Heythrop Hunt
AI: A Boost to Foxhound Breeders
Julian Barnfield, MFH and huntsman, "at the end of a cracking Autumn hunting morning...the hounds had been amazing."Julian Barnfield, former huntsman of the Cotswold, Heythrop, and North Shropshire Foxhounds (UK), has retired from the field but plans to use his breeding experience to assist foxhound breeders worldwide. Barnfield has associated with a leading European equine reproduction company to form Elite Kennel Fertility. Barnfield is a director of Elite, as is Tullis Matson, whose multi-award winning Stallion AI Services Ltd is one of the leading equine reproduction services in Europe.
Barnfield and Matson were Joint-Masters at the North Shropshire. American foxhound breeders—whether hunting a Crossbred pack or simply seeking an outcross to revitalize close bloodlines, should benefit from the services, facilities, and knowhow of the new company.
Blue Ridge Rambler Is Grand Champion at Bryn Mawr
Grand Champion of Show Blue Ridge Rambler 2018 with (l-r) Graham Buston, huntsman; L. Stockton Illoway, MB, President, Bryn Mawr Hound Show Association; Judge Dr. G. Marvin Beeman, MFH; and Sheri Buston, whipper-in / Karen Kandra photo
Dr. G. Marvin Beeman, MFH, judging the Grand Champion of Show class at Bryn Mawr, awarded the trophy and ribbon to Blue Ridge Rambler 2018. Dr. Beeman is the senior Master and former huntsman of the Arapahoe Hunt (CO) and a past president of the MFHA. The Bryn Mawr Hound Show was held in Malvern, PA, on Saturday, June 1, 2019.
Green Spring Valley Sapphire 2018, judged Grand Champion at Virginia the previous week, was Reserve Grand Champion.
Rambler (Green Spring Valley Fanshaw 2014 ex Heythrop Rattle 2011) is a modern English dog hound bred by Blue Ridge huntsman Graham Buston. Irish-born, Buston grew up in the County Limerick hunting country, whipped-in, then carried the horn for both the Co. Waterford and the Co. Limerick Foxhounds. He moved to the U.S. in 2013 with his Canadian-born wife, Sheri, who whips-in to him.
Major Charles Kindersley and the Modern English Foxhound
Virtually every coop, bridge, landmark, or covert in the Belle Meade Hunt foxhunting country (GA) has a name, so that huntsman, mounted whippers-in, and road whips can accurately and concisely communicate where the action is by radio. What does this have to do with the late Major Kindersley, MFH of Ontario's Eglinton Caledon Hunt? Only that one of the coops very often in the middle of the hunting action is named “Major Kindersley’s Coop,” and virtually everyone who has hunted at Belle Meade is familiar with the name. Here's the Major's story.
In 1919, George Beardmore, MFH of the Toronto and North York Hunt (ON), bought the old World War I aerodrome land on Avenue Road and Eglinton Avenue for the purpose of setting up a riding establishment, including a drag pack. Most of the Toronto and North York members lived in Toronto and travelled the twenty-five miles to the kennels in Aurora only on weekends. These new facilities gave members the opportunity to ride during the week, hunt with the drag pack, and still keep up with their day’s work at the office. Over the years that pack became known as the Eglinton Hunt. Between the wars, the Eglinton Hunt also acquired land on Leslie Street north of Toronto.
Major Charles Kindersley and the Modern English Foxhound
Virtually every coop, bridge, landmark, or covert in the Belle Meade Hunt foxhunting country (GA) has a name, so that huntsman, mounted whippers-in, and road whips can accurately and concisely communicate the location and direction of hounds by radio for their safety. What does this have to do with the late Major Kindersley, MFH of Ontario's Eglinton and Caledon Hunt? Only that one of the coops very often in the middle of the hunting action at Belle Meade is named “Major Kindersley’s Coop,” and virtually everyone who has hunted at Belle Meade is familiar with the name. But what do many of today's younger foxhunters know of the man? Here's the Major's story.
