Foxhunting Life in Print?
We have an idea, but only you—Foxhunting Life readers—can tell us whether it’s a good one. Hence, we’re asking you to take a very short survey of no more than three yes-or-no questions. For the past few years, we have been emailing our twice-monthly e-magazine, FHL WEEK, in electronic form. We know many of you […]
T&NY Littermates Dominate Grand Champion Class at Canadian
Canadian Grand Champion of Show is Toronto and North York Cleopatra 2012 / Mary Raphael photo
Two Toronto and North York littermates have dominated the Grand Champion and Reserve awards at the Canadian Foxhound Show for two years running. The only difference this year was that the dog hound graciously swapped places with his litter sister. On June 6, 2015, in a reversal of fortune, Toronto and North York Cleopatra 2012, last year’s Reserve Grand Champion, was crowned Grand Champion of Show, while her litter brother Clarence, last year’s Grand Champion, settled for Reserve.
The show judges were Major Tim Easby, Director, Masters of Foxhounds Association (UK) and ex-MFH and huntsman of the Middleton and West Yore Foxhounds and Lt. Col. Robert Ferrer, USMC-Retired and MFH, Caroline Hunt (VA).
Cleopatra’s sire is Blue Ridge Barnfield 2010 by Duke of Beaufort’s Bailey 2003. If Bailey sounds familiar, have a look at the article about this year’s Bryn Mawr Grand Champion, New Market-Middleton Valley Widget, crowned just one week earlier. Widget’s sire was Green Spring Valley Bailey by Duke of Beaufort’s Bailey. That makes two Grand Champions in two weeks whose grand sire is Duke of Beaufort’s Bailey!
New Market-Middletown Valley Widget Is Bryn Mawr Grand Champion
New Market-Middletown Valley huntsman Ally Storer shows Widget before judge Daphne Wood, MFH / Christine Cancelli photo
New Market-Middletown Valley Widget 2014 was judged Grand Champion of Show at the Bryn Mawr Hound Show held this year at the Radnor Hunt in Malvern, Pennsylvania on May 30, 2015.
Huntsman Alasdair Storer is banking on the beautiful tri-colored Crossbred foxhound and her sister Welcome to be the foundations of important female bloodlines for this Maryland pack to build upon. As Storer’s father—an experienced breeder of hounds in England—commented, “You couldn’t ask for a better pedigree.”
Starting with Widget and Welcome, Storer plans to breed one to an Elkridge-Harford Crossbred and the other to a Millbrook Penn-Marydel. This, he hopes, will give him two strong lines of disparate gene pools to keep his breeding options open.
A New Keswick MFH: Her Story
Sandra Forbush photo
If you are wondering where in the Keswick countryside the cover picture was taken, you are observant. It was not taken in Keswick but at Massie’s Corner in Rappahannock County where I grew up. My father, Wade Massie, loved to hunt foxes. My Uncle Jim tells how Pop used to get on the school bus in the morning and get off a few stops later where there would be a horse waiting for him. He would hunt all day with Ennis Jenkins, Larry Jenkins’ father, and get back on the bus in the afternoon. His parents were none the wiser.
Later Jack Bruce helped Pop put together a pack of hounds which Clint Eastham, son of famous hound breeder C.C. Eastham, would hunt for him. (It is kind of fun to think about how I would hunt with hounds and people with a lot of the same bloodlines sixty years later).
Pop also hunted with Rappahannock and was a whipper-in there. Current Rappahannock Master Oliver Brown likes to tell a story about how Pop could make any horse quiet. One day a visitor from New Jersey had come down to hunt. The visitor’s horse was rank, while Pop’s was going along well. Halfway through the day Pop offered to switch horses. By day’s end Pop’s new mount was going along on the buckle, and the visitor’s horse was jigging all around.
Cleveland Bays Bring Real Field Hunters to Upperville
If you want to see real field hunters at the Upperville Horse Show, the Cleveland Bay Hunter Division is for you. More than twenty-five percent of the entries in that division have seen service in the hunting field. Another twenty-five percent or so of the Cleveland Bay entries are still too young for the field, […]
Brian Kiely Wins Fourth National Horn Blowing Championship
Brian Kiely bested a strong lineup of fourteen participants to win his fourth National Horn Blowing Championship. / Liz Callar photo
Brian Kiely broke his own record by winning his fourth National Horn Blowing Championship. Since the start of the competition in 1995, five men have won the title twice—Andrew Barclay, Steve Farrin, Ian Milne, Adrian Smith, and John Tabachka—but with his fourth championship Kiely continues to move the goal posts for the rest of the field. Kiely is the new huntsman at the Potomac Hunt (MD), and his victory was accompanied by the cheers of his supporters led by retiring Potomac huntsman Larry Pitts.
The 2015 National Horn Blowing Championship was held at Morven Park on May 23, 2015 over the Virginia Foxhound Show weekend. The large crowd on hand under the Saturday night dinner tent listened enthusiastically to the fifteen entries in a strong lineup of contestants.
After the first round in which all participants blew three calls on their horns, three individuals were asked to return for a blow-off: Brian Kiely, Adrian Smith, and John Tabachka. This was an all-star lineup with all three finalists holding multiple titles. Adrian Smith is huntsman for the Metamora Hunt (MI), and John Tabachka is huntsman for the Sewickley Hunt (PA).
Haight, White, Barclay Inducted into the Huntsmen’s Room
Andrew Barclay (left) and Sherman Haight congratulate eachother on the occasion of their mutual induction into The Huntsmen’s Room at the Museum of Hounds and Hunting. / Douglas Lees photo
Three huntsmen, two living and one deceased, were honored the day before the Virginia Foxhound Show for their uncommon skill as huntsmen and for their contributions to foxhunting in North American. Sherman P. Haight, Jr., ex-MFH; William John White, Jr.; and Andrew T. Barclay were inducted into The Huntsmen’s Room of the Museum of Hounds and Hunting in ceremonies held at Morven Park on Saturday, May 23, 2015.
While recognized by this honor for their achievements in handling hounds in the field and producing the highest level of sport, each of these three men of disparate backgrounds contributed uniquely to our sport. Their stories are just as uniquely fascinating.
Advice From a Junior Whipper-In
Here’s astute, peer-to-peer advice for juniors aspiring to become honorary hunt staff. I can’t help but wonder how many huntsmen out there would love to have Carmen on his/her staff!
We, juniors, are the future of foxhunting. It is our responsibility to be knowledgeable and to keep this fantastic sport alive and traditional.
Have you ever peered past the first Field Master at those tiny white specs in the distance—the hounds—and wondered what’s going on up there, what that blast of the horn meant, where that scarlet-clad rider is galloping off to in such a hurry? Ever think about whipping-in?
What to Think About Before You Decide to Whip-In
Whipping-in can be the most exhilarating, amazing adventure ever, or it can be the most terrifying, stressful experience ever. It largely depends on how you handle the thrills and horrors that being a whip sends your way.
Whipping-in doesn’t only take place on your horse in the hunt field. It takes place in the kennels, in the stables, at home with a mountain of books, and in the mud on your backside watching your mount vanish into the distance.
Fort Leavenworth Valor Conquers the West; Will Invade Virginia Next
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!”
Dr. Jock Tate Is New Master at Moore County
The Moore County Hounds (NC) has announced the appointment of Dr. Jock Tate as a new Master of the hunt. Jock, a veterinarian, has been a member of Moore County for more than a half century. He was awarded his colors back in 1959 by Pappy and Ginnie Moss, the hunt’s founders. Jock is described […]