Horse & Hound
Tommy Lee Jones: 50 Years Huntsman at Casanova
Huntsman Tommy Lee Jones and hounds of the Casanova Hunt / Douglas Lees photo
This season Tommy Lee Jones begins his fiftieth year as huntsman for the Casanova Hunt (VA). The popular Virginia horseman has played a leading role at every level of hunting and showing and possesses the ability to educate others through his writing skills.
Tommy Lee was the first recipient of the MFHA’s Ian Milne Huntsman’s Award in 2012, and next year he will be inducted into the Huntsman’s Room at the Museum of Hounds and Hunting.
Friendships Through Foxhunting
Huntsman Johnny and whipper-in Lelani Gray with the Hillsboro Hounds / Kevin Keesee photo
Two weeks, 3,700 miles, eight hunting days, six different hunts, too many friends to count, one hellova good time....
What do you do when you are stuck in the cold winter weather of Northern Illinois and have not been hunting for two months? A road trip! Lucky for me, and all of us, foxhunting is a small but welcoming world. While there are a variety of ways to hunt, we all welcome fellow fox hunters to join us, and, as Jorrocks said, "Tell me a man's a fox-hunter, and I loves him at once."
How Horses Sleep
by Bill Fish
Do horses really sleep standing up or must they lie down? Can they dream like humans do? How many hours of sleep do they need on a daily basis? How are horses’ sleeping habits the same or different compared to those of other large animals?
Like cattle and some other animals, horses are capable of sleeping in a standing position. Sleeping while standing is beneficial because it tricks potential predators into thinking the animal is awake and less vulnerable. The ability to sleep while standing is due to a series of leg ligaments and bones called the “stay apparatus” that allows certain large animals, such as giraffes and zebras, to lock their legs.
Horses do not do all of their sleeping standing up. Horses engage in light sleep while standing, but cannot experience REM sleep unless they lie down. Horses regularly take short naps while standing throughout the day, which is likely the reason some people assume horses always sleep standing up.
Green Creek/Aiken Joint Meet in Tryon, NC
Here are the first twenty minutes of a fast moving fifty-minute coyote chase in the Green Creek Hounds (SC) hunting country. It was recorded on October 6, 2019 by Donald “DJ” Jefferis, MFH, Green Creek, during a joint meet with the Aiken Hounds (SC). The coyote makes a brief appearance. With the audio on, it will drive any dogs in your house wild with excitement. DJ is Field Master and videographer, riding his big gray Irish Sport Horse, Pogue Mahone. The two riders in front through most of the run are Green Creek huntsman David Raley and Aiken huntsman Katherine Gunther. Occasionally seen in the clip, riding just behind DJ, is Wendy Collins Gutfarb, MFH, Aiken. Tally Ho, Gone Away! Posted October 14, 2019
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Whipper-in Turns Traffic Cop
Hugh Robertson, honorary whipper-in at Eglinton and Caledon Hounds, is also a former amateur steeplechase rider.
“Land's sakes," says Hugh in his burred Scottish accent, "there I was quietly enjoying a quick puff on my favourite cigarillo, when it all started."
Hugh Robertson is an honorary whipper-in with the Eglinton and Caledon Hounds (ON). Hugh knows the country and had already taken up his post on the ridge. It was early in the season and hounds were drawing the swamp in the valley at the south end of Galten Farms country in Caledon. So far the day had been quiet, providing the opportunity for Hugh to enjoy the overly-warm but beautiful September day.
Resting Up For the Chase
The Green Spring Valley (MD) foxhounds were gathered at the meet, waiting to move off, when one member of the pack decided to catch a quick rest beforehand and needed to find a comfortable chair. Karen Kandra, whose photos often grace these pages, was there to shoot this unusual tactic, a humorous example of civilized life in a pack of foxhounds, from the alphas to the long-suffering. The hound providing the comfort is clearly speaking to us with its eyes. Posted September 29, 2019
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I Was the Vixen’s Designated Kit-Sitter
Dave Ellis photo
I had found the den of a family of red foxes and was going early each morning to take pictures of the mother and her young kits. The kits were five or six weeks old, and were at that curious, exploring stage. Their life at that point pretty much consisted of eat, sleep, and play.
The father did not seem to be around, so the vixen had a lot of work to keep her four kits fed and safe. She was not stupid. She soon figured out that she could make use of me. She had to spend several hours each day off in the woods hunting in order to keep the little ones fed, which meant that without a father around, she would have to leave them alone and subject to being found by other predators.
I Was the Vixen’s Designated Kit-Sitter
Dave Ellis photo
I had found the den of a family of red foxes and was going early each morning to take pictures of the mother and her young kits. The kits were five or six weeks old, and were at that curious, exploring stage. Their life at that point pretty much consisted of eat, sleep, and play.
The father did not seem to be around, so the vixen had a lot of work to keep her four kits fed and safe. She was not stupid. She soon figured out that she could make use of me. She had to spend several hours each day off in the woods hunting in order to keep the little ones fed, which meant that without a father around, she would have to leave them alone and subject to being found by other predators.
Louis “Paddy” Neilson, MFH
Paddy Neilson, MFH, whipping-in at Cheshire / Jim Graham photoLegendary horseman Louis “Paddy” Neilson III, MFH, died Thursday, September 5, 2019 at the age of seventy-seven. He was the husband of Toinette Phillips Neilson, with whom he shared thirty-one years of marriage.
Paddy served as Master, alongside his daughter, Sanna, of Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds (PA) and was a winning race rider and trainer. He hunted with Cheshire since childhood and served as full-time honorary whipper-in for the last thirteen years of his life, jumping his last fence in the line of duty just a couple of weeks before his death.
On Opening (and Keeping) Foxhunting Country
The season has started and so far so good. Young hounds are entering well and have been given the space and time to work things out. But every season brings headaches the Masters can well do without.
Most field members are blissfully unaware of the amount of year-round planning that goes into every day’s hunting. During the spring and summer Masters need to go and visit their landowners and make sure they are welcome for the following season. Secondly, they need to look further afield to increase their hunting country. Why? Because there are too many ways good country can be lost. Here’s one that I experienced.