Sammy and Sapphire

Sammy and Sapphire at Bryn Mawr Hound Show.

A junior handler has an affinity with a champion.

BY MARTHA DRUM

IT’S NOT SURPRISING to find a hound with Midland Fox Hounds breeding at the top of the show placings. It’s also not surprising to find a Green Springs Valley youngster standing up her junior handler entry like a pro. In the case of Sapphire and seven-year-old Sammy Michel, the same hound does it all. When Green Spring Valley (MD) Sapphire ’18 was named Champion Crossbred Foxhound at the Bryn Mawr Hound Show in June, the honor capped off a remarkable series of wins. A week earlier, Coleman Perrin, ex-MFH, Deep Run Hunt (VA), chose the beautifully balanced bitch as Grand Champion at the Virginia Foxhound Show — shortly after he’d awarded her dam, Midland Shilo ’15, the Benjamin Hardaway Trophy for top performance trial hound.

Sapphire also won the packed junior handler classes at both competitions — and at the earlier Maryland Puppy Show as well — with her devoted young friend, Samantha Michel. The daughter of Bull Run Hunt’s (VA) new huntsman Tim Michel and his wife Jody, Sammy has had a special bond with Sapphire since her litter was whelped at Midland. Michel explained that the unusually close relationship between the hunting hound and Sammy began when he left Green Spring Valley to whipin at Midland for the 2016-17 season. “Midland Crusher ’13 was the sire and I was instantly keen on the puppies. Sapphire was what I guess you could call the runt of the litter — she required a bit more attention than the rest.” When Green Spring invited Michel to return to Maryland as first whipperin, Midland’s huntsman Ken George and Master Mason Lampton gave him Sapphire. “That’s where Sammy came into the picture,” Michel recalls. “I actually brought Sapphire into the house for a week before I departed Georgia, just to put a little extra weight on her, and Sammy took over from there! She spent every second of her spare time caring for Sapphire, who even snuck into Sammy’s bed a time or two.” Sammy added that she’s been helping her dad in kennels for years. Her favorite aspects of hunt staff life are “being a part of the hounds and watching puppies being born,” she says.

Back in Maryland, Green Spring Valley Huntsman Ashley Hubbard recognized Sapphire’s developing potential as a top hound show competitor — but he also knew she and Sammy would stand out in the junior handler classes. “As far as convincing Ashley to allow Sammy to show Sapphire, it was always an understanding that Sapphire was Sammy’s hound,” Michel said of Hubbard’s support. “We could walk the hounds out, and the second Sapphire would see Sammy, she would do whatever it took to go get a pat from her best friend!”

The junior classes at Maryland, Virginia, and Bryn Mawr are large, despite being split into older and younger age groups, and the lengthy stretch in the ring can test the patience of both hound and child. “The biggest challenge is getting the hound’s attention,” Sammy says. “It helps to pick a hound that has a good relationship with you. Sapphire is always paying attention, and she thinks showing is really fun.”

Spectators and past judges at both shows commented on Sapphire’s faultless, classical proportions. Like her dam Shilo, Sapphire is also a keen member of the pack. Michel observes, “Sapphire will be going into her second season and I expect her to stay on track and continue to mature into a great hunting bitch.” Her victory at Virginia, with her dam’s win in the performance trial hound class just moments earlier, underscored the versatile success of the Midland breeding program. While Sapphire will remain with Hubbard, Michel looks forward to Sammy joining the active group of juniors at Bull Run this fall. “I think having children involved with the hounds is very important. It gives them a chance to become familiar personally with hounds, which makes them feel more comfortable around a hunt. Let’s face it, they are the future of the sport.” Sammy concurs: “The advice I would give another child who was thinking about helping in the kennels is to spend as much time there as you can — it is a lot of fun!”

Sammy and Sapphire with the win at the Virginia Hound Show.