Juan Tomás Hounds November Hunt Report
Adren Nance, MFH and Huntsman for Juan Tomás Hounds, was able to film some nice footage of his crossbred hounds hunting a line a few days before Thanksgiving.
Old Dominion Hounds Celebrate 100 Years
This year in celebration of their 100th anniversary, a wonderful documentary video called “Centennial Celebration: A Century of Sport with the Old Dominion Hounds” has been released.
Worst Timing for a Foxhunting Conviction in England
Ex-Cheshire huntsman John ‘Ollie’ Finnegan was found guilty of one count of hunting a wild mammal with dogs this September and was fined £468. The charge related to an incident that took place on a trail hunt on November 26, 2022, with the Cheshire Hunt. This marks the first time someone has been convicted of foxhunting in Cheshire (a county in northwest England).
Under the Blue Ridge Mountains
Glenmore Hunt’s Christine Brady took this beautiful image of staff on a run with the Blue Ridge Mountains watching over them. When Christine is not the hunt club’s photographer, she is a whipper-in.
New Threats to Riding to Hounds in the UK
Now that Scotland has successfully banned trail hunting, the Labour Party has promised to follow suit in England and Wales. The fallout from this promise, laid out in its “manifesto” released this summer, has already affected several hunt clubs that hunt on Ministry of Defence land despite there not being any new legislation enacted from the newly elected party. In response, the British Hound Sports Association held a National Trail Hunting Day this month to try to sway public opinion away from supporting a total ban.
Better Living Through Titanium Road Trip, Last of Seven Parts
In February 2024, I took a road trip to hunt my way across the US and back after finally being cleared to ride again after back surgery. I hunted to Pennsylvania before returning west to hunt my way home to Nevada.
Early Morning Glow with Piedmont Fox Hounds
Photographer Tiffany Dillion Keen went out with the Piedmont Fox Hounds at the beginning of this season.
Better Living Through Titanium Road Trip, Part Six
In February 2024, I decided to take a road trip to hunt my way across the US and back after finally being cleared to ride again after a massive back surgery. I hunted all the way to Pennsylvania before turning back west to hunt my way home to Nevada.
A Whipper-In Lays Down His Whip
Barclay Rives decided that at the end of this 2023-2024 season, he would retire from hunting with Keswick Hunt Club in Virginia. Rives has been whipping-in for 53 years with Keswick, and he is a prolific writer (his book called “See You at Second Horses” is a personal favorite). To meet Barclay is to experience the most gentle and charming smile. I was privileged to interview him at Keswick’s Closing Meet party this past March.
Fanciful Fibs and Other Sins
Photo by Karen MyerSome Foxhunting Life readers have already seen this opinion piece, published more than a year ago. While it attracted a number of comments for which I’m grateful, the message hasn’t, and of course never will reach everyone. So after having seen a new batch of newspaper articles from around the country, containing cringe-worthy quotes by foxhunters attending Opening Meets this season, I’m obliged to re-publish my argument. If it reaches another pair of eyes or ears and changes the mind attached, it will be worthwhile!
As Pogo once famously said, “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” I think of that bit of comic strip philosophy whenever I hear foxhunters attempt to con the public or distance themselves from the truth about our sport.