Picture of the Week

De La Brooke Foxhounds Dude at Maryland Performance Trial held in March 2023. Photo by Andrew Muro. Such a lovely example of a Penn-Marydel in De La Brooke Foxhounds’ Dude.  Not only is he a handsome fellow, but he would make a very nice show jumper with those tight knees!   Originally published on April 3, 2023  

Henry Whittaker with Respite. Photo by Storme Whittaker.

“Foxhunting is all about the moment between moments.” - Kristy Lathrop of Fort Leavenworth Hunt.

Here is a moment between moments, a young boy and a hound pause in the middle of the chaotic time when the hunt is gathering to begin the day’s sport. Content with their own company, two souls soak in the living history before them.

Photo by Douglas Lees.

Douglas Lees caught sight of a gorgeous red fox while out with the Piedmont Fox Hounds at Over Creek Farm.

Professional Huntsman Kami Bitting at the 2022 Opening Meet for De la Brooke Foxhounds. Photo by Gunnar Eskeland.

The 2022 Opening Meet for De la Brooke Foxhounds in Maryland offered us two striking images - one in stark relief and one in full sunshine.

Sedgefield Hunt's coyotes are masters at sneaking by unnoticed. Photo by Edward Haynes.

Edward Haynes was in the right place at the right time to catch this coyote dart right in front of him, unlike the unsuspecting gentleman in the background who was sorely out of luck on this day with Sedgefield Hunt in North Carolina.

Aiken Hounds MFH Linda Knox Mclean vs the hungry pack. Photo by Jeff Hendrickson.

Jeff Hendrickson took this wonderful photo on Thanksgiving of Linda Knox McLean, MFH of Aiken Hounds in South Carolina, trying to keep the biscuits away from the pack! Such joy is seen on all faces, as it should be on Thanksgiving Day.

Steph Burch has some wonderful images from several English foxhunts this season.  They show both the highs and lows of our sport or shall I say the dry and wet?

Duke of Beauforts Foxhounds 2022 Opening Meet. Photo by Steph Burch Photography.

It was the first hunt of the 2016 – 2017 season for the Tennessee Valley Hunt in East Tennessee.  I never saw this coyote come out of the corn. I had been listening to the hounds just ROAR around in that corn for an hour, when I saw this beautiful tweed coat against that landscape. I wanted to get photos of the coat with the Cumberland Mountains behind it, so I took a burst of about 5 photos. I never saw the coyote through the lens as I took the photographs of the coat.  Unbeknownst to me, the coyote had photo bombed the shot. 

During the weeks that the purpled mulberries fall, we see from one to three foxes―dog fox, vixen, and cub―together every evening, sharing summer’s bounty. Occasionally, a deer arrives, and they all share in harmony. The iPhone image was shot through a double-pane, vacuum-sealed picture window from about 50 yards.  /  Norm Fine photo

No, this is not a professional bridge-building crew on a typical workday. They’re Belle Meade foxhunters and family members, and they build, repair, and replace bridges in the Belle Meade hunting country on evenings and weekends.

Admittedly, they could be pros. After all, there are fifteen hunt-built bridges in the country. Each bridge has a name―they’re landmarks, after all―and staff members know the location of each and how to get there from wherever they happen to be.