Cheshire Honorary Whipper-In Paddy Neilson, Huntsman Ivan Dowling, and professional whipper-in Stephanie Boyer at Brooklawn / Noel Mullins photo
Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds (PA), founded in 1912, are celebrating their Centennial this season. W. Plunkett Stewart, a Philadelphia banker, set out to find the perfect hunting country and settled on the rolling hills, rich pastureland and extensive woods around Unionville. As what in modern terms could be classed as a committed environmentalist, he purchased thousands of acres of land and, before reselling, amended deeds to restrict development and nurture conservancy, clean water, and natural habitat. As a result of his efforts and the culture of conservation he passed on, the Cheshire hunting country today boasts thirty square miles and twenty-six thousand acres free from ribbon residential and commercial development that has allowed foxhunting and National Hunt racing to thrive.
Mr. Stewart died in 1948, but had a worthy successor in his stepdaughter Nancy Penn Smith Hannum who served as Master and huntsman for fifty seasons, and who passed away in 2010. They both will go down in history for the legacy they left, not alone to foxhunters, but also to the owners of the picturesque horse farms and the abundance of wildlife that thrive as a result of their generous actions.
When I interviewed Mrs. Hannum back in 2005 she used terms like team play, which is how she judged how her pack of English foxhounds worked together. When asked what motivated her and others to be so committed to developing the Cheshire country, she offered, “Because we cared.”
The baton has been handed on to the current Joint-Masters and directors of the Cheshire Hunt Conservancy. Sadly, Nina Gill Stewart who held office as Joint-Master passed away earlier this year just short of witnessing the Centennial season, but not before she was informed that her daughter Sanna Hendrix was invited to complete the team of Joint-Masters. Under the present management, the hunt has changed with the times, building a state-of-the-art horse barn and breeding a new type of foxhound known as the Cheshire Crossbred that seems to suit the country better—progeny of Penn-Marydel doghounds on English bitches.
Horses, Horsemen, and Hunting
Centennial celebrations opened with the Cheshire hounds meeting at Brooklawn, the former home of their founder. During the week, invited guest packs were the Radnor (PA), Green Spring Valley (MD), and the Elkridge-Harford (MD). The Cheshire is recognised as one of the premier foxhunting packs in North America. They hunt three days a week and went out nearly ninety times last season. Hunting this pack is demanding, but Galwayman Ivan Dowling now in his ninth season is known as a talented rider. He was the first professional huntsman to ride in the Maryland Hunt Cup timber race and was American Steeplechase Association Amateur Highweight Champion Timber Jockey in 2010. A recognised breeder of hunting hounds, his Penn-Marydel/English cross has produced the Cheshire Crossbred that have fox sense, voice, drive, and accuracy on a line, and sport has never been better.Traditional hound breeders were sceptical at first, but now Dowling is inundated with requests for drafts.
Russell Jones, MFH over the typical post-and-rail fencing in the Cheshire country / Noel Mullins photo
Professional whipper-in Stephanie Boyer is another that can cross country. A former event rider she completed Rolex CCI **** in Kentucky on her own horse Macloud in 2009. Illustrating the depth of talent in the hunt staff, honorary whipper-in Louis ‘Paddy’ Neilson is a legend in National Hunt Racing. He won the American Grand National at fifteen years of age, won the Maryland Hunt Cup three times, and was champion jump jockey for ten years.
The hunt staff have to be top-class riders, as the Joint-Masters and many of the followers are former jockeys or event riders. At Brooklawn it was like a who’s who of American National Hunt racing and Olympic eventing, with winning riders of Gold Cups, Grand Nationals, and Maryland Hunt Cups like Joy Slater, Charlie Fenwick, Chip Miller, Russell Jones, Bruce Miller, Sanna Hendrix, Boyd Martin, and Stewart Strawbridge.
The hunt barn with fourteen staff horses is managed by Kelley Merette, former groom to Olympic eventer Philip Dutton, where she looked after Rolex winner Connaught by Ballysimon (ISH). The staff horses have to be blood horses, able to gallop to stay with hounds and jump vertical, solid oak, split rail fences accurately that occasionally can be up to five feet high and may be topped by a strand of electric wire.
