Picture of the Week

A phrase often ascribed to a proud and majestic horse,“The Look of Eagles” in this photo surely applies to both horse and rider.

This photo of Kirk Douglas in hunting attire is thought to be a publicity still for The List of Adrian Messenger. The film was directed by John Huston, father of Anjelica Huston, whose memoir of growing up at St. Clerans, the family home in Ireland, is reviewed below.

John Huston was a Joint-Master of the Galway Blazers, and he brought many screen stars to St. Clerans, including Kirk Douglas. The foxhunting scenes for The List of Adrian Messenger, in which George C. Scott also appeared, were filmed in Ireland. Scott, along with other Hollywood stars, hunted with the West Hills Hunt in California. John Huston was also a member of West Hills. Whether or not Kirk Douglas hunted with West Hills, we don’t know.

Ashley Twiggs photo Hunts seeking to recruit new members can take a page from the Belle Meade Hunt in Thomson, Georgia. Officer Mike Coke met this Belle Meade foxhound, Colleen, on the highway. The pair obviously hit it off to the extent that Coke, who had no previous experience with foxhunting, was sufficiently smitten by Colleen that he now follows the hunt on his days off and even serves as a road whip (though not in the cruiser!). Coke took an entire week of his accumulated vacation leave to attend Belle Meade’s “Gone Away with the Wind” Hunt Week held during the last week in January, where your editor had the pleasure of meeting him. Posted February 3, 2014

Jane Ramsey from the Lewisville Hunt sent us this photo of a flying fox in a beautiful Pennsylvania landscape. It was snapped by her friend David Amos who hunts on foot with his camera.

Huntsman Claire Buchy Anderson takes the Santa Ynez Valley Hounds (CA) to the next draw. This little corner of hunting heaven was captured by photographer Jennifer Calderwood.   Posted February 5, 2013

I can get lost in a photo like this. There is so much to see and so much that is felt rather than seen. In the foreground are huntsman Ivan Dowling and whipper-in Stephanie Boyer, obviously communicating. Hounds, though bright and lively, are squinting to keep the snow out of their eyes. The horses and riders in the field behind, sharing the cameraderie of nature’s excess, are softened and silenced by the thickly falling snowflakes into what looks more like a painting than a photograph. Photographer Diana Rowland gives us a good one! Posted January 28, 2013

Blue Ridge huntsman Guy Allman’s daughter Olivia on her first field hunter with mom Fran Harding keeping her in the middle. In case you don’t recognize the horn call, Olivia is blowing “Happy New Year!” to all!

Jim Graham photoPhotographer Jim Graham captured an exuberant Bruce Miller—MFH and Field Master of Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds—in a moment that conveys by expression and posture the pure joy of galloping cross country. From Miller’s dainty grip on his stick to the loop in his reins, this is a picture of a confident rider on a trustworthy horse. F. Bruce Miller was the trainer of five-time champion and Hall of Fame steeplechase horse, Lonesome Glory. Miller raced over fences himself, is still an active trainer who has topped the Leading Earners’ list more than once, and is the father of champion jockeys Blythe and Chip Miller. The Cheshire members are celebrating their one hundredth anniversary this year and, as the photo attests, are still enjoying great sport! Posted November 18, 2012

While hunting with the Old Dominion Hounds on school break, Denya Dee Leake’s horse came into a fence offstride and took care of the situation by catapulting itself over, launching Denya Dee skyward. “I went so high I could look down towards the ground and think, ‘Oh god, this is going to hurt!’” said Denya Dee. It looked as if she may have broken her wrist, so they stabilized it with her hunt whip as a splint and secured that with a member’s necktie and the whip thong. Another necktie provided the sling. Fortunately, she had just given a her thumb a bad sprain. [We’ve all read time and again how a stock tie may be used as a bandage in the hunting field, but I never heard of a hunt whip as a splint. Good to know!  -Ed.] Posted October 19, 2012

David Norman photo Whipper-in and pet fox out for a stroll? Not really. To capture this intriguing image, photographer David Norman used a long lens which foreshortened the perspective. The fox, he says, moved out smartly! Posted September 25, 2012

Looking for open country over which to hunt? Try Cumbria or the Cheviot Hills on the English-Scottish border! Photographer Alexander Burns captures breathtaking hunting scenes in these magnificent countries. For a slide show, go to our Photo Gallery.