Horses

Chris Ryan sets exercises to benefit horses and riders of all levels. / Alys Emson photo

For the second consecutive year, Chris Ryan, MFH of the Scarteen Black and Tans in Ireland crossed the Atlantic to impart some of his knowledge and experience to participants in the Woodford Hounds Hunt Clinic held over the Labor Day weekend at the kennels in Harrodsburg, Kentucky. Chris has been Master of the Scarteen since 1987, and the hounds have been in the trusted care of the Ryan family for over 350 years.

The clinic was held for three days with divisions for the open horse and rider as well as for green horses and for hilltoppers over the three-day period. Overwhelmingly, the results were positive. Chris's teaching style leaves one a more positive, confident rider. He pushes and pushes and gets results. He even had some of the participants jumping wire, after explaining that we must be prepared to jump what is encountered in the hunting field.

Judge Barbara Batterton presents the championship trophy to Elizabeth Green, riding Gold for Glory. / Liz Callar photo

Elizabeth Green, representing the Piedmont Fox Hounds (VA), rode Shelby Bonnie’s Gold for Glory to victory in the Theodora Randolph Field Hunter Championships of America. The trials, founded in 1989, are named for the late Master of the Piedmont, so it is particularly fitting when a Piedmont horse and rider win the championship.

The week-long event attracts foxhunters from across North America. Entries ride with up to four different area hunts over a five-day period, and horse and rider pairs are selected to compete in the final tests and mock hunt by a team of mounted judges. The finals were held on October 7, 2012 at the Glenwood Park Race Course in Middleburg as part of the Virginia Fall Races weekend program.

(l-r) Lauren Gibson and Landmark Cracker Jack, winner of the Hilltopper Division; Iona Pillion; and Douglas Wise-Stuart, MFH / Liz Callar photoThe tenth annual Junior North American Field Hunter Championship competition is in the offing with this year’s finals scheduled for Sunday, November 4, 2012 at the Radnor Hunt in Chester County, Pennsylvania. What started in Virginia has now spread to neighboring mid-Atlantic states and the number of participating hunts continues to grow.

More than a competition, the main purposes are to expose foxhunters eighteen years of age and younger to a variety of hunting countries, to instill in their young minds the importance of open space preservation if our sport is to continue beyond their lifetimes, and to stress suitability of mount to rider. The concept was hatched ten years ago by Douglas Wise-Stuart, MFH and Iona Pillion, both renowned for their junior foxhunting programs.

Erin Bartle and her field hunter Firestorm are ranked ninth in the country in the Novice Division by the U.S. Eventing Association.  /  Beth Sutton photoErin Bartle rode her USEA nationally ranked Novice horse Firestorm to the First Flight Championship, the Melvin Poe Cup, and boosted the Rockbridge Hunt to the Clifford Hunt Championship—most points by a hunt—at the Maury River Hunter Trials, Virginia Horse Center, Lexington on April 7, 2012.

Twill Do (left) wins in one of the closest Maryland Hunt Cup finishes ever.One after the other, the two favorites tumbled from contention, paving the way for one of the closest finishes ever in the 116th running of the Maryland Hunt Cup on Saturday, April 28, 2012. Twill Do ridden by James Stierhoff and Battle Op with Connor Hankin aboard battled down the stretch with Twill Do doing it by a head at the wire. It was the second Hunt Cup win (2010) for Twill Do, who is coming back this season from an injury.

After winning three consecutive Amateur/Novice Hurdle Races and placing second in four starts, Annie Yeager and Mischief wind up in the turf at Old Dominion.The Amateur/Novice Hurdle team of Annie Yeager and her brilliant gray horse Mischief experienced a frightening moment at the Old Dominion Point-to-Point on Saturday, April 7, 2012 at Ben Venue Farm in Flint Hill, Virginia. With three consecutive wins and a second place finish in four starts in the division, Mischief went down with Yeager, who was airlifted from the course.

The good news is that the horse is fine, and Yeager was released from the hospital the following day with a concussion and a broken collar bone. Those who witnessed the fall close up, including this reporter, expected a far worse outcome, and that expectation clouded the rest of the day’s racing.

Open Hurdle winner Old Timer and Chris Read (right) lead Robert Walsh on Better Than Ever.The Orange County Hounds Point-to-Point Races were held at Locust Hill Farm in Middleburg, Virginia on Sunday, April 1, 2012. Trainer Neil Morris made the most of his home turf by saddling both the win and place horses in the Open Hurdle Race. Kinross Farm’s Old Timer ridden by Chris Read jumped to the lead at the last fence and beat second-place finisher Humdinger to the wire by two lengths.

(l-r) Jeb's Crowner (Bart Poole up) in the Foxhunter Timber Division catches Incaseyouraminer (Ben Swope) riding in the Owner Rider Division. Both were winners of this timber race in their respective divisions.

Considering the superb weather we have been enjoying this season, Piedmont Fox Hounds drew the short straw for their point-to-point races as Douglas Lees’s great photos clearly illustrate. It was a wet day!

Annie Yeager's Mischief (rt) on the way to winning his third hurdle race in three starts. Mary Motion riding Fogcutter (left) finished fourth.Annie Yeager and Mischief scored a hat trick in the Amateur/Novice Rider Hurdle Race at the Warrenton Hunt Point-to-Point Races on Saturday, March 17, 2012, posting their third win in three starts this year. Mischief passed pace-setter Mariah’s Promise before the last fence to take the lead. Mariah’s Promise challenged in the stretch but had to settle for second place by a head. Mischief is owned by Yeager and trained by Don Yovanovich.

Kellie Witte piloted her Twin Kiss to a second victory in two starts this season in the Junior Field Masters Chase.The sixty-third running of the Blue Ridge Hunt Point-to-Point Races was held Saturday, March 10, 2012 under a brilliant blue sky and over good footing at the Woodley Farm racecourse.

Two horse-rider combinations repeated their winning ways of the previous week at Thornton Hill: Twin Kiss ridden by Kellie Witte in the Junior Field Masters Chase and Mischief with Annie Yeager aboard in the Amateur/Novice Rider Hurdle Race.

Trainer Jimmy Day posted a win and two second place finishes. Top jockey was Carl Rafter with two wins and a second. Rafter rode Day's winner, Trappe d'Or owned by Bruce Smart in the Maiden Flat Race; Zoe Valvo's Triton Light to the wire in the Open Hurdle Race; and posted a second on Red Ghost in the Novice Timber.

Jockey Jeff Murphy rode trainer Teddy Mulligan's The Editor to a win in the Novice Timber Race and posted two second place finishes for the day as well.