Horse & Hound
An English Summer of Mixed Blessings
The Belvoir foxhounds at kennels after exercise / James Barclay photo
With the new season just about upon us, I thought I would have a look back over the last few months and see how we have been fairing. For the first time in some years now we can honestly say we have had something like a proper summer! Having said that however, the last two days have been nothing but torrential rain, which will have put the final week or two of harvest back somewhat. In June and July we bathed in endless days of sunshine which in many ways did much to pick up the gloom from previous years.
The hound shows began and some interesting results started to appear with the usual names not having it all their own way. This clearly demonstrates that the smaller packs over here now have an increasing amount of quality running through their kennels, which is not only a real pleasure to see for many, but it shows that the interest in breeding nice hounds is now not just with a few of the larger packs. For those who have produced hounds to a high standard for very many years, it must give them huge pleasure to see the others doing so well. After all, it will very likely be their lines that many of those winning today will go back too. Those in the past who have not only bred good hounds in their work but also to the conformation of body with which to last, deserve a great deal of gratitude. On a cautionary note however it would be wise that as Masterships are likely to change all too regularly nowadays, to have someone who can oversee the hounds, their welfare, and their breeding on a regular basis is a must.
Sadly, life being what it is, and with everything going along well as it was, something had to go wrong and sure enough it was not long before the dreaded kennel cough swept through large parts of the country, with some packs suffering badly.
New Huntsman, New MFH at Why Worry Hounds
George Thomas, MFH of the Why Worry Hounds (SC) / Charles Sainsbury-Plaice photoWhen George and Jeanie Thomas organized their hunt twenty years ago near Aiken, South Carolina, they expressed their philosophy in naming it. Why Worry Hounds they called it, and now, after twenty years of managing hounds, horses, and country by themselves, they have made some organizational changes to re-establish that philosophy.
With George busier in his day job and Jeanie having conquered some pesky physical issues, the couple has taken steps to ease their burdens by bringing on board two well-known, immensely capable, and passionate foxhunters ready and wanting to shoulder a share of the responsibilities—Randy and Robin Waterman.
Randy, ex-MFH and former huntsman of the Piedmont Fox Hounds (VA), has been named huntsman of the Why Worry Hounds. Robin, who whipped-in to Randy at Piedmont, joins George and Jeanie as Joint-MFH at Why Worry and will whip-in to Randy.
Melvin Poe Celebrates 93rd Birthday; Hunts Hounds
Betsy Burke Parker photo
World-renowned huntsman Melvin Poe celebrated his 93rd birthday Sunday, August 25 by doing what only comes natural to the living legend—going foxhunting. Riding his favorite hunter and surrounded by Peggy, his wife of some fifty years, his four daughters, a bevy of grandchildren, neighbors, and friends, Melvin handled the horn and the reins with the cool confidence of a man one-quarter his age at what had to be a historic hunt.
"I can't believe he's still going strong," said Charlie Matheson, former president of the Orange County Hounds where Melvin served as huntsman some three decades. "He's an amazing man. We're so lucky to have him."
Legendary Show Jumper Snowman Took the Kids Foxhunting
Snowman and Harry de Leyer. Painting by Joan Porter Jannaman, courtesy of the International Museum of the Horse, Kentucky Horse Park
Harry de Leyer’s first look at Snowman was between the slats of the truck bound for the killers. Harry had had trouble with his old station wagon, and he arrived late to the horse auction in the Pennsylvania Amish farming country. It was over, and there was only one trailer left in the parking lot. It was always the last trailer to load.
Midst the fearful and fidgeting horses crowded together on the bare floor for their last journey, one plain-looking gray stood apart for his calmness and self possession. Harry had driven to the auction in the hope of finding an inexpensive school horse for his riding students at the Knox School on Long Island, so he asked the trucker if he could see the gray. The gelding was missing a shoe, had bloody knees, and rubs on his chest from a heavy harness, but he was well-made and had a kind eye. The trucker had paid the “killer’s price” of sixty dollars. Harry was indecisive, but something in the horse’s composed demeanor spoke to him. Harry paid the man eighty dollars—the most he had planned to bid for any horse—and took him home.
Legendary Show Jumper Snowman Took the Kids Foxhunting
Harry deLeyer and Snowman
Harry deLeyer, born in the Netherlands in 1928, died last summer at the age of ninety-three.
After the Nazis rolled over the Low Countries and much of the European Continent in the spring of 1940, Harry's family farm became a way-station for the Dutch resistance during World War II. Fallen Allied airmen attempting to return to their bases in England and Jews attempting to escape capture by the Nazis were sheltered in a cellar secretly dug out next to the barn and covered by a manure pile. After Allied bombing raids, twelve-year-old Harry would ride out at night, helping to search for surviving Allied airmen. One pilot died of his injuries at the deLeyer farm. Harry' father buried him and mailed the dog tags to his family in North Carolina. Five years after the war ended, the pilot's parents sponsored the deLeyer Family to emigrate to North Carolina. A few years later, the deLeyer family moved to Long Island, and Harry became a riding instructor at an all-girls school. And he needed one more school horse.
