Blair Snivley and Blaze at the 2022 MFHA FHC Virginia Qualifier. Meredith Newman photo.
This past weekend Blair Snively and her horse Blaze, members of the Bedford County Hunt, competed at the MFHA Field Hunter Championship Qualifier hosted by Deep Run Hunt at the Pine Crest Farm in Manakin-Sabot, Virginia. Not to highlight only the competitive winners (like there were just two riders the whole day) but let us feature the rest of the riders who just want to show up and have fun on the horses that they love. Despite the long day. Despite new, now-forbidden equine romances. Despite our horses deciding, “I’m out!” Blair’s recount of the day is a great representation of why we love to compete in these Field Hunter competitions.
Sarah Martin Photo
Sarah Martin, MFH and Huntsman for Ozark Highland Hounds in southern Missouri, got inventive when she decided to have custom leatherwork made to solve her appointments issue.
Maiden Flat: Bay B, Thomas Garner up, finishes strongly for the win. / Doug Gehlsen photo
Sunday, May 1, 2022, dawned cool and overcast at Glenwood Park, Middleburg, VA―a fine racing day as far as the horses were concerned. With sanctioned racing gearing up and attracting the more experienced performers, of the seven races carded at the Middleburg Hunt Point-to-Point, five were for Maidens and/or young riders.
Maiden Flat, the second race of the day, was a wire-to-wire win for Bay B, under jockey Thomas Garner. Trained by Niall Saville, Bay B took the lead and only widened it in the stretch to win by five lengths in the seven-horse field.
Jump race jockey Teddy Davies, a teenager, already a record holder, and having a breakout season in sanctioned racing. Here, Davies rides Brave Deacon in the second race at Blue Ridge, Amateur/Novice Rider Hurdles. / Joanne Maisano photo
Trainer Joseph Davies stood at the Entry desk on Sunday, April 17, 2022. It was at Woodley Farm near Berryville, Virginia, the traditional venue for the Blue Ridge Hunt Point-to-Point Races. Davies trains racehorses for steeplechasing but was in earlier days a winning steeplechase jockey himself. And a two-time winner of the Maryland Hunt Cup, the stiffest timber race in the world. Davies was paying for his race entries and picking up the numbered saddle cloths.
A few other trainers waited their turn. “Congratulations, Joe, on your wins yesterday. And here you are again today!”
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