Fox Hunting News
Dr. Joseph M. Rogers, MFH, Dies at Home on Hillbrook Farm
At the Piedmont Point-to-Point in the 1970s / Douglas Lees photoDr. Joseph Megeath Rogers, 90, died on Saturday, March 8, 2014 at his Hillbrook Farm near Hamilton following a stroke. While he occupied a gigantic space in the world of foxhunting, that world was but a small part of his very full, productive, and generous life.
Physician, farmer, Master of Foxhounds, steeplechase rider and trainer, businessman, rural land conservationist, and philanthropist, Dr. Rogers was a tireless advocate and practitioner of country living whose contributions in a broad range of interests were made quietly and with little fanfare.
His public persona was most closely connected with remarkable success as an owner, trainer, and rider of some of Virginia’s most successful steeplechase horses running under his familiar red with white cross sash silks. But his success in that rugged and dangerous sport was merely a visible extension of his commitment to protect Virginia’s rural countryside, a mission he often defined as a moral obligation.
Phase-Out of Fox Pens One Step Closer in VA
A plan to phase out fox pens in the Commonwealth over a forty-year period was endorsed by the Agricultural Committee of the Virginia House of Delegates yesterday. The Richmond Times-Dispatch characterized the 18-3 vote as significant, since the House has traditionally been more reluctant than the Senate to interfere with foxhound training pens. Under the approved plan, fox pens would be allowed to continue to operate for the next forty years, but no new pens would be allowed to open. Foxhound training pens are used by many hunts around the country as a part of their puppy training program. The pens are also used by individuals who simply enjoy running their hounds. Foxes are provided with refuges within the pen to allow them to escape hounds when pressed. There are rules that limit the number of hounds that may be in a pen at any one time. In addition to the use of fox pens for training, pens have also been used for foxhound field trials. Last year the Virginia Senate banned competition in fox pens. The state of Florida has already banned the operation of fox pens. Posted February 27, 2014
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Virginia Point-to-Point Association Seeks Donations
Don Yovanovich, president of the Virginia Point-to-Point Association has proposed the establishment of an Annual Giving Fund. In a letter to hunt supporters, Yovanovich explains that for a variety of reasons, the hunt point-to-points are threatened to the extent that the Virginia season is now reduced to eight race meetings, down from fourteen not long ago. As reasons, Yovanovich cites a decrease in participation, overlapping meets scheduled by the National Steeplechase Association, and increased training expenses. However, the main difficulty lies in lost revenue he says. Despite the fact that the Association now covers some of the heavy expenses—rental of fences, horse ambulance, and video and finish line cameras—if costs aren’t fully offset by revenues, hunts are billed by the Association for their portion of the shortfall. Hunts are often unable to discharge this obligation, and some hunts have given up altogether, citing the effort and expenses involved. Yovanovich hopes that, as the point-to-point season approaches, and sportsmen and woman once again look forward to attending the races and tailgating with friends, they will open their wallets to help protect this colorful and important part of our sporting year. “The Virginia Point-to-Point season is one of a kind,” writes Yovanovich. “It is the envy of other states. It is a significant part of our history, our culture, and our future….To let the sport perish would be a real tragedy.” As a goal, the Association seeks to achieve one hundred percent participation from the individual members of every hunt. Yovanovich characterizes these donations as the life blood of the sport going forward. Contributions may be mailed to the Virginia Point-to-Point Association, Inc., Don Yovanovich, President, PO Box 1877, Middleburg, VA 20118. Contributors should include their hunt affiliation. Posted February 24, 2014
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Douglas Lees to Speak, Exhibit Photographs
