At age 12, Codie Hayes showed Rose Tree Needy to the Grand Championship at the 2004 Virginia Foxhound Show, the first time ever for a Penn-Marydel. / Lauren Giannini photoFrom the moment Codie Jane Hayes became aware of the world around her, she took to hounds. She progressed from crawling to toddling among the pack of Penn-Marydel foxhounds bred and hunted by her grandfather Jody Murtagh, Jr., ex-MFH. She was a wunderkind, totally at home with hounds and crazy about them. From the way hounds take to her, she was born with a gift—that coveted invisible thread connecting her to hounds wherever she goes.
In August 2014, Codie, twenty-two, became the professional huntsman for the Golden’s Bridge Hounds in North Salem, New York. This position at any hunt entails huge responsibilities, but after a glimpse into how she spent her childhood and teen years, there’s no doubt that she has been training to be huntsman since she came into the world.
A good barometer is the pack of foxhounds, whose sterns wave happily and whose eyes look often to their human leader. Her attitude and demeanor express how much she loves what she’s doing. With the end of her first season just a few weeks away, enthusiasts at Golden’s Bridge are pleased with the sport they enjoyed until winter hit the pause button.
“Codie’s doing a marvelous job and we’re thrilled…we couldn’t ask for anything more,” said David Feureisen, MFH. “We’re very happy with her.” David is an honorary whipper-in, who, in 2013, joined the team of Masters: Eugene Colley (1978), Ed Kelly (1984), Peter Kamenstein (1991), Bruce Colley (2008), and Yolanda Knowlton (2011).
At age 16, Codie showed Moore County Riddelin (ex-Rose Tree Needy) to the Penn-Marydel Championship at the 2008 Virginia Foxhound Show. “I really like working with hounds. You have to get to know them. Each one has a secret, and it takes time. I practice handling them every day.” / Lauren Giannini photo; Codie’s quote previously published in In & Around Horse CountryLiving What She Learned
Codie’s experience is pragmatic as well as genetic: she’s the fifth generation in her family to be actively involved with hounds and hunting. Her grandfather Jody has hunted all his life, probably even before he was whelped, due to his mother and father both being ardent enthusiasts. Jody’s grandfathers were huntsmen, and his mother’s father was Roy Jackson, Sr., who in 1934 helped to formally establish the Penn-Marydel as a breed of American foxhound.
Codie played with hound puppies as a toddler and started riding to hounds in second grade. It didn’t take long before she was learning the art and science of ars venatica by riding with and “assisting” her whipper-in mother, Kerrie Murtagh Hayes. By the time she turned twelve, Codie could recite hound genealogies the way some people recite poetry or verses from the Bible. Both Kerrie and Codie whipped in to Jody. On the occasions when he couldn’t hunt hounds, mother and daughter were able to carry on in his stead, but it was always Codie, who had the passion and the desire to be huntsman. She had a way with hounds and also a knack for handling them in the show ring.
In 2004, Codie was only twelve when she showed Rose Tree Needy to the Penn-Marydel Championship at the Virginia Foxhound Show at Morven Park in Leesburg, Virginia. Later that day, Needy made history when she was judged Grand Champion of the Show—the first Penn-Marydel ever crowned Grand Champion at Virginia. In the interim years, competition increased exponentially in the fifth ring under the stately trees. The Penn-Marydels had always been known to hunt well; now they were holding their own against the mainstream foxhounds.
Three generations of staff at the Moore County Hounds (l-r): whippers-in Codie, Kerrie Murtaugh Hayes, and Missy Murtaugh, with Jody Murtaugh, huntsman. “Three of the most influential people in my life—my mom, my aunt, and my grandfather.”
New Era For Golden’s Bridge
Last May, Memorial Day Weekend lived up to its name when Golden’s Bridge Phoenix raised the bar of Penn-Marydel history once again. After then huntsman Ciaran Murphy showed Phoenix to the Penn-Marydel championship, the young black-and-tan hound earned the judge’s nod as Grand Champion of the Virginia Foxhound Show over the American, Cross-bred, and English Foxhound champions. One week later, Phoenix went on to cement his reputation by capturing the Grand Championship at the Bryn Mawr Hound Show in Maryland. Back-to-back championships at Virginia and Bryn Mawr marked another first for the Penn-Marydel.
