Huntsman Dennis Downing Moves to Saxonburg
Karen Myers photo Huntsman Dennis Downing has moved from the Montreal Hunt (QC) to take up the horn at the Saxonburg Hunt (PA). That position became available when former Saxonburg huntsman Hugh Robards decided to make a move of his own. Downing has been at Montreal for just one season after having hunted hounds at […]
Introducing James Barclay, ex-MFH
A young James Barclay while Master of the Fitzwilliam Foxhounds (UK)Allow me to introduce James Barclay, a retired Master of Foxhounds in England and descendant of a distinguished foxhunting family. I am pleased and honored to announce that Foxhunting Life will be publishing James’s informative and thoughtful essays in future issues.
James’s family roots are with the Puckeridge Foxhounds, a hunt in Hertfordshire dating back to 1725. His sister has served as Master since 1987. Two brothers, his mother, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather also served as Masters of the Puckeridge, that dynasty starting in 1896.
James’s first day of hunting was with the Puckeridge back in the 1960s. He was astride a donkey, and, by tradition, he wore a small version of the family scarlet coat which each family member going back at least three generations had worn on their first hunt!
The Silver Horn
Colonel John Weatherford, MFH by Eleanor Iselin MasonGordon Grand is one of my favorite sporting authors, and his short story, “The Silver Horn,” is one of my favorite foxhunting stories. The reader is transported, in the early part of the twentieth century, to “that venerable hotel on Albemarle Street” in London, which we may readily assume is Brown’s Hotel. Colonel John Weatherford, MFH is relating Florence’s story as she told it to him upon their chance meeting in the hotel dining room after breakfast. I have extracted just the kernel of the story to reproduce here.
Returning from the theater and supper [Florence] had drifted off into a sound sleep, from which she was gently and fancifully awakened without sensing the cause. Her watch showed three o’clock. The roar and rumble of London had faded to its lowest murmur. A midsummer moon filtered through and illuminated the street below. What was it that had so illusively awakened the sleeper? Again she listened. The faint mellow note of a hunting horn drifted up from Piccadilly.
The Silver Horn
Colonel John Weatherford, MFH / Illustration by Eleanor Iselin MasonGordon Grand is one of my favorite sporting authors, and his short story, “The Silver Horn,” is one of my favorite foxhunting stories. The reader is transported, in the early part of the twentieth century, to “that venerable hotel on Albemarle Street” in London, which we may readily assume is Brown’s Hotel. Colonel John Weatherford, MFH is relating Florence’s story as she told it to him upon their chance meeting in the hotel dining room after breakfast. I have extracted just the kernel of the story to reproduce here.
Returning from the theater and supper [Florence] had drifted off into a sound sleep, from which she was gently and fancifully awakened without sensing the cause. Her watch showed three o’clock. The roar and rumble of London had faded to its lowest murmur. A midsummer moon filtered through and illuminated the street below. What was it that had so illusively awakened the sleeper? Again she listened. The faint mellow note of a hunting horn drifted up from Piccadilly.
The Silver Horn
Colonel John Weatherford, MFH / Illustration by Eleanor Iselin MasonThis week’s Bonus article, free to all, no subscription necessary. Gordon Grand is one of my favorite sporting authors, and his short story, “The Silver Horn,” is one of my favorite foxhunting stories. The reader is transported, in the early part of the twentieth century, to “that venerable hotel on Albemarle Street” in London, which we may readily assume is Brown’s Hotel. Colonel John Weatherford, MFH is relating Florence’s story as she told it to him upon their chance meeting in the hotel dining room after breakfast. I have extracted just the kernel of the story to reproduce here.
Returning from the theater and supper [Florence] had drifted off into a sound sleep, from which she was gently and fancifully awakened without sensing the cause. Her watch showed three o’clock. The roar and rumble of London had faded to its lowest murmur. A midsummer moon filtered through and illuminated the street below. What was it that had so illusively awakened the sleeper? Again she listened. The faint mellow note of a hunting horn drifted up from Piccadilly.
Vannah Husband, MFH (1956–2013)
Vannah Grisham Husband, MFH of the Mells Foxhounds, passed away on Friday, January 4, 2013 at the Huntsville Hospital in Alabama. Vannah grew up riding horses and had a life-long love of animals. She started her foxhunting career with the Mooreland Hunt (AL) at age eight and received her colors in 1972. Through the early […]
Gaining Confidence Outside the Comfort Zone with Chris Ryan
Chris Ryan sets exercises to benefit horses and riders of all levels. / Alys Emson photo
For the second consecutive year, Chris Ryan, MFH of the Scarteen Black and Tans in Ireland crossed the Atlantic to impart some of his knowledge and experience to participants in the Woodford Hounds Hunt Clinic held over the Labor Day weekend at the kennels in Harrodsburg, Kentucky. Chris has been Master of the Scarteen since 1987, and the hounds have been in the trusted care of the Ryan family for over 350 years.
The clinic was held for three days with divisions for the open horse and rider as well as for green horses and for hilltoppers over the three-day period. Overwhelmingly, the results were positive. Chris’s teaching style leaves one a more positive, confident rider. He pushes and pushes and gets results. He even had some of the participants jumping wire, after explaining that we must be prepared to jump what is encountered in the hunting field.
Adventures on the Road with Brazos Valley
The adventures of Sandy Dixon and Mystic, shown here at the Virginia Foxhound Show, were just beginning. / Lix Callar photoThe Brazos Valley Hunt is back home in Texas now, having returned from this year’s Virginia Foxhound Show. That may not sound like a great achievement, but traveling to hound shows has been one adventure after another over the years.
Returning from the Central States Hound Show in 1995, we drove into a tornado. The hound trailer was flipped over on Interstate 35 in Ardmore, Oklahoma, spilling sixteen hounds onto the highway. We had two kennels strapped down in the bed of the pickup, both of which were sucked out. I actually saw Melody, a pregnant bitch I had just picked up from Tommy Jackson, fall out of the sky and hit the ground running south down the median.
James L. Young, ex-MFH
Douglas Lees photoFoxhunting lost one of its most notable Masters of Foxhounds with the passing of James L. Young, age seventy, on Friday evening, May 25, 2012.
Urbane, articulate, literate, trim and handsome both on and off the horse, Jimmy Young did everything with a flair, whether leading his field, presiding over the Virginia Foxhound Club Show, writing or speaking on his favorite topic—foxhunting as a noble art form.
Byers and Peace: New Joint-Masters at Aiken
Larry Byers and Joey Peace are new Joint-Masters at Aiken. / Randy Wolcott photoThe venerable Aiken Hounds (SC)—a pack steeped in the history of North American sport—has appointed Larry Byers and Joann “Joey” Peace as Joint-Masters. Established in 1914, the Aiken Hounds hunt the drag through the Hitchcock Woods.