Covertside Summer 2015

PENN-MARYDELS EXPLAINED • MOUNTAIN AND MUSE • SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT: THE KIT

THE MAGAZINE OF MOUNTED FOXHUNTING

SUMMER 2015 • $5.00

sJ o h n C o l e s 2 015 s

“A Virginia Horseman Specializing in Virginia Horse Properties” HouND HALL

ruTLeDge

LoNgwooD

Custom Built stone/stucco 3-story home on 100+ acres with 4 bedrooms plus large master in-law suite with separate parking and entrance. Slate roof,game room, custom theatre, workout room, study, office, dog room, custom kitchen, 4 stone fireplaces. Extensive horse facilities include 18 stall barn,2 stall barn, 14 paddocks, large ring and much more. $6,500,000

The stately 128+ Acre Middleburg Virginia Country Estate offers a genteel lifestyle and majestic views.

Handsome stone and clapboard manor home, 3 additional homes, 2 apartments, farm office, 6 barns, 45 stalls, indoor arena, all beautifully maintained and surrounded by the meticulously groomed grounds. $5,500,000

624 acres with an exceptional Broodmare Barn built in 2003 with 32 stalls, a lovely 3 Bedroom, 2 Bath Tenant House, another 2 Bedroom Tenant House, 3 run-in sheds and hay barn. This is part of Spring Hill Farm. $5,029,543

merryCHASe

wiNDruSH

NorTH HiLL

Magnificent 155 Acre Atoka Road Estate with gated entry opening into the private drive lined with mature trees. The charming historic manor home, c. 1827 backs to expansive views of fields and ponds. 4 tenant homes, 3 barns, indoor and outdoor riding arenas.

Gently rolling pasture land with fenced paddocks and fields. $3,600,000

Magnificent country retreat on 41 acres with incredible privacy & beautiful views. The c.1850 manor home has been graciously expanded into a 7 bedroom home with separate entertaining venue & two-story office w/T-1 capability. Pool, tennis court, gardens, greenhouse, 5 car garage. $3,350,000

c. 1774, Sited high on a knoll, the 16 room Manor Home and “Garden Tea House” enjoy expansive views of mountains, rolling hills and the property’s wonderful Shenandoah River frontage. Once a thoroughbred breeding farm, it offers 20+ stalls and numerous paddocks. North Hill’s rich history provides potential for Historic Preservation Tax Credits. $2,790,000

FoX DeN

goSLiNg

meeTiNg meADowS

Restored Farm House, c.1830 on 65 Private Acres near Middleburg. 3 porches add to the charm. Other features include pool, 4 stall barn with guest suite, 4 bay open equipment barn and 2 bay garage. Shared pond. VOF and PEC Easements do allow for two additional dwellings. $2,395,000

18+ acres of mostly open and rolling land with the home sited perfectly with vast views from both front and back overlooking the pond, gardens and front fields. Cathedral ceilings, Master on the main floor, huge library/living room, private guest rooms, apartment on lower level w/own kitchen/entrance, sprawling deck w/awning. In OCH territory; VOF conservation easement. $2,095,000

OLD CARTERS MILL ROAD - Rare find. Just over 53 acres of prime Orange County Hunt country land with views of the Blue Ridge Mountains on one side and gently rolling, open hills on the other.

All of the adjacent land is protected by conservation easements. $1,400,000

LAND

geNTLy Now

oAk THorPe

RECTORTOWN: 107.76 acres Spectacular views from this highly desirable estate location within the Orange County Hunt Territory. Board fenced with frontage on Atoka Road and Rectortown Road.

Stocked, approx. 4 acre, pond w/island, spring fed from tributary of Goose Creek. Open Space Easement allows for building of main dwelling, garage or barn with apt. and appropriate farm structures. Zoned RA. $1,250,000 Private and charming 31 acre horse property is a combination of woodland and gently rolling open land.

Beautifully remodeled in 2005, this three bedroom, three bath home offers one level living. 7 stalls, 4 paddocks and tremendous ride-out potential in Orange County Hunt Territory. $1,690,000

NAKED MOUNTAIN - Delaplane, 276 acres of land on Naked Mountain. A true hunter's paradise!

Mostly wooded, very private. Nice elevation, from 670 to 1,400. Kettle Run stream runs through, great opportunity for tax credits. $1,159,410

Beautiful 4 bedroom, 5 bath home on over 50 acres with incredible views in all directions. Perfect for horse enthusiasts or great for enjoying country living. Elegant living spaces. Fencing, convertible barn, water features, lush gardens, covered porches and decks for outdoor entertaining and much more. ODH Territory. $1,345,000

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

FRED HAYCOCK

SUMMER 2015 • VOLUME 6, NUMBER 2

Features 10 SINKHOLE RESCUE PHOTOGRAPHS BY DR. WARNER RAY, MFH

Foxhunters band together to save a beloved horse.

