Horse & Hound
Why Worry?
The Why Worry foxhounds
Charles Sainsbury-Plaice photo
Charles Sainsbury-Plaice photo
"Would you like to ride up with me?" asked George Thomas, MFH and huntsman of the Why Worry Hounds. Thomas is a direct descendant of the Bywaters family of Virginia—renowned foxhound breeders of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries—and he hunts a pack of Crossbred hounds, most of which carry the old Bywaters bloodlines. The meet was at Basset Hill in Aiken, South Carolina, home of Ward and Mary Lou Welsh. I was being offered a chance to watch a lovely pack of hounds work their country.
Remembering Cliff Hunt
Harry Stimpson photo
Clifford Hunt, a genuine old horseman and a passionate foxhunter, passed away on December 2, 2010 at age eighty-four. I can’t begin to tally the number of individuals whose lives this man changed. He was a teacher who created many dedicated foxhunters. He was a hosteller, and, with his wife and partner Laura, he provided visiting foxhunters with bed, meals, hirelings, and transport at his well-known Hunting Box in Boyce, Virginia for twenty-six years (1978–2004). Sportsmen came to The Hunting Box from Canada and all the northern states to experience foxhunting in Virginia. Many loved it so much they moved here.
Jim Meads Photographs His 500th Hunt
Douglas Lees photo
Sporting photographer Jim Meads achieved a personal milestone and undoubtedly established a world record on December 5, 2010 when he photographed the Loudoun West Hunt near Leesburg, Virginia. This was the five hundredth unique hunt that Meads has photographed over the course of a career spanning sixty years.
Meads, who lives in Wales, follows hunts on foot and in vehicles and always seems to appear where the action is, even before the mounted followers arrive. His long legs and astounding endurance has allowed him to capture many of the greatest action shots of foxhunting ever recorded on film. He has photographed hunts in England, Ireland, Canada, and the U.S.
The Kildare Foxhounds
The Kildare Foxhounds, kennelled on the grounds of Punchestown National Hunt Racecourse in County Kildare on the east coast of Ireland, met recently at the village of Grangecon in County Wicklow. The countryside and the village were a sea of autumn colours; even the roads were a carpet of multi-coloured leaves.
Hounds met at Moore’s Pub which is run by Paul Moore, the fourth generation of the family. It is still a gem of an old-fashioned pub and was originally an old coaching stop. It is a sensibly laid out pub for hunting and racing fans, as when you are sitting at the short bar having a drink, you can also pick up a copy of The Irish Field, The Farmer’s Journal and The Racing Post which are strategically positioned within arms reach.
The Story of John Peel
MP3 audio download is at the bottom of this article. Subscribe or log in to hear and download the music!
One night in 1829, John Woodcock Graves sat in his parlor with John Peel, a farmer, horse dealer, and foxhunter whose hounds were highly celebrated by the local sheep farmers. From the adjoining room, Graves overheard his son's granny singing an ancient Irish melody to the child. Graves took that old melody and wrote a new set of lyrics to honor his friend, John Peel.
"I sang it to poor Peel," Graves wrote, "who smiled through a stream of tears which fell down his manly cheeks, and I well remember saying to him in a joking style, ‘By Jove, Peel, you’ll be sung when we’re both run to earth!’"
Forty years later, William Metcalfe, Choirmaster of Carlisle Cathedral, heard the song at a banquet. He set down the tune in musical notation for the first time together with Graves’ words, composed a piano accompaniment, and had it performed locally. He went on to London with his choir and on May 22, 1869 performed the song at the dinner of the Cumberland Benevolent Society from whence it spread quickly over the English-speaking world, propelling John Peel into the most famous foxhunter of all time.
Juniors Meet in Pennsylvania for 2010 Junior North American Field Hunter Championships
Gathering of First Flight juniors before their mock hunt moved off.
Lauren Giannini photo
Lauren Giannini photo
For their first seven years, the Junior North American Field Hunter Championships took place in Virginia, mostly at Old Whitewood, part of Orange County's country in The Plains. However, after Alex Matz won the First Flight (12-and-Under) championship in 2009, the notion of staging the next finals in Mr. Stewart's Cheshire country came to fruition. Blue Ridge Hunt's David Pawlak partnered with the indubitable Paris to ace the individual test in the First Flight and claim their second consecutive 13-18 championship. Makayla Benjamin (Loudoun West) and Butterfly Painting went home with the reserve tri-color.
Hokie Hi Is Virginia Field Hunter Champion
Marilyn Jarvis, representing the Piedmont Fox Hounds, rode her hunter Hokie Hi to the 2010 Virginia Field Hunter Championship at Gregg Ryan's Creekside Farm near Middleburg.
Douglas Lees photo
Historic Hunt Coat Acquired by the Chevy Chase Club
Visiting Masters and guest speaker flank General Nulsen's Chevy Chase Hunt coat. (l-r) Malcolm Matheson, MFH, Orange County Hunt (VA); Anne McIntosh, MFH, Blue Ridge Hunt (VA); Norman Fine, Vickie and Skip Crawford, MFHs, Potomac Hunt (MD)
The Chevy Chase Club in Maryland, the surviving organization of the Chevy Chase Hunt Club, acquired a valuable historical artifact on Wednesday, November 17, when a scarlet hunt coat and canary vest belonging to Brigadier General Charles K. Nulsen was donated to the Club by Charles K. Nulsen III. The coat and vest bear the buttons of the Chevy Chase Hunt and have been hanging in a New Hampshire home belonging to the family for nearly a century.
The Chevy Chase Hunt was active from 1892 to 1916. It was a highly respected hunt of its time, but short-lived because the Master, Clarence Moore, perished on the Titanic in 1912.
Jim Meads: Loudoun Hunt West Makes Five Hundred
Douglas Lees photo When the Loudoun Hunt West hounds meet on Sunday, December 5 at Dr. Jim Gable’s Valley View Farm, it will represent a world record setting milestone for both the hunt and for renowned sporting photographer Jim Meads. Loudoun West will become the five hundredth individual pack that Meads will have photographed over the course of his long and illustrious career. Well-wishers are invited to attend the meet and the hunt breakfast to follow. A reception the evening prior to the meet will be held from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m., Saturday, December 4 at Buchanan Hall, 8549 John Mosby Highway, Upperville, VA. All friends and well-wishers are invited to that affair as well. The cost for the reception is $20.00 per person. A poster honoring Jim Meads will be given out at the reception and at the meet. Jim will be available to sign your poster. If you wish to attend either the Saturday night reception or the Sunday hunt breakfast, RSVP your intention to Gia Anderson at 703-777-2414. Or write and mail your check for the reception to Museum of Hounds and Hunting NA, Morven Park, 17263 Southern Planter Lane, Leesburg, VA 20176, Att: Jim Meads Event. For more information, call Marion Maggiolo at 540-347-3141.November 21, 2010... This content is for subscribers only.Join NowAlready a member? Log in here
Read More
The Green Spring Valley Hounds at Dover and Dark Hollow
Slipping quietly away
Many of the MFHA-registered packs in North America have close associations with Ireland and the UK either through hunt staff, field members, jockeys, or through the many Irish and British field hunters and racehorses that grace their hunting fields. One such well known pack is the Green Spring Valley Hounds in Maryland, USA. They met a few weeks ago at Ned Finney’s farm at Dover and Dark Hollow, which is close to the Maryland Hunt Cup racecourse and Shawan Downs racecourse.
