HOUND HOMING INSTINCT • CONSERVATION FOCUS • STAFF HORSE OF THE YEAR
THE MAGAZINE OF MOUNTED FOXHUNTING
SPRING 2014 • $5.00
s J o h n C o l e s 2 0 14 s spriNg hiLL
cANTerbury
Comprised of 4 farms this magnificent 2426 acre horse property consist of 3 Main homes, 11 tenant houses, 8 horse barns with 174 stalls including a 32 stall foaling barn, 72 gently rolling fields & paddocks with miles of white board fencing, interior private roads, 11 Run-in Sheds, beautiful lake and bold stream. $18,940,000
Exquisite details throughout this incredible 12 bedroom Georgian Revival manor home built in 1936. Situated on over 191 acres. This lovely home boasts a Reception Hall and a white Carrara marble Flying Staircase accessing 3 levels. Over 1/2 mile of Rappahannock River frontage, spectacular views, $9,750,000 springs, ponds and rolling pasture
Custom Built English style stone and stucco 3-Story Residence s4 Bedrooms, Large Master, In-law suite with separate entrance sSlate Roof, Game Room, Theatre, Study, Custom Kitchen, 4 Stone Fireplaces sExtensive Horse Facilities s18 Stall Barn s2 Stall Barn s14 Paddocks sLarge Ring. $6,500,000
LoNgwooD
meADowgrove
AshLeigh
Magnificent 32 stall, 12,000 sq. ft. Foaling Barn, built in 2001, has witnessed the birth of many stakes winners and was recognized as having one of the world’s finest thoroughbred breeding and racing programs. A stand alone farm of 588 acres or with the adjacent 607 acres of the Melrose Farm land. Meticulously maintained. $4,800,000
Extraordinary estate on over 180 acres sIdeal for horses s 7 Bedrooms sNew Gourmet State of the Art Kitchen & Baths s gorgeous full wall windows, overlooking 10 acre lake s10 stall stable sPaddocks with run-in sheds sPool and poolhouse with fireplace, spa and new tennis courts. $3,900,000
c.1845 listed on National Register of Historic Places. Surrounded by beautiful gardens on 98 acres sGrand entrance s Pool with 2 Bedroom Pool Houses 2 Bedroom Guest Cottage s 10 stall, 4 stall, and 3 stall barn with appropriate tack rooms, several run in sheds and a large machine shed. Attached to the10 stall barn are two separate living quarters for farm managers.Magnificent views $2,900,000
whiTe rock
mArLeA
Overlooking a serene pond, this magnificent European style manor home is on 115 acres surrounded by thousands of protected acres and the Bull Run Mountains. Custom built in 2001 using Olde World craftsmanship and materials this stunning home offers five bedrooms, 6 baths, 10’ ceilings, wide plank flooring, pool and geothermal heating and cooling. $2,750,000
90 acres w/approx. 45 fenced acres and 45 acres in woods with trails. 3 bedroom manor home, Indoor and Outdoor Arenas ,2 barns open into the indoor arena, Main barn has 20 stalls, Show Barn- 5 oversized stalls, 3 tack rooms, office, 2 wash stalls, 2 bathrooms, laundry room, 14 paddocks. Manager’s cottage. 2 add’l DUR’s and is in land use. $1,900,000
houND hALL
fox vALLey
Historic circa 1845 home on 32 acres in Orange County Hunt s1st floor Master sDen sDramatic Grand Salon sEnglish Kitchen slarge Dining Rooms Billiard Room sSmall 2nd Kitchen/Bar leads to Patio, Pool & charming Guest Cottage s7 Stall barn adjoins 3 bedroom, 2 bath Managers house. $1,650,000
LAND
TAkAro fArm
iNgLesiDe
LOGANS MILL - Extraordinary, private estate area on 179+ acres with frontage on Little River, Open Space Easement, rolling fields with mature hardwood forest, Orange County Hunt Territory, great ride out, very private, less than 10 minutes from Middleburg, views in all directions. $3,500,000
Expanded through the years, Takaro has wonderful entertaining areas both inside and out, many overlooking the pool. 2 separate suites are wonderful for guests or home office. A dramatic main level apt. is attached to the handsome 7 stall barn. This 14.73 acre property offers a carriage barn, air conditioned dog house, paddocks and pond. $1,550,000
POTTS MILL - on 137+ acres with frontage on Little River, Open Space Easement, rolling fields with mature hardwood forest, Orange County Hunt Territory, great ride out, very private, within 5 miles of the village of Middleburg, views in all directions. $2,800,000
The 83.55 Acre estate offers a stately Victorian Manor Home of approx. 3800 sq. ft., sited beautifully to offer privacy and views. Comprised of two parcels in VOF Easement, each parcel is allowed 1 dwelling with dependencies and farm improvements.This property is a part of the adjacent 865 Acres of Spring Hill Farm. $1,335,000
Offers subject to errors, omissions, change of price or withdrawal without notice. Information contained herein is deemed reliable, but is not so warranted nor is it otherwise guaranteed.
(540) 270-0094 THOMAS AND TALBOT REAL ESTATE (540) 687-6500
Middleburg, Virginia 20118
www.Thomas-Talbot.com
Page 26
The kennels at a hound show are a buzz of activity.
spring 2014 • Volume 5, Number 4
Features 18
Checked Baggage by Christopher Oakford Making friends at Heathrow, and other adventures of English hounds crossing the pond.
26
Hound Show Houdinis
By Susan Hoffman Karen L. Myers
It takes a village—military-level organizational skills—to run a successful hound show.
In Each Issue: From the President p.2 From the Publisher p.4 MFHA News p.6 Milestones p.10 Last Run of the Day p.48
14
The Fixture The Hunting Habitat Conservation Award winners conserve land for future generations of foxhunters.
32
Five Questions for Tessa Jackson A hound show judge tells all.
34
Young Entry A special program in Texas introduces young people to foxhunting.
36
Hounds & Horses Homing Instincts: Hounds who made their way home. Brave Hearts: Profiles of the OTTB Staff Horse and Field Horse of the Year
43
Ask the Huntsman Coyote conundrums solved.
44
Library A short history of foxhunting.
46
Fare & flask
On our cover: Walking out Golden’s Bridge Hounds, following Huntsman Ciaran Murphy through a gap between fields, in North Salem, NY. Photo by Teresa Colley
spring 2014 | 1
from the president
Serving the Members
I
2 | Covertside
MASTERS OF FOXHOUNDS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA www.mfha.com
OFFICERS Dr. John R. van Nagell, MFH • President Patrick A. Leahy, MFH • First Vice-President Leslie Crosby, MFH •Second Vice-President Vacant • Secretary-Treasurer Lt. Col. Dennis J. Foster, ex-MFH • Executive Director
MFHA FOUNDATION Dr. John R. van Nagell, MFH • Chairman PO Box 363, Millwood, VA 22646 (540) 955-5680 dave traxler
would like to thank you for the honor of serving as president of the MFHA. It is a responsibility that I take very seriously. Foxhunting is a magnificent sport that deserves our effort and commitment to ensure that it continues at the highest level for present and future generations. In my view, the MFHA exists for its member hunts, and each hunt should know that the association is here to help when the need arises. We want to make sure that there is open communication between individual hunts and the association so that the MFHA becomes aware of important issues as they arise and can respond in a thoughtful manner. Also, it is increasingly important that we tell the story of foxhunting as it truly is — based on the highest ideals of sportsmanship and animal welfare — and not the way others outside the sport would like to define it. There are several outstanding MFHA programs that are worth emphasizing. The MFHA Subscribing Member program is extremely important to our sport. We need everyone involved in hunting to be a MFHA Subscribing Member and to encourage others interested in our sport to join as well. All Subscribing Members receive Covertside and are invited to the MFHA Hunt Staff Seminars and other educational events. Funds generated from this program are used to protect and preserve our sport. The Professional Development program, under the leadership of Tony Leahy, Andrew Barclay, and Dennis Foster, is a year-long program which provides hunt staff with an updated hunting curriculum as well as training in the field with some of the most acclaimed packs in the country. In the future, we plan to provide even more support for this program, and we hope you will encourage members of your hunt staff to apply. One of the major responsibilities of every Master is the preservation and enhancement of hunt country. The MFHA Hunting Habitat Conservation Award and the District Conservation Awards remind us of the importance of land conservation to our sport.
We hope you all will help us identify outstanding individuals and hunts who have dedicated themselves to land and habitat conservation so that we can nominate them for these awards. Finally, the MFHA is committed to introducing young riders to the sport of foxhunting. We continue to work closely with the U.S. Pony Club to encourage their members to participate in foxhunts through the Live Oak Hounds Foxhunting Challenge, hunt events at the National Pony Club Festival, and other programs. Also, a new MFHA Award, the Fairly Hunted Award rewards young riders who have hunted at least five times with a registered hunt. Please encourage children riding in your hunt to apply for this award. I hope you will take every opportunity to enjoy our sport and bring others out with you. There is nothing better than following a great pack of hounds over beautiful hunt country on a horse you love. We are truly living the dream.
Dr. Jack van Nagell President, MFHA
HUNT STAFF BENEFIT FOUNDATION Nancy Stahl, MFH • Chairman PO Box 363, Millwood, VA 22646 (540) 955-5680
COVERTSIDE EDITORIAL BOARD Emily Esterson • Editor-in-Chief Dennis J. Foster • ex-MFH Dr. John R. van Nagell• MFH
DIRECTORS Canada • Laurel Byrne, MFH Carolinas • Linda Knox McLean, MFH Central • Joseph C. Kent, MFH Great Plains • Dr. Luke Matranga, MFH Maryland-Delaware • Sheila Brown, MFH Midsouth • Orrin Ingram, MFH Midwest •Keith Gray, MFH New England • Dr. Terence Hook, MFH New York-New Jersey • Marion Thorne, MFH Northern Virginia-West Virginia • A.A. Zimmerman, MFH Pacific • Paul McEnroe, MFH Pennsylvania • Russell B. Jones, Jr., MFH Rocky Mountain • Mary Ewing, MFH Southern •Mercer Fearington, MFH Virginia • Bob Ferrer, MFH Western • John P. Dorrier Jr., MFH At Large • Mason H. Lampton, MFH At Large • Dr. G. Marvin Beeman, MFH At Large •Ed Kelly, MFH
COVERTSIDE (ISSN 1547-4216) is published quarterly (February, June, August and November) by the Masters of Foxhounds Association 675 Lime Marl Lane, Berryville, VA 22611. Periodical Postage Paid at Winchester, VA 22601 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to MFHA, PO Box 363, Millwood, VA 22646. COVERTSIDE READERS: Direct all correspondence to the same address. Tel: (540)955-5680. Website: www.mfha.com
Living In Virginia’s Hunt Country
WOODLYNNE FARM: 110 Acre Orange County horse farm with an architecturally distinguished, renovated and expanded c. 1870 home. The home features large open country kitchen with custom cabinets, salt water gunnite pool, 8 stall barn. Multiple board fenced paddocks, riding ring, large hay barn with large 800 +/- Ft2 office. Completely private. Less than ½ hour from Bull Run, Casanova Hunts. $2,200,000
LOCUST HILL: "Locust Hill" c.1826 is a 3 bay Flemish bond brick house. Offers a gracious Federal style coupled with elegant, light filled Greek Revival interiors. Tucked more than three-quarters of a mile from the road on 323 acres of improved pastureland studded with small woodlots. Spectacular Blue Ridge views. Less than 15 minutes from the VA Horse Center and the Rockbridge Hunt. $2,375,000
DUNN HILL FARM: Beautifully restored historic c. 1860 house on 139 acres of rolling improved pastureland, with large beautiful guest house constructed from reclaimed materials. The property contains a large spring fed pond and pool. 3 bedrooms and 2 baths in the main house and 3 bedrooms, 2 baths and a full kitchen in the guest house. May be purchased with less acreage. $895,000
LE BERCEAU: Exceptionally private 22 acre property almost completely encircled by a 30-foot-wide stream. The 2,802 Ft2 custom built French Country style home features expanses of white marble flooring, 18th century Portuguese kitchen tiles, and library with custom bookcases. Post and beam barn offers unlimited possibilities 2 full baths, an office and loft bedroom. In the Bull Run Hunt $675,000
DOGWOOD RIDGE: Stately 4 bedroom 4 bath brick home with high ceilings and spectacular Blue Ridge views. Formal dining room and a gourmet kitchen. Custom built wine cellar, attached in-law apartment with separate entrance. Large patio with brick grill and large in-ground pool make this the prefect house for entertaining. Exceptionally private 5 acre lot. Convenient to Keswick, Bull Run and Rappahannock Hunts $699,900
MONTPELISO: This elegant 1,592 Ft2 historic townhouse in the town of Orange comprises the 1859 addition to the historic Montpeliso Mansion, c. 1819. High ceilings, period detail, working fireplace, and large windows. Located less than 4 blocks from shops and restaurants; and within minutes of many Keswick fixtures. Within ½ hour of Bull Run, and Rappahannock fixtures. $169,900
Contact Don Skelly at (540)406-1370 dskelly@farmandestate.net
PIEDMONT OFFICE 132A East Main Street, Orange, VA 22960 (540) 672-3903 Fax: (540) 672-3906 www.farmandestate.net
FROM THE PUBLISHER
SPRING 2014 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/PUBLISHER EMILY ESTERSON publisher@covertside.net 505-553-2671 ART DIRECTOR GLENNA STOCKS production@covertside.net
Lifelong Learning
EDITORIAL MANAGING EDITOR KATY CARTER katy@covertside.net
O
4 | COVERTSIDE
CONTRIBUTING
WRITERS
JOANN DELANEY
ne thing about foxhunters (in case you haven’t noticed): They love to learn. Whether it’s heated discussions on Facebook, reading old and new books on the sport, attending workshops and educational events, or listening to staff recount the day’s adventures, we’re always wanting more knowledge and understanding. That’s part of Covertside’s mission. This issue, we’re launching a couple of new columns to help our readers better understand some of the technical aspects of foxhunting. We will be asking a huntsman or a whipper-in a question or two each issue (“Ask the Huntsman”); we’ll be picking the brains of experts, like Tessa Jackson, hound show judge extraordinaire (“Five Questions for…”) and we’ll be using our “Hounds and Horses” section to dig indepth into hound work and horse training. We’ll also be focusing one section of the magazine on conservation. Each issue we’ll be running a story about youth involvement (“Young Entry”). The idea is to help you find ways to bring more young people into the sport of foxhunting. And, we’ll also be reporting on the activities and people of the clubs themselves. Our “Milestones” column is for you—announce those hunt club weddings, staff babies, events and happenings around your club.
