with Horse and Hound

Eglinton and Caledon Hunt

kindersley book cover

The Remarkable Life of Major Charles Kindersley, MFH

Book Review by Norman Fine

kindersley book cover Major Charles Kindersley with hounds and son, Richard, whipping-in. Painting by Jean Bowman. This book is available in the U.S. for $30.00 (USD) and in Canada for $40.00 (Canadian). Shipping is included in the price. Please e-mail your order directly to the author and include your phone number. She will call you for your credit card information.

The Life and Memory of Charles Montague Kindersley by Lynne Kindersley Dole is a story of ingenuity and adventure that takes us well beyond Major Kindersley's distinguished Mastership of which many readers are already familiar.

He was born in 1900 and lived through most of the twentieth century―until 1993. This story deserved to be written because he lived such a remarkable life. Likewise, it well-deserves to be read because it is authentically written by his daughter and is a riveting read.

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kate french.modern pentathlon

Pentathlon Olympic Gold Medalist Is a Horsewoman First

kate french.modern pentathlon Kate French, a horsewoman from a hunting family, wins the Olympic Gold Medal in the modern pentathlon for Britain.

The battle for gold in Tokyo’s modern pentathlon event involved yet another Olympian drama. Annika Schleu of Germany, comfortably in the lead going into the last day of the finals, experienced a meltdown in the equestrian test, catapulting Britain’s Kate French to the Gold Medal by the end of the afternoon.

Kate French, thirty years old, is at home on a horse. “I come from a riding background mainly; I’ve been riding since I was very little,” she said in an interview. French had horses from an early age and grew up in Pony Club. Her mother is Master of a mounted pack of hard-running bloodhounds, and her father is a Master of Beagles. She is the grand-niece of Derek French, ex-Master of the Eglinton and Caledon Hounds in Ontario (and an author and contributor to FHL).

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coyote.crop.sheila armstrong hodgson

Coyote In the Mist: A Fleeting Engagement

coyote.crop.sheila armstrong hodgsonIllustration by Sheila Armstrong Hodgson

The primal fears of our ancestors remain not that far beneath the surface of our psyche. We think of ourselves as sophisticated human beings. Superior to the animals around us. We communicate well between ourselves. But can we cross that border to reach understanding with other wild species? I had an incident that challenged my rational mind and brought to the surface some deep, dark fears from the primeval past.

It was early November, the time of year when I like to get my small country property tidied up and put to bed for its long winter sleep. I had been tied up with city matters for most of the day and returned home with just enough daylight hours left to finish some cleanup work on the three-acre field at the back of the property. This remote little idyl borders on the cedar swamp which marks the property line to the west.

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gus schickedanz.kronprinz.brendan matthias

Gus Schickedanz, Foxhunter, Horse Breeder, Dies at Ninety

gus schickedanz.kronprinz.brendan matthiasGus hunting Kronprinz, a Trakehner /  Brendan Matthias photo

Gustav Schickedanz, ex-MFH, Eglinton and Caledon Hunt (ON), 2009 inductee into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame, emigré from war-ravaged Europe, died peacefully at his Schönberg Farm in Ontario on Monday, June 17, 2019. A horseman from his earliest days, Gus was a loveable, courtly, and fascinating man who had personally witnessed the best and the worst of life’s offerings during his ninety years on this planet.

Gus’s life trajectory included the pleasures of a childhood with horses on the three hundred acre family farm in East Prussia, the terror of his family’s flight from the Russians across Germany in World War II, the struggles of gaining entrance to Canada and a new life, achieving wealth through building a successful construction and development company from scratch, the breeding of stakes winners, and the satisfactions derived from devotion to family, horses, and foxhunting.

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canadian17.toronto north yorks blue ridge wentworth

Four-Season Hound Still Shows “IT” at Canadian

canadian17.toronto north yorks blue ridge wentworthToronto and North York's Blue Ridge Wentworth 2015 (Mendip Farmers Wentworth 2011 ex Mendip Farmers Stylish 2011) is Grand Champion of Show -- again -- at Canadian Hound Show.  /   Denya Massey Clarke photo

The sixty-fifth annual Canadian Foxhound Show was hosted by the London Hunt (ON) on Saturday, June 8, 2019.

Giving the younger foxhounds a fighting chance for glory, Toronto and North York Hunt (ON) entered their Blue Ridge Wentworth 2015, a veteran of four seasons of hunting, only in the class for Stallion Hounds. That was enough for Wentworth, though. After winning that class, he vanquished all he met on his way to being judged Grand Champion of Show at Canada for the second time since 2017. This was his third Grand Championship since Bryn Mawr in 2016. Wentworth has an interesting history both in the field and on the flags.

