Fox Hunting News

What is a fox hunt? Well, it depends on whom you ask. If you are talking to a ham radio operator, he/she is apt to tell you that foxhunting is a sport over the airwaves in which ham radio enthusiasts search for a hidden transmitter—the fox—using directional antennas. In one form, an amateur radio club will hold an annual fox hunt at a mutually decided wooded location—the meet—and a group of ham operators—the hounds—try to find the fox. They look a lot like your huntsman after a meet trying to recover his missing hounds by homing in on their radio collars with his directional radio receiver. Instead of bragging about how well their horses jump the fences, these foxhunters pride themselves in the design and discrimination of their antennas and the electronic nuances of their hand-held receivers. Click here for a fox hunt with the Bullit ARS in Bernheim Forest, Shepherdsville, Kentucky. Posted November 23, 2011

This year, Congress is expected to reverse the defacto ban on horse slaughter in the U.S. Annually, since 2005, the appropriations bill for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has arrived at both houses of Congress with riders (sponsored by the HSUS) disallowing any funds that would allow USDA to inspect horses in transit to slaughter facilities. It was a backdoor move by animal rights activists (and approved by many horse lovers that cannot bear the thought of horses for human consumption) that effectively ended all horse slaughter in the U.S. In a report to Congress earlier this year, the General Accounting Office (GAO)—Congress’s objective and apolitical investigative arm—said in essence that horse welfare has been harmed by the closing of slaughter houses in the U.S. (See Foxhunting Life news report.) This year it appears that Congress will heed the GAO report. The conference committee preparing the legislation for Congress’s vote has omitted these riders to the bill, and once the bill reaches Congress, no amendments can be appended. If the bill passes as expected, USDA inspection of horses in transit could resume, and the reopening of slaughter houses in the U.S. could be economically feasible once again. At the time the last facilities were closed, there were one hundred thousand horses being disposed of annually. As the GAO found during their investigation, retirement facilities were unable to absorb even a small fraction of unwanted horses, and in 2010, 138,000 horses were exported to Mexico and Canada for slaughter. “The horses are traveling farther to meet the same end….in foreign slaughtering facilities where U.S. humane slaughtering protections do not apply,” said the GAO in their report. Posted November 16, 2011

Gillian Dupont, founder and owner of The Old Habit in Marshall, Virginia, passed away Sunday, October 30, 2011 after a courageous battle with cancer. Her sister was by her side. There will be a service at the Leeds Episcopal Church in Hume, Virginia on Thursday, November 3rd, at 11 am.  There will be a small reception after the service to share memories.  Many of us here in Virginia probably went hunting a little better turned out due to Gillian. Posted November 2, 2011

The Masters of the Golden’s Bridge Hounds (NY) have announced the appointment of Yolanda Knowlton as Joint-Master. Knowlton is a longtime horsewoman who has evented, shown, and foxhunted. She has been a hard working member of Golden’s Bridge Hounds for many years, has run the hunt ball, the annual auction, and has served as Hunt Secretary. “Yolanda lives right in the hunting country and knows all the landowners,” said Golden’s Bridge MFH (and MFHA President) Ed Kelly. “She has earned it and will be a great asset as Joint-Master.” With her appointment, Knowlton joins Golden’s Bridge Joint-Masters Eugene O. Colley, Edward W. Kelly, Peter D. Kamenstein, S. Mackintosh Pulsifer, Kenneth Silverman, and Bruce D. Colley. Posted October 5, 2011

A Missouri woman has been sued by the Missouri Veterinarian Medical Board for floating horses’ teeth. The lawsuit claims that Missouri law defines dentistry and floating as veterinary medicine. The defendant, Brooke Gray, trained at the Academy of Equine Dentistry in Idaho and completed a five-month apprenticeship in Colorado. In the response filed by Gray’s attorney, Gray asserted six Affirmative Defenses rooted in rights protected under the U.S. and Missouri Constitutions. The response also cites precedents in other licensed industries where courts have determined that certain trained practitioners in a narrow area of practice cannot be prevented from doing business just because they are not trained and licensed in broader areas in which they do not practice. The response goes on to claim that floaters have been filing horses’ teeth for hundreds of years, the services typically being provided by non-veterinarian lay persons. It claims that such individuals may be better prepared to float teeth than most veterinarians because many receive training at specialized schools where the entire curriculum is devoted to the practice, “while floating is not part of the core curriculum at any veterinary school. Furthermore, most veterinarians who regularly float horses’ teeth learn the practice from an experienced non-veterinarian floater or at one of the specialized equine dentistry schools, not at a veterinary school.” This may be the first test in the U.S. by any state veterinarian board to put non-veterinarian tooth floaters out of business. The outcome should be of interest to all horse dentists, veterinarians, and horsemen. Click for more details. Posted October 4, 2011

A horse that tested positive for equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) was admitted to the University of Tennessee Veterinary Medical Center and euthanized on Thursday, September 15. Although no new cases have been reported in that state, the Tennessee Valley Hunt has cancelled hunting for Thursday and Saturday, September 22 and 24. The equine hospital is under a self-imposed quarantine for fourteen days beginning on September 16. The highly contagious disease is most commonly transmitted between horses through the air by nasal secretions from cough or sneeze. Symptoms include respiratory illness and fever and neurological changes evidenced by weakness or paralysis of hind limbs. EHV-1 is not transmissible to humans. Click for further details.

William Pinkney Wetherall, Jr., foxhunter, race rider, and racing official died at the Winchester Medical Center in Virginia on Monday, September 12 at the age of seventy-seven. Bill was an excellent horseman and all-around athlete. He set a long-standing record in the hurdles at Episcopal High School, then attended Princeton University and Virginia Tech. Bill was well-known throughout the Virginia point-to-point circuit as a race organizer and racing official. He was Secretary-Treasurer of the Virginia Point-to-Point Association and was awarded the Masters Prize and the Yves Henry Lifetime Achievement Award from that organization. He served as chairman of the Blue Ridge Hunt Point-to-Point races for many years. Bill’s mother, Sybilla “Billie” Greenhalgh, was one of the best-loved Field Masters in Blue Ridge’s long history. Bill did the early training on one of her horses that won the Gold Cup and upon which she led the field for many years. One of his proudest memories was being asked by Alexander Mackay-Smith, MFH to be a whipper-in for the Blue Ridge Hunt. Bill was only in his teens at the time. He was awarded his colors, and he whipped-in to the pack for many seasons. A graveside service will be held at Old Chapel near Millwood, Virginia on Friday, September 16 at 3:00 p.m. Memorial contributions may be made to the American Steeplechase Injured Jockey’s Fund and to the Virginia Point-to-Point Association Hurdle Fund, both c/o Don Yovanovich, PO Box 1877, Middleburg, VA 20118. Posted September 15, 2011