Horse & Hound
D. Harcourt Lees, Jr., ex-MFH
In nearly a half century of foxhunting, I have never seen a more handsome, elegant, and classically turned-out man astride a horse in the hunting field than Harcourt Lees. Nor did I ever meet a kinder or more pleasant gentleman in the hunting field. For me, he epitomized the grace and courtliness of a bygone age. It was an honor to know him, and I shall never forget him. What follows is the obituary of this sportsman/businessman/civic leader as released. -Ed.
With the passing of Douglas Harcourt Lees Jr. on July 21, Warrenton and Fauquier County, Virginia lost not only a respected businessman and sportsman but also a living link to a simpler time of grace and civility. Mr. Lees, 91, suffered a stroke on July 9 and was hospitalized briefly before returning to “Blackrock,” the Lees’ family home on Springs Road.
Collecting the Lost Hound
"Lost Hound" by Jane Gaston: illustration from the
book of the same name by Robert AshcomAll foxhunters know that a lost foxhound on the road is a situation that cannot be ignored. There are many possible outcomes, most of them bad. In fact, Jerry Miller, MFH of the Iroquois Hunt (KY) announces to all his members that if they see a lost hound and get it safely back to kennels in their car, he will personally pay for a complete car cleaning! It’s often not an easy job to coax a lost hound into your vehicle, as anyone knows who has tried it. Here’s a story of how one clever woman did it.
How Long Can a Red Fox Live?
Mary Marks photo
I believe that the ripest old age a tame fox might achieve is twelve. A wild, country fox could reach about eight. The governing factor, of course, apart from predators, is the fox’s teeth. No teeth, no food, no energy, and the end will be near, perhaps by scavenging dog or internal parasite—a death neither quick nor noble, and without Nature’s own equivalent of the National Health Service.
When I was hunting the Tiverton in Devon, the oldest fox caught by my hounds was aged six, according to that great naturalist Sir Newton Rycroft. It was the Tiverton’s first hunt in the New Forest, in 1975, and the fox’s incisors were long, very curved, and extremely dark—which prompted the discussion. The longer and more curved the teeth, the older the fox. Bob Street, who had disappeared into a bog during the excitement of the run, said that in forty years’ hunting it was one of the oldest he had seen hounds catch.
Beatrix Potter: From Peter Rabbit to Foxhunting
The Troutbeck Valley runs into the fells to the North East out of Windermere, through the seventeenth century village of Troutbeck. The road which runs through the valley rises dramatically toward the Kirkstone Pass and its famous Inn, rebuilt in the 1830s by Sewell the local priest.
As you climb the pass there is a superb view to the right of the head of the valley and the piece of land known as the Tongue (old Norse tunga or table land between two valleys) that joins Hird Ghyll on one side and Hag Ghyll on the other.
At the base of the tongue are the picturesque white farmhouse and outbuildings of Troutbeck Park Farm. In 1923 Beatrix Potter purchased the farm, the deeds containing twenty five separately described parcels of land running to 1875 acres for which she paid £8000. The farm was conveyed to her on 28th August 1923 making her one of the largest landowners in the English Lake District.
Hamilton Lily-belle Is Canadian Grand Champion
Hamilton Lily-belle caught judge Captain Ian Farquhar's eye each time huntsman Andrew
Marren brought her into the ring.
An un-entered English foxhound who attracted the judge’s eye every time she entered the ring gave cause for great celebration at her home kennels where the Hamilton Hunt (ON) hosted the Canadian Hound Show on Saturday, June 8, 2013. Hamilton Lily-belle started her sweep by winning the class for Un-entered Bitches. She then proceeded to win the English Bitch Championship, the Un-Entered Foxhound Championship, the English Foxhound Championship, and the Grand Championship of Show.
“[Judge] Captain Farquhar told me it was rare for an un-entered hound to win a grand championship,” said Hamilton huntsman Andrew Marren, “but she screamed out quality to him in every class.”
Is Irish Hunting Really That Crazy?
With the East Galway / Noel Mullins photo
Denya Clarke, who hunted from childhood in Virginia, was an A-Pony-Clubber, and now lives and hunts in Ontario, posed a question about foxhunting in Ireland. She writes:
“Several of us are interested in hunting in Ireland, but it seems a matter of pride to the Irish to boast about the speed, dreadful weather, jumps onto roads, formidable ditches, intimidating banks, wire, rain, steep hills, rivers, and rocks that one will face hunting in Ireland. We're not chickens, but do the experts have any suggestions as to where or how to hunt in Ireland that doesn't require doubling (tripling) your life insurance and leaving your up-dated will in the lorry?”
