The Voice of Bugle Ann: An Excerpt
This 1935 foxhound classic, reprinted by
The Derrydale Press in 2001, is cloth bound,
128 pages, $18.95, in the Foxhunting Life Shop.Although we can’t hunt in the summer, we can read about hunting! Here’s an excerpt from a foxhunting classic, the first of two slim novels, the second of which, Daughter of Bugle Ann, we featured six months ago.
Her voice was something to dream about, on any night when she was running through the hills. The first moment she was old enough to boast an individual voice, Springfield Davis swore that she would be a great dog, and within another month he had give her the name she carried so proudly.
One of her great-grandfathers, many generations removed, had followed Spring Davis away from home when he went off to join General Claiborne Jackson and his homespun army among the prickly-orange hedges, so there was logic in the inheritance which put that trumpet in her throat.
New Countryside Alliance Film Attempts Calm Discourse on Hunting Debate
The Countryside Alliance (UK) has produced a new film that attempts discourse on the hunting debate in a calm and measured way. Titled Foxhunting: Cruel Sport or Natural Chase, the film takes the position that the hunting issue in England was not resolved by the Hunting Act as passed.
New Regs for Training Preserves in Virginia
Tighter regulations governing wildlife training preserves, also known as fox pens, were approved by the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries. Animal welfare groups urged that such facilities be closed, but sportsmen working with wildlife officials agreed on new rules to improve the safety of penned foxes. Among the new regulations: one hundred acres […]
Potomac Dapper Is Grand Champion at Bryn Mawr
Potomac huntsman Larry Pitts (standing) with Allen Forney and
Potomac Dapper 2011, Grand Champion Foxhound at Bryn
Mawr / Anne Davies photoAlthough a Potomac Crossbred foxhound—Potomac Dapper 2011—happened to be judged Grand Champion at the Bryn Mawr Hound Show on June 1, 2013, Potomac huntsman Larry Pitts wants you to understand that he doesn’t breed Crossbred hounds.
“We don’t breed Crossbred to Crossbred,” said Pitts, who maintains one of the few pure American packs in the country for the Potomac Hunt (MD). “We breed an American hound to an English hound or to a Penn-Marydel as an outcross. We keep just two or three puppies, and we breed to the best one.”
Pitts breeds successive generations of his selected Crossbreds back to American hounds until the litters can be registered in the American Stud Book. American hound breeders need to outcross in order to maintain hybrid vigor, because the gene pool of American hounds is small.
English Judge Deviates from Politically-Correct Line; Is Criticized
An English judge who questioned the “staggering” amount of money spent by the RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) to prosecute a case against the Heythrop Hunt was criticized by his superiors. Although Justice Secretary Chris Grayling ruled out disciplinary action against District Judge Tim Pattinson, he recommended that the judge […]
Lab Techs in the Show Ring?
| Jerry Miller, MFH |
 C. Martin Wood, III, MFH |
Diane Farrington, a non-foxhunter, has asked an interesting question that we think would stump most foxhunters. She writes, “I have been seeing lots of photos online from recent hound shows. What is the reason or significance of showing the hounds in white lab coats?”
We asked Messrs. Jerry Miller, MFH of the Iroquois Hounds (KY), and C. Martin Wood, III, MFH of the Live Oak Hounds (FL)—members of Foxhunting Life‘s Panel of Experts—for an explanation. Both men agree that the underlying purpose is simply to protect and keep the show staff’s clothing clean, but going back to the origins of the style leads us to an appreciation of practical solutions!
Leading Steeplechase Trainer Turns Huntsman
Eva Smithwick and Hey Doctor / Douglas Lees photo
Eva Smithwick captured the Leading Trainer title on the Virginia Point-to-Point circuit this year. It was her and husband Speedy Smithwick’s first year back in Virginia after seventeen years in Kentucky training on the flat tracks. As if being a top trainer doesn’t keep her sufficiently busy, she’s agreed to hunt hounds for Snickersville this season.
The Snickersville foxhounds hunt over Sunny Bank Farm in Middleburg, home of the late Dot Smithwick. Eva, having returned to Sunny Bank with Speedy to continue his mother’s training business, just couldn’t say no to MFH Greg Ryan.
“Greg is a persistent fellow,” said Eva. “Every time the dinner conversation turned to the question of who would hunt hounds this year, Greg would stare at me.”
A Dream Fulfilled
(l-r) Megan, Deb, and Marti
The inspiration for this trip happened quite by accident. While traveling with cousins in the southwestern part of England in May of 2012 , we happened to stop for a Sunday roast at the pub in the tiny hamlet of Highclere Castle, the home of the wonderful television series, Downton Abbey.
We had missed, by a day, a trail ride on the grounds of the castle. My cousin Marti and I have taken many riding trips and are always looking for a new adventure. We began to dream of a trip in England where we would ride in some of the places that we had read about all of our lives in English novels but had never seen. As we visited the Exmoor and the Dartmoor, the haunts of wild ponies and the characters of Daphne du Maurier, we became more excited. We did not, however, have any idea how to accomplish our vision.
A Dream Fulfilled
(l-r) Megan, Deb, and Marti
The inspiration for this trip happened quite by accident. While traveling with cousins in the southwestern part of England in May of 2012 , we happened to stop for a Sunday roast at the pub in the tiny hamlet of Highclere Castle, the home of the wonderful television series, Downton Abbey.
We had missed, by a day, a trail ride on the grounds of the castle. My cousin Marti and I have taken many riding trips and are always looking for a new adventure. We began to dream of a trip in England where we would ride in some of the places that we had read about all of our lives in English novels but had never seen. As we visited the Exmoor and the Dartmoor, the haunts of wild ponies and the characters of Daphne du Maurier, we became more excited. We did not, however, have any idea how to accomplish our vision.
Museum of Hounds and Hunting Celebrates the Warrenton Hunt
Lauren Giannini photo
The Museum of Hounds & Hunting NA opened its season with a reception for 200 members and guests Saturday evening, May 26, 2013 at Morven Park in Leesburg, Virginia. The Virginia Foxhound Show took place on the grounds the following day.
Visitors viewed new exhibits featuring art and artifacts of the Warrenton Hunt (VA), established in 1887 and celebrating its 125th anniversary. Warrenton’s three current Masters—Kim Nash, Celeste Vella and Rick Laimbeer—graciously sponsored the Member’s Reception.