Boxing Day Foxhunting Meets Draw Big Crowds in UK
While Boxing Day—the day after Christmas—passes largely unnoticed in the U.S., it traditionally draws large number of riders and spectators at foxhunting meets in England. According to The Daily Mail, a quarter of a million hunt supporters turned out for meets all across the country. Now a bank holiday in England, Boxing Day is thought […]
The Mardale Hunt: Chapter 4
The Windermere Harriers at the Mardale Shepherds Meet, 1899 Here’s Chapter 4 of The Mardale Hunt by Ron Black. Through the courtesy of the author, Foxhunting Life is bringing you the entire book in installments every two weeks. You are free to download the book to your computer. We hope you have enjoyed the previous […]
Morven Park: Hound Show In; Steeplechase Out
Morven Park and its lovely grounds in Leesburg, Virginia are familiar to many foxhunters. The former estate of the late Governor Westmoreland Davis has been home for many years to the Virginia Foxhound Show, meets of the Loudoun West Hunt, and the Morven Park Steeplechases. The mansion has recently been refurbished—a major project taking several […]
Opening Day with the Quorn
Quorn Opening Meet, October 21, 2011 / Nico Morgan photo
The famous Quorn Hunt, founded in 1696, is arguably the oldest hunt in England. It takes its name from the Leicestershire village of Quorn where hounds were kenneled from 1753 until 1904. Hugo Meynell, known as the Father of Foxhunting, served as Master from that date until 1800.
Meynell is credited with organizing foxhunting as we know it today. In his day, the Leicestershire country was open grassland. Meynell devised the system of planting small coverts within the pastureland in which foxes could lie.
Irish Horses and Hounds Cement Friendships in Central Europe
If you look closely at this photo, you will see Field Master Vaclav Vydra (top hat) hunting his horse in a neckstrap only—no bridle, bit, or reins. / Noel Mullins photo
Most visitors to the Czech Republic rarely travel further than the city of Prague. But the beautiful countryside and its tiny villages offer another side to the country and remind one of a bygone era.
An opportunity to hunt with Prince Johannes Lobkowicz, a member of one of Bohemia’s noble families, on his magnificent estate in the village of Drahenice south of Prague was not to be missed. The Prince hosts up to four meets per year, and hunt followers came by invitation from Germany, Hungary, Austria, Canada, Poland, America, and Ireland.
A Rum One to Follow, A Bad One to Beat
George Whyte-Melville as caricatured in Vanity Fair, 1871You may have noticed that White-Melville and Ogilvie are my favorite poets. These two establish a cadence in their meter that transports me to the field atop a horse, rhythmically pumping his hindquarters and stretching his neck beneath me.
I was pleased to learn from the Dictionary of National Biography, edited by Sirs Stephen and Lee, that Whyte-Melville, being a gentleman of means, “devoted all the earnings of his pen…to philanthropic and charitable objects, especially to the provision of reading rooms and other recreation for grooms and stable boys in hunting quarters.”
This poem has long been a favorite of mine. Whyte-Melville, having been a major in the cavalry and having devoted his life to foxhunting, was an able horseman, I’m certain. Yet though he was thrown out this day, he expresses his admiration for the rider who left him in the dust.
Look, No Leashes! Goshen Hounds on Parade
Foot staff (l-r) are Tom Pardoe, MFH; honorary whippers-in Ande Kinder, Liz Lavine (front), MacKenzie Taylor (behind), and Dr. Frank Becker; and Robert Taylor, MFH and huntsman. / Frankie Pardoe photoPerhaps nothing is more important to the perpetuation of foxhunting than public relations. Consequently, when a prominent member of the local agriculture community contacted the Goshen Hounds and invited them to participate in the “First Annual Lisbon Ole Fashion Horse Parade,” the response was immediate. “Count us in!”
The Mardale Hunt: Chapter 3
Ullswater huntsman Joe BowmanHere’s Chapter 3 of The Mardale Hunt by Ron Black. Through the courtesy of the author, Foxhunting Life is bringing you the entire book in installments every two weeks. You are free to download the book to your computer. We hope you enjoyed the previous installments. Excerpt from Chapter 3:As I was […]
The Woodford Hounds and the Shaker Community: A Special Relationship
Anne Eberhardt Keogh photo
The Woodford Hounds (KY) held their Opening Meet on Saturday, November 26, 2011. The Blessing of Hounds was performed at Shaker Village in front of the Center Family Dwelling on Main Street.
The Woodford and Shaker Village enjoy a symbiotic relationship. The hunt kennels and club property share part of Shaker Village’s northwestern boundary. Shaker Village very graciously allows us to hunt their more-than 3,000 acres. In turn we keep paths mowed throughout a section of Shaker Village known as Little Texas. We also refer to, promote, and encourage use of Shaker Village’s lodging, dining, and stabling to our out-of-town visitors and others. We are a public-relations resource for them.
Foxhunter Mary Motion Caught the Racing Bug on Her Pony
Mary Motion at sixteen is one of only four riders of that age in the country to have earned a steeplechase amateur jockey’s license. Riding against some of the best and experienced jockeys last fall on Pennsylvania Hunt Cup Day, she placed third. It was only a few years ago that Motion was tearing up […]