Douglas Lees photo The photography of Douglas Lees has long been a benchmark of such excellence that Lees has earned the admiration of even the best of his camera-toting peers. Lees will speak and exhibit his photographs on Sunday, March 2, 2014 at 4:00 pm at Blue Ridge Farm, 1858 Blue Ridge Farm Road, Upperville, Virginia, 20184. This meet-the-photographer event is sponsored by the Mosby Heritage Area Association, a Northern Virginia Piedmont preservation and education organization. Lees will showcase some of his best-known photos and recount the fascinating experiences of photographing foxhunts, steeplechases, fly fishing, and beautiful scenes in nature. Participants will have the opportunity to talk to Douglas following his presentation and to purchase prints of his works that he has personally chosen for this event. His award-winning photos will also be on display. Douglas Lees is a two-time Eclipse Award winner for his racing photography, and his images are widely published. Foxhunting Life regularly features his foxhunting and point-to-point photography in its e-magazine, FHL WEEK; on its website, FoxhuntingLife.com; and in its annual Foxhunting Calendar. Lees was born in Washington, D.C., but has lived all his life in Warrenton, Virginia, where his family has lived for generations. He started taking an interest in photography at age sixteen and published his first photograph at age seventeen on the front page of the Fauquier Times-Democrat. His career is in insurance, dealing with property, casualty, farm and equine. He spends his spare time taking photographs and with his other great passion, fly fishing. He also serves on the board of the Mosby Heritage Area Association as Treasurer. The event has limited space, so reservations are recommended. Tickets are $25 for MHAA members, $30 for non-members. Please call 540-687-6681 or purchase at the Association’s website. The mission of the nonprofit Mosby Heritage Area Association, formed in 1995, is to help preserve the Northern Virginia Piedmont and increase public knowledge about this historic area. MHAA provides classroom history programs for fourth- and eleventh-grade Virginia students, sponsors lectures, programs and field trips, and brings nationally known scholars to the area for its award-winning annual Civil War Conference. Posted February 19, 2014
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Wise Dan in Rarified Company after Second Horse of the Year Title
Not since 1971—the introduction of the modern system of Eclipse Award voting—has a horse won three categories of awards—Horse of the Year, Older Male, and Male Turf Horse—two years in a row. Wise Dan did so by winning six of his seven starts on turf, carrying high weight in five races, and winning four Grade I races in 2013 at tracks across North America. He had a consistent season and was never scratched. In Horse of the Year voting he polled ten times the number of votes as his closest runner-up, Mucho Macho Man. The year before, after his 2012 season, Wise Dan became the first horse to win all three categories since John Henry in 1981. One of only six horses in modern history that have won consecutive Horse of the Year honors, Wise Dan joins Secretariat, Forego, Affirmed, Cigar, and Curlin in that accomplishment. Now seven years old, the chestnut gelding is by Wiseman’s ferry out of Lisa Danielle by Wolf Power. He was bred at home by owner Morton Fink in Kentucky and is trained by Charlie LoPresti near Lexington. His post-season rest over, Wise Dan is now gearing up for the 2014 season at Keeneland, his home base. Click for more details in Claire Novak’s article in Bloodhorse. Posted February 17, 2014
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RSPCA Ratchets Up the Pressure Against Foxhunters
In what the Western Morning News calls a “game-changer,” the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) will soon be able to intensify its surveillance of foxhunting practices in England. An article by Martin Bell claims that The League Against Cruel Sports (LACS) has financed the hiring and equipping of ex-armed forces personnel and covert surveillance specialists to replace the volunteers that have been monitoring hunting activities. The LACS believes that these professionals will be able to furnish the RCPCA with better evidence with which to prosecute foxhunters that do not hunt within the law. In his article, Bell removes all doubt—if any doubt ever existed—about what England’s Hunting Act is really about: class hatred. Supporting the role of the RSPCA in prosecuting animal abusers, Bell writes, “It should not make any difference whether the abuser is a crack-cocaine dealer with a maltreated dog in his council flat, or a land-owning toff with a double-barrelled name and a rural mansion who kills foxes illegally.” [Italics ours.] Bell scoffs at any hope that the Hunting Act might be repealed by Parliament. He points out that a recent petition by Members of Parliament to allow sheep farmers to flush a fox with a full pack fizzled out when only 40 out of 650 MPs signed it. Click for more details. Posted February 14, 2014
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Huntsman John Harrrison Returns to Toronto and North York
Former Toronto and North York huntsman John Harrison has been hunting the Ullswater Foxhounds in the Cumbrian fells for the past eighteen years.