Eddie Arcaro Goes Foxhunting
Hall of Fame jockey Eddie ArcaroEddie Arcaro (1916–1997) is regarded by many as the greatest jockey in the history of American Thoroughbred racing. He tallied more wins in classic stakes races than any other jockey and is the only jock to have won the Triple Crown twice—Whirlaway (1941) and Citation (1948). He has the most wins of any jockey in the Belmont (six) and the Preakness (six) and is tied with Bill Hartack for Kentucky Derby wins (five). He won 4,779 of his 24,092 races and earned a record setting $30 million in purses.
On November 23, 1954 Arcaro experienced his first foxhunt when he appeared at a meet of the Piedmont Fox Hounds in Philomont, Virginia, as reported by Liz Smith in Sports Illustrated’s December 27 issue of that year:
To the New Hunting Season
The midsummer fog slips unwillingly down the valley walls and deepens as it sinks into the valley floor, leaving fingers of lingering shreds in the recesses, and wisps on the branches of trees.
Much like its liquid counterpart, it flows around obstacles in its path, and moving objects leave a wake through the waves of opaqueness. So moves the fox in his daily routine, luxurious brush swaying back and forth in time with the lazy trot that carries him along, leaving his scent wafting backward in the liquid air.
In the kennel, the breeze carrying the ripples of scented air tickles the noses of the resting hounds, yanking them to their feet and sending aloft a chorus of protesting bays as they bounce along the kennel fence, begging to be set free to find the source of the scent-laden waft.
On the hill, the grazing horses lift their heads and gaze toward the kennel, knowing that hounds do not speak lightly but announce the presence of only important things. Seeing no immediate threat, they return to grazing but move closer together, ears flicking back and forth, seeking further information.
Foxhounds, Harriers, and Beagles at Stradbally Hall
Champion dog hound Tipperary Chieftan '12 shown by huntsman Derrie Donegan / Noel Mullins photo
Stradbally Hall in County Laois, the Cosby Family seat since the 1500s, provided once again an impressive backdrop for the annual Irish Masters of Foxhounds Show. Held in Mediterranean style sunny weather, it made it all the more difficult for hunt staff who were wearing their heavy Melton wool jackets more suitable to the weather conditions of the hunting season.
Hunt Staff Changes
The show is the culmination of an extraordinary amount of preparatory work by hunt staff from thirty-two foot and mounted packs representing most counties around the country. Many of the packs have used each others stallion hounds, or drafted surplus hounds, but that said it is also a time for an annual catch-up on changes in hunt personnel.
Ado Moran former whipper-in to the Kildares has taken on hunting the Carlow Farmers Foxhounds, and Mikie Moran who whipped-in to the Killinicks has replaced him.
Graham Buston has left the County Limericks for sunnier climes in the USA, hunting Hal Barry’s Bear Creek Hounds in Georgia. Buston is succeeded by James Bradley of the North Herefordshire.
Chasing a Fox: In a Little Black Dress
Foxhunting Life editor Norm Fine was interviewed on the Horse Radio Network last Friday, July 26, 2012 by Helena Bee and Sissi Finn for their program "Chasing a Fox in a Little Black Dress." The interview was aired on "Stable Scoop," the network’s flagship program, and may be heard at the network’s website and through Stable Scoop’s other outlets such as The Chronicle of the Horse, iTunes Radio, Horse.com, Equestrian Life, and Chasing a Fox.
Helena and Sissi hunt with the venerable Myopia Hunt in Hamilton, Massachusetts. In addition to their radio programming productions, the pair has teamed up in a new venture which provides style consulting services for the hunting field as well as other equestrian pursuits and all related social activities such as hunt balls, hunt teas, race meets, fund raisers, polo matches, and cocktail parties.
“I have a long history in equestrian retail and a former career in corporate marketing,” says Helena. “With Sissi's style expertise and my business acumen, we figured we could eek out a small living from Chasing a Fox!”
Puppy Walkers Gone Wild
l-r: huntsman Chris Cerrone (hunting horn by Bounty), first whipper-in Annabelle Whitticar,
honorary whippers-in Ainsley Colgan (7) and Sam Homeyer (9), kennelman Jean Simpson with
Old Dominion hound puppies Feagan (front), Febe (behind left), Fever (behind right) on walk
Betsy Parker photo
What better way to introduce summer campers to foxhunting than by bringing a foxhound puppy or two on the trail ride with the other dogs and then writing it up in the form of a formal hunt report? Good for the puppies to be exposed to all the sights and sounds in the woods and good for the campers who have a fun ride and learn about hunting. All it takes is a multi-talented camp director like Betsy Parker. -Ed.
July 24, 2013, 7:30 am meet at Hunter’s Rest (site of the old Old Dominion Hounds kennels), Flint Hill, Virginia.
Air temp 71 degrees at first cast. BP 29.73 and rising. Breeze variable 3-6 mph from the east/northeast. Fine overcast, cool and cloudy.
Staff: Huntsman Chris Cerrone, first whipper-in Annabelle Whitticar, amateur whippers-in Ainsley Colgan and Sam Homeyer, kennelman Jean Simpson
Hunted hounds: two couple. Old Dominion Feagan, Hunters Rest Mel, Nap and Sneak. (Old Dominion Febe and Fever were left in kennels.)
The pack moved off promptly at 7:29 am from kennels, drawing east toward the Jordan River. Whips rode wide to keep young entry on track as the field jogged along the “Aiken Line” and followed Linden Lane and Redbud Lane to first covert.
