Whipper-in Neil Amatt races to get between hounds and coyote, turns to stop hounds.
Nancy Kleck is a sporting artist who follows the hunt with her camera to record action images of hounds, horses, riders, and foxes for later use in her paintings. She rides with former Blue Ridge huntsman Chris Howells, now a wheel whipper-in, and has discovered that her photos are of use not only to her in her art, and not only to the field members for their enjoyment, but sometimes even to the staff. Nancy writes:
I’ve been following the hunt nearly every meet since huntsman Guy Allman and first whipper-in Neil Ammatt came on board. I’ve gotten some fun photos as a hilltopper, and it’s been a really interesting perspective, listening for the horn, trying to interpret it, and keeping an eye out for anything that moves with a brush!
The hunted fox is unseen by occupants of parked Jeep.
Recently, I got some great shots of the fox in front of Bobby Pillion’s Jeep as he’s parked in the driveway, sitting with Matthew Mackay-Smith. Neither one saw the fox. They had parked there because I’m sure Bobby, as a longtime whipper-in, knew the general path the fox would take. In the next frame the fox is back on the stone wall jumping back into the field he was trying to leave, and off he goes.
Another two are of Neil stopping hounds on a coyote run, both of them in the same frame. Being from Midland, he was used to putting on the gas. I think he was happy to have it on “film” that he was able to do what needed doing to keep the hounds from leaving the county.
Amatt stops hounds from leaving the country on a coyote.
An interesting observation from this neophyte was clearly seen when, after marking their fox to ground, many of the hounds, even as they were resting on the side of the road in Montana Hall, did not take their eyes off of where the fox went to ground. It didn’t dawn on me at the time, but I couldn’t get them to look at me; they kept looking over my shoulder and beyond me. At home it finally dawned on me. Ever alert and on the job.
I also learned recently that both Guy and Neil look at these photos to see what happened that day beyond their limited view. When photographing the hounds on a line, Guy can see who’s in front, who’s in the middle and who’s in the rear, learning more about the pack and their scenting abilities. Master Anne McIntosh mentioned that to me in passing a long while back and I thought, wow, how nice…it’s giving them information, too.
This hilltopper is having a grand time, and being able to share the day through photographs makes it that much more fun.
Posted February 18, 2013
“They kept looking over my shoulder…”