Fox Hunting News

Organizers of the 2013 Field Hunter Championship of North America urge you to bring your best field hunter and join in the action for a week of foxhunting behind four Virginia foxhound packs: Keswick, Casanova, Snickersville, and Piedmont. Evening get-togethers are on the schedule including a day at the Virginia Fall Races at Glenwood Park, Middleburg, where the Field Hunter Championship Finals will be held. Competitors will hunt from Monday, September 30 through Friday, October 4, 2013. Those selected to compete in the Finals will ride on October 6 in view of the race day crowd, prior to the day’s races at Glenwood Park. The winning horse will be chosen after the completion of trials which begins with the judging of the “Best Turned Out” horse and rider, then moves to a short drag hunt that starts and ends right on the race course. The field will be narrowed to at least ten finalists who will be asked to complete a “handy hunter” course where they may be required to drop a rail, open a gate and/or hand gallop and halt. Spectators are encouraged to arrive early and walk out on to the racecourse so as not to miss the action. The family of the late Mrs. Theodora Ayer Randolph will again honor her memory and her lifetime commitment to foxhunting by awarding a $2,500 cash prize to the home hunt of the winner of the 2013 Field Hunter Championship. General Admission price is $30.00 per carload of four people. To reach Glenwood Park from the Washington DC area, take I-66 West and exit Route 50 West (Exit 57B towards Winchester). Drive approximately 25 miles to Middleburg and turn right at stop light in Middleburg (Route 626, Foxcroft Road). Proceed 1 mile north to Glenwood Park on your right. For additional information and/or photos call the Field Hunter Championship Chairman Ms. Pippy McCormick at 540-454-2854. Posted August 4, 2013

A federal judge last Friday placed a temporary restraining order on the planned openings of two New Mexico horse slaughter plants scheduled to begin operations this week. Chief U.S. District Judge M. Christine Armijo ruled on the basis of claims by horse slaughter opponents that the plants pose a threat to the environment. The ban will remain in effect for at least thirty days. The plants are allowed to seek a bond from their opponents to compensate them for lost business should they ultimately prevail through the courts. The New Mexico plants had expected to be the first to open since Congress effectively banned horse slaughter in the U.S. six years ago. The judge based her decision on a directive published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), but lawyers for the USDA claim that the directive was just an operating guideline for USDA use and had no bearing on the law that permits horse slaughter. The HSUS and other groups were parties to the lawsuit blocking the plant openings. Lawyers for the USDA, the slaughter plants, and tribal groups in the area claim that the judge relied on sweeping statements of damage to the environment with no evidence to back up the claims. John Boyd, representing the Yakama tribe in Washington State said the only proven damage to the environment has been caused by the runaway population of thousands of unwanted horses destroying the vegetation and driving out other species. Another hearing will take place in thirty days. For more details, read Milan Simonich’s article in the Alamagordo Daily News. Posted August 4, 2013

Retired star cricket player and professional team captain David Gower suggests that “townies” should be required to pass an exam on rural affairs before being allowed to vote on issues that affect the countryside. He also accuses politicians who are “allergic to grass” of making unpopular decisions about countryside matters. Gowers’ comments were made to Readers Digest magazine. “I’ve no desire to hunt foxes, but I don’t want to stop others,” he said. Gower shoots and said that he has had interesting discussions with people about firing at defenseless pheasants. He worries about the time when townies decide to arm the pheasants, and they start shooting back. For more of Gower’s unorthodox ideas and how he is perceived by his opponents, read Simon Cable’s complete article in Mail Online. Posted July 28, 2013

Stung by criticism of the staggering amount of money—£326,000—spent to prosecute the Heythrop hunt for violations of the Hunting Act, the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) is attempting to repair relations with the British countryside. (See earlier, related FHL article.) The Society has proposed the establishment of a new self-regulating hunting association—an independent trial and drag hunt association—that would open the country to riders and hounds following drag lines, or laid scents. Sir Barney White-Spunner, executive chairman of the Countryside Alliance, responded, “We are quite happy to talk to the RSPCA in the interests of animal welfare when they drop their increasingly radical and politicised animal rights agenda.” White-Spunner’s response was interesting in that it articulates a distinction which eludes many people: that animal welfare and animal rights are two very different philosophies. While animal welfare strives to care for all animals with compassion and enhance the well-being of all species, animal rights seeks to end man’s dominion over animals and endow them with the same rights as humans. Click to read Stuart Winter’s complete article in The Express. Posted July 22, 2013

