People

This portrait along with the question of the subject’s identity was posted on Foxhunting Life's Facebook page to provide an entertaining and informative way of featuring iconic figures in American foxhunting. We suggested that those who know their foxhounds might pick up a clue from the hound in the photo.

Linda Knox McLean, MFH of the Aiken Hounds (SC) was the first to identify our mystery man. And the foxhound as well! She can expect to receive a gift from Foxhunting Life for her correct answers.

This gentleman’s portrait along with the question of his identity was posted on our Facebook page to provide an entertaining and informative way of featuring iconic figures in American foxhunting. We had some respectable guesses, but no one came up with the correct answer!

Meet A. Henry Higginson, MFH!

And the Chase Is On, bronze sculpture by Margery Torrey, will benefit injured jump jockey Jake ChalfinHere is a delightful work of art by sculptor Margery Torrey that will bring a smile to any foxhunter. Torrey is one of a number of generous individuals who have donated their unique talents to help raise funds for injured jockey Jake Chalfin.

A little over a year ago, during a hurdle race at the Blue Ridge Fall Races, a runaway racehorse he was riding catapulted Chalfin into the perimeter fence. It turned out to be a life-changing event for Chalfin. He remains paralyzed from the chest down.

Sam Clifton is 2011 North American Horn Blowing Champion. / Al Cook photoSam Clifton, huntsman for the Green Spring Valley Hounds (MD), won the 2011 North American Horn Blowing Championship on Monday, October 17. The sound of the horn has been a part of Clifton’s life from the cradle. His father Stephen is the long-time huntsman at the Eglinton and Caledon Hunt in Ontario.

Two-time champion John Tabachka, huntsman for the Sewickley Hunt (PA), placed second; last year’s champion, Steve Farrin, huntsman for the Amwell Valley Hounds (NJ), was third; and Martyn Blackmore, huntsman for the Loudoun West Hunt (VA), placed fourth.

Marge Warder and Monty, Opening Meet, Tryon Hounds, 2005  /  Erik Olsen photoMarge Warder has had a lifelong love affair with horses. As a child, riding was her favorite activity.

She traveled the world as a stewardess with Pan American Airways and lived the big-city life in New York.

After retirement, she moved to North Carolina, resumed her life with horses, and joined the Tryon Hounds and the Green Creek Hounds.

Last year, at the age of seventy, Marge Warder fell off her horse Monty. Something was wrong. A few months later she was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig’s disease (amyotropic lateral sclerosis, ALS). She moved into an assisted living home near her sister Carrie Bartlett in Louisiana. She decorated her room with horse stuff and told stories of her foxhunting adventures. She shared one heartfelt wish with a social worker visiting the home. She wanted to ride a horse one last time.

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.

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:

Ray Carter hunting the New Market-Middletown Valley hounds in 1981 / Janet Hitchen photoRaymond Allaeys Carter died peacefully at home in Middletown, Maryland on June 20, 2011 from complications related to prostate cancer. Ray was born in Yorkshire, England in 1930. Times were tough in those years and money was scarce. Ray, however, with a natural love of horses always found a way to beg rides on farmer’s draft horses returning from work in the fields.

He cleaned stalls at a local stable to be able to ride. He was a natural athlete and was soon riding some of the fancier ponies in local gymkhanas. When he finished school at age fourteen, his parents, loath to let him work in the local mines, arranged an apprenticeship for him with a racing stable in Newmarket. He was basically an indentured servant, receiving only a pound a month for learning a trade. At the end of five years he was earning twenty pounds a year.

Dr. Scott Dove, MFH  /  Karen L. Myers photoThe Old Dominion Hounds (VA) have a new Joint-Master—Dr. Scott Dove. If his name doesn’t ring a bell with you, his dog’s name probably will. Dove owns the most famous dog in America—Foxcliffe Hickory Wind, the Scottish Deerhound that won Best in Show at Westminster this year. But if you know Dove, you know he earned the Mastership through his own hard work at foxhunting.

Dove has served Old Dominion as honorary whipper-in for twenty-three seasons. One of his roles as Master will be mentoring new honorary whippers-in.

Photograph by Middleburg Photo

Wendi Wilson and Nelson Gunnell were married at Banbury Cross Farm, the Gunnell family farm in Middleburg, Virginia, on Saturday evening, May 28. The ceremony took place in the garden—a fairy tale setting midst blooming spring flowers under a perfect blue sky with a pond sparkling in the distance. The bride arrived in an antique white horse drawn carriage driven by her hometown friend, Tommy Lee, who later whisked the couple away after the vows were completed.