Speaking of education, the Staff Seminar is coming back to Lexington, Kentucky, April 12 and 13. MFHA has some great speakers and topics lined up, including attracting youth to hunting, preparing your horse for the rigors of foxhunting, and learning to read a pack of hounds. The ever-popular Stanley Gehrt, renowned researcher on coyotes, will update the audience on his most recent findings. There will be farm tours and a vendor expo for all your foxhunting shopping needs. For details, see the ad on page 7. As always, we welcome your feedback, submissions and photographs. Covertside thrives when it includes the many voices of foxhunting. Kick on!
Emily Esterson Editor-in-Chief/Publisher
GLENYE CAIN OAKFORD CHRISTOPHER OAKFORD SUSAN HOFFMAN
ADVERTISING AND MARKETING SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE/ SOUTH CHERYL MICROUTSICOS sales@covertside.net 434-664-7057 PENNSYLVANIA/MID-ATLANTIC KATHY DRESS kdress@ptd.net NORTHEAST Spencer Moore spencer@covertside.net EVENTS Hope Lynne Graves events@covertside.net Covertside is the official publication of the Masters of Foxhounds Association Published by E-Squared Editorial Services LLC 2329 Lakeview Rd. SW Albuquerque, NM 87105 Telephone: 505-553-2671 Web Address: www.ecovertside.net www.mfha.com
Platinum Sponsors
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MFHA news Dr. Terence Hook, MFH, became New England District Director; Yolanda Knowlton, MFH, will organize the annual Masters’ Ball.
in that position. Mercer Fearington, MFH, of Live Oak Hounds comes on the board for the first time as Southern District Director and MFHA Legal Counsel; and
group dedicated to sustainable
Dr. Terence Hook, MFH, of Green
land development and growth.
Mountain Hounds steps in as New
Also elected to the board are:
MFH, of Golden’s Bridge Hounds,
Hunt, who held the Southern
retires his presidency to become a
District Director post several years
Director-at-Large.
ago and returns to the board 4
New President, Board members for MFHA
England District Director. Ed Kelly,
Leslie Crosby, MFH, Mooreland
The following Masters were ac-
as Second Vice President; Or-
cepted into the membership: Da-
rin Ingram, MFH, of Hillsboro
vid Carter, Moore County Hounds;
At its January Annual Meeting, the
on the executive committee of the
Hounds, has served on the MFHA
Marion Castleton and Greg McE-
Masters of Foxhounds Association
MFHA for the past six years.
Foundation board and now joins
wan, Beaver Meadow Foxhounds;
elected several new board mem-
the MFHA as Mid-South District
Anne Moran, Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire
University of Kentucky Medical
Director, replacing Dinwiddie
Foxhounds; Susan Sanders, Caro-
Dr. Jack van Nagell, MFH, of
Center, where he is a professor of
Lampton whose term has expired.
line Hunt; Justin Sautter, Woodford
the Iroquois Hunt of Lexington,
gynecologic oncology and a sur-
Mary Ewing, MFH, of the Arapa-
Hounds, and Elise DuPont Stearns,
Kentucky, was elected by the
geon. Dr. van Nagell is also deeply
hoe Hunt, replaces Paul Delaney,
of River Hills Foxhounds.
unanimous vote of the member-
involved with local conservation
MFH, of Grand Canyon Hounds, as
ship on January 24, 2014. Dr.
issues, and serves on the board
Rocky Mountain District Director.
4 The annual Masters’
van Nagell has been a Master of
of the Fayette Alliance (daugh-
Delaney has joined the Founda-
Ball, traditionally held at The
Iroquois since 1997, and has been
ter Knox is executive director), a
tion board, replacing Orrin Ingram
Pierre Hotel in New York City, has
bers and a new president.
6 | Covertside
Dr. van Nagell works at the
IT ONLY HAPPENS EVERY TWO YEARS.
DON’T MISS IT!
STAFF SEMINAR and Biennial Foxhunting Expo 2014
April 12th and 13th Griffin Gate Marriott, Lexington, KY EDUCATION FOR ALL, PRODUCT EXPOS, TOURS
Take advantage of these additional free events... GAINESWAY FARM TOUR When: April 12, 2014 at 9am (must use own transportation)
IROQUOIS KENNEL TOUR When: April 12, 2014 at 9am (transporation provided, bus will leave hotel at 8:15am)
SILENT AUCTION MASTER’S SEMINAR When: April 12, 2014 at 1pm Cost: $75/pp (must be a Master or invited by a master to attend) Details: Topics will include Fundraising, Marketing & PR in the Viral Age, Professional Development Program, Hound Nutrition, Tracking Hounds and other hunt uses of GPS, and Masters Duties. You won’t want to miss this event! SEMINAR DINNER When: April 12, 2014 at 6:30pm Cost: $280/pp for Seminar and Dinner package ($100/pp Dinner Only) Details: The festivities continue with cocktails and dinner. During the dinner, the recipient of the Ian Milne Award will be announced. BIENNIAL STAFF SEMINAR When: April 13, 2014 at 9am Cost: $280/pp for Seminar and Dinner package ($200/pp Seminar only) Includes a light continental breakfast and buffet lunch. Details: Topics will include Tips for Riding Across Country, Children - how do we get them involved, The Field Master, Reading and Enjoying a Pack of Hounds, and the Coyote. Dr. Gehrt will update us with results of his new research.
Hunts from all over the US and Canada have donated amazing hunt experiences to be auctioned off at the Seminar. A great way to experience hunting in unique and exceptional areas throughout America!
FOXHUNTING EXPO Details: The MFHA and Covertside will be offering a foxhunting-specific trade show in the lobby outside the seminar. Artists, hunt appointments and other vendors with a strong connection to foxhunting will be on hand for your shopping pleasure. Featuring: •Point Two Air Vests •Charles Owen Helmets •Lubrisyn •Designs by Loreice •Foxhunting Life •Foxmask by Christian Hettinger •Jane Heart Jewelry •AND MORE!
SIGN UP NOW: mfha.org/shop-seminar.html Must be a Subscribing Member to attend. Professionals, don’t forget to use your discount code to receive 20% off your registration. If you don’t have your discount code, please contact the MFHA office.
MFHA news
thrived due to the stewardship
4 At the Annual Meeting,
graduated 37 professionals. Of
4 The MFHA initiated a new
and organizational skills of Suzy
U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance CEO,
those, 17 were huntsman, 14 were
Master seminar that will be held
Reingold. After 11 years running
Nick Pinizzotto gave a presenta-
whippers-in and one had his own
each January in conjunction with
the ball and negotiating rates with
tion about the mission and goals
unrecognized pack. The Profes-
the new Master luncheon. This
vendors and the hotel, Reingold
of the USSA. Pinizzotto took over
sional Development Program
continuing education initiative
has passed the reins to Yolanda
as CEO and president in July of
continues to evolve, with new
helps educate Masters in their
Knowlton, MFH, Golden’s Bridge
2013. His presentation covered
“consulting” programs added and
new role. Results from the recent
Hounds. The ball will remain at
how USSA attracts participants
a change in structure forthcom-
Master survey will help deter-
The Pierre in 2015.
to sporting pursuits, its lobbying
ing. For more information about
mine future curriculum. Past
strategy, and its considerable and
the program, contact Andrew
president, Marty Wood, led the
impressive youth programs. The
Barclay at andrew@mfha.com.
inaugural class of 14 new mas-
MFHA and MFHA Foundation
President Ed Kelly presents Suzy Reingold with a token of gratitude for her service to MFHA.
4 The MFHA Foundation is
on several legislative fights. USSA
offering youth scholarship to the
and very successful.
aims to protect and advance the
Biennial Staff Seminar, April 12th
4 The National Horn Blow-
rights of American hunters, anglers
and 13th. Young foxhunters under
and trappers. The organizations do
the age of 18 who have hunted
ing Championship will take place this year at the Virginia
this in the courts, state legisla-
at least six times each season for
Hound Show instead of the
tures, at the ballot box, in the halls
three seasons may apply with
Pennsylvania National Horse
of Congress, and through public
a letter from a Master briefly
Show. Any huntsman is invited to
education programs.
explaining their dedication to fox-
participate, and the contest will
hunting and how they would ben-
take place on Saturday night, May
4 The Professional Devel-
efit from attending the seminar in
24, at Morven Park, Leesburg, Va.
opment Program is entering its eighth year, and to date has
Kentucky. Send letter to Dennis
GORE-TEX® lined to the top Waterproof and Breathable DryFast-DrySoftTM Leather Comfort, Style & Durability.
8 | Covertside
ters. The class was well received
have worked closely with USSA
Foster at office@mfha.com.
PENNSYLVANIA’S FAMED HUNT COUNTRY
NEW PRICE!
CHESHIRE HUNT COUNTRY
Set on 74 acre, the charming c.1806, 5BR, 4.1BA home retains an antique patina but has an addition with new Kitchen, Family Room & Master Suite. Great 6 stall barn. $2,485,000
NEW PRICE!
CHESHIRE HUNT COUNTRY
On 63+ park-like acres, Fineskinde Farm is like owning your own preserve! 4BR, 2.1BA main house (c.1700 with later additions), great stone barn and several rental units. $1,347,300
WARWICK TOWNSHIP
Rock Run Farm contains 98+ acres, specimen plantings, a 4 acre pond & a privately set antique home in need of total restoration. THIS IS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY! $1,500,000
UNIONVILLE
c. 1850 barn conversion with formal rooms, first floor MBR suite plus 4 add’l bedrooms & 4.2 BA. Full Lower Level plus 2BR, 1.1 BA Guest/Pool House. Unionville Schools. $1,394,500
NEW PRICE!