Charles Kindersley was born in Dorset, England, in 1900, and grew up with the traditional family pony in the South Dorset hunting country. When World War I broke out, the nearby army camp had to give up its beagle pack. The hounds were rescued by the local vet who, after seeing Charles’ interest, let him hunt the pack. This bit of experience would turn out to be highly valuable to the future Eglinton Hunt in Ontario, Canada.
Old English Hounds Thriving at Irish National Hound Show
Pair of Old English hounds. County Louth hound (foreground) shown by huntsman Alan Reilly / Noel Mullins photo
The Irish National Hound Show at Stradbally Hall, County Laois, Ireland keeps growing in both entries and spectators. This year the weather also played a positive role as hound enthusiasts were often three deep along the ringside, and a large number lingered and socialised long after the show was over.
Competition was keen in the foxhound ring where judge Nigel Peel, a well-known hunting correspondent himself (and a member of Foxhunting Life’s Panel of Experts), commented that the Old English hounds were some of the finest he has judged either in Ireland or in the UK, and the Modern English Hounds had real quality as well.
The Old English (or Traditionally-Bred) hounds and the Modern English hounds are judged separately in their own classes, but the winners of those classes come up against each other in the final championship classes for dogs and bi*ches.* On occasion the Old English hounds being bred today will prevail.
RSPCA Intrusions Reach a New Low in England
Police Chiefs in the UK have called for an end to prosecutions of animal abuse cases by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA). Recently, some RSPCA employees with extreme views on animal rights have brought the once reputable organization to a new low. Employees of the society took the Byrnes Family cat without legal authority to do so. They put the cat down, prosecuted the family for animal abuse, but the evidence presented was insufficient to convince the court. The Byrnes Family won their case, but lost their cat. The children never had a chance to say goodbye to their pet. Foxhunting Life has reported on prosecutions of foxhunts brought by the RSPCA. The society brings to the courts eighty percent of all prosecutions under the Hunting Act, spends enormous amounts of donors’ monies to prosecute the cases, and loses seventy-eight percent of the prosecutions due to insufficient evidence. In 2013 the RSPCA was estimated to have spent at least a half million pounds of charitable funds on prosecutions against hunts. The charity was criticized by judges of the court after spending more than three hundred thousand pounds prosecuting the Heythrop hunt. Income from donations to the RSPCA have since cratered by seven million pounds in one year, prompting the charity to cut jobs and restructure. According to The Telegraph, the National Police Chiefs Council (NPCC) says: “For some considerable time the RSPCA have assumed the default role of prosecutor for offences under the Act and have done so outside of a statutory framework with no powers. “Their long standing good work and expertise in this area should of course be recognised but it ought to be right that the primary enforcer with responsibility for this area should be a single agency, preferably a statutory body funded by Government. “With this would come greater governance and accountability along with a right to review prosecution decisions in with all other criminal offences.” Simon Hart, a Tory member of the committee and former chief executive of the pro-hunting Countryside Alliance, is reported as saying, “There is increasing recognition that trying to be a political movement, tireless fund raiser and voracious prosecutor has resulted in a conflict that we would not accept in any other walk of life. “There are numerous examples of other countries and wild life charities that do good work, but who rely on the police and criminal justice system to implement the law. “If the RSPCA were to hand over its prosecuting role to the police and CPS it would begin to repair its tattered reputation.” The RSPCA continues to argue against the NPCC recommendations. Click for more. Posted April 30, 2016
