Hunt Reports

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.]

Members of the Carrollton Hounds joined members of the Howard County-Iron Bridge Hounds on Sunday, September 18 for a day of autumn foxhunting in the open rolling hills of Frederick County, Maryland. Photographer Susan Bloom captured the action and color of a busy day with hounds.

Here’s a gallery of excellent photographs of the Cottesmore foxhounds shot by Nico Morgan at Bisbrooke in the English Shires. The Cottesmore is a venerable pack, having been established in 1666 by Viscount Lowther. Perhaps the most colorful Master was Hugh Lowther, fifth Earl of Lonsdale, known to history as The Yellow Earl. Born in 1857, “his name was readily associated with the highest echelons of sport and scandal.”

First-year entry Maxim hits walkup homer in the ninth with two out.  /  Alivia Cotter photoNew huntsman, new members, and new hound entries made for a memorable season’s start for the Tennessee Valley Hunt. The first cubhunt open to subscribers and guests took place on Saturday, September 17, from Frank and Cyndie Niceley's Riverplains Farm. It was Andy Bozdan's first open hunt with Tennessee Valley as huntsman, and the morning was filled with warm greetings from all who have anxiously awaited his arrival all summer.

Bridlespur huntsman Eleanor Hartwell and houndsIn our Hunt Club Pages under the Horse and Hound drop-down menu, we publish a page (or more!) for every North American hunt. On those pages appears every published article about or refering to that hunt.

We recently asked you for descriptions or histories to use as a lead for your hunt's page. The response has been terrific, and we're continually fascinated by the diversity of each hunt's origins and individual culture. Here's Bridlespur's story:

Field Master Gus Forbush, MFH / Karen L. Myers photoSaturday, November 28, 2009. A large field of about fifty or sixty met at Henchmen’s Lea near the Old Dominion Hounds' kennels. For the first draw, huntsman Gerald Keal had taken hounds to nearby Thumb Run. Field Master Gus Forbush was standing by a field of soybeans on Thumb Run when he heard hounds speak. Here’s his story:

“The hounds’ voices were weird,” recalled Forbush. “I wasn’t sure what was happening.”

At that point, Keal came galloping back and said there was a bobcat caught in a snare on the other side of the river.

One-year-old Driver meets four-year-old Trevor on hound walk. / Glenye Oakford photoWHAT a beautiful day Saturday was! It started with a crashing thunderstorm that prevented me from riding over to catch our trailer ride to the day's hound walk, so I went out with the hounds on foot for what turned out to be a Very Special Morning. Young entry of two different species, each new to the field, met and got acquainted.

The Tallyho Cup (foxhunters and polo mallets) and Polo Saturday (polo players and hounds) debuted in Aiken, South Carolina this season, reaffirming the traditional Aiken bond between foxhunting and polo. The two sports have been entwined in Aiken since the early 1900s, when all the great polo names of the day—Hitchcock, Knox, Bostwick, Corey, and others—played polo in Aiken and rode to hounds as well.

Polo Saturday

In keeping with this historic tradition, Linda Knox McLean, MFH sent out an open invitation to all of Aiken’s polo players to cap with the Aiken Hounds on their polo ponies while wearing their polo gear. Dubbed Polo Saturday, the day was the brainchild of Theresa King, who hunts with the Aiken Hounds and plays polo on her foxhunter.

Chris Ryan is the eighth generation of Ryans to be Master and huntsman of the Scarteen Hounds.       Catherine Power photoThe present spell of hard weather has played havoc with hunting schedules, so the moment a thaw was forecast Scarteen put on a bye day at short notice for Lattin, situated between Tipperary town and the little town of Emly. The shortness of the notice did not deter a large and well mounted field from turning up. The area is almost unique in that most of the farmers in the area are either directly or indirectly involved in the hunt, resulting in unrivaled access to the country—a country of huge banks and almost no wire.

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.