The Chronicle of the Horse in Middleburg, Virginia and Mark Bellissimo of Wellington, Florida jointly announced today the sale of the magazine to Bellissimo. The purchase also includes The Chronicle‘s enormous vintage black and white photo library that has recorded most major equestrian sporting events since the late 1930s, as well as the digital publication, The Chronicle Connection. Bellissimo’s Wellington Equestrian Partners LLC owns and operates the Winter Equestrian Festival and the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Florida. Founded 76 years ago as The Middleburg Chronicle by the late Stacy Lloyd, The Chronicle of the Horse has long been one of the most respected magazines in the industry. For many years foxhunting was a major subject and remained so under the editorships of the late Alexander Mackay-Smith and the late Peter Winants. In 1952 The Chronicle was bought by the Ohrstrom Family who has owned the publication to this day. “I’m so proud to be part of the long tradition of The Chronicle,” said Bellissimo. “I am committed to keeping the organization’s core mission of being the most trusted resource for equestrian sport by offering independent journalism and the highest editorial integrity.” Plans are to introduce new products and services that will strengthen the information flow within the industry, including an enhanced website and state-of-the-art mobile applications, and for the current staff to remain in Virginia. Click for more details. Posted July 12, 2013

The U.S. Senate has passed its Border Security, Economic opportunity, and Immigration Modernization Act (S.744), but the bill is expected to face opposition in the House of Representatives. The American Horse Council has strongly supported the bill, saying that immigration reform has been a horse industry priority for many years. Despite substantial efforts to recruit and train U.S. workers, horse farms and others in the horse industry have been forced to rely on foreign workers and utilize both the H-2B (non-agricultural) and H-2A (agricultural) temporary worker programs to meet their labor needs. However, the current temporary worker system is not reliable and is extremely burdensome to use, says the AHC. According to the AHC, S.744 has the potential to strengthen border security and solve many of the immigration issues facing the horse industry. It would allow undocumented workers to legalize their status and replace the broken H-2A program with a new agricultural worker program administered by U.S. Department of Agriculture. It would also make improvements to the H-2B program and create a new W-visa low skilled program that would allow employers to hire foreign workers when no Americans can be found. It is not too early for horsemen and women to contact or email their Representatives in Congress to let them know that they are often unable to find Americans willing to work as farm hands, grooms, and stable attendants; that they are often forced to rely on foreign workers and the H-2B and H-2A temporary worker programs to meet their labor needs; and that the current immigration system is broken and the current temporary worker programs are costly, hard to use, and unreliable. Click for a list of your Representatives in Congress and their contact information. Posted July 1, 2013

Legislation ensuring sportsmen’s access to federal lands cleared its first hurdle this week as the House Natural Resources Committee voted 28-15 in favor of H.R. 1825.  Known as the Recreational Fishing and Hunting Heritage and Opportunities Act, H.R. 1825 is the most significant legislation protecting sportsmen’s access in 16 years, according to the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance (USSA). The bill shuts the door on lawsuits brought by anti-hunting groups aimed at pushing sportsmen and women off federal lands.  H.R. 1825 spells out in plain language that fishing, hunting and recreational shooting are legitimate and important activities on National Forests and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands.  The key provision of the bill is the “Open Until Closed” language, which mandates that U.S. Forest Service and BLM lands are open to hunting, fishing and recreational shooting unless specific steps are taken to close those lands for necessary and demonstrable reasons. According to the USSA, the “Open Until Closed” provision is a “game changer” for the future of hunting, fishing and recreational shooting on public land. The USSA led the charge for similar 1997 legislation that protects sportsmen’s access to National Wildlife Refuge land that has resulted in new refuges open to hunting all across America. “We urge Congress to move this critical legislation quickly,” said Bill Horn, director of federal affairs for the U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance. Click for more details. Posted June 14, 2013

Tighter regulations governing wildlife training preserves, also known as fox pens, were approved by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Animal welfare groups urged that such facilities be closed, but sportsmen working with wildlife officials agreed on new rules to improve the safety of penned foxes. Among the new regulations: one hundred acres minimum for a preserve; no training for one week after restocking; a limit of one hound per ten acres from eight to fourteen days after restocking; a limit of one hound per acre after that; one man-made dog-proof escape structure for every twenty acres; all fence corners to be rounded to prevent a fox from being trapped in a corner by hounds; all hounds to be vaccinated for rabies; no monetary prizes during special events. The changes will affect the less than forty foxhound training preserves that operate in Virginia. Posted June 14, 2013