Horse & Hound
Meeting Martha, Part IV: A Very Grand Finale
Intrigued by a photo of a British foxhunter with smoldering eyes and apparent ice in her veins, and sensing a story, Leslie Wylie reached out to its subject, the Lady Martha Sitwell, in the hope she could arrange for an interview. The next thing she knew she had accepted Martha’s surprise invitation to come hunting with her in England (see “Meeting Martha, Part I: How I Got Invited to Foxhunt with British Royalty”; “Part II: Darling, You’re Mad!”; and “Part III, I Got Ledburied (and Liked It).” What follows is Part IV, the final episode of Wylie’s epic weekend.
Martha Sitwell and Winston at Saturday's VWH/Cotswold joint meet. / All photos by Leslie Wylie
Do you still have skin on the inside of your thighs?
Firstly, thanks for your well-wishes regarding my busted-up face and bum elbow. Good news: I had my arm checked out by the physio and nothing is broken — just a bone bruise, it turns out.
Virginia Foxhound Show Stays at Morven Park
A level pack from the Piedmont Fox Hounds (VA) show in the pack class at Morven Park / Lauren Giannini photo
The Virginia Foxhound Show will remain at Morven Park, and, with that question resolved, the Virginia Foxhound Club has gone forward with repairs and improvements to the kennels and rings. Bob Ferrer, MFH and Show Chairman of the Virginia Foxhound Club (VFC) brings us up to date:
“After some years of uncertainty about the future site of the Virginia Foxhound Show we are pleased to report we have reached an agreement with the new executive director of the Westmoreland Davis Foundation to keep the show at Morven Park.”
Snow Falls, Mud Flies at Warrenton Point-to-Point
Dylan McDonagh displays evidence of Last Farewell's stretch battle with Plated in the Novice Rider Flat Race -- muddied but victorious. / Douglas Lees photoHeavy flakes of snow mixed with rain saturated the Airlie Racecourse throughout most of the day at the Warrenton Point-to-Point, Saturday, March 19, 2016.
Doug Fout-trained horses won three of the nine races on the card: Open Hurdle and Maiden Hurdle, with Kieran Norris in the irons for both, and the Novice Rider Flat Race with Dylan McDonagh aboard. In last year’s final standings in Virginia, Fout was Leading Trainer and Norris was Leading Rider.
Erin Swope finished clean and bright by winning wire to wire on Slaney Rock in the Amateur/Novice Rider Hurdle. / Douglas Lees photoIn the Amateur/Novice Rider Hurdle, Erin Swope crossed the wire first, just as she did at Blue Ridge the week before, but this time she went to the winner’s circle. Swope—owner, rider, and trainer of Irish-bred Slaney Rock—had lost a weight from her pad during her race at Blue Ridge and had to be disqualified.
This year over hurdles and last year on the flat, her racing strategy has been consistent: explode to the front at the drop of the flag, gain a commanding lead, and win—wire to wire. It was also a good strategy for staying clean this sloppy day!
The Ledbury Foxhounds at Manor Farm
Here’s eventer Alice Pearson’s helmet-cam video of her return to the hunting field for the first time since her hard tumble several weeks earlier. Her video captures the Manor Farm meet on the day that journalist Leslie Wylie joined the Lady Martha Sitwell for their day with the Ledbury Foxhounds. See Wylie’s story below, “Part III: I Got Ledburied (and Liked It).”
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Meeting Martha, Part III: I Got Ledburied (and Liked It)
Intrigued by a photo of a British foxhunter with smoldering eyes and apparent ice in her veins, and sensing a story, Leslie Wylie reached out to its subject, the Lady Martha Sitwell, in the hope she could arrange for an interview. The next thing she knew she had accepted Martha’s surprise invitation to come hunting with her in England (see “Part I: How I Got Invited to Foxhunt with British Royalty” and “Part II: Darling, You’re Mad!“). What follows is Part III of Wylie’s epic weekend.
See the girl on the chestnut toward the left who is pointing her horse straight at a 10-foot tall stand of sticks? That's me. / Viki Ross photo (http:/www.vikirossphotography.co.uk)
Breakfast of Champions
“So, let me get this straight: This is your first time foxhunting in the UK and you’re going out with the Ledbury?”
Around the fourth or fifth time someone asks me this, accompanied by a snort of laughter, I begin to feel a pinch of concern. I grew up hunting and have jumped plenty of proper-sized fences in my life but… it’s been a while. The Ledbury is widely regarded as one of the formidable hunts in the world. Was I in over my head?