RADNOR HUNT COUNTRY
Private 20.28 acres & down a long lane is this 12 yr. old 5BR, 4.1BA home featuring grand Foyer, stunning Kitchen & fully finished lwr. lvl. Wonderful 5 stall barn/several pastures - hacking is boundless. Located near Marshallton. $1,275,000
OLD PICKERING HUNT
This 4BR 3.2BA on 11 ac. has incredible views over pool, rolling lawn, lg. pond, stream and incredible waterfall! Great location, quality construction & realistically priced! $1,250,000
NEW LISTING!
CHESHIRE HUNT COUNTRY
Adjacent to olympic training facility sits this 7 yr. old post & beam barn with dramatic 2BR, 2BA living quarters above. Set on 15 acres, the barn has 6 lg. stalls. Easement allows for construction of a 5,000 sq. ft. home! $995,995
COCHRANVILLE
This 13.84 ac. farm is equestrian’s delight! Features charming 4BR, 2.1BA home w/ formal spaces & great Kitchen & FR. Deck over-looks pool and 100x200 ring. Multiple stalls in 2 barns with numerous pastures. $790,400
CHESHIRE HUNT COUNTRY
This is a great opportunity to own a 22 ac. farm in Unionville Schools! The 4BR, 4.2BA barn conversion offers lots of great space. Great for a home business! Nice barn & riding ring. $950,000
BIRMINGHAM TOWNSHIP
Located in the township historic district, sits this 4BR, c.1837 serpentine stone home on 10 acres with a small barn. This is a great opportunity for the lucky buyer! $749,900
EAST BRADFORD
This c.1759 4BR, 4.1BA home has been open for Chester County Day. Antique charm yet totally updated! Fantastic Kitchen with custom cabinetry. Rebuilt barn on 10 acs. $947,900
UNIONVILLE VILLAGE
Charming antique 3BR, 2BA home totally updated with wonderful new Kitchen, 2 New BA, New AC & heating, New flooring, New windows – the list goes on. Unionville Schools!!! $285,000
MILESTONES
Whelps
Gone Away
“CHIP” GREG ANDERSON 1957–2013
Santa Ynez Valley Hounds “CHIP” GREG ANDERSON, beloved storyteller, world-renowned hunting guide and professional huntsman, passed through the veil just as the pack and staff left the kennels for the Opening Day Hunt of the Santa Ynez Valley Hounds, December 7, 2013. Born in Lawrence, Mass., in 10 | COVERTSIDE
“At 5 lbs 1 oz, she was three weeks early. Wanted to be here before hunting started I guess! That’s how she was able to fit in her Daddy’s hunting cap so well!”
1957, Chip led an extraordinary existence. Between his “secret life of rock and roll” which he hid from his foxhunting friends from knowing about, and his “secret life of hunting” which he hid from his music friends from knowing about, Chip rubbed elbows and knocked on the doors of some of the greatest talents of his time. A professional hunting guide, he wrote and published articles, stories and memoirs in national publications, including Sporting Classics, Shooting Sportsman, and Covertside. Chip began his hunting career in Indiana, spent 15 years with the Tryon Hounds in North Carolina, did a game bird guiding stint in South America for several years, and settled down in 2008 with the Santa Ynez Valley Hounds. He hunted, wrote and fished on four continents: Europe, Africa, North and South America and was always, always planning his next trip to parts he had as yet left unexplored. Chip mentored many young people all over the world and
from many walks of life. From falconry to hunt service, music to creative writing, Chip fostered the dreams and aspirations of every person close to him. His pride and joy, his wife Claire, is the current huntsman of the Santa Ynez Valley Hounds. Chip is survived by his loving wife Claire, his mother, three sisters, nephews and niece, his beloved dog Maggie and the multitudes of his friends who, without exception, adopted him as a member of their own honorary family the world over.
BAY COCKBURN 1956-2013 Goshen Hunt
BAY COCKBURN passed away Christmas Day. He was a close friend and truly great huntsman, jockey, racehorse trainer, all-around horseman and father of two children. He came from England with a strong hunting background and hunting family. Bay first came to the United
FINLEY GRACE MOTHERSHEAD 9/8/2013 North Hills Hunt
TYCE AND HILARY MOTHERSHEAD welcomed baby girl Finley Grace on September 8. Tyce is the professional huntsman/kennelsman and Hilary is the professional whipper-in for the North Hills Hunt located in Omaha, Nebraska. The couple had newborn photographs done of Finley in Woodbine, Iowa, by Angee Alvis Photography. Hilary writes that baby Finley went on many hunts while still in utero, and she attended her first hunt when she was just one month old while Hilary road-whipped.
States as the professional huntsman to Goshen Hunt from 1991 to 1994 before he was hired by Dr. Joseph Rodgers, MFH, Loudoun Hunt West. He would be the Master and huntsman from 1994 until a 1998 riding accident that rendered him paralyzed from the neck down. After his accident, Bay continued to train racehorses and even hunted in the motorized wheel chair he had converted to something like a four-wheeldrive jeep. He was supposed to stay on hills or follow slowly, but it wasn’t anything he could
LIZ CALLAR
Holloa
Record Number of Cleveland Bays Gather to Hunt at Farnley Mid-Atlantic Cleveland Bay Show Series BY MARCIA BRODY
IT’S BEEN NEARLY 75 YEARS since Alexander Mackay-Smith’s Farnley Farm was home to a herd of some 50 Cleveland Bays. On Saturday, November 16, 2013, a record number of 21 Cleveland Bays (seven purebreds and
“Cold Water Bird Dog”, 24” X 30” print on canvas, framed $450. SNLE 16” X 20” watercolor prints $275.
David H Marsh Equine Art • Canine Art
Signed, numbered, Limited edition PrintS
Continued on page 13
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stand. If hounds were in full cry he’d take off following as fast as it could go. On several occasions, hunt followers would have to pick him up out of a hole or pick him up after a crash, but he’d just smile and continue on. He was one very tough guy. He died at his home with his children by his side. Bay asked that, instead of flowers, please send your donations in his name to the Hunt Staff Benefit Foundation, P.O. Box 363, Millwood, VA 22646.
His family owned the Dehner Boot Company, which has made custom boots and shoes since 1875. In his last few years, Van battled a number of injuries and health issues, but that didn’t stop him from riding for several hours at a time. Other riders wanted to ride with him and hear about his adventures with horses and experience his positive outlook on life. He was preceded in death by his wife of 62 years, Bette, and their Jack Russell terrier Poteen.
DONVAN D. KETZLER 1924-2013
North Hills Hunt FIRST A HORSE CAVALRYMAN, North Hills Hunt’s Donovan Dehner Ketzler was also a bootmaker, foxhunter, and almost legendary horseman. He learned to ride with the cavalry at a young age before enlisting at Ft. Riley, Kansas during World War II. SPRING 2014 | 11
milestones
Nancy Dillon has had an enormous influence on foxhunting in Virginia.
Holloa
Dillon Celebrates 70 Foxhunting Years Nancy Dillon, of Philomont, Virginia, celebrated 70 years of foxhunting with the Piedmont Hounds in 2013. Her achievements were recognized by her many friends and family with a special viewing of a documentary about her titled “Lessons in the Piedmont” at Buchanan Hall in Upperville in early November. “At first I was a little bit embarrassed,” Dillon said of the occasion. “They put a lot of work into it. I don’t know if it was necessary but I appreciated it.” Dillon was born at Tranquility Farm near Purcellville, which was Piedmont territory then. Her father raised Thoroughbreds, and it was his friend Mrs. A.C. Randolph who played a big role getting Dillon into the field. “She kept after us when we were small to come hunt.” Dillon began hunting in 1943 when she was just eight years old. “They only met Tuesdays and Fridays back then, so we hunted with Piedmont whenever we had a day off from school or a holiday.— —unless we skipped school.” 12 | Covertside
Not only is Dillon the longest subscribing member of Piedmont, she keeps the tradition going by instilling the thrill of the hunt in children. She runs a riding stable, spending her days bringing along ponies purchased as yearlings and teaching lessons to young riders. Dillon will bring as many as 20 children to a meet and the better riders help put miles on the ponies. She encourages her kids to focus less on who is jumping the most fences and pay more attention to the hound work. “I believe in good attitudes and work habits,” Dillon said. “They need to learn how to do all their own work. The ones that are hunting now help clean up and get ready the day before.” Dillon is married to William Dillon, and her daughter Daphne and son-in-law Graham Alcock help her in the barn. Dillon works tirelessly every day, but she has no interest in quitting any time soon. “I think it’s just part of your life, right? I’ve just been doing it so long, it’s just a part of you. I don’t know exactly how to put it.”
In 70 years of foxhunting, there must be a particular day or two that stand out in Dillon’s memory. “We always say that was the best one yet, then the next one you’ll say the same thing. You don’t have to be running every minute to have a good time, to be out in the world seeing the beautiful countryside.”
Share your club’s milestones with Covertside: email katy@covertside.net and include a high resolution photograph.
“Christy Hannum has created a truly remarkable film that isn’t just about one of the most famous, admired and knowledgeable foxhunters in modern times, but a treatise on the sport of foxhunting.” — Dennis Foster, Ex. Dir., MFHA
A Swim Pictures Production
Goodnight Ladies A DOCUMENTARY FILM
BY CHRISTIANNA HANNUM MILLER
Cinematographer, DAVID W. LEITNER • Editor, RAY HUBLEY
Animation, EMILY HUBLEY
Soundtrack includes music by ALISON KRAUSS and NICKEL CREEK Goodnight Ladies is a 37-minute film that tells the story of Nancy Penn Smith Hannum, world renown Master of Foxhounds and legendary equestrienne. $30.00 includes shipping For a copy of Goodnight Ladies, please email swimpics@aol.com with Goodnight Ladies in the subject line.
Cleveland Bays continued from page 11
14 part-breds) gathered at the invitation of Alexander’s children — Hetty MackaySmith Abeles and Dr. Matthew Mackay-Smith, Cleveland Bay breeder Peter Cook, and the Masters of the Blue Ridge Hunt — for a celebration of the legacy that Farnley has left to the Cleveland Bay breed in North America. Reflected Peter Cook, “I think the day was a tribute to the esteem in which the father, Alexander MackaySmith, was held. The fact that so many came, and that they came in such great style, was truly appreciated by the family.” Many of the horses in the hunt field on Saturday carried the bloodlines of Farnley Exchange, a stallion bred by Alexander Mackay-Smith and
exported back to England in the 1940s as an outcross stallion to revitalize the threatened Cleveland Bay breed. Even to this day, the Cleveland Bay tops the Critical category in the watchlist maintained by the UK’s Rare Breeds Survival Trust, with fewer than 300 purebred breeding females left in the world. The Cleveland Bay Hunt is an annual event organized by the Mid-Atlantic Cleveland Bay Show Series. Another Cleveland Bay Hunt in conjunction with the year-end awards reception took place on Sunday, January 19 2014, with the New MarketMiddletown Valley Hounds, at Margaux Tip LLC, by the kind invitation of Cleveland Bay breeders Hunter and Lauren Wilson. More information is available from midatlantic.cb@ gmail.com.
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the fixture
Matthew Klein
Precious Preservation
Easements, reforestation and stewardship programs help maintain vital hunting territory near two metropolitan areas. By Joanne Meszoly
I
n the Washington, D.C., area — especially in Virginia — it’s an all-too-common scene: sprawling housing developments and commercial retail centers have sprouted in fields once home to livestock and crops. Swaths of horse country have been swallowed by commuter communities and businesses clustered along the Northern Virginia tech corridor. But all is not doom and gloom. This loss of open space also has spurred passionate advocates who’ve fought to preserve countryside, largely through conservation easements which provide wildlife habitats and venues for foxhunting and other rural
14 | Covertside
pursuits. Many of these properties are relatively pristine, far from urban and suburban sight. The Blue Ridge Hunt still benefits from picturesque countryside. Despite its close proximity to D.C. — 60 miles away — the hunt is nestled in the Shenandoah Valley, among rolling hills, pastures and thatches of forestland. And much of land is protected through permanent easement. In fact, in Clarke County — the heart of Blue Ridge territory — more than 20 percent of the county is protected through easement. That’s a total of 24,000 acres, according to the Clarke County Conservation Easement Authority.