16 PENN-MARYDELS DEMYSTIFIED

BY JODY MURTAGH

Breed expert Jody Murtagh shares his insights on this all-American hound.

22 MOUNTAIN AND MUSE

BY KIMBERLY K. EAGAN In 1814, a pair of hounds landed in Baltimore and changed the face of American hound breeding.

28

Page 28

FINE ART OF FOXHUNTING

BY KATY CARTER

Capturing the art of the hunt.

IN EACH ISSUE:

Our annual art round-up features printmaker Sally Mitchell and painter Beth Munnings-Winter.

From the President p.2

8

MILESTONES News about clubs and members

12

THE FIXTURE Green Spring Valley Hounds receive the 2015 MFHA Foundation Hunting Habitat Award.

34

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR DAVID CHATOWSKY, ARTIST

From the Publisher p.4

MFHA News p.6

Last Run of the Day p.52

36

EDUCATION Tommy Gesell of the Wiggins Hounds continues his Professional Development Program journey.

45

THE LIBRARY “The Iroquois Hunt: A Bluegrass Foxhunting Tradition” by Christopher and Glenye Oakford

39

ASK THE HUNTSMAN Palm Beach Hounds Huntsman Noel Ryan talks hound breeding.

48

FARE & FLASK Belle Meade Hunt devours delicious braised chicken with leeks.

40

HOUNDS & HORSES Hunt horse hoof health and hunting with the Paradise Valley Beagles.

50

THE FIND Cool finds for closet and tack room.

ON OUR COVER: At the Days End by Fred Haycock. PHOTO BY JOHN MITCHELL. SUMMER 2015 | 1

FROM THE PRESIDENT

Opportunities

A

2 | COVERTSIDE

www.mfha.com

OFFICERS

Dr. John R. van Nagell, MFH • President Patrick A. Leahy, MFH • First Vice-President Leslie Crosby, MFH • Second Vice-President Joseph Kent, ex-MFH • 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

HUNT STAFF BENEFIT FOUNDATION Nancy Stahl, MFH • Chairman PO Box 363, Millwood, VA 22646 (540) 955-5680

COVERTSIDE EDITORIAL BOARD DAVE TRAXLER

s our strategic planning effort continues, it is important that the MFHA becomes aware of opportunities you think are available to advance our sport. What should we be doing, both at a local and national level, to ensure the growth and vitality of foxhunting? It has been suggested that we interact more closely with other related equine organizations such as the United States Eventing Association (USEA) and the United States Hunter Jumper Association (USHJA), while continuing to work toward common goals with the U.S. Pony Club. In this way, we can develop a more planned introduction of riders in those disciplines to foxhunting.

As we look toward the future, the MFHA is dedicated to maximizing opportunities for our members, strengthening hunts, and facilitating outreach to interested individuals and organizations. With these goals in mind, we are asking for your input concerning which components should be present at the MFHA headquarters. Clearly, this facility should contain space for the executive director and staff offices, meeting rooms, and an area in which some of the valued history of American foxhunting could be presented. This would be the focus of interest for visitors and young riders seeking to know more about the sport.

Access to air and ground transportation, as well as proximity to other hunts and related equine organizations, are also important considerations. First Vice President Tony Leahy and the MFHA Site Committee are evaluating the best available options. Please give us your thoughts.

I hope many of you are able to show your hounds at some of the outstanding hound shows this spring and summer.

What tremendous events these shows are, and we all owe a great debt of gratitude to

MASTERS OF FOXHOUNDS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA

those who work so hard to organize and put them on. As emphasized by Nigel Peel in his brilliant address at the 2015 MFHA Annual Meeting in New York, there is a direct relationship between work and good looks in hounds, and showing gives us the chance to evaluate the individuals in our packs.

Summer is an exciting time for many foxhunters. We are able to observe our young entry as they begin their education with the veterans in the pack. Also, we have a unique opportunity to develop meaningful relationships with our hounds and horses during the peace and quiet of this season.

The sport of foxhunting truly provides us joy throughout the year. How lucky we are!

Sincerely,

Dr. Jack van Nagell, MFH President, MFHA

Emily Esterson • Editor-in-Chief Dennis J. Foster, ex-MFH Dr. John R. van Nagell, MFH Patrick A. Leahy, MFH Leslie Crosby, MFH

DIRECTORS

Canada • Laurel Byrne, MFH Carolinas • Fred Berry, MFH Central • Arlene Taylor, 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 • Tad Zimmerman, MFH Pacific • Terry Paine, MFH Pennsylvania • Russell B. Jones, Jr., ex-MFH Rocky Mountain • Mary Ewing, MFH Southern • Mercer Fearington, MFH Virginia • Bob Ferrer, MFH Western • John P. Dorrier Jr., MFH At Large • Daphne Wood, 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, May, 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

PENNSYLVANIA’S FAMED HUNT COUNTRY

CHESHIRE HUNT COUNTRY

CHESHIRE HUNT COUNTRY

Taylor Made Farm sits on 31 acres in a great hunt location. The 4 BR, 3.2 BA main home has dramatic spaces & a stellar Master Suite. There is also a small barn, tennis court, and in-ground pool plus Unionville Schools! $2,389,900

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. $2,250,00

RADNOR HUNT

CHESHIRE HUNT COUNTRY

Fantastic 5BR, 4.2BA home with absolutely stellar appointments! New gourmet Kitchen, new Baths, new flooring, new geothermal system, in-ground pool! Next to Ridley Creek Park & GV schools!

