Middleburg Hunt
Middleburg Hunt Point-to-Point
Maiden Flat: Bay B, Thomas Garner up, finishes strongly for the win. / Doug Gehlsen photo
Sunday, May 1, 2022, dawned cool and overcast at Glenwood Park, Middleburg, VA―a fine racing day as far as the horses were concerned. With sanctioned racing gearing up and attracting the more experienced performers, of the seven races carded at the Middleburg Hunt Point-to-Point, five were for Maidens and/or young riders.
Maiden Flat, the second race of the day, was a wire-to-wire win for Bay B, under jockey Thomas Garner. Trained by Niall Saville, Bay B took the lead and only widened it in the stretch to win by five lengths in the seven-horse field.
Bull Run/Blue Ridge Foxhound Performance Trial
Middleburg Brings a Lovable Veteran; Blue Ridge Shows Depth
Trial Huntsman Epp Wilson, MFH, Belle Meade, leading hounds, is ready to mount up and move off for the second day of the Bull Run/Blue Ridge Performance Trials. Directly behind is his guide through the country, Blue Ridge huntsman Graham Buston. Judge Grosvenor Merle-Smith, ex-MFH, is on foot. The faces visible behind Grosvenor are (l-r) Lindsay LeHew, her father, Jeff LeHew, MFH, Blue Ridge, Anne McIntosh, MFH, Blue Ridge, and whipper-in Ross Salter. / Joanne Maisano photo
The fourth Foxhound Performance Trial of the 2021/2022 season was hosted jointly by the Bull Run Hunt and the Blue Ridge Hunt in Virginia. Hounds hunted on Saturday, October 23, 2021, in the Bull Run hunting country of open farmland, fields, and woods, followed by dinner and first-day awards. On Sunday, October 24, hounds hunted in the Blue Ridge country by the western banks of the Shenandoah River through open flood plains, over scarcely negotiable cliffs above the river, through woods, and across open farmland.
Hounds from eight hunts competed: Blue Ridge Hunt, Bull Run Hunt, Deep Run Hunt (VA), Farmington Hunt (VA), Marlborough Hunt (MD), Middleburg Hunt (VA), Rappahannock Hunt (VA), and Thornton Hill Hounds (VA).
The Vixen’s Meet: A Fund Raiser for Our Times
Orange County Hounds Field Master John Coles, MFH, leads a field of 60 visiting foxhunting ladies on the Vixen's Meet . / Joanne Maisano photo
When the COVID pandemic and executive orders from the Governor of Virginia forced cancellation of Orange County Hounds’ primary annual fund raising event—the barn party held at Board President Jaqueline Mars’ legendary home—OCH Board leaders Jane Bishop and Emily Hannum put their heads together and scheduled instead a Vixen’s Meet. Given the strong showing October 15, 2020 at Stonehedge in The Plains, Virginia, the ladies like it.
Ladies from a dozen hunts turned out in support of Orange County: Belle Meade Hunt (GA), Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds (PA), Cloudline Hounds (TX), and De La Brooke Foxhounds (MD). From Virginia were ladies of the Blue Ridge Hunt, Casanova Hunt, Loudoun Fairfax Hunt, Middleburg Hunt, Piedmont Fox Hounds, Rappahannock Hunt, and Snickersville Hounds.
Liam Clancy: Foxhunter, Artist
“Elegance.” Maureen Conroy Britell out with the Piedmont Fox Hounds (VA). Acrylic paint on textured acrylic paper.
Irish artist Liam Clancy made a fast tour of the Virginia and Maryland hunting countries during the first week of March 2020—just before the world stopped in its tracks as the result of COVID. He got in some hunting, both mounted and on foot, and he gathered material for his work—painting commissions.
Liam works mostly in acrylic paint, which he likes for its versatility. “I can dash off something that looks like a watercolor, or build up a painting in layers as you would with oils,” he explains.
Albert Poe, Dead at 87
Albert Poe was huntsman of the Middleburg Hunt (VA) for 15 years before retiring from an illustrious career breeding and hunting old Virgnia Bywaters type foxhounds. / Douglas Lees photo
Albert Poe died on Saturday night, May 18, 2019. He was arguably the finest American-born professional breeder of foxhounds of our time. Along with his brother, Melvin, the pair have to be considered the two most storied American-born professional huntsmen that any foxhunter living today could have followed across the country.
Melvin might have been considered the more gregarious personality, but Albert, in his quiet way, was extremely articulate. He could put into words the hunting wisdom which developed perhaps instinctively.