Earlier this year, the MFHA presented its annual Hunting Habitat Conservation Award (see the sidebar, “In Honor”) to two hunts, in recognition of their land preservation and betterment efforts. The 2014 honorees included the Blue Ridge Hunt, with special recognition of George L. Ohrstrom II. A macro-minded conservationist, Ohrstrom has been involved in natural resource protection and land use issues for more than 20 years, and he has placed his three properties, totaling 500 acres, in conservation easement. All are situated in Blue Ridge Hunt country, including his Camden Farm, in the heart of the territory near Boyce, Virginia.
“It’s an amazing property, right in the middle of our best country,” says Linda Jenkins Armbrust, Joint Master for the Blue Ridge Hunt. “It’s a very productive cover and holds foxes well. Not to mention that it’s a beautiful habitat with ponds and forest and maintained trails. It’s a conservation showpiece and crucial to our hunt territory.” In 1996 Ohrstrom acquired the 120-acre property; at the time it was partially forested and used for grazing cattle. Ohrstrom fenced the land to protect it from roaming livestock and allow the woods to flourish. “It’s secondary-growth
Blue Ridge hounds travel over restored pastures and forest with lots of cover.
MATTHEW KLEIN
forest with plenty of cedar trees, honey locust trees, black locust and the start of Osage orange,” he says. “Really, it’s a living laboratory.” Also on the property is a late-1800s post-and-beam barn, which Ohrstrom restored; the structure’s water system and electricity are powered by onsite wind and solar technology. But Ohrstrom’s conservation interests extend beyond land stewardship. He also serves as a board member of the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to rescuing, rehabilitating and returning healthy wildlife to a natural environment. His involvement dates back a dozen years and since then he has helped construct the center’s flight cage: a large oval structure which allows recovering raptors to fly in a continuous loop to regain their strength, in preparation for release. Ohrstrom is also active in watershed quality and reducing water pollution. He founded The Downstream Project, a nonprofit organization that raises awareness for natural resource conservation through technology and media. His 2009 documentary, “Shenandoah: Voices of the River,” examines the history and ecology of this waterway and the potential damage to it. “Rarely do you find someone who gives so much and is totally wedded to conservation,” says Dr. Jack van Nagell, MFH of Iroquois Hounds in Lexington, Ky., chair of the MFHA conservation committee and current MFHA president. “He supports foxhunting, yet he doesn’t foxhunt himself.” It’s true, Ohrstrom neither hunts nor rides, but he fre-
quently walks Camden Farm with his dogs, and sees the land’s appeal as a productive cover. He also recognizes that his vision is shared, adding, “A lot of the conservation efforts in this area began with foxhunters.” Specifically, he cites the efforts of “Winkie” Mackay-Smith — “my mentor,” says Ohrstrom — and a long-time Blue Ridge Hunt member who has worked tirelessly for land preservation. Mackay-Smith, who also won the Hunting Habitat Conservation Award in conjunction with Blue Ridge Hunt in 2007, is a founding member of the Clarke County Conservation Easement Authority. Just recently, she stepped down as chair of the easement authority; Ohrstom will take her place. “A great amount of Blue Ridge’s territory is in conservation easement, thanks to the work of many people, going back ’80s,” says Mackay-Smith. “And certainly zoning ordinances, limiting development rights on large parcels, have contributed. But it’s always a precarious situation — the squeeze of development, from the [D.C. metro] area on one side and the I-81 corridor from the other. We are an oasis among otherwise developing territories.” PRAIRIE PROTECTION AND WETLAND RECOVERY
Vital protection from a vest that inflates in the blink of an eye.
Illinois’ Wayne-DuPage Hunt is another club familiar with the squeeze of suburban sprawl. Located 40 miles west of Chicago, the hunt territory was once a rural outpost — a mix of prairie, farmland and forest — beyond the city fringes. But decades of suburban development and a spiSPRING 2014 | 15 VerticalHuntUSJan14.indd 1
1/30/14 11:43 AM
Rose Muenzenmay
Wayne-DuPage cares for the land by removing invasive species and clearing trails.
der web of roadways have blurred rural and urban lines. Still, the Wayne-DuPage Hunt is not a casualty of land loss and high-density development. The village of Wayne, the hunt’s home base, has retained its small-town, community feel, and, with several historic structures, is listed on the National Register of Historic Districts. And in recent years, the hunt has actually gained territory. “We are hunting more land than we hunted in the history of Wayne-DuPage,” says the hunt’s president, Carol Hancock, “because we have access to forest preserve that was once 16 | Covertside
farmed privately.” But the hunt is not simply a beneficiary of protected land; the Wayne-DuPage hunt and its related conservancy foundation have committed to a longtime stewardship agreement to help preserve natural habitat, tend to local equestrian trails, and much more. An entirely volunteer organization — staffed largely by hunt members — the Wayne Area Conservancy Foundation (WACF) has contributed to a range of projects, from removing invasive species to planting and painstakingly nurturing plants to bolster prairie preservation. “We are fortunate enough to
be surrounded by forest preserve but we work incredibly hard with the [WACF] stewardship agreement,” says Hancock. (Hancock is both president of the hunt and the WACF, as they share the same board.) “Not only have we learned to care for the land but we are equipped to do so. We can go in with chainsaws, bat-wing mowers, whatever equipment is needed to care for the land. When we hold trailclearing events, we divide into zones and tackle the task.” In recognition of this continuing commitment to the land and community, the MFHA also presented the Wayne-DuPage Hunt and the WACF with the 2014 Hunting Habitat Conservation Award. “When you look at this award, you have to ask, ‘in what ways does the hunt improve the community?’” says van Nagell. “That’s why we wanted to recognize Wayne-DuPage, not only because they preserve countryside, but because this conservancy makes the community a nicer place to be. The hunt is a good citizen, and that will help it go on in perpetuity.” WACF’s earliest efforts, more than 20 years ago, centered around the Pratt’s Wayne Woods Forest Preserve, a broad expanse of woodlands, grassland and wetlands. The property was largely privately owned until the ’60s and ’70s when DuPage County acquired the land, piece by piece. Today, the preserve is more than 3,400 acres and it makes up a large part of the Wayne-DuPage’s 8,000-acre territory. “Initially, WACF launched projects [in Pratt’s Wayne
Woods] that couldn’t be funded by the forest preserve district,” says Kathie Connolly, WayneDuPage Hunt and WACF board member, “like mowing trails and restoring savannah. We have a lot of invasive species such as buckthorn, and the conservancy worked to clear invasive species from the savannah oak groves.” The WACF continues this work and more recently has turned its attention to the Dunham Forest Preserve, several hundred acres of natural habitat that — for years — teetered on the brink of subdivision. Developers, says Connolly, were considering as many as 500 homes on the property, before the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County purchased the land. Since the Dunham Forest Preserve was established, WACF has maintained more than 100 acres of prairie plantings which, says Hancock, not only requires seeding, but judicious care. “Frequent mowing,” she says. “You have to keep the annual plants down so they don’t shade out and inhibit growth because prairie plants are slow-growing. You have to baby them at the beginning.” Even the hunt meets are used as tools for the land. Says Hancock, “I often tell people, ‘don’t go single file, spread out.’ We hunt in the fall and often run where no one else has been. The horses knock the seeds off the plants and help to distribute them and help them go to seed.” Joanne Meszoly is a Marylandbased freelance writer and a member of the Potomac Hunt.
Integrity. Craftsmanship.
In Honor PRESERVATION OF OPEN SPACE and natural habitat is paramount to foxhunting, and is the focal point for anyone involved in the sport. To date more than one million acres have been conserved through the efforts of people who foxhunt, and the MFHA honors those who have made enduring contributions to foster rural preservation and sustain natural resources and habitat. Each year the MFHA Foundation Conservation Committee reviews nominations for the Hunting Habitat Conservation Award before selecting the annual recipient. Entry forms are available at www.mfha.org, under the “Foundation” heading. Previous winners have championed efforts to secure sizeable easements protecting properties in perpetuity; they’ve educated the public on bettering vital watersheds; and they’ve partnered with public and private agencies to revitalize rural resources.
PAST RECIPIENTS OF THE HUNTING HABITAT CONSERVATION AWARD INCLUDE: 2013
2005
George A. “Frolic” Weymouth and the Brandywine Conservancy
Iroquois Hunt
2012 Aiken Hounds & Hitchcock Woods Foundation
2011 Farmington Hunt and Mr. J.B. Birdsall
2010
2004 Four Winds Foxhounds
2003 Green Spring Valley Hounds
2002
2001
2009
2000
Piedmont Hunt
Arapahoe Hunt
2008
1999
Genessee Valley Hunt & Genesee Valley Conservancy
Millbrook Hunt and Duchess Land Conservancy
2007
Orange County Hunt
2006 Elkridge-Harford and Manor Conservancy
- RESTORATIONS AND ADAPTIVE REUSE - TIMBER FRAMING, EQUINE FACILITIES - GARAGES AND ACCESSORY STRUCTURES - CUSTOM DECOR AND ACCENTS -
Wentworth Hunt and Branch Hill Farm
Lowcountry Hunt & The Lowcountry Open Land Trust
Blue Ridge Hunt and Wingate Winkie Mackay-Smith
DREAM... DESIGN... BUILD!
Live Oak Hounds & Tall Timbers Research
1998 1997 Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds and Moore County Hounds
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CHECKED BAGGAGE In which we recount the journey of English foxhounds across the pond.
Story by CHRISTOPHER OAKFORD Photographs by GLENYE OAKFORD
Ready for adventure, Wareham waits at London-Heathrow for his flight to Chicago.
SPRING 2014 | 19
Assemble crates in the airport lobby, because they are too big to fit in your hotel room.
Hounds arrive at Heathrow, ready for their journey.
O
ver the years, the inhabitants of that small collection of islands in the North Atlantic known as Great Britain have invented, developed, and exported many useful and wonderful things: parliamentary democracy; a system of common law; the digestive biscuit. Of course, there has inevitably been the odd aberration, not to mention some frankly bizarre creations; one has only to think of
the bagpipe. But, biscuits aside, there is one thing the British created, and have continued to refine ever since, that is beyond criticism: the English foxhound. And they are still being exported. But how do you get them here? At the Iroquois Hunt, where the pack now consists almost entirely of English hounds, the favored method is via checked baggage. How it’s supposed to work …
Ostensibly, it’s very simple, and for the benefit of anyone who fondly imagines any plan
connected with foxhounds ever survives first contact, there follows a brief synopsis. Once the Iroquois and English Masters agree on how many hounds are being drafted, we book our flights (most airlines stipulate one person can take two hounds), and order some travel crates (one per hound). We collect the crates in England. They are made of molded plastic and metal and come disassembled. On the morning of the flight back to the United States we get to the terminal at least four hours before departure because the airlines operate on a first-come first-served system and won’t book the hounds on the flight in advance. (I can confirm that if your parents live in Wiltshire and you oversleep on the day of your flight that it is possible to do a journey that normally takes an hour and a half in about forty-five minutes, but clearly, staying in an airport hotel the night before is the smart option here.) Once at the airport, we assemble the crates and introduce ourselves to the airline staff. Meanwhile, the huntsman or whipperin drives the hounds to the airport. (Always be sure to get his mobile phone number and
The Logistics of Hound Travel
Book a flight
Not all airlines will transport animals as checked baggage. Most have regulations about high and low temperatures and times of year when they can travel. Planes used for internal U.S. flights don’t have enough room
20 | Covertside
to accommodate giantsize crates. And now, some transatlantic flights use planes that can’t accommodate them, either. So, choose your airline and port of entry with care. Additionally, some airlines won’t allow you to book your hounds onto the flight, instead operating on a first-come first-served system. The best airline, in our experience, American, has this policy, but we have never been turned away for lack of room, yet.
Measure your hound
The height and length of the hound determines the size of the traveling crate you’ll need to buy. The hound needs to have enough room to stand up without touching the roof of the crate with its head, and to be able to turn around
and lie down comfortably. Most English foxhounds require a giant-size crate. Crates can be purchased from UK-based companies specializing in pet travel, such as PBS International.
Documentation & fees
U.S. Customs requires only that the hound be certified as healthy by a qualified vet, and to know the hound’s age, gender, and vaccine history. However, every airline has its own policy on documenta-
tion and on what ages and breeds of dog can travel. So check the website carefully. Airlines also charge a fee for every hound that travels.
alternatives
The “checked baggage” method is not the only way to transport hounds. There are several companies in the UK specializing in transporting animals, such as PBS International, through which all necessary arrangements can be made.