Call Holly for additional details. $1,500,000

Deerhaven Farm offers exceptional privacy, great location in “Tuesday Country” and surrounded by large, protected estates. On 30 acres, there is a 4BR, 2.1 BA home, 6 stall barn, a lighted ring and easement allows for an indoor. $1,220,000

NEW PRICE!

CHADDS FORD

This well maintained c.1715, 4BR, 3.2BA home sits on a very private 7.8 acres. Set well off the road, this home is only 1 of 10 houses remaining from the Battle of the Brandywine. Wonderful living spaces, pond and a large “Party Barn”! $950,000

NORTHERN CHESTER COUNTY

Looking for a wonderful & affordable horse farm? You must see this 10.93 acre farm with a spacious 4BR, 2.1BA home, a great 6 stall barn, and a 100' x 200' lighted ring! Located in a wonderful equestrian area. $739,000

CHESHIRE HUNT COUNTRY

Greenmore Farm enjoys one of the most phenomenal views in the county! Current living quarters is over the 6 stall barn consisting of 3BR, BA and high end spaces! Build your dream home and enjoy the view! $850,000

CHESHIRE HUNT COUNTRY

Newlin Homes will build this 5,300 sq. ft. home on a 20.5 acre parcel surrounded by large estates in hunt country! Other floor plans available at variety of prices. $1,749,000

NEW PRICE!

BIRCHRUN HUNT

Set on a quiet road in Chester Springs, you must see this 4BR, 3.1BA well-maintained & updated home on 10.44 acres w/2BR Cottage & stunning 4 stall barn. Large ring & several paddocks. $1,199,500

AVON GROVE

Set on 21.5 acres, the home has been totally updated with new roof, windows, siding, Kitchen, Baths, heating system, septic system & the list goes on!

There’s a 6 stall barn, outbuildings and several paddocks. $825,000

NEW PRICE!

UPPER UWCHLAN TOWNSHIP

You MUST SEE this stunning antique stone farmhouse, tenant house and stone barn on 15.7 acres near Marsh Creek State Park and Brandywine Creek! $699,000

UPPER UWCHLAN

This charming 4BR, 2.1BA home enjoys wonderful views over the Black Horse Creek & sits on a large 4 acre lot. Stunning Kitchen & wonderful outdoor spaces to take in the views. Detached barn and Garage. $625,000

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The Art of Hounds

F

or the past two issues, Covertside has turned its editorial lens squarely on hounds. Each issue we’ve assigned an in-depth piece about one of the breeds that are part of the overall family we call foxhounds in this country.

This has been a satisfying editorial direction for me. In the course of assigning, editing and reading these feature stories, I’ve gathered tons of new information about English and Crossbred hounds, bits of information about bloodlines and attributes and all kinds of new knowledge.

This issue, we continue the series with our Penn-Marydel feature, written by the venerable Jody Murtagh, former huntsman for Rose Tree and Moore County Hounds.

Murtagh’s piece is comprehensive — it includes history, bloodlines, attributes and his own experience and knowledge thrown into the mix.

As many of you know, foxhunters love their lifestyle as well as their hounds and horses. Our summer issue features some undiscovered foxhunting artists, those who have found the inspiration for their work in the colors, contrasts, and landscapes that move us. This issue we focus on a lesser known artist whose work features Golden’s Bridge. David Chatowsky’s work might be described as folk art, while Beth Munnings Winter (yes, a relative of that Munnings) channels a storied family artistic history.

We’re also trying something new in this issue: It’s called “The Kit” and is a pocket-guide to getting ready for the upcoming season. Admittedly, some of the smaller maintenance tasks our writers uncovered were a surprise to me. Trish Bosley’s tip on hanging clothes on a wooden hanger, for example, was something I hadn’t thought about, and although I’m a conservative trailer driver, I didn’t know that trailer tires had a speed limit.

We hope you find plenty of great tips, knowledge, ideas, inspiration and just plain foxhunting-oriented entertainment within the pages of Covertside. As always, it’s a joy to put together, because we know that readers look forward to it.

Suggestions, ideas and submissions are welcome.

Kick on!