We asked Hugh Robards and Noel Mullins to respond—Hugh, because he showed world-class sport as huntsman for the County Limerick foxhounds for twenty-seven seasons, and Noel, because he is a lifelong foxhunter and one of those guilty Irish journalists that Denya refers to in her question.
Hunt Merger: When Two-Plus-Two Equals Eight
“We now have twice the country and twice the membership at one-half the cost,” said Donna Rogers, MFH of the newly merged Loudoun Fairfax Hunt. “It was a no-brainer!” Good sense notwithstanding, the courtship that finally resulted in an official union of the two hunts—Loudoun West and Fairfax—lasted two years.
“We had a long engagement,” agrees Rogers. “We hunted together, we socialized together, and we became happier and happier with each other.”
Compromises were required for the resolution of many questions. Who will hunt the hounds? What will be the name of the hunt? What will be the new hunt’s colors? What days will we hunt?
“The hardest issue was that of the huntsman,” said Rogers. “If we retained either of the existing huntsmen and let the other one go, there would have been great unhappiness on the other side. We decided that the fairest to both memberships would be to start with a clean slate.”
As a result of that difficult decision, British-born Andy Bozdan becomes the first huntsman of the Loudoun Fairfax Hunt. (Click to read an amusing anecdote from Andy’s days as a whipper-in.) Foxhunting Life has already reported on the round-robin of huntsmen changes set off in part by the Loudoun West-Fairfax merger. (Click to read Huntsmen on the Move and New Huntsman at Loudoun.)
Jim Atkins…Huntsman…Virginian
Douglas Lees photoJim Atkins, the well-known and greatly admired native Virginian huntsman, died on Tuesday, June 25, 2013, after suffering a heart attack. Although Jim had retired from hunting hounds, he was highly respected as a judge of foxhounds, most recently judging the Crossbred Ring at the Bryn Mawr Hound Show earlier this month.
Jim served as professional huntsman for the Old Dominion Hounds (1978–1987), the Piedmont Fox Hounds (1987–1989), and finally the Warrenton Hunt (1993–2005).
“Jim has to be recognized as one member of that exceptional group of natural huntsmen from Rappahannock and upper Fauquier Counties,” said Dr. Will Allison, ex-MFH of Warrenton. “As boys, they grew up hunting to put food on the table. They developed an innate feeling for game.”
Foxhunter Stimulates Children to Read
Karin Winegar brought her horse and her book for a show-and-tell and book reading.
Foxhunting Life is always mining for a good story. And so, upon the conclusion of each hunting season we ask (on our FaceBook page), “What do you do in the off-season?” We got a dandy answer (and a story!) from author/journalist/foxhunter Karin Winegar of St. Paul, Minnesota. She’s introducing inner-city youngsters to horses and reading.
Karin, whose reports from Ireland and New Zealand you have seen on FHL, recently held a reading at Folwell School in Minneapolis for her first children’s book, Tina of Grand Avenue (Horsefeed Press). Tina was born too small and had an imperfect leg, but she had an “I can do it!” attitude that made her fearless, so Karin donated her to the St. Paul Mounted Patrol. Tina went through special training, encountering everything from sirens to gunfire. Karin’s book tells the true story of Tina’s adventures and her career with Officer Mark.
Potomac Dapper Is Grand Champion at Bryn Mawr
Potomac huntsman Larry Pitts (standing) with Allen Forney and
Potomac Dapper 2011, Grand Champion Foxhound at Bryn
Mawr / Anne Davies photoAlthough a Potomac Crossbred foxhound—Potomac Dapper 2011—happened to be judged Grand Champion at the Bryn Mawr Hound Show on June 1, 2013, Potomac huntsman Larry Pitts wants you to understand that he doesn’t breed Crossbred hounds.
“We don’t breed Crossbred to Crossbred,” said Pitts, who maintains one of the few pure American packs in the country for the Potomac Hunt (MD). “We breed an American hound to an English hound or to a Penn-Marydel as an outcross. We keep just two or three puppies, and we breed to the best one.”
Pitts breeds successive generations of his selected Crossbreds back to American hounds until the litters can be registered in the American Stud Book. American hound breeders need to outcross in order to maintain hybrid vigor, because the gene pool of American hounds is small.