Watchtower and Wareham arrive at Heathrow, large fellows.
Watchtower and Wareham are not really keen on the idea of getting into the crates.
Whipper-in for the North Cotswold, Elliot Stokes, bids a fond farewell at the airport.
always fix a time and place to meet — visiting the airport the day before to work out the best place is a good idea — but bear in mind he will always, always turn up about two hours earlier than expected, necessitating a somewhat panic-stricken crate assembly process.) When the huntsman/whipper-in arrives, he helps us put the hounds into their crates. Then, while we go through check-in, the airline staff takes the hounds in their crates to be weighed. Next, we go through a special security area where the hounds are taken out of their crates (it is sealed off, but yes, the headline “Loose hounds close world’s busiest airport” invariably flashes through my mind), and the crates are examined for hidden contraband, the remains of any stowaway illegal immigrants, etc. After that, the security staff takes charge of the hounds and we get on the plane. At the other end, it is even simpler. Every-
thing proceeds as with a normal flight, except, of course, passengers collecting their luggage off the carousel aren’t met by the curious sight of an English foxhound circling languidly around on the belt with the backpacks, suitcases, and other accoutrements of modern-day travel. Instead, the hounds are kept in a separate area from the other luggage. That apart, everything is as usual, and once through customs, we hand the hounds over to the Iroquois kennel staff waiting with the hound truck outside the terminal and our job is done.
means being able to ship them on transatlantic flights only. Smaller planes used for internal U.S. flights don’t have enough room to accommodate giant crates (and now some international flights don’t either). So choosing an airline and the airport into which to fly is important. But there are other considerations. Two smallish people trying to manhandle one or more giantsize travel crates is no laughing matter, unless you are not one of the two smallish people directly involved and can watch the whole performance from the bar in your hotel lobby, drink in hand, in which case, no doubt, it’s hilarious. There’s also the not-so-funny irony that everything in England is extremely compact, except the hounds and their crates. One hotel room we booked was so small the crates would barely squeeze through the door. Though to be fair, we didn’t really need a room at all. The crates themselves would have provided ample shelter for the night. We could quite happily have assembled them outside the terminal and settled down there, provided we had left a polite notice outside informing any confused passers-by that the airport was actually the rather small building next door. In fact, getting such monstrous constructions from the hotel to the airport is problematic. Try to leave them with the airline, but make sure you can access them in good time on the day of the flight. If they can’t be left at the airport, make sure you have another fail-safe strategy. It is also hard to overstate the importance of telling the kennelman not to feed the hounds on the morning of the flight. I can testify personally to the strain that forgetting that key instruction can put on good relations between hound transporters and airport staff. It’s not much fun holding a hound
Reality Barks
That, at least, is how it is supposed to work. The simplicity, it goes without saying, hides numerous pitfalls. … English foxhounds, for instance, tend to come in large sizes. They need giantsize travel crates. In practical terms this
The baggage check-in process begins: Smooth travel requires maintaining good relationships with airline staff.
spring 2014 | 21
Watchtower oversees his crate inspection.
Hound safely back inside, airline security personnel seal his crate for the flight.
The hounds travel by truck from Chicago to Lexington. They are too large to fly domestically.
covered in poo. It’s even less fun if it’s your job to check inside a poo-coated travel crate for possible hidden contraband. And good relations with both airport and airline staff is essential. They make all the difference. In fact, it is a good idea to call ahead in the days before your flight to let the airline staff know you’ll be bringing hounds with you and to establish a friendly rapport in advance.
varied spectrum of glances and glares ranging from the mildly curious glances of people who are leaving soon and don’t have long to bear the noise, to the thermonuclear fury of the Information Desk lady who’s stuck here for the day and doesn’t want to listen to that racket, thank you very much! There are, I think, only two possible strategies you can adopt — the ingratiating grin of the embarrassed Englishman, or the basilisk stare of his American wife. If one fails, the other might work. Alternatively, keep the hound moving. At the very least it will help spread the misery a bit thinner. And it might just provide a distraction for the hound, too. We once collected a beautiful dog hound from the Cottesmore
named Samson. Provided Samson kept moving forward in his traveling crate, which was delicately balanced on a luggage trolley, all was right with the world. He was quiet as a lamb. If he was stationary, on the other hand, Samson’s thoughts turned ineluctably to barking. And Samson, it must be admitted, did have a particularly penetrating bark. The one time I have seen a genuine look of fear cloud my wife’s otherwise stoical face during our hound-transporting adventures was when, having handed Samson across to the airport security staff and found our seats on the plane, we heard from the bowels of the aircraft the unmistakable sound of a stationary Samson. For three miserable hours before that, as we sat with him in the terminal, my wife had been annoyingly phlegmatic and I had jabbered apologies left, right, and center as Samson had barked and barked and barked (too late we discovered the quieting effect of movement). Now, however, it was my turn to appear blithe and devil-maycare. While she saw a future filled with eight hours of flying time, interminable howling, and increasingly angry fellow passengers, I hoped that when the plane started the noise of the engines would drown out anything Samson might have to say. And besides, if the excitement of a short ride on his travel cratecum-luggage trolley was enough to stun him into silence, then hurtling through space in an elongated tin can at 600 mph ought to be right up Samson’s alley. Thankfully, it was. Finally, it’s good to remember that inside almost every Englishman there is a countryman struggling to get out and this can be used to great advantage by the canny hound transporter encountering any difficulties along the way. We wish you luck.
TOO MUCH VOICE?
And then we come to howling. What can you do? This being England, no one is actually going to come up to you and complain that your hounds are making too much noise. But you will undoubtedly be on the receiving end of a
In Chicago, the hounds wait for their chauffeur-driven hound truck to arrive.
22 | COVERTSIDE
Christopher and Glenye Oakford live in Lexington, Ky,, and are members of the Iroquois Hunt.
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Unlocking the Mysteries of the “Undiagnosables” By Dr. Steven Allday
I
n a lot of ways, taking care of a sick horse can be a lot like taking care of a sick toddler. You can tell they’re hurting, but they don’t have the words to tell you what’s wrong. Horses are such hardworking, compliant animals; they often fail to tell us “no” until they’re seriously injured. So it’s up to us, as their caretakers, to read the sometimes very subtle signals they give us. That’s not always easy. Equine medicine is filled with baffling and confusing symptoms. But there are some hard-to-diagnose condi24 | Covertside
tions that, if checked for first, can take you right to the heart of the problem. Here’s my list of the top five contenders for most common “undiagnosables.” #1 Ulcers
Is your horse training relatively well, acting hungry like he wants to eat, but then turning up his nose at his food? Chances are, it’s an ulcer—not worms or colic. Your horse gets stressed, releases too much stomach acid, and loses his appetite. The acid creates lesions in
his stomach that hurt. Your vet can diagnose it with a simple scope and prescribe a version of Prilosec for horses that will reduce the acid and help heal the lesions. Figure out what is causing stress in your horse’s training schedule and eliminate it in order to prevent a relapse. #2 Sore Feet
Plain old sore feet can affect a horse just like they doyou or me. But in horses, it can set the stage for more serious injuries and make them significantly slower. Check your horse’s feet after any work or competition. If the horse flinches at your touch, or if his feet are hot to the touch but not swollen or full of fluid, sore feet could be the culprit. Finding the cause of the soreness can be trickier. It can be as simple as a poor shoeing job, or a more serious structural defect. #3 Strained Cannon Bone
The cannon bone extends from the knee to the ankle of the horse. When a horse is having trouble with a weak or bruised cannon bone, he can’t extend his legs as far and loses free-
flowing movement. He shortens his stride, his head comes up when he runs, and he loses speed. This can be cured with 90-120 days of rest. Left untreated, a horse with chronic cannon bone tenderness can develop micro-fractures, joint issues and possible career-ending leg injuries. A vet can confirm the diagnosis with a nuclear scan.
Dr. Steven C. Allday, DVM, is vet to top equine athletes around the globe. He is also an entrepreneur, founding the company that manufactures LubriSynHA, one of the industry’s most widely used natural equine joint supplements, and Re-Borne, a whole, concentrated liquid bovine colostrum-based feed supplement that helps horses develop lean muscle mass and bounce back quicker from adversity. For information, visit www. lubrisyn.com or www.re-borne.com.
ED ROV PP
Tying-up syndrome is so named because a horse’s muscles go into a systemic cramp simultaneously, becoming “tied up” – sometimes causing complete paralysis. This can be a pretty scary thing to witness. It can come from a reaction to medicines or from an electrolyte deficiency that gradually builds up to a crisis point. If ignored, the condition can progress to the horse’s kidneys and cause permanent damage. If you get to it early, it’s not a serious condition at all. The cure can be achieved in just a few days with an electrolyte solution and antioxidants. So the next time your horse is acting a little “off,” don’t just chalk it up to a bad day. A horse should be tame at all times. Most horses like what they do, and if they are acting up, that is their way of trying to tell you something. There could be some physical discomfort and it’s up to you and your vet to solve the mystery. Your horse will give you the answers. All you have to do is listen.
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Mysteriously slow horses often have conditions causing their lungs to bleed when they exert themselves. Many horsemen don’t see the internal bleeding and think all they need to do is work the horse a little harder. This can cause a horse to collapse, or worse. If this sounds like your horse, have him checked by a vet for a lung infection that needs antibiotics, a chronic lung disease that needs more advanced treatment, or a lung defect that makes him unsuitable for sports where speed is the objective.
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SPRING 2014 | 25
It takes organization, volunteers and a bit of magic to produce a successful show.
KAREN L. MYERS
Hound Show 26 | COVERTSIDE
T
o the casual observer, a hound show may look uneventful. They see canines in a ring paraded by handlers wearing kennel coats. They observe official-looking people attending to the business of the show. A number of spectators may be kibitzing in a whisper about the entries. Some folks are socializing at the food and vendor tents. No big deal, right? Wrong! The logistics behind organizing a hound show, especially a large one, are mind-boggling. Covertside asked officials of two of the United States’ most prestigious shows for a behindthe-scenes look at producing a successful event.
Houndinis
BY SUSAN HOFFMAN
SPRING 2014 | 27
HARPER MEEK
Huntsman Martyn Blackmore presents Loudoun Hunt West’s Santa Ynez Alan, Best English Hound at the 2013 Byrn Mawr Hound Show.
A CONTINUOUS LOOP
It seems like an endless day to those who participate in or stop by to watch a hound show. But in actuality, it is the culmination of a year’s worth of intensive planning. Bob Ferrer, co-chairman for the Virginia Hound Show, and MFH and huntsman for Caroline Hunt, Milford, Va., says, “We’re preparing the next show as soon as we finish the last.” The Virginia Hound Show, held at Morven Park in Leesburg, is the largest foxhound show in the world. Classes are held in five rings and the grounds’ kennels become homeaway-from-home for hundreds of hounds beginning as early as a week before the show. Hotels for miles around are booked well in advance. Make no dog bones about it; it takes a Herculean effort to pull off a show this size. Ferrer says, “It is manpower-intensive, requiring the full effort of the Virginia Foxhound 28 | COVERTSIDE
Club board plus about a hundred volunteers meeting on a regular basis all year long. The biggest thing we keep in mind is to ‘organize to succeed’ so that when it gets to the actual show date, we can achieve our goals. That means giving our volunteers realistic responsibilities and managing our budget.” Year-around planning is also de rigueur for the Bryn Mawr Hound Show, the largest hound show in the United States, held in Malvern, Pa. Entry Secretary Kris Bartosiak remarks, “After each show we have a wrapup meeting to discuss what went right, what went wrong and what we need to improve upon for the next year. Basically, we start the process over for the next year as soon as the last show ends. Fortunately, we have an executive committee with lots of experienced folks, so everybody knows his or her job.” Bartosiak says, “A show the size of Bryn Mawr, with well
over 600 hounds including beagle and basset foothound packs showing in six rings, requires an army of volunteers. This year, the early planning is more intensive than usual because 2014 is the 100th anniversary of the show and we are planning a bang-up celebration!” Even small shows and fun shows can benefit from long-range preparation. Ferrer remarks, “All shows benefit from good leadership, thorough planning, and clear communication both with volunteers and with exhibitors. Start early on all aspects, be it bringing in talented judges who have a good eye, or arranging for hound kennels, or finding an attractive venue.” He says an abundance of plants and flowers can dress up an otherwise modest-looking ring, and local garden shops may be willing to loan greenery in exchange for free advertising, which saves the host club on out-of-pocket expenses.