LEXI MACKENZIE

Emily Esterson Editor-in-Chief/Publisher

4 | COVERTSIDE

SUMMER 2015 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/PUBLISHER EMILY ESTERSON publisher@covertside.net 505-553-2671 ART DIRECTOR GLENNA STOCKS production@covertside.net

EDITORIAL ASSOCIATE EDITOR KATY CARTER katy@covertside.net

CONTRIBUTING

WRITERS

SUSAN HOFFMAN JO MESZOLY LAURA MULLANE MICHAEL STERN

ADVERTISING AND MARKETING SALES MANAGER 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

2nd Annual Southeast Hunter Trials SATURDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2015

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HILLTOPPER OPEN HUNTER

FAMILY CLASS FOXHUNTER COSTUME CLASS SIDESADDLE FUTURE FOXHUNTER RIBBONS AWARDED THROUGH 6TH PLACE

TEAMS PAIRS

$2500 PRIZE MONEY

AND STABLE VIEW SOUTHEAST HUNTER TRIALS

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MFHA NEWS

 MFHA PRESENTS RHYMES

by Misty Morning Hounds (FL) at

HONORING HORSES AND HOUND

the end of April, was a huge suc-

MFHA presents Rhymes Honor-

cess. Seventeen hunts from coast

ing Horses & Hounds, an audio CD

to coast and Canada attended.

Master/Field Master speakers were Melody Fleckenstein, MFH, Woodbrook Hunt, Elaine Ittlema, MFH, Green Mountain, and Andrew Komer, MFH Sewickley.

produced, narrated and donated

Friday kicked off with a party

to the association by Brian Munn.

and kennel visit while Saturday

Munn, an actor, voice over profes-

started early with a drag dem-

sional and hunting aficionado,

onstration as huntsman Alexis

offers this wonderful tribute to our

Macaulay showed off her beautiful

hunting a pack of drag hounds

Hunt, won a donated Hit Air Ad-

sport through classic poems.

pack of American and Penn-

with huntsmen Alexis Macaulay,

vantage air vest in a raffle where

Marydel hounds.

Francois Sequin, Lake of Two

the proceeds were split between

Moderated by MFHA 2nd Vice

Mountains, John Tabachka, Sewick-

the MFHA and Misty Morning.

and television dramas,” said Munn.

President Leslie Crosby, the Field

ley, Jennifer Hansen, Woodbrook

Sunday morning everyone

“There has been so little poetry

Masters/Masters panel brought

Hunt and retired huntsman Eugene

showed up to walk out hounds.

written about our sport. I wanted

the house down with a well-co-

McKay. Much of the discussion

Within minutes after leaving the

to share a few of the gems I

ordinated discussion about hunt

centered on how to improve cry,

kennel they were drenched in a

discovered that have added sig-

problems and responsibilities.

the methods and composition of

downpour, but foxhunters they

nificantly to my love of poetry.”

One of the most informative por-

the lure for drag and how to make

were and the walk out didn’t falter.

The CD has 23 tracks and can

tions of the talk was fundraising

realistic checks for hounds to lose

They returned happy, but looking

be purchased via www.mfha.org

suggestions and ideas for hunts.

and find as in live hunting.

like a bunch of drowned rats!

or by calling the office at 540-

There also was considerable

Congressman Ted Yoho, a large

955-5680.

discussion on how the MFHA,

animal veterinarian, talked to the

 SAVE THE DATE FOR the

“Foxhunting features strongly in the visual arts, and in movies

The afternoon session covered

Michael Wager, MFH, Woodbrook

with its Professional Development

group about his problems fighting

MFHA Biennial Staff Seminar

 2015 MFHA DRAG SEMINAR

Program (PDP), could help hunts

animal rights legislation and how

which will return to Virginia April

The MFHA Drag Seminar, hosted

with problems.

HSUS can manipulate politicians.

22-23, 2016.

6 | COVERTSIDE

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MILESTONES

Gone Away LOUIS EVERETT BOONE,

MFH, Waterloo Hunt WATERLOO HUNT

Louis Everett Boone, MFH, Waterloo Hunt (Michigan), passed away on January 15, 2015, at the age of 91.

During Louis’ early hunting years, he had been known to fall off three times during the course of a hunt, but he would always get back up and continue on. In spite of this, Louie became quite an accomplished rider, and in 1974, he became a Master of Foxhounds and continued as a Master until his death.

In his later years, being a bit slight of hearing, Louie would select a young person from the field to ride with him to help hear the hounds.

But as many times as not, as the run started he would send his assistant to alert staff while he stayed close with the hounds.

DR. ROBERT CORR,

Dr. Robert Corr, ex-MFH, Shakerag Hounds (Georgia) passed away in late 2014 in Atlanta, Georgia at the age of 89.

COURTESY SHAKERAG

Dr. Corr joined Shakerag Hounds, which is Georgia’s oldest recognized foxhunting organization, in 1963 and was named a Master in 1980. He continued his support until he passed away. Noted for his personal attention to new members as they became familiar with the traditions, proper etiquette and thrills of foxhunting, more than one of his ‘students’ went on to become Masters themselves.

