Robert Taylor, MFH and huntsman of the Goshen Hounds, had a memorable hunt with hounds on New Year’s Day.
Some days you simply wonder what the gods are thinking. Today, New Year’s Day, was a day that I simply could not hunt because of social obligations unrelated to the hunting world. No amount of explaining and squirming would have been adequate to allow me to meet with the Goshen Hounds (MD) today. Consequently, it was with some delight when I was finally able to quietly announce at about 2:00 pm that I thought I would “visit the kennels” for a short while.
When I arrived it was apparent the hounds were still in the field, so I drove to the usual draw down Middleton Lane and was greeted with the distant view of a whipper-in and the cheering of huntsman and Joint-Master Robert Taylor. I knew exactly where they were, but getting to them in my trusty Tahoe was a different matter. Undaunted, I proceeded on (in four wheel drive), but still could not quite make contact.
Several riders were coming in with tales of, “Wow! What a run! My horse is cooked!” In desperation, I gave up and headed to the kennels. Soon I was greeted with the sight of Robert and hounds coming in, and, oh, what tales they had to tell.
Shortly after drawing the covert known as “the trash pile” behind the Tusculum fields, a fox was started with the full pack giving cry. They ran their quarry out of the comfort of his den and shortly into the open fields lying to the north and west. This led to a blistering run across open fields with Henry McCoy having to give way to the faster horses of Lily Bisson and Mark Happ.
Hounds ran all the way to the Patuxent River and chased the fox across and into Howard County-Iron Bridge Hounds’ territory before Robert and staff decided that they had gone quite far enough and stopped them. (It was no mean feat to stop a pack of American hounds after they had swum across the Patuxent River in pursuit of their quarry!) By this point they were well west of the kennels and Middleton Lane and nearly to Hipsley Mill Road.
Robert successfully lifted the entire pack and turned them back into our territory where the field was waiting, only to have them find again and run accommodatingly back toward the south of our territory, winding up near the back of Waredaca before calling it a day and bringing all hounds back to kennels. What a great day of hunting shown by Robert and the loyal staff of Goshen. I did notice that when hounds came in, whippers-in Karen Jones and Liz Lavine appeared to be pretty well spent, although smiling. Of course, Master Challberg was, as always, his cool and composed self.
Maybe the highlight of the entire day was the news in the clubhouse that ten-year-old Aiden Mess (of the Drs. Charles Mess clan) had ridden with the first field all day, had successfully jumped the infamous “650 coop” going downhill, and loves raw oysters! What a young man!
Posted January 3, 2013