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Never before has it been so important for foxhunters to look toward the horizon. The MFHA and the MFHA Foundation invite you to consider a legacy gift. To learn more about leaving a legacy for foxhunting for future generations visit www.mfha.org/contribute.html
HOUND SHOW TOOLS AND TIPS Visit the MFHA website (MFHA.org) for everything you need to know about hosting a show for recognized hunts and registered packs. On the home page, scroll to “Hounds” then click on “Hound Shows” for resources including: • Registration rules, forms and fees • “The Foxhound Stud Book” and online pedigree searches • “Guide for Hound Shows, Puppy Shows & Performance Trials” • Ring Stewards Guide • Hound show results
LIZCALLAR.COM
• Related links
Virginia Foxhunting, Hound Show & Steeplechase Photography
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Discover Your Local
Hound Shows
ECOVERTSIDE.NET/ FOXHUTING-CALENDAR
MFHA-sanctioned hound shows are held in the spring. Check MFHA.org for details. 30 | COVERTSIDE
Southern ......................................................................April 5 Southwest ...................................................................April 19 Central States ...........................................................May 3 New England .............................................................May 4 Carolinas ......................................................................May 10 Penn-Marydel............................................................May 10 Virginia .........................................................................May 25 Bryn Mawr...................................................................May 31 Canadian......................................................................June 14 Western States .........................................................(next show 2015)
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ATTENTION FOXHUNTERS Now is the time to check your equipment — Harper Meek
Junior Handler classes are a highlight of hound shows nationwide.
The Hound Show Spell A minimum of snafus is important, but the most successful shows foster camaraderie among competitors. Ferrer comments, “The shows are one of the few places that huntsmen and staff from many clubs can mingle together to share ideas and make friendships. It’s important to make it conducive for them to have fun and socialize. And, encouraging kids to get involved in junior handler classes gives them the ‘hunting bug’ which is important for the future of our sport.” Bartosiak agrees, adding, “Learning, making friends, seeing the kids have fun showing — these shows build networks of people who keep the hunting tradition alive and thriving.” The real magic of hound shows is that feeling of being at an important family get-together rather than merely a competition.” Susan Hoffman is a freelance writer and communications consultant. She hunts with Andrews Bridge Foxhounds in Kirkwood, Pa.
Saddles, girths, bridles, breastplates, flasks, sandwich cases, whips, and of course, your boots. Be ready for the fall by having your repairs done now. We hope you will be attending the Virginia Foxhound Club Annual Show and that you will come by Journeymen when you visit Middleburg. So check the tack room, bring in your repairs and we can easily ship the finished items to you.
Custom chaps/tack, boot and blanket repair 2 West Federal Street • Middleburg, VA 20117 Monday - Saturday 8:00 - 4:30 540-687-5888 • 800-962-4405 spring 2014 | 31
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Tessa Jackson Hound Show Judge
T
essa Jackson, Gloucestershire, UK, has judged many puppy shows and most of the major hound shows in England, Ireland, the United States and Canada. She judged the Virginia Hound Show in 2007 and again in 2013. Jackson was raised in a hunting and racing family. Her parents trained point-to-pointers. She evented (to the 3-day standard) and was also a race rider. She married Alastair Jackson, then Master and huntsman of the South Dorset. “It was then that hunting took over my life (along with children, of which I have two, and five grandchildren).” “When Alastair retired as Master and huntsman of the Cattistock, his successor left and I was asked by the Joint Masters if I would join them for a season and run the country for them. Twelve seasons later (1992-2004), having arranged and hunted three days a week in the season and five days a week cub hunting, I retired myself! Meanwhile I enjoyed being involved in the breeding and management of the hounds with a professional huntsman.” Tessa and Alastair now live in Gloucestershire where she hunts with the Heythrop Hounds. 32 | Covertside
Covertside: How did you become a judge? What did you need to learn to become a judge? Who was your mentor?
much merriment, I went off and bought a horse, having ridden it in the dark in my puppy show clothes.
Tessa Jackson: I
Covertside:What’s different about judging in the United States compared to the UK?
Covertside: What’s the funniest thing that’s ever happened to you while judging? Where and when?
Tessa Jackson: Judging in Ireland at the Limerick Puppy Show on a very hot day in 2003. We had had an excellent lunch with a lot of fine wine and knowing that I was the junior judge — I enjoyed it! As I entered the kennels for the judging I was offered what I was told was “tradition” for the judges — to have a “wee sip” of something called Poteen (I have since discovered it is an Irish liquor distilled from potatoes). Not wanting to be a spoil-sport, I am afraid I had some! I am sorry to say that it was my worst attempt ever at judging — but I am told I gave a wonderful speech. A party in the pub followed and after
Tessa Jackson: I do find it difficult if hounds cannot be let off the lead, as their natural balance and movement are curtailed. I particularly enjoy the enthusiasm of the spectators in the United States.
Covertside:: Is there a U.S. hound that really stands out in your memory as being exemplary? Which one and why? Tessa Jackson: When I last judged in Virginia I was very struck by Mooreland Wary ’12 in the Crossbred ring. I knew as soon as she came in that she was quite exceptional in quality, balance and movement. Fortunately my judgment was vindicated when she was made Grand Champion of the show.
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Covertside: What do you love about judging hound shows? What do you dislike?
Tessa Jackson: I prefer judging a hound show to a puppy show as I do not have to make a speech at the end!! The standard is generally higher, which is easier to judge as you are not judging fault against fault. It is very rewarding when you hear positive feedback afterward and especially fun judging with someone you get on with — like Tony Leahy. It is easier to have a steward who is fully attentive and a co-judge who is not influenced by the breeding or pack!
Grosvenor & Rosemarie
Merle-Smith
Photo by Gretchen Pelham
always enjoyed judging horses and then when I married Alastair, I spent years watching hounds from the ringside and afterwards discussing the results! When I became a Master myself I found that the invitations arrived and of course I was much more interested in the hounds then. I think you need to understand the conformation primarily, for example, the pace and stamina points. It is also helpful if you have a natural eye for quality and movement. It is important to understand the system in the ring and to be quick and decisive with the results. I have to say that my mentor has definitely been Alastair!
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YOUNG ENTRY Brazos Pony Club kids attended an in-house hound show, put on by the Independence Foxhounds. Each youngster showed a hound.
Texas Foxhunters Help Kids Earn USPC Award Pony club kids get firsthand experience. BY PHYLLIS L0UPOT
B
razos Pony Club, in College Station, Texas, qualified five of its members for the USPC Foxhunting Award,
for which participants must complete both mounted and unmounted requirements. Candida Scott and John Dorrier, Joint Masters of Indepen-
dence Foxhounds in Burton, Texas, graciously opened their facilities to the Brazos pony clubbers, and volunteered their time and expertise to pre-
Interested in earning your own? Get your application at
PONYCLUB.ORG (Applications can be submitted at any point in the year.)
The Live Oak Hounds USPC Foxhunting Award
I
N ADDITION to the USPC Foxhunting Award, there’s also a generous club award, provided by Mr. and Mrs. C. Martin Wood III, Joint Masters of the Live Oak Hounds in Monticello, Florida, and past presidents of the MFHA. The Live Oak Hounds USPC Foxhunting Award will be awarded on a percentage basis according to the total number of active pony club members. pony club members who regularly hunt will also receive credit toward the award.
34 | COVERTSIDE
ELIGIBILITY FOR THE AWARD: • For first-time foxhunters or members who have hunted fewer than three times in the previous season, you must hunt a total of three or more times in the current season. • For members who have hunted three or more times in the previous season or participated in the Live Oak Challenge last year, you must hunt a total of six or more times in the current season. For pony club members who are also regular hunting members,
pare the human young entries for a safe and exciting introduction to foxhunting. The program began with a weekend clinic at Independence Ranch, home to the horses and hounds of IFH. Arriving on Friday evening, the kids and parents were given a kennel tour. Up at 6 a.m. to learn about hound care, the
adults, and very educational for the kids. The pony clubbers got to interact with the hounds and learn some of their names, and the hounds thoroughly enjoyed the attention. We thought it would work better to have the kids’ first mounted experience be during cubbing season, when the field is smaller, the pace a bit slower,
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The USPC Foxhunting Award recognizes pony club members that participate in specific foxhunting activities, and their knowledge of foxhunting. kids then tacked up and practiced riding in the open in a group around the cross-country course. Scott, who is also the huntsman, then took the kids into the kennels for some face time with the hounds, and once everyone settled down, gave a lecture on hunt etiquette and structure. Saturday afternoon, having ensured that everyone was in adequate control of their ponies, the group went out to road the older, slower hounds and practice what they had learned. Sunday morning the kids were able to competently pitch in to help with kennel chores, and ride once more on the cross-country course. The next step was to return to Independence Farm for the annual in-house hound show. It was very entertaining for the
and the day a bit shorter. After completing these steps, five of the pony clubbers were ready to participate in regular meets as safe, competent and educated field members. When 13-year-old Abby attended her first formal hunt, she rode second field, and was proud to be the only person able to easily get back on her horse after dismounting, and was tagged to open gates for the field all morning. The hunt members have enjoyed having the youngsters in the field, and have been very complimentary. By taking the time to ensure the participants were properly prepared, everyone had a successful first hunt, and all plan to return to hunt again.
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Phyllis Loupot breeds Cleveland Bays and hunts with the Independence Foxhounds in Texas.
you must hunt nine or more times in the current season. • All pony club members must have their Live Oak Hounds Certificate signed by the Master of the hunt where they participate, or by the hunt secretary. You must also list the dates of your hunts. • Any active pony club member is eligible. Every participating hunts must be an MFHA member hunt. A list of member hunts is available on the Masters of Foxhounds Association website. spring 2014 | 35
HOUNDS & HORSES
Pageant covered 20 miles as the crow flies, encountered four lane highways and who knows what else to return to her kennel safe and sound.
The employee tripped and Pageant, who is a rather shy hound and despised the vet hospital, bolted off at high speed dragging the leash. Panic ensued and Becky Malphus, DVM, and co-owner of the practice, jumped into her car in time to
been telephoned and he drove around the area for hours trying to find poor Pageant, but he had no luck. The hound had disappeared completely. Multiple people searched all day Friday. By Friday night all were despondent and fairly
Multiple people searched all day Friday. By Friday night all were despondent and fairly certain Pageant had met some horrible fate.
Easter Miracle
A long and scary journey for Pageant.
BY DAPHNE FLOWERS WOOD
I
n the deep south there grows a wicked weed called spear grass. It has barbs on the seed head resembling a fishhook so that once it enters the nose, mouth or eyes it can only travel forward. It often ends up in the lungs where, if it is not caught early, it causes a fast and fatal pneumonia.
Live Oak Pageant ’11 had finished seven days of intravenous antibiotics for a lung seed at the vet’s in Thomasville, Ga., and was well on the mend and due to go home the next day to his kennel in Monticello, Fla., when one of the hospital’s employees took him outside for a walk just before 5:00 pm on Thursday before Easter.
see the terrified but resolute Pageant going at high speed across Lowe’s vast parking lot. He then skirted Longhorn Steak House, Whataburger, and Kentucky Fried Chicken before crossing US Highway 19, a four-lane road. He was seen dashing into the grass median of the bisecting four lane Highway US 84. Miraculously he was not hit by a vehicle. Dr. Becky had him in sight as he was clocked running twenty miles an hour along the grass separating the four lanes of traffic. A large traffic jam ensued behind Dr. Becky, and coming the opposite direction, as drivers, seeing her flashing car lights, realized she was in pursuit of the hound running for his life down the middle of the road. He was too frightened to stop, but the treatment he received at the vet’s must have worked well on his lungs because he ran several miles before darting across in front of Dr. Becky’s car into the woods. By this time, Live Oak’s huntsman, Dale Barnett, had
Why Microchip? A microchip is a capsule about the size of a grain of rice that contains a computer chip with an alphanumeric unique code. If a lost animal is found by a pet rescue, SPCA, or veterinarian they will routinely scan for a microchip. If one is found, they will contact registering agencies who notify the registered pet owner. MFHA members receive discounts on microchipping. Visit www.accu-metrics.com for more information.
