2013 North American Field Hunter Championships Survive Summer Temps
2013 North American Field Hunter Champion Greyland Woods, owned by Karen Mantz and ridden by daughter Teresa Croce, jumps to victory over Judge Jean Derrick’s scarlet coat (Belle Meade colors). / Liz Callar photo
Blistering hot weather visited Virginia for the past four weeks. While not unusual this time of year, the length of the hot spell, with temperatures hovering in the high eighties and even reaching into the low nineties, has proved miserable to man and beast alike, but it failed to deter foxhunters who entered this year’s North American Field Hunter Championships.
On Monday, September 30, the Championships began at Keswick. Hounds met at Glenwood, a fixture in the neighborhood of James Madison’s Montpelier, outside the town of Orange. Contestants from as far away as Florida and Georgia traveled to compete in the event, as well as to enjoy early autumn hunting in Virginia. They were not disappointed. Keswick huntsman Tony Gammell provided a fine day of sport in the lovely rolling countryside as hounds ran across the nearby road, back again, and beyond the fixture into a scenic expanse of woods and cornfields. Afterward, everyone enjoyed a tailgate as five contestants were selected for the finals.
On Tuesday, October 1, hounds met at Owl Run Farm in Warrenton, home of Casanova Hunt Joint-Master Mrs. Joyce Fendley. Previously the home of Donna and Jack Eicher, huntsman at Rombout and later Farmington Hunt, the grounds include a lake and a cluster of graceful weeping willows out front. The residence and barns all exude the charm of old Virginia Hunt Country—weathered stone, stout board and batten, low eaves and metal roofs. A special surprise awaited the field this morning when shortly after casting hounds, an eruption in a cornfield revealed that hounds had encountered a black bear! Fortunately, the pack obeyed their orders to ignore the bear as it beat a hasty retreat. The remainder of the morning proved quieter, and as the field hacked in, Mrs. Fendley positioned herself, as she always does at the end of a hunt, such that she could personally thank everyone in the field as they passed by on their way to their trailer. This small but thoughtful act is just one of many that make hunting in Virginia so special and unique. It was a hot, thirsty, and tired field that gathered under a tent to drink and devour a delicious crab dip while recalling the excitement of having gone on their first bear hunt! This morning, six finalists were announced.
Gone-Away-With-the-Wind Hunt Week
Belle Meade Hunt Week attracted a happy throng of visitors. / Bella Vita Fotografie photo
Masters and members of the Belle Meade Hunt in Thomson, Georgia celebrated their Hunt Week with an event-packed schedule for friends and guests from Monday, January 14 through Saturday, January 20, 2013. The week featured three days with the Belle Meade hounds and a day each with the Aiken Hounds and the Why Worry Hounds. Stirrup cups, hunt breakfasts, and optional trail rides were featured, and the week finished up in style with the annual Hunt Ball.
Here’s Robbie Gilmore’s report on the sport shown by the Belle Meade hounds during their first two days in the field:
When Children Are Included
Allison Howell photo Neilly Dozier (7) is congratulated by Epp Wilson, MFH of the Belle Meade Hunt for her recitation of the Belle Meade Toast to the huge Opening Meet crowd at the Knox House, site of the Blessing Ceremony. Nellie memorized the poem—written by Mrs. Pinkie Knox in 1967—and asked to recite it. Neilly […]
Best Hound Exercise of My Life
Nancy Wilson at the Rock Dam in the Belle Meade hunting country / Amber Guy photoHow many times have we heard the old saw that ninety percent of life is just being there? Before hound exercise one evening, members of the Belle Meade Hunt (GA) were challenged by beastly weather. By not allowing themselves to be defeated, they were rewarded by a sight none had ever before seen at a locale in their hunting country that is famously familiar to many traveling foxhunters—the Rock Dam.
Epp Wilson relates their experience.
On the Road: One Master’s Perspective
Foreground (l-r): Michael Brown, huntsman and Oliver Brown, MFH, Rappahannock Hunt with host Epp Wilson, MFH, Belle Meade Hunt / Karen Raiford photo
This article—about foxhunters on the road and the joys of visiting—is being published in several installments: 1. A Huntsman’s Perspective, 2. One Master’s Perspective, 3. Another Master’s Perspective, and 4. A Member’s Perspective. Here is our second installment.
I first met the Ambassador of Foxhunting, Ben Hardaway, MFH, of the Midland Foxhounds (GA) in 1973. It was Ben’s first trip to Virginia, and I was in awe of this traveling foxhunting circus. His members were so excited as were his hounds to show their adaptation to a different territory. Many more times did he come to hunt with us, and I also had the pleasure of being invited to hunt with him in his country. But I envied being able to take your own hounds to strange territories. So after hunting in Midland several times and becoming enthused, my son Michael and I made our first trek south with hounds in 1999.
On the Road: A Huntsman’s Perspective
On the Road: A Huntsman’s Perspective
Visitors from the Rappahannock Hunt at Memorial Gate in the Hitchcock Woods for a meet with the Aiken Hounds / Karen Raiford photo
This article—about foxhunters on the road and the joys of visiting—is being published in four installments: 1. A Huntsman’s Perspective, 2. One Master’s Perspective, 3. Another Master’s Perspective, and 4. A Member’s Perspective. Here is the first installment.
On January 20, 2012, members of the Rappahannock Hunt left the familiar hills and mountains of Virginia for the mostly flat, somewhat sandy hunting territory along the border between South Carolina and Georgia. Some of us have been making this pilgrimage for more than fifteen years now.
Belle Meade Hunt a Feature Attraction for Georgia Tourism
McDuffie County, home to the Belle Meade Hunt in Thomson, is one of five northern counties in the Clark Hills Partnership of Georgia. The Partnership highlights attractions in each of the counties that tourists will enjoy, and Belle Meade’s famous Opening Meet is promoted as one of the offerings for McDuffie. “The 46th Annual Blessing […]
Hunt Club Pages: An Enhancement
Karen L. Myers photoLast month we announced a new feature on Foxhunting Life — Hunt Club Pages. We have a page for every North American hunt with all the articles we have published about that hunt or referring to it. Now we want to make your hunt’s page even more informative.
We have added space for historical or descriptive text about each hunt plus a link to the hunt’s website. The description and link will always appear first on that hunt’s page—before the articles.
Storms Wreak Havoc in Belle Meade Hunting Country
As the result of recent storms through Georgia, fifty percent of all the trails in the Belle Meade hunting country are blocked, according to Epp Wilson, MFH. Hounds and coyote are able to get through, but not horses. “There are more large trees down across our trails than I have seen in forty-five years of […]
Hunt Breakfast Recipe Contest Winners
Juliet Mackay-Smith, chef and proprietor of Locke Modern Country Store
Results are in for our Hunt Breakfast Recipe Contest! Our judge Juliet Mackay-Smith has made her selections, and we will pin the winning recipes with a blue ribbon within the website so readers will know which recipes have received these honors.
“Born into a foxhunting family, I have had first-hand experience of what makes for satisfying fare at a hunt breakfast…both for the hosts to prepare and for the guests to consume,” said Mackay-Smith.