Eglinton and Caledon Hounds
Pentathlon Olympic Gold Medalist Is a Horsewoman First
Kate French, a horsewoman from a hunting family, wins the Olympic Gold Medal in the modern pentathlon for Britain.
The battle for gold in Tokyo’s modern pentathlon event involved yet another Olympian drama. Annika Schleu of Germany, comfortably in the lead going into the last day of the finals, experienced a meltdown in the equestrian test, catapulting Britain’s Kate French to the Gold Medal by the end of the afternoon.
Kate French, thirty years old, is at home on a horse. “I come from a riding background mainly; I’ve been riding since I was very little,” she said in an interview. French had horses from an early age and grew up in Pony Club. Her mother is Master of a mounted pack of hard-running bloodhounds, and her father is a Master of Beagles. She is the grand-niece of Derek French, ex-Master of the Eglinton and Caledon Hounds in Ontario (and an author and contributor to FHL).
Whipper-in Turns Traffic Cop
Hugh Robertson, honorary whipper-in at Eglinton and Caledon Hounds, is also a former amateur steeplechase rider.
“Land's sakes," says Hugh in his burred Scottish accent, "there I was quietly enjoying a quick puff on my favourite cigarillo, when it all started."
Hugh Robertson is an honorary whipper-in with the Eglinton and Caledon Hounds (ON). Hugh knows the country and had already taken up his post on the ridge. It was early in the season and hounds were drawing the swamp in the valley at the south end of Galten Farms country in Caledon. So far the day had been quiet, providing the opportunity for Hugh to enjoy the overly-warm but beautiful September day.