Then, in mid-August, Codie set out for Golden’s Bridge as the new huntsman, with the daunting task of connecting with the pack only days before the start of the new season. The hounds took to Codie as if she had grown up with them. Not only did she bring her lifetime of experience with Penn-Marydels, but she had gained valuable experience hunting the Moore County (NC) pack when Jody hurt his back. The rest of the time she whipped-in. She also hunted their Born Ready Beagles. She tried a year-and-a-half of college, but what she wanted more than anything else was to pursue her career with hounds.
Huntsman Codie Hayes, 22, walks out the Golden’s Bridge Penn-Marydels for the first time. David Feureisen, MFH stands by. / Yolanda Knowlton, MFH photo
“I’m passionate about hunting. I was a little nervous and also very excited about the opportunity,” admitted Codie. “The beginning of the season was a little difficult. I didn’t always know where I was going. The country is so different from what I knew down south, and the quarry is mostly coyotes and some red fox. There were times when it was difficult to know where hounds were going. To keep up with them, I bushwhacked my way through the woods and underbrush more this season than I ever have before. But the hounds are wonderful and I have gotten great support all along from my Masters and the staff.”
Topographically, that’s a big change, moving from the sand hills of Southern Pines, N.C. to the hills, rocks and mud characteristic of the northeast corner of Westchester County. Add in a pack of hounds and a field of eager subscribers—no pressure at all. Right. When asked if there were any highlights, any moments of triumph from her first season as huntsman, you could feel her smile spread ear-to-ear across hundreds of miles over the phone.
“Opening meet was awesome. It was pouring rain and forty degrees, and everybody was sort of mopey because the weather wasn’t great,” said Codie with her trademark cheerfulness. “We started at the kennels and went to our Windswept fixture, Mr. Colley’s farm. I drew every covert. Finally, we’re all soaking wet and we jump the coyote. It’s two hours into the hunt. We ran that coyote for one-and-a-half hours and put him to ground. It was a wonderful way to open the season. We don’t give up at Golden’s Bridge.”
Everyone who was there expressed how pleased they were with the way the young huntsman handled herself and the hounds. “Codie showed a lot of patience with the hounds,” said David. “The day started out dry, and then it started pouring. A few hours later, under the tent for the breakfast, that’s when I realized I was soaking wet.” That’s how good the sport was on a rainy day in upstate New York with a pack of Penn-Marydels and a huntsman who followed her grandfather’s advice: Plan your hunt and hunt your plan.
Huntsman and hound savor a special moment before the day’s sport at Golden’s Bridge. In background is Adam Feureisen, honorary whipper-in. / Anita Zanders photo
Just last month, Golden’s Bridge trekked south to Thomson, Georgia, home of the Belle Meade Hunt, to participate in the Foxhound Performance Trials. All told, five packs were entered: Midland, Mill Creek, Sedgefield, the host Belle Meade, and Golden’s Bridge whose hounds, no thanks to the snow that blanketed the Northeast, hadn’t hunted in about four weeks. It was also the first time for Golden’s Bridge to participate in a Performance Trial.
“I am very, very pleased with our hounds and their performance,” said Codie. “One of the best moments was the first night after the first day of the Trials. It’s difficult to place against English and Crossbred Hounds. So, I’m sitting there and suddenly I realize they’re calling out one of our hounds’ names. Golden’s Bridge placed in every category. I was very proud of our hounds.”
“Codie is a remarkable young woman, extraordinarily poised,” said Yolanda Knowlton. “The other Joint-Masters and I laugh, because the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. She’s incredible with the hounds. She hit the ground running and we’ve had great sport. She’s an excellent huntsman and has a wonderful affinity with the hounds, a wonderful way with them, and they have really bonded with her. She’s hardworking, and we can’t say enough good things about her.”
Halfway through the season, Codie reunited with Bubba, her off-the-track-Thoroughbred. She didn’t bring him up to Golden’s Bridge at first, but she missed him. “I hunted Bubba for three seasons and he loved his job. Now he has it back,” said Codie. “I brought him along. He took to hunting from the start and he knows his job.”
During cubhunting in mid-September on her Facebook page, Codie quoted the great actress Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993): “The most important thing is to enjoy your life—to be happy—it’s all that matters.”
Codie affirms, “I am a happy huntsman.”
Posted March 12, 2015