Bill McDevitt: Friend and Benefactor
Bill McDevitt, honorary whipper-in and benefactor of the Los Altos Hounds (CA) since 1963, passed away at his waterfront Sausalito home over the weekend. He will be remembered by his many hunt buddies and the numerous Masters he served, including Tom Harris, W.W. Mein, Richard Collins, Eugene Rettig, Mrs. Jay Foss, and Albert Schreck. He […]
New Evidence Pushes Back Earliest Domestication of Horses
It has long been thought that the domestication of horses goes back about five thousand years to central Asia. New evidence could push that estimate back by another four thousand years and change the locale. Among the remains of a recently discovered ancient civilization in the Arabian Peninsula was a three-foot tall bust of a […]
Red Rock Hounds to Parade at $25,000 Jumping Derby
The Red Rock Hounds are scheduled to parade at the 2011 Franktown Meadows USHJA International Hunter Derby in Carson City, Nevada on Labor Day, September 5. The “best horse and rider combinations in the country” are expected to compete over this beautiful course in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. Hounds will parade around the […]
Promised Vote on British Foxhunting Ban “Dead and Buried”
A new generation of urban Tory has upset the countryside’s applecart. Notwithstanding Prime Minister David Cameron’s pre-election pledge to allow a free vote in Parliament on the hunting ban, twenty members of his party are opposed to revisiting the ban. Calling themselves the Blue Fox group, they comprise a younger set of MPs who are […]
Troubled Illinoios Racing Industry Gets Windfall
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan paved the way for a $141 million windfall to Illinois race tracks and horse owners when she denied the request of the state’s casino companies to continue holding the funds in escrow. The funds, earmarked for the racing industry pursuant to a 2006 law, had been collecting in the […]
Storms Wreak Havoc in Belle Meade Hunting Country
As the result of recent storms through Georgia, fifty percent of all the trails in the Belle Meade hunting country are blocked, according to Epp Wilson, MFH. Hounds and coyote are able to get through, but not horses. “There are more large trees down across our trails than I have seen in forty-five years of […]
Harry Miliner, Former Field Master, Loudoun West
Liz Callar photo Harry Miliner of the Loudoun West Hunt (VA) has made his final point and now resides in perhaps a better place. Harry finally succumbed to cancer on July 21, 2011. Harry came to hunting a bit later than many, not born of a hunting family (much like myself), but when he took […]
Helmet Cams on Every Jockey
Small video cameras are enlivening TV coverage of sporting events from NASCAR to football, bringing viewers into the driver’s seat and onto the playing field. Some horse racing professionals are hoping that cameras mounted on the helmet of every jockey in the race will help stimulate viewer interest in their sport. Cameras on riding helmets […]
Tabachka and Buckley: Engaged
John Tabachka, huntsman for the Sewickley Hunt (PA) and Jennifer Buckley, honorary whipper-in for the Reedy Creek Hounds (VA) are engaged to be married. The wedding date has not yet been set, but plans are in the works. For those who don’t know Tabachka, click here to see and hear his brilliant work on the […]
NSLM Announces Inaugural Exhibition
Catalog Cover: William Tylee Ranney, On the Wing, 1850, private collectionThe National Sporting Library and Museum in Middleburg, Virginia has announced details of the inaugural exhibition to be hung in its new museum building. The structure has been built around the nucleus of the 1804 brick mansion, Vine Hill, that housed both The Chronicle of […]