brazos valley hounds

Melody '95: a survivor  /  Illustration by Rosemary Coates

From The Hound Intelligence Series, published by Hounds Magazine (UK), edited by Deirdre Hanna, illustrated by Rosemary Coates. Click to purchase the 333-page collection.

Brazos Valley Melody (Deep Run Butler ’91 ex Mission Valley Gamely ’92) was an English bi*ch―half fell hound and half Modern English―whelped by huntsman Tommy Jackson at the Mission Valley Hunt (KS). Butler, Melody’s sire, was all fell blood, top and bottom of his pedigree, from the Eskdale and Ennerdale kennels in Cumbria. This is a storied foot pack with rugged hunting territory in England’s Lake District on the English-Scottish border. Gamely, Melody’s dam, was Modern English with bloodlines back to the Hamilton and Ottawa Valley Hunts in Canada.

Tommy drafted Melody, heavy in whelp, to Sandy Dixon, MFH and huntsman of the Brazos Valley Hounds (TX). Melody had been bred to Mission Valley Nero ’95, an American dog hound with mostly Penn-Marydel blood. The handover occurred at the end of the 1995 Central States Hound Show, which both hunts were attending. For the journey home to Brazos Valley, Melody was put into a travel kennel with the rest of Sandy’s hounds that had been at the show. 

Sandy Dixon continues the story of an extraordinary journey.

Grand Champion Brazos Valley Playboy 2016 is shown by Sandy Dixon, MFH. Standing are (l-r) Johna Sewell, Brazos Valley; Nick Badgerow, Show Chairman; Judge John Tabachka. /   Howard Gwin photoBrazos Valley Playboy 2016, an American foxhound, was crowned Grand Champion of the Central States Hound Show in Stilwell Kansas, on May 12, 2018.

Playboy was bred much like European royalty—all in the family—but even more so. Breeders know that the results of inbreeding can be successful beyond one’s wildest dreams. Or a nightmare.

“People are going to wonder, ‘What was she thinking?’” Sandy Dixon, MFH of the Brazos Valley Hounds (TX), readily admitted last year when Playboy’s littermate, Precious, was judged Grand Champion of the Southwest Hound Show. Just as riders don’t plan for the occasional involuntary dismount, so Dixon didn’t plan on this involuntary mount.

Grand Champion Brazos Valley Two Step poses with Sandy Dixon, MFH and Judge Jordan Hicks.For the third consecutive year, a Brazos Valley foxhound was judged Grand Champion of the Southwest Hound Show hosted at Marvin Savage Farm in Weatherford, Texas, on Saturday, April 21, 2018.

This year, it was Brazos Valley Two Step 2016, an American dog hound, who collected top honors from judge Jordan Hicks, professional huntsman of the Piedmont Fox Hounds (VA).

Fort Leavenworth Vixen, Grand Champion of Show, handled by Stephanie Wilcox Carter, MFH and huntsman. Judge Vincent Tartaglia is standing (middle). /  Angela Fain photo

Last year was the boys’ year. This year the Crossbred female, Fort Leavenworth Vixen 2013, evened the score with her littermate Valor by winning the Grand Championship at the Central States Hound Show.

Vixen is a speckled, mostly white tricolor by Brazos Valley Baxter ‘08 out of Fort Leavenworth Piper ‘07. American and Crossbred bloodlines are predominantly from Fort Leavenworth Hunt (KS), Brazos Valley Hounds (TX), and the Piedmont Fox Hounds (VA). The most recent contribution of pure English blood to this lovely Crossbred was from the Arapahoe Hunt kennels (CO), three generations back.

Stephanie Wilcox Carter, MFH and huntsman of the Fort Leavenworth pack describes Vixen as conformationally correct, happy, and unflappable.

Fort Leavenworth Valor '13 begins his day at Central States by capturing the English/Crossbred Championship. North Hills Kid Rock, last year's Grand Champion of Show, was Reserve. Huntsman Stephanie Wilcox Carter, MFH shows Valor. Judge Cameron Sadler is standing (right). / Glen Carter photo

Fort Leavenworth Valor ‘13 was crowned Grand Champion Foxhound at both the Southwest Hound Show on April 18, 2015 and the Central States Hound Show on May 2, 2015.

Valor is a fitting name for Fort Leavenworth hounds, tied as the hunt is to that venerable military post in Kansas. Three Fort Leavenworth foxhounds have proudly carried the name, Valor, in the last thirty years!

Southwest Hound Show
Exhibiting hunts at the Southwest Hound Show included Brazos Valley Hounds (TX), Fort Leavenworth Hunt, and Independence Foxhounds (TX). Judges George and Jeanie Thomas, MFHs of the Why Worry Hunt (SC) were impressed by both Valor and the hound show. In a “joint communique” George and Jeanie write, “We like Valor a lot, and he showed the way a champion should. We found him to be a very nice hound with super conformation and correctness. He is a fluid mover and has a lot of power from his lovely hind end.  Although he is not a big hound, he made up for it with his drive and verve. We are looking forward to seeing him in Virginia!”