packs of foxhounds on Friday morning—a sort of joint-exercise-meet.

“We have thirty couple Deep Run hounds here in our care after their kennel fire,” said Sheri Buston, who shot the photo. “They are exercised daily with ours and have taken on our daily routine within a few days.”

Posted April 20, 2019