Three Convicted Under the Hunting Act in England
Three members of the Crawley and Horsham hunt in West Sussex, England were found guilty in Horsham Magistrates Court of violations under the Hunting Act. These are the first convictions in Sussex under the act. Four of the hunt’s members were charged with five separate offences. All pleaded not guilty. The evidence, including video clips, […]
The Masters Ball
The Masters Ball by Anne-Marie Lacy, 2012, Indigo-Inc Publishing, 206 pages, $25.00From the elegance of the annual fete in New York to a hair-raising ride at closing meet, author Anne-Marie Lacy takes the reader on mad gallop in The Masters Ball, a light-hearted murder mystery with a charming ghost.
The author, who has hunted for seventeen years, drew upon her experiences in the field with the Mooreland Hunt (AL), the Hillsboro Hounds (TN), and the characters she met along the way for her first book. The astute reader will recognize a few larger-than-life, real-life Masters who were Lacy’s inspiration for her characters.
Saxonburg Hunt Extends Its Season in South Carolina
Author Hugh Robards is huntsman of the Saxonburg Hounds (PA). / Alex Farnham photoThe foxhounds of the Saxonburg Hunt in Pennsylvania now have a winter kennel in South Carolina of which full advantage is taken from January 1 to the end of March each year. Since Mr. Floyd Wine, MFH invested in property close to the small town of Salley (population about 450 and home of the annual Chitlin Strut!), the harsh Pennsylvanian winters are no longer an obstacle to continued hunting.
As the country hunted is shared with the Edisto River Hounds it was decided this year to have a Hunt Festival Week. Each pack hunted on alternate days with tailgate parties, dinner parties, and a Hunt Ball thrown in for good measure.
Southern Hound Show
Grand Champion Live Oak Hannibal 2009 (Live Oak Hasty ’06–Their Asset ’03) / Jim Meads photoThe sixth annual Southern Hound Show, held on April 28, 2012 at Live Oak Plantation, Monticello, Florida was once again blessed with perfect weather. Ten packs from as far away as Tennessee and Palm Beach competed under the watchful eyes of Richard Sumner, MFH of the Heythrop Hunt in England and Dennis Foster, Executive Director of the MFHA. Robert Ferrer, MFH of the Caroline Hunt was apprentice judge.
English, American, Crossbred, and Penn-Marydels all show in one ring against each other. As there are two Crossbred rings at the Virginia Foxhound Show (based on number of hounds in kennel), this is the only occasion that Fox River Valley, Live Oak, Midland, and Mooreland go head to head in every class.
Who Is This?
Or more to the point, who are these two giants of foxhunting? One is revered for his uncanny rapport with hounds; the other is remembered for his imaginative contributions to the world of horse sports and sporting scholarship.
This puzzle was posted on our Facebook page, and Carey Shefte was the first person to correctly identify both men and claim the prize. Foxhunting Life is sending Carey a CD of foxhunting songs collected by one of our mystery men. Read on for the answers!
Flying Change
Flying Change: A Year of Racing and Family and Steeplechasing by Patrick Smithwick, Chesapeake Book Company, 2012, 360 pages, $30.00If you can avoid disabling injury, horseback riding is a sport that many enjoy for a lifetime. All of us have heard anecdotal tales of people who ride—and even foxhunt—up into their seventies and eighties.
With Baby Boomers aging, those stories will become more prevalent, although many of us may be opting for the dressage arena instead of the hunt meet…or the race track.
Author Patrick Smithwick decided to meet growing older head on. He challenged himself at age forty-six to ride in the Maryland Hunt Cup, a four-mile timber race over twenty-two solidly built fences that are not for the faint of heart. It is the world’s stiffest timber race.
Byers and Peace: New Joint-Masters at Aiken
Larry Byers and Joey Peace are new Joint-Masters at Aiken. / Randy Wolcott photoThe venerable Aiken Hounds (SC)—a pack steeped in the history of North American sport—has appointed Larry Byers and Joann “Joey” Peace as Joint-Masters. Established in 1914, the Aiken Hounds hunt the drag through the Hitchcock Woods.
All New Staff at Blue Ridge
The Blue Ridge Hunt (VA) will welcome in a very few days the arrival from England of two new professional staff members—huntsman Guy Allman and first whipper-in Thomas Hopson. Huntsman Allman comes to Blue Ridge after twelve years hunting hounds at the Mid Devon Foxhounds in England. Before that he was kennel huntsman at the […]
Scraps: British Sporting Drawings from the Paul Mellon Collection
Drawing by Samuel Howitt used as illustration in a book of fables published in 1818. The rooster and dog are traveling together. The fox tries to trick the rooster into descending, but the rooster leads the unwitting fox to the dog instead.The National Sporting Library and Museum in Middleburg, Virginia has mounted an art exhibit—Scraps: British Sporting Drawings from the Paul Mellon Collection. The exhibit will run from April 6 to June 30, 2012 and will provide a worthwhile destination for those in town for the Virginia Foxhound Show over the Memorial Day weekend in May.
The title, Scraps, is inspired by a series of Henry Alken drawings by the same name, published in the early 1800s, in a loose, informal, and sometimes humorous vein. The exhibit includes original examples of these works by Alken and other sporting artists of the period: Samuel Howitt, Edwin Landseer, Henry Heath, Thomas Rowlandson, Thomas Miles Richardson, and others.
Crawley and Horsham Prosecuted Under the Hunting Act
The trial of four members of the Crawley and Horsham Hunt in West Sussex, England opened in Horsham Magistrates Court on Monday, April 23. The four are accused of violations under the Hunting Act. Two Masters, the hunt secretary, and the former huntsman (who now hunts the Dart Vale Harriers) are charged with five separate […]