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Wiederseim Associates, the Chester Springs, Pennsylvania auction house, will offer items from the collection of the late Christian Hueber, MFH of the Radnor Hunt on April 7, 2012 at Griffith Hall, Ludwig’s Corner Fire Company in Glenmoore. Hueber, who succumbed in 2005 after a long battle with cancer , was a popular and passionate sportsman. Among the items from his collection to be auctioned are two dozen lots of foxhunting and sporting books; several Staffordshire fox-head stirrup cups, likely to bring low-three-figure prices; Radnor Hunt watercolors; and a striking oil-on-canvas painting of two fighting roosters by the British artist Stephen Elmer (1717-1796). The painting has a presale estimate of $6,000 to $8,000. Click for David Iams’s complete article in the Inquirer. Posted April 1, 2012

New kennels built for the Hillsboro Hounds (TN) won an industry award for Brindley Construction, the company that poured the concrete. Reinforced concrete walls and sloping slabs in the inside corridors and outside runs were poured in place and showcased “concrete’s ability to solve construction challenges,” according to the Tennessee Concrete Association, sponsor of the annual awards. The state-of-the-art kennel, constructed of concrete, was completed on schedule despite seventeen days of rain during construction. Posted March 27, 2012

George S. Hundt Sr., MFH of the Radnor Hunt (PA) for twenty-two years, died of Alzheimer’s disease at the age of eighty-one on Tuesday, March 6, 2012, at Neighborhood Hospice in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Mr. Hundt made his home at Braeburn Farm in Malvern. Mr. Hundt rode, hunted, and showed horses from an early age. His mother, Rebecca, was a Master of the Princess Anne Hunt (VA) in the 1930s. While Master at Radnor, Mr. Hundt was responsible for the hound breeding program. After retiring from the Mastership in 1990, he continued to follow hounds for another ten years. Mr. Hundt served as district director of the MFHA, president of the American Foxhound Club, and president of the Bryn Mawr Hound Show Association. He was a longtime stockbroker and retired from UBS as vice president in 2002. Click for the complete obituary by Inquirer Staff Writer Sally A. Downey in Philly.com. Posted March 19, 2012

We have all heard and read of the party whips—both Republicans and Democrats—who are primarily responsible for mobilizing votes on major issues along party lines. The party whip wields political power within a state or federal legislative body, and the post is aggressively sought after by ambitious politicians. The Charlotte Observer tells us that the term comes from foxhunting, whips being “members of the hunting team responsible for keeping the dogs from straying during a chase.” The reader may form his or her own conclusion about the aptness of the term’s usage! Posted March 19, 2012

In September of 1896, Ocala, Florida wasn’t preparing for the influx of horse show enthusiasts from the north as it does now. At the time, however, a recent resident to the town was planning to establish a fox hunt there, according to columnist David Cook in Ocala.com. John Vogt told the Ocala Banner he was “inaugurating a genuine fox hunt at least twice a week on old fields surrounding Ocala. Vogt was making his home on South Second Street, complete with 10 of his purebred hounds, which were noted, he said, ‘as the finest hunters in the country.’” Vogt said there were plenty of foxes in the fields around Ocala, and he felt Ocalans would enjoy joining the hunt for them, following his hounds. As we all know, owners of field hunters eventually seek other diversions to prove the worth of their horses—racing and showing. Perhaps Mr. Vogt’s initiatives were at least partly responsible for the beginnings of horse show interest in Ocala. Posted March 19, 2012

Peyton Skipwith Cochran, Jr., ex-MFH of the Green Spring Valley Hunt (MD) died Thursday, March 1, 2012 of complications from Altzheimer’s and a stroke. He was eighty-five. Skip Cochran was active in foxhunting and steeplechasing. He was a director of the MFHA for the Maryland-Delaware District and a partner in Arcadia Stable, owner of the renowned Buck Jakes, a two-time winner of the Maryland Hunt Cup. After graduation in 1944, Skip joined the Navy, but by the time he finished boot camp and was shipped to California, the war had ended. He joined the Rouse Company and was active in the development of shopping malls in commercially-developed areas. However, he was passionate about preserving open space in rural areas. He was a founding member of the Land Preservation Trust, creators of Shawan Downs, and the Maryland Association for Wildlife Conservation, advocates for hunters’ rights. Click for more details in Jamie Smith Hopkins’s tribute in the Baltimore Sun. Posted March 6, 2012

Exaggerated and sexually fetish-ized riding apparel designed by Givenchy designer Riccardo Tisci was featured in his fall-winter fashion show in Paris this season. Jodphurs, horse blinder shaped earrings, and tall riding boots were shown. See the Associated Press report for more details. It’s nice to know we’re fashionable every twenty years or so. Or is it? Posted March 5, 2012

In Mongolia, the berkutchis (horse-mounted eagle hunters) hunt the fox for its pelt with Golden Eagles. These birds occupy a place of honor in the life of the Kazakhs, who regard the majestic raptor as guardians of their homes, their children, and even their health. The life of the berkutchi is nomadic, and in some cases the profession is passed down from generation to generation.  The eagle is the hunter’s most treasured and respected possession and is fed before the rest of the family. Slivers of bite-sized fox meat for the bird are first carefully rinsed of blood, which is said to fatten the eagle and cool its hunting ardor. Emmie V. Abadilla wrote of her adventure with a berkutchi family in the Manilla Bulletin, and explains the dangerous job of capturing a female fledgling (females grow bigger and hunt more aggressively that the males), welcoming her with honor into the family, teaching her to balance on the hunter’s arm while riding, and training her with lures. This is Part 2 of five parts and can be read in full from this link. Part 3 tells of the hunt. Here’s an excerpt: “Suddenly, the wranglers shouted. Then they were scrabbling for stones and hurling them to flush out the fox. Something yellow streaked below. Tekei released his eagle. She circled above us then swooped down in a flash. Locked together, eagle and fox rolled downhill in a cloud of snow and dust.” The final trick is to retrieve the fox from the clutches of the eagle as she stands victorious over her prey, her nine-foot wings spread wide to hide her catch. Surely this is foxhunting in its most exotic incarnation! Posted February 27, 2012