John Harrison will return next season to the Toronto and North York Hunt (ON) to carry the horn once again—a post he had previously filled from 1991 to 1996. During those years, Harrison bred a number of outstanding hounds and won many championships at the Virginia Foxhound Shows.
Harrison was born and raised in the Cumbrian Lake District of England, where hunting is in the genes and the country is so rough, horses cannot be used. The literature of foxhunting is replete with accounts of grueling days with the famous foot packs of the area, climbing and descending the scree-strewn crags and struggling to snow-filled borrans.
Congress Bans Horse Slaughter…Again
The Congress passed, and the President signed the new budget, effectively banning horse slaughter once again by cutting funding for USDA inspections at horse slaughter facilities. Congress did this very same thing in 2006, an action which effectively closed all horse processing plants in the country. Much has happened between then and now. In 2011, the highly respected General Accounting Office (GAO)—Congress’s own watchdog agency—reported bluntly to Congress that their funding cut and the resultant plant closures actually had the opposite effect from that intended. The GAO told Congress that horses were now traveling further (to Mexico and Canada) and in many cases were slaughtered under worse conditions than before, and that their legislation had harmed horse welfare. After receiving that report, in 2011 Congress reinstated the funding for USDA inspections, opening the door for a resumption of horse processing in this country. As a result of that action, the USDA recently gave approval for the opening of horse slaughter plants in New Mexico and Missouri. However, lawsuits filed by animal rights activists repeatedly delayed those openings. “Americans do not want to see scarce tax dollars used to oversee an inhumane, disreputable horse slaughter industry,” said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). “We don’t have dog and cat slaughter plants in the U.S. catering to small markets overseas, and we shouldn’t have horse slaughter operations for that purpose, either.” HSUS and the Obama administration both lobbied to end horse slaughter in the U.S. Yet unsolved, however, is the issue of how to humanely cope with the more than 100,000 unwanted and abandoned horses that used to pass through those processing facilities each year. Click for more details. Posted January 15, 2014
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NYC Mayor Vows to Banish Horse Carriages
Two days before New York Mayor-Elect Bill de Blasio was to be sworn into office he vowed to eliminate the horse carriages that have for so long played a romantic role in Central Park. “It’s over,” he said. “We are going to quickly and aggressively move to make horse carriages no longer a part of the landscape in New York City. They are not humane. They are not appropriate to the year 2014.” While de Blasio’s announcement has elicited opposition, it appears that he comes to power with sufficient votes in the City Council to eliminate the sound of horse’s hooves from the streets of New York for all time. “De Blasio has handed animal rights activists a major victory. Harry Bruinius, staff writer for the Christian Science Monitor writes, “Liberals have swept into office across the city, and now PETA is in, and top hats—which many hansom cab riders wear—are out.” Click for more details in the CSM report. Posted January 4, 2014
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Horse Slaughter: State Judge Trumps Federal Appeals Court
A district judge in New Mexico has delayed for ten days the planned operations of the nation’s first horse slaughter plant in seven years. On January 13, 2014, State District Judge Matthew Wilson will listen to testimony in a lawsuit brought by state Attorney General Gary King. King filed the lawsuit last month after a federal appeals court vacated a temporary restraining order blocking the openings. It seemed, momentarily, that the way was cleared—once again—for processing plants to reopen. Going back in time, that temporary restraining order was allowed in July after the U.S. Department of Agriculture gave the go-ahead for resumption of the regulated slaughter of horses. This latest lawsuit by the New Mexico attorney general claims that the processor would violate the state’s food safety, water quality, and unfair business practices laws. The processor’s attorney argues that the state lacks jurisdiction because the meat would not be sold or consumed in the U.S., that the federal government has sole jurisdiction over meat shipped to international markets, and that the company is working with environmental officials to ensure lawful disposal of all waste. Click for more details in the Associated Press report by Jeri Clausing. Posted January 4, 2014
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