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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 be given “informal advice” about expressing his “personal opinions” in court. As reported in Foxhunting Life last December, the Heythrop Hunt, its former Master, and its former huntsman all pleaded guilty to charges of unlawful hunting after the court was shown film taken by anti-hunt monitors during the 2011/2012 season. The hunt was fined £4,000, Barnsfield £1,000, and Sumner £1,800. The court also ordered the hunt to pay £15,000 towards the RSPCA’s legal costs. Considering that the RSPCA expended £330,000 to prosecute the case and that their funds are derived from public contributions, Judge Pattinson told the court he thought the charity’s resources might have been more “usefully employed.” Many believed the case to have been politically motivated to embarrass Prime Minister David Cameron who hunted with the Heythrop hunt before the ban. After the hearing, Tory MPs accused the RSPCA of using prosecutions for “political campaigns.” But the judge’s comments infuriated animal rights protesters. RSCPA chief executive Gavin Grant defended the hunt’s prosecution and suggested that foxhunters should be jailed for up to five years, a sentence equivalent to killing a person by driving dangerously. A spokeswoman for the judiciary said that, while the judge was entitled to make observations about the level of costs involved in the prosecution, comments about how RSPCA funds should or should not be used were personal and should not have been expressed. Click to read John Bingham’s complete article in The Telegraph. Posted June 12, 2013
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Heythrop Pleads Guilty to Unlawful Foxhunting; Judge Rounds on Plaintiff
The Heythrop Hunt, former huntsman Julian Barnfield, and ex-Master Richard Sumner all pleaded guilty to charges of unlawful hunting in Oxford Magistrates’ Court. The charges were brought by the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA). The guilty pleas were made after the court was shown film taken by anti-hunt monitors during the 2011/2012 season. The hunt was fined £4,000, Barnfield £1,000, and Sumner £1,800. The court also ordered the hunt to pay £15,000 towards the RSPCA’s legal costs. This is said to be the first case in which a hunt organization was found guilty and sentenced. After pronouncing the sentences, Judge Pattinson turned on the RSPCA exclaiming surprise at the “staggering figure”—£330,000—that the RSPCA spent to bring the case. It was ten times what the defense spent and begs the question: Can justice be served by the ability of a heavily-funded organization to overpower a defendant that cannot match the funding it would take to defend itself? Ian Anderson, ex-MFH of the Ashford Valley Foxhounds in Kent, England and a frequent contributor to Foxhunting Life said this: “The RSPCA clearly has very different agenda from its Royal statute and hopefully something will be done about this as it is now clearly in the political lobbying arena. “It is amazing that with all the attempts to bring convictions, the only ones that they can achieve are when they put their considerable funds raised for animal welfare against the very small resources of the hunting community. No hunt could possibly fight a case where the potential liability is between three and £400,000. Hence, they have no alternative but to plead guilty.” In the wake of Judge Pattinson’s comments in court, several politicians across party lines have called for the Charity Commission to investigate if the RSPCA has breached its obligations to its charitable donors. All the media reports of the case were quick to point out that current British Prime David Cameron had previously ridden with the Heythrop, leading Barnsfield and others to suggest that the prosecution was politically motivated to embarrass Mr. Cameron. Click for more details as published in The Telegraph and in the Cotswold Journal. Posted December 21, 2012
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Southern Hound Show
Grand Champion Live Oak Hannibal 2009 (Live Oak Hasty '06--Their Asset '03) / Jim Meads photoThe sixth annual Southern Hound Show, held on April 28, 2012 at Live Oak Plantation, Monticello, Florida was once again blessed with perfect weather. Ten packs from as far away as Tennessee and Palm Beach competed under the watchful eyes of Richard Sumner, MFH of the Heythrop Hunt in England and Dennis Foster, Executive Director of the MFHA. Robert Ferrer, MFH of the Caroline Hunt was apprentice judge.
English, American, Crossbred, and Penn-Marydels all show in one ring against each other. As there are two Crossbred rings at the Virginia Foxhound Show (based on number of hounds in kennel), this is the only occasion that Fox River Valley, Live Oak, Midland, and Mooreland go head to head in every class.
Huntsmen of Our Time
Excerpts from Huntsmen of Our Time by Kenneth Ligertwood, Pelham Books, London, 1968 (Out of print, but used copies are available on the Internet)
This book, containing a collection of articles first published in Horse and Hound (UK), was brought to my attention by Dennis Downing, huntsman at the Blue Ridge Hunt (VA). Each story—forty-five in all—profile an outstanding English huntsman of the author’s time. Here are short excepts from three of the stories to give you a flavor of this delightful book.
