Horse & Hound
Huntland Kennels at One Hundred
1914 photograph of Huntsman Charlie Carver (front), Master Joe Thomas, and hounds / Courtesy of Karen L. MyersThis year marks the one hundredth anniversary of the completion by Joseph B. Thomas of the stables and kennels at his historic estate in Middleburg, Virginia, aptly named Huntland.
On September 18, 2011, current owner Dr. Betsee Parker marked the anniversary with a luncheon for members of both the Piedmont and Middleburg Hunts. Newly uncovered photographs of the original structure were displayed, and people were free to wander through the stables and kennels.
The Cottesmore at Bisbrooke
Here’s a gallery of excellent photographs of the Cottesmore foxhounds shot by Nico Morgan at Bisbrooke in the English Shires. The Cottesmore is a venerable pack, having been established in 1666 by Viscount Lowther. Perhaps the most colorful Master was Hugh Lowther, fifth Earl of Lonsdale, known to history as The Yellow Earl. Born in 1857, “his name was readily associated with the highest echelons of sport and scandal.”
Season Is in Maxim-um Overdrive at Tennesee Valley
First-year entry Maxim hits walkup homer in the ninth with two out. / Alivia Cotter photoNew huntsman, new members, and new hound entries made for a memorable season’s start for the Tennessee Valley Hunt. The first cubhunt open to subscribers and guests took place on Saturday, September 17, from Frank and Cyndie Niceley's Riverplains Farm. It was Andy Bozdan's first open hunt with Tennessee Valley as huntsman, and the morning was filled with warm greetings from all who have anxiously awaited his arrival all summer.
Des McCheane, Hunting Photographer
When photo-journalist Noel Mullins attended the Clifden Pony Show in Connemara, County Galway, Ireland this summer, he immediately missed seeing his photographer friend Des McCheane. Mullins learned sadly that Des had passed away the previous week—a loss surely for Des’s family, friends, and for Irish country sport, but a rich historical legacy left behind.
Old Huntland, Joe Thomas Photos Discovered
A youthful Joseph B. Thomas at Huntland / Courtesy of Karen L. MyersJoseph B. Thomas, MFH came to Middleburg, Virginia via Boston and New York in the early part of the twentieth century and built Huntland—house, stables, and kennels. Thomas was a founding member of the American Foxhound Club, Master of the Piedmont Fox Hounds, and author of Hounds and Hunting Through the Ages, the first comprehensive book on hunting with hounds ever written by an American.
Thomas became the largest breeder of foxhounds for mounted packs in North America and helped to define the American foxhound breed. He has been a subject of great interest to all serious scholars of North American foxhunting, and much has been written about him. However, available images of Thomas (and his famous huntsman Charlie Carver) to grace all that published text have been sparse.
Now, just in time for the present owner and restorer of Huntland, Dr. Betsee Parker, to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of her famous home, we have a treasure trove of recently discovered old photographs of Thomas, Carver, hounds, and kennels.
The Foxes of Cumbria
BorrowdaleIn the Lakeland District on the English/Scottish border, about four or five miles from Ambleside on the Hawkshead road is a T-junction. Turn right and the road ascends the shoulder of a small water-cut valley, finally reaching it’s destination at the Drunken Duck public house from whence a choice of routes beyond this story can be found.
Bridlespur Hunt
Bridlespur huntsman Eleanor Hartwell and houndsIn our Hunt Club Pages under the Horse and Hound drop-down menu, we publish a page (or more!) for every North American hunt. On those pages appears every published article about or refering to that hunt.
We recently asked you for descriptions or histories to use as a lead for your hunt's page. The response has been terrific, and we're continually fascinated by the diversity of each hunt's origins and individual culture. Here's Bridlespur's story:
The Huntsman Introduces Himself
Andy Bozdan is the new huntsman for the Tennessee Valley Hunt. Here he calls in the Barwon hounds after a sharp hunt in Victoria, southern Australia.A dear friend used to keep a reminder tacked to her refrigerator. It was all about attitude. The essence of it was that attitude is the most important aspect in life. And it’s really the only thing over which we have total control.
The Tennessee Valley Hunt just hired a new huntsman—Andy Bozdan—who will soon arrive in the States. Andy sent an email to his new hunt, introducing himself and explaining his perceptions of the job. It is so brimming with good attitude that, rather than extracting a few facts for a brief News bulletin, I thought you might enjoy reading Andy’s entire message. He wrote:
A Dicey Intervention
Field Master Gus Forbush, MFH / Karen L. Myers photoSaturday, November 28, 2009. A large field of about fifty or sixty met at Henchmen’s Lea near the Old Dominion Hounds' kennels. For the first draw, huntsman Gerald Keal had taken hounds to nearby Thumb Run. Field Master Gus Forbush was standing by a field of soybeans on Thumb Run when he heard hounds speak. Here’s his story:
“The hounds’ voices were weird,” recalled Forbush. “I wasn’t sure what was happening.”
At that point, Keal came galloping back and said there was a bobcat caught in a snare on the other side of the river.
The Lunesdale and Oxenholme Staghounds
Not your ordinary fell foot pack!Don’t bother looking this one up in Baily’s! (Not to be confused with the Lunesdale Foxhounds.) The Lunesdale and Oxenholme Staghounds concluded its sporting operations upon the outbreak of World War II. The hunt was an anachronism in the Lakeland fells of northern England, and its history, as related by Ron Black in a just published fifty-eight page booklet, taught me something of carted stag hunting that I found sufficiently fascinating to relate here.