An annual Shakerag award has been established to recognize those members who demonstrate Dr. Corr’s unique contributions of preserving the true traditions of foxhunting throughout the year.

JANET HITCHEN Award-winning equestrian and country life photographer Janet Hitchen died at her farm in Millwood, Virginia, on March 24, 2015. She was 71.

CROWELL HADDON

8 | COVERTSIDE

A native of Washington, D.C., Hitchen graduated from the University of Maryland and became a professional horsewoman, showing on the hunter-jumper circuit and hunting with Potomac Hunt (Maryland), before turning wholeheartedly to photography. She trained at the

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Corcoran College of Art and Design (Washington, D.C.) and Photoworks at Glen Echo Park (Maryland). Janet started her own photography business and soon became a fixture at horse shows, hunt fixtures, and point-to-points. Her work has been published in countless publications — including Covertside — in the United States and abroad.

ARCHIBALD JOHNSTON KINGSLEY, ex-MFH, Middleburg Hunt

Archibald “Arch” Johnston Kingsley died March 17, 2015, age 87.

Kingsley served in the United States Navy and graduated from Hobart College (New York) before embarking on a 34-year career as a commercial airline pilot. Arch owned and rode horses both as an amateur steeplechase jockey and as a Joint MFH for Middleburg Hunt (Virginia). He continued his involvement in steeplechasing as an owner, running horses on both sides of the Atlantic.

More recently, he purchased a vintage airplane in order to commute from his home in White Stone, Va. to Middleburg in order to hunt.

The Middleburg Hunt dedicated its April 26 point-to-point race meet to Arch’s memory.

COURTESY KINGLSEY

ex-MFH, Shakerag Hounds

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5. A TRACTOR WITH LOG LIFTER ARRIVES and Senior Master Marty Wood directs its driver as John Walsh (of “America’s Most Wanted” TV show fame) holds onto Flash’s lead rope.

6. FLASH IS DRAGGED OUT of the sinkhole.

7. EXHAUSTED AND IN SHOCK, a cold, shaking Flash is given a comforting hug.

8. PIPER LEADS A COMPLETELY SOUND FLASH to a waiting trailer.

9. SOAKING WET AND FILTHY, MASTER REYNOLDS SMILES with satisfaction at the miraculous group effort that saved a treasured horse.

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Sink Hole Rescue

Heroic foxhunters band together to extricate a cherished horse from certain doom.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY DR. WARNER RAY, MFH BEAR CREEK HOUNDS

ON MARCH 6, 2015, Live Oak Hounds Huntsman Dale Barnett was drawing a wooded covert when a sinkhole opened up underneath his horse, Virginia Flash, as the pair walked across seemingly solid ground. Literally swallowed, Dale threw himself to safety as Flash disappeared from under him. Members of the field joined the Masters and staff in a huge endeavor to quickly formulate and execute actions to remove Flash from the sink hole.—DAPHNE WOOD, MFH, Live Oak Hounds

1. WITH ONLY HIS HEAD ABOVE WATER, Joint Master John Reynolds and Whipper-in Piper Parrish try to calm frantic Flash.

2. JAY PARR PREPARES TO DIVE under water in order to secure a tow strap around Flash’s belly.

3. BIRD DOG TRAINER CHARLES MORTON AND PAUL TABER HOLD JAY’S BELT as he attaches the tow strap around Flash.

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4. PETER LLOP OF GENESSEE VALLEY HELPS a long line of Live Oak members in an unsuccessful attempt to pull Flash out of the sinkhole.

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SUMMER 2015 | 11

THE FIXTURE

Under constant development pressure, Green Spring Valley Hounds (Md.) has spent five decades and countless volunteer hours, working to conserve a large block of land. The hunt was recognized for efforts in open space preservation and awarded the 2015 MFHA Foundation Hunting Habitat Conservation Award.

Preserving Land Pays Off

I

Conserving Green Spring Valley’s hunt country required foresight and diligence. BY SUSAN HOFFMAN | PHOTOGRAPH TAMMIE J. MONACO

t seems incongruous, but the third-most populated county in Maryland is also home to some of the East Coast’s most breathtaking foxhunting country. A mere 16 miles from the center of Baltimore City, Green Spring Valley Hounds’ (GSVH) territory is constantly under development pressure. But, thanks to more than five decades of effort by an ever-changing group of zealous, dedicated people, GSVH enjoys a large block of well-protected, well-conserved land.

THE 2015 CONSERVATION AWARD WINNER

GSVH was recognized for its conservation efforts at the MFHA annual meeting in New York City 12 | COVERTSIDE

in January when the hunt was announced as this year’s Hunting Habitat Conservation award winner. Fourteen entries vied for the honor, but “GSVH was chosen because of their major conservation efforts that began in the 1960s, before most of the rest of us had even heard of conservation easements,” said Daphne Flowers Wood, MFHA conservation chairman and MFH, Live Oak Hounds.

