Mixed Pack Shows Great Sport at Stonewall
Lili Wykle, MFH and huntsman, Stonewall HoundsOn Tuesday October 19 we welcomed Todd Kern and fourteen of his Snickersville Penn-Marydel crosses to join the Stonewall Hounds (VA) for a weekday hunt. Todd was coming this way with a horse for one of is his whippers-in, Julia Bayliss, who is currently attending Sweet Briar college and hunting with us. This was very exciting for Stonewall because we had never hunted our country with a joint pack. Adding his seven couple to our eight-and-a-half couple made for a nice size pack.
Todd anticipated a good run on something besides red fox, his usual quarry. He wanted to get his hounds on game that they normally don’t hunt, such as gray fox or bobcat or coyote. We have that type of varied game (and even an occasional bear) in our country and not many red foxes.
Martingales in the Hunting Field
Aeron Mack / Middleburg PhotoAeron Mack is an honorary whipper-in. Recently she was bewildered by conflicting statements concerning martingales. She writes:
“According to Wadsworth [Riding to Hounds in America, 1962], running martingales are dangerous and not permitted, but I can’t find anyone who can explain exactly why. I recently took a clinic with Aidan O’Connell who explained the dangers of a standing martingale, which I agree with. Personally I do not use a martingale of any sort, but would like to be able to better explain to people why they can be dangerous. It would seem to me that, in the event the horse stumbles or falls, a running martingale would better allow him to keep/regain his balance. I also like that if I slip my reins over a tricky jump, the running martingale is also released, where a standing cannot be. Any words of wisdom on this topic would be greatly appreciated!
9th Annual Junior Field Hunter Championship Is Bigger than Ever
Emily Digney and Mr. Goodbar, Farmington Hunt, were Champion, 13 and Over.With more than two hundred entries, organizers Douglas Wise, MFH Old Dominion Hounds (VA), and Iona Pillion, Blue Ridge Hunt (VA), were thrilled to observe that the 2011 Junior North American Field Hunter Championship drew the biggest fields to date in the nine years of this unique trial. The program listed twenty-one finalists in Hilltoppers, twenty-two in First Field 12 & Under, and twenty-one in First Field 13 & Over. On November 6, 2011, trailers from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia gathered in the heart of the Warrenton Hunt country for what is turning into a huge event that bodes well for the future of foxhunting.
HSUS Steps in Where Hunters Refuse to Tread
In the wake of a disgusting poaching incident in which a mountain lion was killed and brutally mutilated, the California Department of Fish and Game organized the Cal-TIP program which offers financial rewards to people who turn in poachers or polluters. Cal-TIP funded the program with $2,500.
Some California hunters are upset by the fact that Cal-TIP accepted a matching funding donation from the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). (See story.) I have a different take on this story. I would ask, why didn’t we hunters beat HSUS to the punch?
The Mardale Hunt
Author Ron Black…In the north-eastern corner of the English Lake District there is a valley known as Mardale. This secluded valley contains a lake, under which rest the remains of a submerged village. The occupants of the village were shepherds who tended the local sheep high on the unforgiving fells surrounding the valley. Once a year they would meet to exchange strayed sheep, and from these humble beginnings The Mardale Shepherds Meet—best-known of all the meets of the Lakeland Fell foxhound packs—began.
It is often said that the origin of the meet is “older than the memory of man.” The introduction of the Ullswater Foxhounds increased the popularity of the meet, which soon attracted a much larger following than just the local shepherds. In the evening a public house called The Dun Bull was the venue for song and laughter. In time, The Mardale Shepherds Meet achieved worldwide fame.
And the Chase Is On
And the Chase Is On, bronze sculpture by Margery Torrey, will benefit injured jump jockey Jake ChalfinHere is a delightful work of art by sculptor Margery Torrey that will bring a smile to any foxhunter. Torrey is one of a number of generous individuals who have donated their unique talents to help raise funds for injured jockey Jake Chalfin.
A little over a year ago, during a hurdle race at the Blue Ridge Fall Races, a runaway racehorse he was riding catapulted Chalfin into the perimeter fence. It turned out to be a life-changing event for Chalfin. He remains paralyzed from the chest down.
The Working Foxhound
There are strip horses, upon whose pristine limbs no blemish may appear lest the judge be offended. Then there are the field hunters who carry their lumps and bumps like badges of honor.
There are show dogs, most of whom exhibit beautiful form but little function. Then there are the working hounds who slog through the bogs and rip their ears crashing through the briers.
The Casanova Hunt (VA) had their Opening Meet on Saturday, October 22. The pack started out clean and beautifully groomed for the photo ops during the Blessing, but after huntsman Tommy Lee Jones put them into covert they got down to business. We thought Douglas Lees’s portrait of this Casanova hound displayed the indomitable spirit and courage of that canine warrior—the Working Foxhound.
Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Makes Strong Showing at Penn National Hunt Night
Steven Hayes led the Cheshire riders to a strong showing on Hunt Night at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show in Harrisburg on October 17, 2011. Hayes won the Field Hunter Class for riders over thirty-five years of age and the Gentlemen’s Hunter under Saddle Class, riding Clever, owned by Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds (PA). Hayes […]
Sam Clifton Wins North American Horn Blowing Championship
Sam Clifton is 2011 North American Horn Blowing Champion. / Al Cook photoSam Clifton, huntsman for the Green Spring Valley Hounds (MD), won the 2011 North American Horn Blowing Championship on Monday, October 17. The sound of the horn has been a part of Clifton’s life from the cradle. His father Stephen is the long-time huntsman at the Eglinton and Caledon Hunt in Ontario.
Two-time champion John Tabachka, huntsman for the Sewickley Hunt (PA), placed second; last year’s champion, Steve Farrin, huntsman for the Amwell Valley Hounds (NJ), was third; and Martyn Blackmore, huntsman for the Loudoun West Hunt (VA), placed fourth.
Capacity Crowd Attends Museum Opening and Inaugural Exhibit
F. Turner Reuter, Jr., curator and board member, and Jaquiline B. Mars, vice-chairman of the board and gala co-chairman / Nate Jensen photoMore than four hundred people gathered to celebrate the Museum opening at the National Sporting Library and Museum in Middleburg, Virginia on Saturday, October 8, 2011. Festivities surrounding the opening included a sporting art exhibit, a dinner-dance on the NSLM campus, a three-day coaching event, and a luncheon at beautiful Llangollen.