36 | COVERTSIDE
certain Pageant had met some horrible fate: poisonous snakes, alligators, and numerous tall hog wire fences topped by strands of barbed wire, not to mention vehicles. It was depressing to get in bed that night and think of poor Pageant, out in the great unknown tired, hungry, thirsty and with God knows what other tribulations coming his way. Our troubled sleep was interrupted at 1:30 am Saturday morning, the day before Easter, by the hound kennel in an uproar. I dared to wonder if it could possibly be Pageant arriving home. Huntsman Barnett awoke to the same thought and when he went to have a look, there was Pageant, a skinny, scared and hungry wreck curled up in front of his kennel gate 32 ½ hours after his escape. We all know hounds can cover great distances and have homing instincts second only to pigeons, but Pageant, tail male to Blencathra Glider ’76, had come more than twenty
five miles from a place he had never been before and had gone to in the back of a truck. He had crossed two major four lane highways and faced numerous other dangers to fetch up back at his beloved home. He is a special hound indeed and we are thrilled to have him back! Daphne Wood is MFH of Live Oak Hounds and board member-at-large of the MFHA.
FOR MORE ON HOMING INSTINCTS Read the companion story on page 38
FURTHER READING Recollections of the Early Days of the Vine Hunt, by a Sexagenarian (1865), by Edward Austen-Leigh, Jane Austen’s favorite nephew. He writes (p.17) that, in the mid-18th century, Lord Craven would bring his hounds every season to Dummer, near Basingstoke, and hunt the adjoining country. ‘Two or three draft hounds had been sent by Lord Craven to Blair Athol in Scotland, and had been taken part of the way by sea, but found their way back to the kennel at Dummer in some marvelously short space of time.’ —for more on this and the homing instincts of dogs visit Rupert WIlloughby’s blog at www.rupertwilloughby.co.uk And of course, one of the great children’s stories of all time is The Incredible Journey by Sheila Brunford. This story of three animal companions who take a dangerous journey home through the Canadian wilderness is a classic that all animal lovers should have in their personal library. —available at amazon.com
covertside half page
SPRING 2014 | 37
HOUNDS & HORSES
PEARL’S STORY
True Homing Behavior in Dogs: Fact or Fiction? BY AMY ENGLE
W
hile anecdotal evidence of canine homing behaviors is easy to find, the mechanisms through which dogs are able to find their way home, often across vast distances, is not well understood. Part of the reason may be that designing a study to track and quantify this type of behavior in pet dogs poses numerous ethical and logistical challenges— can you imagine giving researchers permission to release your family dog at some remote site, just to see if he can find his way home again? A select few studies of kit fox, red fox, and laboratory-reared wolves, seem to indicate that wild canids do possess mechanisms which help them to navigate unfamiliar territory, and that the desire to return home is strong enough to impel them to make an attempt at return. However, these homing abilities also appear to vary greatly from individual to individual, and do not follow the same type of strong pat38 | COVERTSIDE
tern (especially across long distances) that has been well studied in migrating birds and homing pigeons. Single coyotes, foxes and wolves have all been observed returning to their homes from distances ranging from 32 – 56 km. However, other studies of small groups of translocated animals show much less convincing results. Out of the 21 red foxes a Swedish researcher moved various distances from their home territory (20 – 170 km), not a single one made it back, despite traveling distances of up to 125 km (Marcstrom, 1968). In a similar study conducted in Iowa, only 1 of 9 adult female red foxes and none of the 171 pups returned after being translocated distances ranging from 3 – 173 km (Andrews et al., 1973). Perhaps the most pertinent research to the question of the homing behavior in domesticated dogs is a 1974 study of five, pen-raised gray wolves in Barrow, Alaska. After being moved 282 km from their home pen, one
wolf made it back safely, 3 moved 3, 140, and 160 km toward home, and the 5th moved 160 km to an airport in a non-homeward direction. Because the home pen was near an airport, researchers suspected that the wolves’ movements were guided by the sounds of large aircraft (Henshaw and Stephenson, 1974). Whether the wolves showed true navigation or not, they demonstrated strong tendencies to leave the release site and an ability to use all available mechanisms at their disposal in an attempt to return home. Dogs, like birds, may also possess super-paramagnetic particles in their brains that would allow them to navigate using magnetic fields. However, for the vast majority of individuals, other, more commonplace mechanisms are likely at work. For hunting dogs, and foxhounds in particular, knowledge of territory, human activity, and their incredible sense of smell are probably the biggest contributing factors to any successful homing journey.
Pearl, a shy Caza Ladron hound, was at the Master’s house near Santa Fe, New Mexico, recovering from a medical procedure when she got loose and disappeared into the desert, a good 15 miles from the main kennels. After several days of searching, hunt staff gave up on Pearl. Who knew what fate had befallen her? But the Master and his family would catch glimpses of Pearl when they were riding trails near their home during the spring and summer. They tried to catch her but were never able to get close. Summer came and went. The sightings of Pearl had diminished to nothing. One morning in early autumn as hunt staff were getting ready for hound exercise, the kennel caretaker told a whipper-in that one hound was out of the kennel running around. When staff counted hounds in the kennel they came up with the correct number. They assumed the caretaker had seen a stray dog from a nearby neighborhood. Up the road they went, hounds coupled. The whipper-in looked back to see one uncoupled hound coming up the road. There was Pearl! She caught up to the group, rejoining the pack like she’d never been gone. She was healthy and in good form. Interestingly, the club reports that she’s a better hunter and less shy than she was last winter when she disappeared. How Pearl found her way home and survived a desert summer, only she will ever know.
MAGIC OR MECHANISM?
Although birds are the species best known for their ability to navigate vast distances, dogs and other large mammals likely use many of the same tools to help them find their way home. Below are a few of most likely navigational mechanisms: • Direct surveillance/ observation of the terrain • Mental map making • Navigation based on magnetic fields • Observation of the angle and position of the sun • Sense of smell • Sense of hearing • Knowledge of humans and human activity
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spring 2014 | 39
HOUNDS & HORSES
Brave Hearts
Always a Winner
S
UNDIN HAS ALWAYS been a winner. Bred by Augustin Stables in 1991, he is by Kris (GB) out of Silver Fling, a The Minstrel mare. He raced on the flat in England and the United States, and won two of his first four starts in the States. BY STEUART PITTMAN, PRESIDENT, RETIRED RACEHORSE With Jonathan Sheppard as a TRAINING PROGRAM trainer, he raced over hurdles and won six races, including The guidelines for apost equestrian his last three starts in plications in the field horse competitions graded hurdle stakes. category sought “a fine take place in He showed jumpers jumper, polite in the field, an arena, on and won again. In 2001, well mannered at the trailer.” a track, or in the countryside. I decided to pursue the The nine essays described I was a little skeptical about sport of foxhunting, Winning Essay by judging a competition in which horses who went far beyond and in 2003 Sundin Michelle St. Onge, the horses compete through the that standard. Clark Fork became my partner as I PROF. WHIPPER-IN, LIVE OAK River’s fourteen seasons carrywritten words of their owners. hunted in the field with HOUNDS, MONTICELLO, FLA. ing Susan Jayne and her two Ask foxhunters to brag on Green Spring Valley. In daughters with Wayne Dutheir horses and you might as 2005, I applied for a job Page Hunt stood out from the well pour a drink and settle as a whipper-in for the group not only for what he down for a while. So that’s Live Oak Hounds in Florida. did following hounds but also just what I did with the essays Sundin put on yet another in the show ring, on the trails, I received from the editor of hat and joined me in my new among the crowds at the Covertside. It was two hours career. In the beginning we Rolex Kentucky Three-Day of the most inspiring reading I rode with other whips, learning Event, and now doing equine have done in a long time. technique and country. Then, assisted psychotherapy. The writers of these essays one fateful day toward the end teaching the greenest young The staff horse category would agree that the only of our first season, we were cut horses how to pony another was for “game, bold, fearless, things better than the bravery, loose to whip-in on our own. horse, trotting calmly beside athleticism, alertness, and intel- fast, and rideable” ThoroughWe ran a coyote that day, and them without a cross look ligence of a Thoroughbred hunt breds. The fourteen applicants we were both hooked! Sundin, or a missed step no matter described scenes in which horse are the superlative qualinow 22, has safely and quickly what they do. Sundin can also ties of their own Thoroughbred horses could read the hounds, carried me through the be paired with the crankiest find the quarry, jump the hunt horse. In both the field vast hunt country mares. He is so focused on the unjumpable, and run past and staff categories it was we have both task at hand that even foulTo learn more dark. Sundin did all respect that stood out. These called home tempered horses just follow about the of this while training owners wrote reverently about for eight along placidly beside him. THOROUGHBRED Michelle St. Onge to how their horses took care seasons. I have read many books INCENTIVE be a whipper-in with of them in the hunt field and Sunwritten on this sport, and have PROGRAM Live Oak Hounds. He about their noble backgrounds din has a soaked up all the information visit tjctip.com in racing. In an era when many was a winner racing on willingness I could find on whipping-in. the flat, a winner racing blame racing for imperfections to pursue any There has always been one over hurdles, a winner in in their Thoroughbreds, these job presented thing missing, and it’s somethe jumper ring, and after eight people expressed pride in their to him, and a work thing I feel is a crucial piece seasons whipping-in he is a horses’ backgrounds and gratiethic that is second to none. of advice — if you have a winner for Live Oak Hounds tude to the sport for producing He has spent many summers great staff horse, listen to him.
Thoroughbred Incentive Program contest winners are an inspiring herd.
M
good horses. 40 | COVERTSIDE
STAFF HORSE OF THE YEAR
and Michelle St. Onge.
CATHERINE CARR TABER
Sundin has a way of getting very still when game is afoot, sometimes even leaning in the direction the game is going to pop out, to try to get my attention focused. He is sedate and quiet when hounds open on a bobcat, alert but easy-going when it’s a fox, and a ball of energy when we are about to run a coyote. I often know what we are running before anyone even has a view. He deserves more credit than I do for having us in the right place at the right time, and throughout a run he is constantly checking in with where hounds are headed. I confess that Sundin learned how to do his job
much faster than I did. He and I had many discussions in the beginning on where we should be, where we should stand and when we should move forward. I would like to say I came out the victor on at least one of those debates, but I would be lying. He was and is always right. His competitive spirit has carried him through four very successful careers because he always wants to be the very best and strives for it at every turn. Having had the opportunity to ride him to hounds for so many years, and with no signs of him slowing down any time soon, I feel like this time I have won. SPRING 2014 | 41
HOUNDS & HORSES
Second Act—First Field
C
LARK FORK RIVER came to live with us when he was five years old — the same age as our daughter Katie. Katie accompanied us on the trip to bring him home, so we asked her to name him. What else would a five year old name a 16-hand bay Thoroughbred? Brownie, of course ... and the name stuck. Brownie was apparently well bred by racing standards, and was nominated for the Breeder’s Cup when he was foaled in 1988. He won a few small races, but soon it was time for him to start his second career. We started that first year with trail rides and
lots of hours turned out on grass. The second year he hunted three times, and by the third season he was a full-fledged hunt horse. Taking our time was important to ensure that he was ready for the extreme sport ahead of him. And he was. … I hunted Brownie for 14 seasons as a member of The Wayne-DuPage Hunt in Illinois. I never missed a hunt due to soundness issues. Brownie would jump anything, stand quietly at stirrup cups, pose for pictures, and pony horses home who had become separated from their riders. We hunted confidently dur-
ing Hunt Week or as guests at many hunts over those 14 years, including Mill Creek Hunt, Oak Brook Hounds, Fox River Valley
FIELD HORSE OF THE YEAR Winning Essay by Susan Jayne, WAYNE-DUPAGE HUNT
on her trusty pony Stormy until Ellen could hunt alone. She earned her buttons with WDH when she was nine years old, and has hunted several seasons now with Mill Creek Hunt. Brownie showed a bit — primarily at hunt shows — and was field hunter champion or members’ champion several times. The competitive highlight of his foxhunting career was when he placed fifth in the Midwest District’s Centennial Hunter Trials held in Wayne, Ill.,
COURTESY SUSAN JAYNE
Hounds, and Cornwall Hounds. I was proud to wear the colors of WDH, and I represented my hunt confidently riding Brownie. He was a gentleman at all times. During his off-season, his job was to teach both Katie and Ellen, our younger daughter, how to ride and hunt. One summer Ellen and I rode at 17 different forest preserves in northern Illinois. Children we encountered in the forest preserves would ask to pet him. Ellen would enjoy asking them to guess his name — and many times they were right!! During Ellen’s younger years, Brownie happily ponied her on the trails and eventually in the hunt field 42 | COVERTSIDE
in September 2006. Brownie had one other noteworthy accomplishment — he carried me safely as a mounted steward during the 2006 and 2007 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. When more stewards were needed, I got the call — learning that “only seasoned foxhunters need apply — they are the only ones sane enough for this job.” Brownie is 25 years old now, enjoying his third career in equine assisted psychotherapy. I am still looking for that solid, compassionate, reliable, trustworthy, sound partner to replace him — I guess I should go back to the track.