GSVH Joint Masters Sheila Jackson Brown, George P. Mahoney Jr., and Franklin Whit Foster, and former Joint Master Ned Halle, accepted the award and the $5,000 prize money. A handsome ceramic platter with the GSVH and MFHA logos, painted by Wendy Butter, was also presented to the hunt at the ceremony.

Wood told the meeting attendees, “It makes no difference if you have the best hounds in the world and the most supportive membership imaginable if you have no rural, good habitat to hunt them in. The best way to ensure your hunt

country will be there in the future is to permanently protect it with conservation easements.”

In accepting the award, Brown said, “This award is confirmation that the work we have done in the past has continued to the present day, and will be

THE MFHA FOUNDATION HUNTING HABITAT CONSERVATION AWARD THE PURPOSE IS TO recognize those foxhunting clubs, individuals and organizations that have made significant and enduring contributions toward the preservation of rural countryside and its flora and fauna. Questions concerning this award should be directed to the MFHA Foundation Conservation Committee at www.mfha.org, or to Daphne Flowers Wood, MFH Live Oak Hounds, conservation chairman, at dfwmfh@gmail.com.

the impetus moving forward to other conservation challenges and opportunities.”

DECADES OF CONSERVATION LEADERSHIP

Today, many foxhound packs in North America are dealing with the same habitat destruction and loss-of-use issues as GSVH and are scrambling to stem the damage, if not turn the tide. Fortunately, GSVH was ahead of its time in realizing the importance of protecting rural lands. The club’s multi-phase conservation efforts were initiated none too soon, especially with the burgeoning growth of bedroom communities in the Baltimore/Washington area encroaching on GSVH territory.

In the 1960s, a few hunt members placed perpetual conservation easements on their farms, thereby preventing further subdivision and commercial development. Many neighbors soon followed suit. The hunt even sold an easement on its own property to create an endowment to be used for further land preservation projects.

A few key members were instrumental in forming the Valleys Planning Council (VPC), a privately financed organization that works with Baltimore County to steer the development process in a way to protect the Green Spring and Worthington valleys.

For more than 50 years, the VPC has been at the forefront of land use planning and preservation techniques in northwestern Baltimore County. The group’s efforts have yielded lasting, positive impacts, not the least of which was the 1979 zoning classification for agricultural areas that changed lot sizes from one acre to 50 acres.

The impact of this zoning on the preservation of hunt country cannot be overstated.

In 1980, the VPC created the Land Preservation Trust, Inc. (LPT), a qualified 501(c)(3) land conservation trust that can accept and hold conservation easements in perpetuity. Today, the LPT holds perpetual easements on approximately 25,000 acres of GSVH country.

The LPT also administers the Rural Legacy Program for northwestern Baltimore County. This program, created by the State of Maryland in 1998, identifies areas worthy of state funds to enhance existing local preservation efforts.

Equestrian Style...

PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT

GSVH leaders spend a great deal of time and effort working with government officials and organizations to create permanent easements. The hunt is closely connected to key conservation groups and vice versa. In fact, former GSVH MFH Ned Halle, who submitted this year’s GSVH Conservation Award application to the MFHA, is the LPT’s current vice president. Hunt members also serve on the board of the VPC. Also, from time to time, the hunt has called upon its members, as well as tapping the club’s treasury, to provide financing for the purchase of farms that despite favorable zoning would have been developed in a manner destructive to the environment.

The foresight and diligence of a few key GSVH members, both in the past as well as today, enable the hunt to enjoy approximately 25 by 12 miles of prime terrain that’s protected under permanent easements.

from subway to saddle.

Blundstone

ONE GOOD AWARD DESERVES ANOTHER

Considering GSVH’s long history of spearheading conservation efforts and participating in land preservation organizations, it SUMMER 2015 | 13

CONSERVATION EASEMENT IDEAS CONTACT the MFHA’s national office at (540) 955-5680 or www.mfha.org to access valuable information and articles, and to help source experts who can help your hunt with land conservation efforts.

Book II,” a useful booklet describing the benefits and problems connected with the creation of a conservation easement. Written by a nationally-recognized attorney and expert on the topic.

READ “Preserving Family Lands:

CONTACT the Land Trust Alliance in

comes as no surprise that this is the second time the hunt has received the MFHA Conservation Award. The first was in 2003, and GSVH currently holds the distinction of being the only club

Washington, D.C., at (202) 638-4725 or www.landtrustalliance. org, for publications and “how to” booklets on the mechanics of crafting conservation easements.

SPEAK with an attorney who specializes in tax planning and who has experi-

in the award’s 18-year history to have won it twice.

However, “One can’t rest on one’s laurels,” said Brown. “Just this past year, we worked on a long range plan that addresses

ence in drafting and implementing a conservation easement.