Dowling was hunting hounds off the former Robert Tyler-trained Up N Under that is a difficult ride. Derek O’Connor won three point-to-points on him in Ireland, and he was given to the hunt by Green Spring Valley Hounds Joint-Master George Mahoney. Dowling also hunts Garryowen Star, originally trained by Charlie Swan, and another Irish-bred, Flying Contraption, which was trained by Bruce Miller. Dowling won the Willowdale Steeplechase on that horse.
Cheshire hunt follower and showjumper Beth LaMotte who is trained by Kevin Babington is producing a new high fibre horse feed called Pure Feed that consists of sun-dried orchard grass, soya oil, beans and Alltech Equine Advantage that Dowling is now feeding to his hunters. Other Cheshire team members are Michael Beeson who looks after road safety assisted by Dave Morris. They were looking after the safety of hounds and up to 150 mounted followers out each day when they crossed the busy roads. Susan Jordan the hunt secretary was also busy with arrangements with so many visitors.
For the enjoyment of the followers and to avoid the field heading a fox, they have three fields with three Field Masters. First Flight Field Masters are Bruce Miller, Chip Miller, and Sanna Hendrix, and they jump everything to stay up with hounds. Second Flight Field Master is Mary Ellen DeRuschi, and that field has options. Third Flight Field Master is Nancy Miller, and she looks after the non- jumpers—a pleasant way of catering to members that otherwise would have retired from hunting, and a way of introducing people to hunting whether they be adults or children.
After refreshments Dowling took seventeen-and-a-half couple of Cheshire Crossbred bitches to draw the back of the Stone Barn, but it was blank. They had better luck at Cathy and Michael Ledyard’s farm, originally owned by Titanic survivor William Carter. Hounds found a tight-lying fox in Percy Pearce’s Covert that hounds hunted hard in the expansive woods, forcing him to ground. The draw on Michael Moran’s Pennsylvania Hunt Cup Course produced another fox that crossed Moran’s Gallops and after a fast run went to ground in a woodpile. Vince Dugan’s Covert also obliged, where hounds had a brace-and-a-half on the run, but they stayed true to one, eventually forcing him to find refuge in the cattle feed pens.
Wasting no time, the pack had a fox up and away from The Swamp at Carol Hannum’s. He shot across the road, but the pack was so close they turned him. Fortunately for him he found a hole in a wire netting fence around a spinney no larger than an acre that had the additional complication of four resident white tail deer. Amazingly the pack remained rock steady on their fox, and drove him out the far side heading for Route 842 where he was headed by car followers and went to ground in a roadside bank.
The Old Dairy was blank but hounds found at the Small Pinkertons at the back of Olympic and twice World Champion event rider Bruce Davidson’s Chesterfield farm where two foxes were running crossing the Newark Road and back in a circle and to ground.
Afterwards the 150 mounted followers and visitors from fourteen different packs were entertained by Nancy and Crosby Woods to a pig roast and music by twelve-year-old Cheshire foxhunter, pony racing jockey, and fiddle player John Brophy and friends.
(l-r) Charlie Fenwick; Sanna Hendrix, MFH; Stewart and Liz Strawbridge / Noel Mullins photo
Cheshire Masters and Staff
President: William Wylie
Masters: Russell Jones, Bruce Miller, Sanna Hendrix and Michael Ledyard
Field Masters: Bruce Miller, Chip Miller, and Sanna Hendrix
Huntsman: Ivan Dowling
Whippers-In: Stephanie Boyer (Professional), Louis “Paddy” Neilson (Honorary)
Posted November 30, 2012
Author/photographer/foxhunter Noel Mullins is a retired computer marketing executive in Ireland. Visit his website for more of his work and his books.
(mounted l-r) Haven and Graham Arms, Wendy Ledger Powell, Jane and Francis Peabody, Jennifer Jones Arms, and (standing) Kelley Merette / Noel Mullins photo