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Mark McManus.huntsman and hounds2.ECH

Always Pack a Ham Sandwich

Mark McManus.huntsman and hounds2.ECHEglinton and Caledon Hounds with current huntsman, Mark McManus.The Eglinton and Caledon Hounds (ON) have long been noted for excellent live hunting. Drag hunting has been considered on occasions, but the decision has always been made to stay with pursuing the plentiful live coyotes in the hunt club’s southern countryside. It is not surprising then that the one attempt to incorporate some drag hunting with live hunting did not go according to plan.

The occasion was at one of the meets during the highly successful Ontario Festival of Hunting. The biennial Festival was spearheaded by the late Walter Pady, MFH of the Toronto and North York Hunt with the support of the five Ontario and and Quebec clubs during the 1990s and early 2000s.

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canadian18.cloud with pam black.heather swan

Ottawa Valley Captures Grand Championship at Canada

canadian18.cloud with pam black.heather swanOttawa Valley’s Toronto and North York Cloud with Pam Black. Huntsman Antony Gaylard's longtime partner, Black helps as a road whip, cares for the hunt’s whelping bi*ches, the puppies after whelping, and, if it’s late in the year, may bring a whole litter back to the kennel by the house to give them a safe start in life. In her spare time, she operates her own business!  /  Heather Swan photo

Ottawa Valley Hunt’s Toronto and North York Cloud 2012 was judged Grand Champion of Show at the Canadian Hound Show. The show was hosted by the London Hunt (ON) and held on the grounds of the London Hunt and Country Club, Saturday, June 9, 2018.

In addition to Ottawa Valley, hounds were shown by Eglinton and Caledon, Hamilton, London, Montreal, Toronto and North York, and Wellington-Waterloo Hunts.

Ottawa Valley huntsman Antony Gaylard bred and entered Cloud while huntsman at the Toronto and North York Hunt (ON). When Gaylard departed T&NY to return as huntsman to Ottawa Valley, he took Cloud and others of his breeding with him, with permission, as is customary. Though technically English, Cloud has Crossbred lines in both sides of her pedigree. And an impressive pedigree it is, with outstanding tail lines—both male and female.

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major charles kindersley

Major Charles Kindersley and the Modern English Foxhound

Virtually every coop, bridge, landmark, or covert in the Belle Meade Hunt foxhunting country (GA) has a name, so that huntsman, mounted whippers-in, and road whips can accurately and concisely communicate where the action is by radio. What does this have to do with the late Major Kindersley, MFH of Ontario's Eglinton Caledon Hunt? Only that one of the coops very often in the middle of the hunting action is named “Major Kindersley’s Coop,” and virtually everyone who has hunted at Belle Meade is familiar with the name. Here's the Major's story.

major charles kindersley

In 1919, George Beardmore, MFH of the Toronto and North York Hunt (ON), bought the old World War I aerodrome land on Avenue Road and Eglinton Avenue for the purpose of setting up a riding establishment, including a drag pack. Most of the Toronto and North York members lived in Toronto and travelled the twenty-five miles to the kennels in Aurora only on weekends. These new facilities gave members the opportunity to ride during the week, hunt with the drag pack, and still keep up with their day’s work at the office. Over the years that pack became known as the Eglinton Hunt. Between the wars, the Eglinton Hunt also acquired land on Leslie Street north of Toronto.

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major charles kindersley

Major Charles Kindersley and the Modern English Foxhound

Virtually every coop, bridge, landmark, or covert in the Belle Meade Hunt foxhunting country (GA) has a name, so that huntsman, mounted whippers-in, and road whips can accurately and concisely communicate the location and direction of hounds by radio for their safety. What does this have to do with the late Major Kindersley, MFH of Ontario's Eglinton and Caledon Hunt? Only that one of the coops very often in the middle of the hunting action at Belle Meade is named “Major Kindersley’s Coop,” and virtually everyone who has hunted at Belle Meade is familiar with the name. But what do many of today's younger foxhunters know of the man? Here's the Major's story.

major charles kindersley

Charles Kindersley was born in Dorset, England, in 1900, and grew up with the traditional family pony in the South Dorset hunting country. When World War I broke out, the nearby army camp had to give up its beagle pack. The hounds were rescued by the local vet who, after seeing Charles’ interest, let him hunt the pack. This bit of experience would turn out to be highly valuable to the future Eglinton Hunt in Ontario, Canada.

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ec.strachan wilson.bard

Eglington and Caledon: First Stop on the Friendship Tour

ec.strachan wilson.bardAlastair Strachan, MFH, hunting hounds this day, invites Epp Wilson to accompany him.  /  Barbara Smith photo

Who do you call twelve hours in advance for overnight accommodations for ten horses and five people when original plans fall through? In this case we were blessed to land on the doorstep of Christine Gracey, MFH of the Eglinton and Caledon Hounds (ON). Completely nonplused at the last-minute plans, Christy and Master Alastair Strachan made arrangements for our caravan of horses and people. We pulled into Sleepy Fox Farm, the lovely hunter barn of Al Borrett and daughter Jennifer at midnight, after a fifteen-hour drive from Illinois.

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