Riot
Cubhunting season has arrived, and hunt staffs across North America are taking to the field tasked with imposing new rules upon young hounds just discovering new freedoms! Edric C. Roberts addresses the conflict in this timely and light-hearted poem from his collection, Hunters’ Moon (Richard R. Smith Inc., New York, 1930, 70 pp, illustrated).
Douglas Lees photo
Riot
Somehow, I honestly never knew why,
Rarity, Chorister, Landlord and I
Found ourselves happily hunting alone,
Running like smoke on a line of our own;
Riot
Douglas Lees photoCubhunting season has arrived, and hunt staffs across North America are taking to the field tasked with imposing new rules upon young hounds just discovering new freedoms! Edric C. Roberts addresses the conflict in this timely and light-hearted poem from his collection, Hunters’ Moon (Richard R. Smith Inc., New York, 1930, 70 pp, illustrated).
Riot
Somehow, I honestly never knew why,
Rarity, Chorister, Landlord and I
Found ourselves happily hunting alone,
Running like smoke on a line of our own;
Hale-Bopp and the Foxhounds
The inhabitants of the Lake District, home to the venerable foxhunting foot packs of Cumbria, have always been superstitious, their lives governed by beliefs and ritual to prevent bad luck. There were many beliefs, but the one I remember best is that in Wasdale a mother did not wash a baby’s arms until it was six months old. This, it was believed, would stop the child growing up to be a thief. As time passed, superstition of events and the cause of happenings became less, or did it?
On July 23, 1995, Alan Hale in New Mexico and Thomas Bopp in Arizona discovered, independently, an unusually bright comet outside of Jupiter’s orbit.
Now the approach of this comet in 1997, which became easily visible to the naked eye in the night sky, did not register on the radar of Pete who only saw stars after closing time, and would never dream of looking to the heavens anyway on his way home from the pub up the streetlight-less road. As the comet neared the sun it became brighter still in the night sky, and the talk in the billiard room was of nothing else. Even hunting took second place.
Hound Hunting Bill Passes California Assembly
A bill that will ban the hunting of bear and bobcat with hounds (SB1221) was passed by the California State Assembly on August 22, 2012. Because it was amended in the Assembly, it must be passed again by the State Senate, after which it will go to the Governor for signature. SB1221 passed the Senate […]
Irish National Hound Show
Galway Blazers shown by (l-r) whipper-in Jason O’Donnell and huntsman Tom Dempsey / Noel Mullins photos
The magnificent grounds of the Cosby Estate in Stradbally, County Laois again hosted the annual Irish National Hound Show. Three rings featured foxhounds, harriers and beagles.
Hound shows are important events to meet and catch up on hunting in different parts of the country. For masters and hunt staff it is an opportunity to see what packs have on show, and maybe to pick out a suitable stallion hound for future breeding plans. However, at hound shows, hounds can be judged only on conformation and movement. Only in the hunting field can the other essential qualities for any working hound be assessed, like stamina, scenting ability, fox sense, and drive, as hounds are only as fast or as steady as their noses.
Loving His Summer Job
Junior whipper-in Buzzy Fisher / Elisabeth Harpham photoJunior whipper-in Buzzy Fisher (12) has been working with Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds this summer. He rides to the kennels by himself each morning to help staff with morning chores, then walks out on hound exercise. Buzzy’s parents—Drs. Phoebe and Rush Fisher—arrive by trailer with horses and ponies […]
Motive and Monarch at Walk
Foxhound puppies sent out of the kennels to live at hunt members’ and supporters’ farms for socializing are said to be “at walk.” It’s sort of like summer camp for the pups, and it happens every spring and summer. When destruction to yard, garden, and shrubs exceeds the limits of the puppy walkers’ tolerance, the hounds are returned to the kennels. By that time, the puppies will have grown and prospered, learned their names, been introduced to the lead, and more or less socialized. A break for the huntsman, an education for the puppies, and an annual delight for the puppy walkers.
The author and her family have walked puppies for the Blue Ridge Hunt (VA) every summer for nearly twenty years. This blog was first published in Foxhunting Life nearly ten years ago and this being the time of year when hound puppies are out at walk, we thought it would be fun to bring it back.
Monarch with rope“Incredibly destructive,” I muttered yesterday evening as my husband, Bill, and I were eating dinner on our screen porch, watching these two terrorists drag the cover to our outdoor grill across the patio. Because they are hound dogs, nothing is off limits. Their little noses find the smallest scent and their first reaction is to either chew it or dig for it. A crumb or a caterpillar, a two-day old footprint from a passing varmint, or a newly plopped horse turd sends them into olfactory ecstasy. I’ve tried to imagine being able to smell everything a hound dog can smell…what a new world that would be.
I look forward to the puppies every summer. They make me smile, and what better way to spend a day?
Walking Motive and Monarch
Foxhunting Life is pleased to bring you these wonderfully entertaining extracts from a new hound blog I know you will enjoy. Martha Wolfe and her family have walked puppies for the Blue Ridge Hunt (VA) every summer for the past ten years. Martha updates her blog regularly with Motive’s and Monarch’s latest adventures so that we, too, may enjoy watching them grow and learn.
Monarch with rope“Incredibly destructive,” I muttered yesterday evening as my husband, Bill, and I were eating dinner on our screen porch, watching these two terrorists drag the cover to our outdoor grill across the patio. Because they are hound dogs, nothing is off limits. Their little noses find the smallest scent and their first reaction is to either chew it or dig for it. A crumb or a caterpillar, a two-day old footprint from a passing varmint, or a newly plopped horse turd sends them into olfactory ecstasy. I’ve tried to imagine being able to smell everything a hound dog can smell…what a new world that would be.
I look forward to the puppies every summer. They make me smile, and what better way to spend a day?
Puppy Show Exclusive!
With privacy now a quaint relic of the recent past, we paparazzi can tune into intimate conversation wherever we wish. Recently our hidden camera and super-sensitive parabolic microphone caught Toronto and North York huntsman Antony Gaylard and his favorite hound Barter in an unguarded moment. Couldn’t you have given the judge just one little smile? […]
Letters to a Young Huntsman
Letters to a Young Huntsman, Andrew Barclay, Outskirts Press, Inc., Denver, 2012, 116 pages, $27.95I have long admired Andrew Barclay’s writing. As for his expertise, that was proven long ago in the hunting field.
Andrew got a good start to his career by whipping-in to legendary huntsman Les Grimes for seven years at the Green Spring Valley Hounds in Maryland. Upon Grimes’s retirement, the horn was passed to Andrew, and he carried it with distinction there for the next twenty years.
Around the time that Andrew was getting ready to retire as huntsman, MFHA Director Tony Leahy was formulating what is now known as the MFHA’s Professional Development Program—a structured training program for young aspiring huntsmen. One aspect of the program required that a knowledgeable mentor be available to work with each individual admitted into the program.