A View from the Driver’s Seat
Huntsman Andy Bozdan at his first TVH Opening MeetArriving to take up your post as huntsman three days before your first meet is probably not the traditional way to begin the season. However, after months of tussling with the U.S. Immigration Department I finally arrived at the Tennessee Valley Hunt on 13 September 2011.
Through September and October the hounds and I were finding our way. The meets were still very new to me, and the hounds were quite wayward in terms of running riot and biddability. We were walking out every day, and hounds slowly but surely began to respond to my voice and my horn.
Saxonburg Hunt Extends Its Season in South Carolina
Author Hugh Robards is huntsman of the Saxonburg Hounds (PA). / Alex Farnham photoThe foxhounds of the Saxonburg Hunt in Pennsylvania now have a winter kennel in South Carolina of which full advantage is taken from January 1 to the end of March each year. Since Mr. Floyd Wine, MFH invested in property close to the small town of Salley (population about 450 and home of the annual Chitlin Strut!), the harsh Pennsylvanian winters are no longer an obstacle to continued hunting.
As the country hunted is shared with the Edisto River Hounds it was decided this year to have a Hunt Festival Week. Each pack hunted on alternate days with tailgate parties, dinner parties, and a Hunt Ball thrown in for good measure.
Who Is This?
Or more to the point, who are these two giants of foxhunting? One is revered for his uncanny rapport with hounds; the other is remembered for his imaginative contributions to the world of horse sports and sporting scholarship.
This puzzle was posted on our Facebook page, and Carey Shefte was the first person to correctly identify both men and claim the prize. Foxhunting Life is sending Carey a CD of foxhunting songs collected by one of our mystery men. Read on for the answers!
Red Fox Is the Only Quarry at Keswick—By Choice!
Keswick huntsman Tony Gammell / Liz Callar photoHuntsman Tony Gammell at the Keswick Hunt (VA) has developed a pack of American foxhounds that hunts the red fox and only the red fox. No gray fox, coyote, deer, or any other woodland creature.
Why wouldn’t he want to hunt gray fox? I wondered. Yes, they run short and tight with more jinks and double-backs, but they make hounds work for every inch of sport. It can be fun to watch. And even assuming he has good reason for not hunting gray fox, how does he teach hounds to ignore the line? I collared him at the recent MFHA Staff Seminar and asked, and I got more hound wisdom than I bargained for.
How Tony Gammell Trained Hounds to Hunt Only the Red Fox
Huntsman Tony Gammell and the Keswick hounds in 2012 / Liz Callar photo
Foxhunting Life first published this story in 2012, when Tony Gammell was huntsman at the Keswick Hunt (VA). He’d trained the pack of American foxhounds to hunt the red fox and only the red fox. No gray fox, coyote, deer, or any other woodland creature. The article was well-received, and we decided it was worth bringing back.
Why wouldn’t he want to hunt gray fox? I wondered. Yes, they run short and tight with more jinks and double-backs, but they make hounds work for every inch of sport. It can be fun to watch. And even assuming he has good reason for not hunting gray fox, how does he teach hounds to ignore the line? I collared Tony at an MFHA Staff Seminar and asked, and I got more hound wisdom than I bargained for.
Tommy Lee Jones Honored
Liz Callar photoCongratulations to Tommy Lee Jones, the first recipient of the Ian Milne Huntsman’s Award, presented by the Masters of Foxhounds Association on Saturday, April 21, 2012 at the Biennial Staff Seminar dinner. Jones has hunted the foxhounds of the Casanova Hunt (VA) with distinction since 1970. The award is named for the late […]
Downing to Montreal: New Huntsman for the Oldest Hunt
Karen Myers photoDennis Downing will be the new huntsman for the Montreal Hunt (PQ) next season. Established in 1826, the Montreal Hunt is the oldest hunt in North America. Downing moves there after eleven seasons hunting hounds and showing fine sport at the Blue Ridge Hunt (VA). The British-born and -trained huntsman has been in […]
The Galway Blazers at Athenry
Joint-Master David McCarthy over one of what sporting artist Snaffles called “The Biggest Walls.” / Noel Mullins photoA meet of the Galway Blazers around the medieval walled town of Athenry, County Galway in the heart of the hunt country is not to be missed. Before traffic congested the town centre, meets were traditionally held at Higgins’ Bar. Masters and huntsmen would be served a stirrup cup by the proprietor Brendan Higgins who, with his sister Mary Josephine (my mother), hunted with the pack.
Billy Vance at Eighty and the Fermanagh Harriers
How many huntsmen are hunting hounds at eighty years of age? Or to add a twist to that question, how many huntsmen having achieved that age have already hunted hounds for the previous fifty seasons?
Billy Vance, Joint-Master and huntsman of the Fermanagh Harriers, has achieved this milestone. To see him hunting hounds is inspiring, humbling, and brings home just how lucky we all are to be able to follow great horsemen like him across the countryside.
The County Louth Foxhounds at Lisrenny Estate, Ireland
Mrs Sarah Angel, owner of the Louth Foxhounds, wishes new huntsman Alan Reilly well.The County Louth Foxhounds—founded in 1817 and one of the few packs of Old English breed of hounds in Ireland—have a new huntsman this season. Alan Reilly replaces Noel McKeever who sadly had to retire after nine seasons hunting hounds due to a recurring hunting injury.
The McKeever family has given exceptional service to this premier foxhound pack. Noel’s father Michael started working in the Louth kennels when he was fifteen years old. He whipped-in and hunted the hounds for a remarkable forty-four seasons.