The Ashland Bassets / Susan Monticelli photoWhen not following foxhounds on horseback, many foxhunters and their like-minded friends can be found following their local basset or beagle pack on foot—a perfect way to continue enjoying sport and a country lifestyle. Any foxhunter who thrills to the cry of foxhounds and hasn’t yet heard a pack of bassets in full cry must try a day’s hunting behind these wonderful hounds!
Even after dismounting from the saddle on a Saturday, many still yearn to hunt on before returning to an office on Monday. There are others who have hung up their tack for various reasons, and some who have never hunted astride yet love being outdoors on fall and winter afternoons. For all these sportsmen and women, the Ashland Bassets—hunting the territories of the Casanova, Old Dominion, Orange County, and Warrenton foxhound packs in Virginia—have provided a welcome window through which to extend one’s weekend enjoyment of the countryside and venery.
The Ashland Bassets was formed in 1960 by the late Mrs. (Amory Carhart) Edward Graves when she could no longer foxhunt. It was a private pack and named after the farm she once owned, Ashland Farm, a handsome sprawling stone complex located just outside of Warrenton. In 1973 she bequeathed the bassets to the community as a subscription pack, and today the hounds, although kenneled in a different location, are still near Warrenton.
The Ashland is the oldest basset pack in Virginia and the third oldest recognized pack in the United States. The pack is made up of AKC and English crossbred hounds, and proudly counts among its numbers several of the distinctive French Bleu de Gascogne hounds. While perhaps difficult to believe by their appearance, the hounds are capable of sprinting at speeds up to thirty miles per hour in pursuit of their elusive quarry, native cottontail rabbits.
Many of the traditions associated with mounted foxhunting are also observed in hunting with a foot pack of bassets. There is a Master of Basset Hounds, or MBH, a huntsman, and attendant whippers-in—all smartly dressed in hunt livery. Similar as well are the horns, whips, commands, and hunting terms. The major differences are that field and staff are on foot; the pack is made up of bassets who chase rabbit instead of fox; and there is no formal dress code for members of the field. Followers may clothe themselves in accordance with the weather at hand.
Following bassets, like foxhunting, is a winter sport, with the season running from September through March. There is even a cubhunting season preceding the formal one, each with its respective dress codes. Finally, once more as in mounted foxhunting, the day’s sport is completed by a tea, tailgate, or breakfast, sometimes held in a member’s residence that may be of historic and/or architectural significance.
Opening Meet at Leeds Manor / Susan Monticelli photoThe Opening Meet of the Ashland Bassets was recently held at Leed’s Manor Farm, a soft yellow stucco residence situated at the end of a long rolling field crossed by stone walls, all in a gorgeous setting in the Old Dominion Hounds country near Hume. The afternoon began on the front lawn under stately hardwoods where the pack was blessed as part of the Opening Meet ceremony.
Staff, attired in livery of hunter green beagling coats or frocks with scarlet piping on the collars, canary vests, white stock ties and white pants, accompanied the pack to the first covert in the lea of a wooded mountain while the field observed from an open hillside. Hounds could be heard excitedly working their quarry as a large cottontail was flushed out of his safe harbour before finding refuge in a crumbling stone wall.
Intermittent showers failed to deter these ardent hunters—youngsters and older members alike—as the Field Master positioned everyone for the best viewing of hound work. Afterwards, a delectable tea was enjoyed in the residence which dated from the 1700s and was lovingly decorated with studied understatement whilst retaining much of the original woodwork.
The Ashland Basset pack maintains a hectic social calendar of its own. Just ask any of the busy bassets! When they are not hunting, they compete in hound shows and field trials such as the one at the Institute in Aldie, the Upperville Horse Show, the Middleburg Christmas parade, the Warrenton Heritage Day Parade and the Gold Cup. Their crowning achievement was a recent win at the prestigious 100th Anniversary of the Bryn Mawr Hound Show in Pennsylvania this past May where they were awarded the Adele Leavitt Perpetual Trophy for Best Five Couple.
So, if you want to enjoy a relaxed country hike on a winter day, or watch some hounds working, or socialize with friends, or prepare a tasty dish to share at a tailgate, all while accompanied by handsome four-legged canine companions, consider joining the bassets and sharing an afternoon of their winsome adventures.
Masters of the Ashland Bassets are Mrs. Christopher Reed, Mrs. Lowell Johnson, and Jessica Swan. Mrs Reed serves as huntsman, and Mrs. Swan is apprentice huntsman this season. Contact information for the Masters and Honorary Secretary may be found on page 99 of the MFHA 2014 Hunt Roster.
Posted December 18, 2014
Susan Monticelli photo