New Exhibits at Museum of Hounds and Hunting: One Master’s Retirement Project
I’m looking forward to the new exhibits at the Museum of Hounds and Hunting. They’ll open the day before the Virginia Foxhound Show at Morven Park, Saturday afternoon, May 25, 2019 at 4:00 pm. In addition to the permanent exhibits, including the hallowed Huntsmen’s Room, visitors will see twelve ancient wooden toy horses lovingly restored by Meg Gardner, ex-MFH and Field Master of the Middleburg Hunt (VA). Meg retired as Master in 1994.
She was a superb horsewoman and adventurous Field Master. I followed her over a five-foot stone wall once—yes, someone measured it—and we weren’t even running at the time. In cold blood. Just something she decided to do for a lark. No panel. No rider. Just a solid stone wall. But as for artistic restoration of wooden rocking horses? Who knew?
The Sun Shines After Trial By Fire
C’mon, Gotta Walk a Few Hounds.. / Sheri Buston photoIt’s a week and a half since huntsman John Harrison was suddenly faced with, then miraculously dealt with what could have been a horrendous outcome of that day’s electric storm. A bolt of lightning struck the power meter at the Deep Run Hunt kennels and the building burned to the ground.
We’ve all heard how, with flaming shards falling from above, John was unable to reach hounds to free them from their pens. Needing another way in, he took a tractor to the perimeter and used the bucket loader to smash a way through, saving virtually all the foxhounds. The nightmare that ‘could have been’ was mercifully averted by John’s quick thinking and bold action.
The Find: How to Watch and Listen
In this excerpt from “Foxhunting: How to Watch and Listen,” the author reveals what goes through the huntsman’s mind as hounds find their fox and push it into the open. In Robards' celebrated book, the entire chase is chronicled from beginning to end, first from the standpoint of the huntsman, then from the viewpoints of the whipper-in, the Field Master, the hounds, and the fox.
Hugh Robards and the hounds of the Middleburg Hunt / Middleburg Photo
Try to position yourself so you can hear what the huntsman is doing. You may hear a hound whimper. The huntsman has not only heard, but he has seen Wagtail trying to take a line to the edge of the covert where some thick briars cover the boundary ditch. The pack also heard the whimper and, knowing it is Wagtail, a hound on whose opinion they can rely, have come in close to her and the huntsman. Now you might see the huntsman quietly edge his hounds toward the ditch. As you strain to hear what is going on, everything in the covert falls silent.
How the Huntsman Draws Covert
The author explains how a huntsman deploys hounds when drawing covert for a fox, and the considerations that dictate his tactics. Drawing is what the huntsman does when seeking a fox, not to be confused with casting for the fox when hounds are at fault.
Hugh Robards and the foxhounds of the Middleburg Hunt / by Middleburg Photo
On leaving the meet, you might want to keep close to the Field Master so you are in a good position to observe what is going on at the first draw. The whippers-in and other helpers have gone to various point of the covert to view the fox away. Notice on approaching the covert, not one hound leaves the huntsman until he tells them to leu in, at which time hounds enter the covert and begin searching for the scent of a fox. The huntsman wants all hounds in covert when a fox is found so they will all be there to apply pressure, push it out, and be together on the line when it goes away.
If it is a large covert, the huntsman will draw it into the wind, thereby giving the pack every opportunity to wind and rouse their fox. He will also ride into the covert, cheering and encouraging his hounds: “Lieu try, try in there, leu wind ’im, push ’im up old dogs.” That may be what it looks like in print, but most huntsmen make guttural noises that few people can understand!
Mo Baptiste and Fifty Grand Win Virginia 2017 Field Hunter Championship
Moe Baptiste and Fifty Grand representing the Piedmont Fox Hounds negotiate a seven-board coop during the individual test on their way to winning the Virginia Fied Hunter Championship. / Catherine Summers photo
Mo Baptiste’s handsome bay Thoroughbred, Fifty Grand, has played the role of bridesmaid for years. He was Reserve Champion to Virginia Field Hunter Champions in 2012 and again in 2015. This year he was, finally, the bride. And the Champion.
Reserve Champion honors go to Marilyn Ware, Deep Run Hunt. The annual Virginia Field Hunter Championship is noted for the quality of the competing horses. The Masters of every Virginia hunt receive an annual invitation to nominate up to two horse and rider combinations which have been hunting regularly with that hunt. Chosen by the Masters, twenty-one riders from eleven hunts competed. They were:
