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Lynn Carlisle, a talented and well known sporting artist, was found dead in her home in Aiken, South Carolina on Wednesday, May 17, 2012. The Aiken Standard reports that police responded to a 911 call from her, and upon arriving at her home were fired upon by her ex-husband Craig Jarvis. The police returned fire, and Jarvis died in surgery. Foxhunting Life published a profile of Lynn and her work in January this year. She showed remarkable artistic talent even as a child and was enrolled in art lessons at the age of five. By the age of nine she was attending all-day classes every Saturday at the Art Institute of Chicago. “No one is more surprised than I,” wrote Lynn, “to see my portraits evolve on the watercolor paper. They just come up from the colors and shapes that I see.” I have always loved her work with horses, but the dogs in her portraits really talked to me. She had an uncanny ability to capture a feeling of earnest communication between the dog and the viewer. She was a generous and loyal friend, and I will miss her greatly. Certainly her passing will leave a great gap in the Aiken sporting community. “Lynn was a devoted friend, a loving mother, an avid sportswoman, and a talented artist,” said Linda McLean, MFH, Aiken Hounds. “Her death is a tremendous loss for her family, the Aiken community, and the entire foxhunting community.” The family has asked that donations in Lynne’s memory be made to the Hunt Staff Benefit Foundation of the MFHA. Posted May 18, 2012

Three members of the Crawley and Horsham hunt in West Sussex, England were found guilty in Horsham Magistrates Court of violations under the Hunting Act. These are the first convictions in Sussex under the act. Four of the hunt’s members were charged with five separate offences. All pleaded not guilty. The evidence, including video clips, was furnished by a West Sussex animal rights group. Neill Millard, MFH; Rachel Holdsworth, hunt secretary; and Andrew Phillis, former huntsman (now Master and huntsman of the Dart Vale Harriers) were found guilty of illegal foxhunting. Charges against Jamie Hawksfield, MFH were dropped during the trial. The judge disagreed with assertions by the accused that they were taking part in legitimate trail hunting, following a scent laid for hounds. A representative of the Countryside Alliance expressed disappointment in the verdict and promised that the organization would continue to support the defendants should they wish to appeal. Posted May 17, 2012

Visitors in town for the Virginia Foxhound Show will be able to attend the second annual Book Fair at the National Sporting Library and Museum in Middleburg, Virginia on Saturday, May 26, 2012 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. A part of the annual Hunt Country Stable Tour, the Book Fair is open to the public. Five authors will sign books and give brief talks about their work: Kathryn Masson (Hunt Country Style; Stables: Beautiful Paddocks, Horse Barns, and Tack Rooms; Historic Houses of Virginia; Great Plantation Houses, Mansions, and Country Places); Patrick Smithwick (Flying Change: A Return to Steeplechasing; Racing My Father: Growing up with a Riding Legend); Elizabeth Letts with guest Harry de Leyer (The Eighty Dollasr Champion: Snowman, the Horse that Inspired a Nation); Anne Hambleton (Raja: Story of a Racehorse); and F. Turner Reuter, Jr. (Animal & Sporting Artists in America). A duplicate book sale will also be going on at the Library and Museum, as well as other current exhibits, including Scraps: British Sporting Drawings from the Paul Mellon Collection. Posted May 14, 2012

A genetic study of horses combined with mathematical analysis of various scenarios has traced the domestication of horses to the wide open grasslands of southwestern Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Domestication is generally thought to have occurred about six thousand years ago, but the new evidence suggests that it may have taken place independently in different places within that geographic area. The study, which was performed at the University of Cambridge, examined DNA from horse hair collected over a sixteen year period. Samples were taken from more than three hundred “local village-type horses” in the expectation they would have less crossbreeding confusion in their genetic profiles. For more information, read the Associated Press report by Rafael Satter. Posted May 8, 2012