CONDUCT a foxhunting clinic or pony club camp where children are exposed to and indoctrinated in the intimate connection between land conservation and equestrian activities.

multiple issues moving forward in this 21st century.” The plan calls for GSVH leadership to take responsibility in assuring that the hunt is an active leader and supporter of conservation activities

— financially, proactively and by example. “It’s a never-ending effort for us, becoming more difficult as time passes, land changes hands and population pressure increases, and it is only possible through the cooperation and collaboration of many people and organizations,” Brown said.

The closing sentence on GSVH’s Hunting Habitat Conservation Award entry form best sums up why the hunt received the award this year and 12 years ago. It simply yet eloquently reads, “There are perhaps hunt clubs which have done as much for land preservation, but it is doubtful that any have done more.”

Susan Hoffman hunts with Andrews Bridge Foxhounds in Pa. She is a frequent Covertside contributor.

Genesee Valley Hunt SPORTING WEEKEND OCTOBER 9-12, 2015

14 | COVERTSIDE

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CoyoTe invasion• Phoenix Rising • foxhunTeRs Take on Mongolia

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To join, make check payable to the MFHA and mail to: Masters of Foxhounds Association of America, PO Box 363, Millwood, VA 22646.

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Your valuable support of the MFHA and its foundations helps to promote and preserve foxhunting and countryside values.

PENN-MARYDELS DEMYSTIFIED

BY JODY MURTAGH

A long-time Penn-Marydel expert discusses the history and the characteristics of this home-grown hound.

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Below: Kirkwood Kennels MFH and Huntsman Mac Roy Jackson, descendent of Richard Jackson Jr., who founded the family kennels near Dover, Delaware.

COURTESY JACKSON FAMILY

T

GRETCHEN PELHAM

HE PENN-MARYDEL is a truly American hound, descended from those that came with the settlers to America from England and France in the early 1600s. These settlers came to what we now call the Eastern Shore. The Jackson family, considered the founders of the breed, settled around 1682 in the family seat, in Maryland. Jackson’s Choice, a 300-acre tract on the Eastern Bay shore opposite lower Kent Island, was patented to Richard Jackson by Lord Baltimore in 1664.

In 1697, Richard Jackson Jr. bought a 130-acre tract called Folly Neck in Murderkill Hundred of Kent County, Delaware, where he moved after leaving Maryland. According to the history of the Jackson family, some members stayed in the area and eventually Mac Roy Jackson and Gilder Jackson established a kennel on the Jackson farm near Dover, Delaware, through the era when Roy Jackson was Master/huntsman of the Rose Tree Fox Hunting Club in Media, Pennsylvania, and later huntsman and Master of his private pack, Kirkwood Kennels, and Master/huntsman at the Radnor Hunt Club from 1929-1944.

During Roy Jackson’s life (1876-1944), he and his brothers kept the kennels near Dover and raised and traded hounds from the Eastern Shore up into the hunts in the Chester and Delaware County areas of Pennsylvania.

Thus was derived the name Penn-Marydel hounds, which was incorporated in 1934 by Mr. and Mrs. M. Roy Jackson with the assistance of Walter M. Jeffords, former Master of the Rose Tree Fox Hunting Club, Mr. William H. Aston, MFH of the Eagle Hunt, and John B. Hannum Jr., a member of the RTH, who at one time was hunting his own pack at Theodore, Maryland. Jeffords later established his own pack which ultimately became the Andrews Bridge Foxhounds we know today.

During this time, PMD hounds became very popular in Chester and Delaware counties, especially with farmer packs such as the Kirk Hounds, Crawford Twadell’s Hounds, The West Chester Hunt, and many more. Roy Jackson became quite the ambassador for the PMD hounds, traveling and becoming very involved with the Golden’s Bridge Hounds in New York and The Fairfield County Hounds in Connecticut, both of which integrated the SUMMER 2015 | 17

PMD blood into their packs.

These have become tried and true PMD packs to this day.

THE NOSE, THE VOICE, THE LOOK

Along the way these true sportsmen established what I think defines the difference between an American foxhound and a true PMD hound. Apparently over a long period of time these gentlemen zoned in on several attributes that stood out in some hounds that were truly wellsuited for the Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware country they were hunting.

One such trait was a very steady and good nose, probably due to the harsh winter conditions; secondly, the PMDs have a great voice, sometimes called a booming voice, due to those large covers (such as Penn’s Woods), and thirdly a very mild demeanor that, in my estimation, gave the PMDs their biddability in many situations. One other thing that makes the PMD stand out from all of the other foxhound breeds is the look of the PMD hound.

To tell you the truth, early on the American hounds and the PMDs looked very similar. And so they should have because originally they all came from the same stock, but later American breeders went toward a more refined look and in my estimation were a little more influenced by the conformation/showing aspect of hunting.

JIM MEADS

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Jody and Barbara Murtagh proudly stand with their granddaughter Codie Jane Hayes as RTH Needy ’01 is presented with grand champion accolades at the Virginia Hound Show — 2004.