ASK THE HUNTSMAN
Split Packs A huntsman shares his decision-making process.
N
ative Welshman Rhodri Jones Evans is in his eighth season as professional huntsman for Mooreland Hunt near Huntsville, Alabama. Mooreland’s territory comprises a large peninsula bordered by the Tennessee River, Spring Creek and Highway 20. Most of the coverts are hardwoods and swamps with open farmland in between. Thoroughbreds are the horses of choice, as the coyotes tend to run big, and the pack can cover as much as 30 miles in a day’s hunting. Attentive hounds with Huntsman Rhod Jones Evans
When the pack splits on two different coyotes, how do you decide which to follow? Do you try to pull the hounds back together, or divide your staff and stay with both?
Do you GPS-track hounds or do map runs? If so, how is this technology helpful to you? EVANS: We do use GPS collars on our
ADRIAN JENNINGS
EVANS: If our pack splits I always go with the bigger group and my whipper-in is then left to stop the hounds that split and to push them on to the main pack, which is a lot easier done in open country. In harder country I will split the staff and see what happens. If, for instance, my lot can’t go on with their coyote then I’ll pick them up and get them on to the second group and vice versa.
hounds. We have nine collars on some of my main hounds and my road whip carries the GPS unit, who can monitor the hounds and get himself in the right position when, for example, hounds have to cross roads. Should hounds get into a big swamp (we have two) and I don’t have enough staff to cover it or get around it in time, the GPS can give me the infor-
mation on whether they broke out or not. I also find GPS handy when I have a hound that consistently does not turn up at the right place during a hunt. I can then use the data from the collar to find on the map what he has been up to. It’s always interesting to do the map runs just to see how many miles the hounds have done and what territory they covered. SPRING 2014 | 43
LIBRARY
A Gallop through Time REVIEW BY ROBERT N. FERRER, MFH
“A
Short History of Foxhunting” is a gem of a book. Whether seasoned, novice or armchair foxhunter, the reader will find this book an entertaining read that will be difficult to put down until one turns the last page. The authors, Alastair Jackson and Michael Clayton, trace the history of our beloved sport from 1066 to present day. Both gentlemen have devoted much of their lives to foxhunting and are well known both in this country and in the United Kingdom for their many publications in the sporting press. Alastair Jackson was director of the Masters of Foxhounds Association until his recent retirement. A Master of Foxhounds and huntsman for many years, he is also a talented writer and illustrator
44 | COVERTSIDE
who has contributed regularly to Horse and Hound magazine. He is the author of “The Great Hunts” and has illustrated many books. As editor and hunting correspondent for Horse and Hound for 24 years Michael Clayton has hunted with over 200 packs in Britain, Ireland and the United States and has authored many books on foxhunting. Interesting verse, fantastic sketches and entertaining tales of our sport enthrall the reader chapter after chapter. The stories fly off the page and are very entertaining, and will promise to be part of conversations heard by a warm fire after hunting on both sides of the Atlantic. Included in the book is the story of foxhunting in North America and an index of foxhunting packs in the United States and the United Kingdom. The book
also includes Jackson’s specially commissioned line illustrations of hunting scenes. I have many books on various aspects of foxhunting, but few capture in such a readable, concise and interesting manner the events that have shaped our sport through the ages as does “A Short History of Foxhunting.” It is a must read for any foxhunting enthusiast. Robert Ferrer, MFH, is Master of The Caroline Hunt in Milford, Va.
Long-time foxhunting journalist and author Michael Clayton (L) and author and illustrator Alastair Jackson at a recent book signing.
A SHORT HISTORY OF FOXHUNTING
by Alastair Jackson and Michael Clayton, Merlin Unwin 2013. Available through www.amazon.com, Horse Country, $18.00, hardcover.
Also by Alastair Jackson:
THE GREAT HUNTS: FOXHUNTING COUNTRIES OF THE WORLD David and Charles (UK), 1989, available through www.amazon.com
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Fare & Flask
Marc Patoile
Closing Meet of the Arapahoe hunt was held at the Cherokee Ranch, where 3100 acres is in conservation easement.
A NiBble of History
This Colorado castle has a culinary history. By Mark Patoile
B
ow Tie Canapés were served every time I have been to Tweet Kimball’s Cherokee Ranch in Sedalia, Colorado. Mildred Montigue Genevieve Kimball, who would have chastised you if you called her anything other than “Tweet,” lived at Cherokee Ranch from 1954 to 1999. An avid equestrian and long-time member of the Arapahoe Hunt, she purchased the Flower Homestead and the adjacent Blunt Ranch around 1954. She renamed both pieces of land Cherokee Ranch and their combined total acreage remains over 3,100 acres. She left the
Cherokee Ranch Castle and the land in a conservation easement for many generations to enjoy. Tweet brought Santa Gertrudis cattle from Texas to Colorado, a breed known to thrive on the native grasses of the hot South Texas brush country. Tweet wanted to breed them in the colder high-altitude climate of the Rockies, but many cattlemen told her it couldn’t be done. Tweet loved to be told things couldn’t be done, as she proved them wrong again and again. In 1996, Tweet Kimball arranged for Cherokee Ranch to be “sold” to a land trust, to be held in a perpetual conservation ease-
ment. The Cherokee Ranch and Castle Foundation now holds the land as open space, an event center, a breeding ground for Santa Gertrudis cattle, and an ocassional fixture for the Arapahoe Hunt. The famous recipe for the Cherokee Ranch Bow Tie Canapés is recounted by her butler John Lake and Chef Meg Anderson, now owners of a catering business called Castle Entertaining. They recently published a book, “Castle Entertaining: From Ranch Hands to Royalty,” which contains recipes and reminiscences of the horse people, the cattle woman herself, and the charmed life Tweet lived at this Colorado landmark. Upon making the faux pas at one of our closing hunts of calling one of her traditional Bow Tie servings an “hors d’oeuvre,” John Lake pleasantly went on to tell me, “Actually, this would be called a canapé. Most of us use the words hors d’oeuvre and canapé interchangeably. Tweet was very clear on the different meanings of these items. For sit-down dinners and buffet style, Tweet served canapés. These were bite-sized items passed before dinner on silver trays, usually on crackers or toast points. Hors d’oeuvres are dips or items that require a toothpick. Appetizers would be served as a first course at a sit-down dinner.”
Bow Tie Canapés
Elegant and easy to make, the tasty treats can be served as an appetizer for hunt breakfast. Note the quantities below are approximate. INGREDIENTS: • 1 box of club crackers • 1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese • 1 lb package of bacon Preparation: Pre-heat oven to 250 degrees F. Lay crackers out on a jelly roll pan or other pan with sides. Sprinkle generously with Parmesan cheese.
Wrap each cracker with a 1/3 slice of bacon. They should look like the photo above. Bake for 1 hour or until light brown. Can be frozen and reheated before serving. Serve warm. Images courtesy peoniesand mushrooms.blogspot.com
From Ranch Hands to Royalty For 20 years, Meg Anderson and John Lake catered events at Cherokee Ranch and were friends of Tweet Kimball. In 2010, the two produced “Castle Entertaining: From Ranch Hands to Royalty,” a book of stories and recipes from the ranch. The castle hosts the Arapahoe Hunt on occasion, as well as tours and classes on birding and elk bugling. Find the book and more information at www.cherokeeranch.org 46 | Covertside
Masters of foxhounds association Political action coMMittee (MFHA PAC)
online: To make an online contribution, visit MFHA.com By mail: Use the form below and send to - MFHA PAC, Attn: PAC Treasurer, P O Box 363, Millwood, VA 22646 Please ComPlete Federal law requires MFHA PAC to use its best efforts to collect and report the following information: Name ___________________________________________________________________________________________
The MFHA has been proactive in keeping you informed in our fight against animal rights (AR) legislation. Electing legislators on the state and national level that are sympathetic to foxhunting is key to keeping anti-hunting legislation from becoming law. We need those legislators to introduce prohunting legislation nationwide. Please help us with a donation of any amount.
Occupation____________________________________Employer___________________________________________ Mailing Address ___________________________________________________________________________________ City/State/Zip __________________________________________Email*_____________________________________ Telephone*______________________________*This information is optional, but providing it will help us contact you. I support MFHA PAC! My contribution of $____________ is enclosed. Check one for method of payment:
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LAST RUN OF THE DAY Photograph by Phyllis Loupot
Topsy Turv y INDEPENDENCE FOXY decides that standing up is for more serious hounds. Huntsman Candida Scott of Independence Foxhounds in Burton, Texas, tries to convince Foxy to get serious, but who can resist a good belly rub? The Crossbred hound still won her class at the Southwest Hound Show in Texas last year. —PHYLLIS LOUPOT
EDITOR’S NOTE: Do you have a photo, story or essay to share with Covertside? Send high-resolution, 300 dpi photographs or essays to editor@covertside.net, or snail mail to Covertside, 2329 Lakeview Rd. SW, Albuquerque, NM 87105 48 | COVERTSIDE
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Spacious brick house w/roof top OBSERVATORY in private setting . Large master suite w/ lots of closets. Family room w/ fireplace connects to open kitchen. Large mud room and 4 car garage w/ work benches. Finished lower level w/ in-law suite includes BR, Liv w/fireplace, media room and several work rooms. Pond. Mint condition. LO8105401 $1,190,000 Scott Buzzelli 540.454.1399 Peter Pejacsevich 540.270.3835
**NEW PRICE**EQUESTRIAN DELIGHT! 16+ Gorgeous Acres. 5 Stall Show Barn, Riding Ring, Run In Shed. 4 Bdr, 3.5 Ba, 5600+ Sq Ft Spacious Living. Gourmet Kitchen, FR w Beautiful Stone FP. Basement with Rec Rm, Extra Rm, Full Bath. Gorgeous Wine Cellar, Wood Bar, Exercise Room.**$990,000** Joy Thompson 540-729-3428
Unique Property with MAGNIFICENT VIEWS! Impressive architectual rennovation offers approx 5000 sq ft fin liv space, 5 bedrms (2 MAIN FLR BEDROOMS(1 Master ste), state of art gourmet kit w/Miele & Wolf Appl,43x13 granite island, custom cabinetry,3 fpl,heated pool w/hot tub/waterfall,4 stall barn,runin shed, 6 paddocks,extensive fencing,4 car gar, 2 PONDS (l partial ownership) Min to I-66. FQ8200839 $1,199,000 Scott Buzzelli 540.454.1399 Peter Pejacsevich 540.270.3835 544 TILTHAMMER MILL ROAD
With beautiful views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, this home is located on a 20 acre parcel. The ranch style brick house, with 4 bedrooms and 3 baths, was built in 2007. With a large kitchen, spacious dinning room, a covered porch, patio and a guest house, it is perfect for entertaining. $980,000 Scott Buzzelli 540-454-1399 Peter Pejacsevich 540-270-3835
115 NORTH 21ST STREET PURCELLVILLE VA | 10 E. WASHINGTON STREET MIDDLEBURG, VA