The Blue Ridge Hunt (VA) will welcome in a very few days the arrival from England of two new professional staff members—huntsman Guy Allman and first whipper-in Thomas Hopson. Huntsman Allman comes to Blue Ridge after twelve years hunting hounds at the Mid Devon Foxhounds in England. Before that he was kennel huntsman at the Golden Valley, first whipper-in to huntsman Anthony Adams at the Heythrop, and kennel huntsman and whipper-in to Nigel Peel, MFH at the North Cotswold and earlier at the Chiddingfold, Leconfield and Cowdray. Tom Hopson is a Yorkshire man, a graduate of the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester, a keen rugby player, and a dedicated horseman. Oh yes, he hunts, too! He was first whipper-in at the Berkeley for a season. The two will need much support from the hunt membership as they take over an unfamiliar pack in equally unfamiliar country. Posted April 30, 2012

The trial of four members of the Crawley and Horsham Hunt in West Sussex, England opened in Horsham Magistrates Court on Monday, April 23. The four are accused of violations under the Hunting Act. Two Masters, the hunt secretary, and the former huntsman (who now hunts the Dart Vale Harriers) are charged with five separate offences. All pleaded not guilty of the charges against them. The evidence, which includes video clips, was furnished by a West Sussex animal rights group. The defendants are expected to present their arguments to the court later in the week. See Horse & Hound magazine for more details. Posted April 25, 2012

Foxhunting Life will participate in Covertside’s first expo being held in conjunction with the MFHA Staff Seminar on Saturday and Sunday, April 21 and 22, at the Westfields Marriott in Chantilly, Virginia. Norm Fine will be there to talk about the website, to listen to subscribers for their ideas and reactions, and to showcase some of the products in the FHL Bookstore, including CDs and DVDs. And, in the unlikely event that there is a foxhunter who doesn’t yet have a copy of his book, Foxhunting Adventures: Chasing the Story, he will be happy to sign one or two! Norm is looking forward to seeing old friends and making new acquaintances. Please stop by and say, Hi. Posted April 19, 2012

Mosquito-Born Viruses Kill Spring is here, and it’s time for horse owners to protect their horses from two serious and potentially fatal viruses spread by mosquitoes: Eastern Equine Encephalomyelitis (EEE) and West Nile Virus (WNV). Foxhunting Life reminds you to contact your vet and schedule spring vaccinations. The New York State Department of Agriculture notes that cases of EEE in horses have been on the rise since 2009. In that state, more than 90% of the cases were fatal, and survivors of the disease are generally unusable and even unsafe to be around. Although EEE cannot be transmitted between infected horses and humans, New York State has experienced fatalities in both horses and humans as a result of the disease in each of the past three years. Posted April 12, 2012

Horse racing in Camden, South Carolina is the way racing used to be, says Eclipse Award-winning journalist Claire Novak in ESPN.com. The venerable Springdale Race Course was founded there in 1928 and hosted its signature steeplechase event—the Carolina Cup—two years later. Thoroughbred trainers from the north would bring their flat racehorses down to this gentler clime in the winter to work over the well-draining, sandy footing. A handful of old-time horsemen still start youngsters at Springdale or at the nearby Camden Training Center and then ship their young charges to top trainers all over the country. In Camden, the belief is that horses brought along in their idyllic setting become happy horses. Steeplechase and flat trainer Jonathan Sheppard first came to Camden in November of 1961. He stayed for four months, liked it, and it became a habit. Trainer Arch Kingsley, a former steeplechase jockey from Virginia, has twenty stalls at Springdale, and more at his farm nearby. Kingsley saddled the 2011 Carolina Cup winner Sunshine Numbers. Wendy Kingsley claims she never met a horse that didn’t love Camden. Click for Novak’s complete column.

The North Carolina Wildlife Commission has a problem, says the highly respected Scientific American magazine. The state wants to expand the legality of daylight shooting of coyotes to allow night shooting as well—no permit required; no bag limit. Although night hunting of coyotes is permitted in many states, North Carolina is unique in that the state harbors and protects the world’s only wild population of federally-listed red wolves. The fear is that juvenile red wolves may be at risk of being mistaken for coyotes and shot. Some conservationists claim that the red wolf is the most imperiled canid in the world. The Scientific American article, written by T. DeLene Beeland, reviews characteristics of both species comprehensively. Click to see. Posted April 7, 2012