On the morning of the hunt Martha comes floating down the spiral staircase into Manor Farm’s kitchen looking like she’s just stepped out of an antique foxhunt painting. Smartly outfitted in a canary vest and those vintage balloon-thigh breeches that no woman has been able to pull off since Jackie O, she exclaims “Good morning, darling!” then leans in conspiratorially.
Jimmy Day Saddles Two Hurdle Winners at Blue Ridge
Maiden Hurdle winner Prima Facie and rider Jeff Murphy (center) keep in touch with the field the first time around. / Douglas Lees photo
March 12, 2016 saw the sixty-seventh running of the Blue Ridge Hunt Point-to-Point Races going off on the hunt’s normally scheduled weekend for the first time in four years, the three previous race meetings having been postponed because of winter weather conditions. With the weather and the footing close to ideal for horses and spectators alike, the meet, usually the third in the series, also served as the kick-off for the 2016 Virginia point-to-point season.
Jimmy Day-trained entries won two of the three hurdle races: Amateur/Novice Rider with Bruce Smart’s Dai Bando and the Open Hurdle with Daybreak Stables’ Manacor. In the Maiden Hurdle Race, Day's horse, Zol Zayne had to settle for second place, as he did last year in the same race. The Maiden Hurdle was won by Celtic Venture Stable’s Prima Facie, trained by Eve Smithwick, MFH and huntsman of the Snickersville Hounds (VA). Jeff Murphy held Prima Facie to the pace he wanted and patiently stalked the leader much as he rode the same race last year on winner Bedizen. Murphy took the lead from Hardly Patient on the final turn, accelerated to the last fence, and flew it cleanly for a convincing win.
The Oldest Foxhunting Photograph?
Ambrotype, 1855, John Fred Garper / Collection of Jason WrightJason Wright may possess the oldest foxhunting photograph in existence.
A long time collector and researcher of early photography, Wright's collection consists mainly of daguerreotypes covering the five-year period from 1839 (when the process was first introduced) to 1843. Wright discovered this photograph, an ambrotype, in a lot of early daguerreotypes that he purchased from a Scottish country house sale.
On the back of the framed photo appears the date 1855 and the name of the subject. The surname is somewhat difficult to make out, but the proud young man, booted and spurred, whip and cap in hand, would be John Fred Garper as best it can be deciphered. Wright claims to know all the major sources for daguerreotype and ambrotype (a later process) images and says he has never before come across an image of either process with English-style foxhunting subject matter.
Twelve Legs…Count ’Em…Twelve!
Nancy Stevens-Brown, out with the Red Rock Hounds (NV), captured this heart-warming image of three foxhound puppies exuberantly frolicking midst an explosion of snow and flailing legs.
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Meeting Martha, Part II: ‘Darling, You’re Mad!’
Intrigued by a photo of a British foxhunter with smoldering eyes and apparent ice in her veins, and sensing a story, Leslie Wylie reached out to its subject, the Lady Martha Sitwell, in hopes that she could arrange for an interview. The next thing she knew she had accepted Martha’s surprise invitation to come hunting with her in England (see Part I, “How I Got Invited to Foxhunt with British Royalty”). What follows is Part II of Wylie’s epic weekend.
Photo by Viki Ross (www.vikirossphotography.co.uk)
A Grand Entrance
When the American guest-of-honor arrives to a dinner party over an hour late accompanied by a complete stranger from whom she has hitchhiked a ride, most people of a certain social stature wouldn’t be amused—and understandably so. But the Lady Martha Sitwell does not fall into the category of “most people.”
To rewind: The hosts of the next day's meeting of the Ledbury Foxhounds (UK), the Leekes, had generously invited Martha and me to stay the night at their Manor Farm in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, so we’d be on-site for hunting the next morning. I was coming in from London and, because I am logistically challenged, I caught the wrong train and dug the hole even deeper by getting off at the wrong station.
The Witch With Warts
Illustration by Rosemary Coates
Back in the late 1950s, Sarah and I—both just nineteen—came to America. We had left Britain, where post-war ration books were still in use. Sarah was to train horses and riders for Jamie Kreuz at Bryn Mawr Farms outside Philadelphia. I was to work for the Insurance Company of North America in Philadelphia and help Sarah on weekends.
Jamie picked us up at the airport, but by the time we reached the farm we were in the midst of a snowstorm and a power outage. Our first night was spent in total darkness. It was perhaps merciful that we could not see the mess.
