Orange County Pimple 2019 / Karen Kandra photo
Orange County Pimple overcame the burden of her name to be judged Grand Champion of Show at the 2022 Bryn Mawr Hound Show held at the Radnor Hunt Club on Saturday, June 4, 2022.
First held in 1914, this is the oldest and longest-running hound show in North America. Hounds are shown in six rings: English Foxhounds, American Foxhounds, Crossbred Foxhounds, Penn-Marydel Foxhounds, Beagles, and Bassets.
Judges for the final Grand Champion Class were Charlotte Buttrick, ex-MFH, Farmington Hunt (VA), and Coleman Perrin, Ex-MFH, Deep Run Hunt (VA).
Orange County Pimple 2019 is by Piedmont Pilgrim 2016 ex Orange County Manic 2013. Pimple’s bloodlines on the top half (male side) of the pedigree are mostly American, with some Crossbred blood coming through the sire Pilgrim’s dam. The bottom half (female side) of Pimple’s pedigree is all American, her tale female line running through several generations of Keswick breeding.
Through the Crossbreds in her pedigree, Pimple goes back to Piedmont Watchman 1989, the famous American stallion hound that has thrown so many superb hunting hounds that win in the show ring as well. On the bottom half of Pimple’s pedigree, she goes back to a maternal great-grandfather, the ubiquitous Potomac Jefferson 2005―the MFHA Centennial Year National Grand Champion―who this year at earlier shows has already had two great-grand-something children judged grand champions and one judged reserve grand champion. (See earlier hound show reports.)
Both Watchman and Jefferson have proven by their successful get to be highly pre-potent and desirable forebears. As a measure of how desirable the genes of these two stallion hounds have been, Potomac Jefferson, whelped sixteen years ago, already has 100 offspring and 346 grandchildren. Watchman, whelped thirty-three years ago, has 135 offspring and 424 grandchildren. Those numbers of offspring and grandchildren are an order of magnitude greater than those of the average foxhound of their eras, proving their popularity at stud.
Blue Ridge Rashers 2021 / Karen Kandra photo
Blue Ridge Rashers 2021, a Crossbred dog hound, was judged Reserve Grand Champion at Bryn Mawr. Rashers is by Blue Ridge Rambler 2018 ex Blue Ridge Rowdy 2017. Sire Rambler is of Modern English parentage―Heythrop being the nearest―whereas dam Rowdy, a Crossbred, goes back on her dam’s side to all Old (traditionally-bred) English bloodlines such as Belvoir, and Brockelsby.
Blue Ridge huntsman Graham Buston likes the addition of Old English blood in his pack which he says adds drive―that burning desire to overtake the fox. Rashers’ sire, Blue Ridge Rambler was Grand Champion at Bryn Mawr in 2019.
Posted June 16, 2022