Right: Tennessee Valley PMDs demonstrate the breed’s good nose, tremendous voice and laid-back disposition.

GRETCHEN PELHAM

After studying the PMDs as I have, it is very obvious to me that the early PMD breeders were not so worried about the conformation of their hounds, although the likes of Mr. Jackson’s Kirkwood Kennels, The Radnor, and the Rose Tree clubs did do very well at the early shows. And yet I think that the true sportsmen were definitely more interested in the stamina and “true to the line” ability of their hounds, since almost all of these early hunts and huntsmen hunted their hounds six days a week, especially Mr. Jackson and the Eastern Shore hunts.

Most if not all of the “true to the line” Masters and huntsmen of the PMDs actually bred for hounds that could stick to the line of a fox in all conditions while staying together in those large covers, without having to be called in at every check or turn of the quarry. I know that the PMDs have gotten a bad rap for being

slow and mundane, but some Masters/huntsmen loved to be able to hear and see the work of their hounds without having to kill themselves trying to stay right on top of their charges all of the time. This is where the nose and voice come into play, in that these hounds not only follow a fox’s line without losing valuable time at checks, but their big voices help them keep each other, staff, and members, in touch even in hard country to traverse.

As far as stamina and speed I’ll give you a little story about my good friend and astute huntsman Donald Philhower. In 1990, we were hunting our joint packs, Rose Tree (RTH) and Golden’s Bridge (GBH) hounds at a joint meet in RTH country, and we jumped a fox about an hour into our day.

Hounds struck and made a short circle and then struck out on a two-hour tour of some of RTH’s prime territory. Donald and I were

having trouble staying on terms, and even our young whips Missy Murtagh and Erin McKinney were being stretched out a bit. At one point when we were catching a breather, Donald turned to me and said, “I thought you told me your hounds weren’t very fast!! Goddamn, man, they can fly!!!”

Don’t get me wrong — the conformation aspect is very important to the running ability and stamina of hounds during a chase, but in my opinion only, the showing aspect has had great bearing on the attributes of our hounds, as well as their looks and hunting ability, especially in this coyote-chasing era.

I will admit that when I was in the early years of my Rose Tree history as MFH/huntsman, several of us PMD-ites realized that if we were going to pursue the showing aspect of the sport and have any fun at it, we could no longer breed just for the run-

FAQ: WHY ARE SOME PEDIGREES IN THE MFHA PROGRAM SHOWING “PENN-MD LISTED” (PL)?

This denotes only that this hound has an outcross and has not yet become a Pure “Penn-MD” (less than 8% BC).

The PMD Association pedigree shows the following: example (09-0127R) Registered Pure Penn-MD or (L09-0127).

ARE PMDS ALWAYS BLACK AND TAN? The color of a pure PMD as per the original PMD standards is any color, no preferences. Some packs have preferred to breed only black and tans. This is strictly a breeder’s preference and has nothing to do with the breed standards.

WHY ARE THERE SO MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF PMDS? Only a few things can be said about types of a strain of hounds.

If one would look at the other breeds of foxhounds you could say the same thing, and this is only because each person in charge of breeding a pack of hounds has his or her preferences as to what type of hunting they want to produce, especially since the coyote has become so much the quarry of choice or happenstance.

One can only say that original founders of the PMD breed had pretty strict standards as to size, structure, and the look of the breed; but still each hound breeder had his or her twist on the hound they wanted for showing them their sport. Keep in mind that these folks were concerned only with hunting the sly red fox.

SUMMER 2015 | 19

ning attribute. We had to step it up a notch because the likes of Andrews Bridge, Golden’s Bridge, and a few more were making us look sick in the show rings.

So step it up we did and spent several years honing in on conformation while still keeping to the old attributes, being careful not to lose the nose, the voice, and the look.

After about five years of this effort — around 2000 — I could see quite a difference in the quality of what we were hunting and showing while still keeping those great traits in the hunting field, and we were finally able to hold our own in the show ring and take home some ribbons. The PMDs had made great strides by getting their own rings at the MidAmerica, the Carolinas and the Virginia Hound shows. Of

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course The Bryn Mawr Hound Show at the Radnor Hunt Club in Pennsylvania was still the hotbed for PMDs and remains that way to this day, sort of its melting pot throughout history with all of the local organized farmer packs and recognized hunts in attendance.

The year 2004 was a real turning point for the PMD breed.

The shows were becoming very competitive with more and more clubs fine-tuning their breeding programs. All the while, PMDs were becoming more and more popular as true hunting hounds; whether it was because more PMD clubs were traveling to joint meets, or maybe some eyes had been opened at the now very popular hound trials, I don’t know — I truly think it was all of the above, and to top it off, Rose Tree Fox Hunting Club

had an historic moment at the Virginia Hound Show.

A foxhound bitch, RTH Needy ’01 shown by 12-yearold Codie Jane Hayes, my granddaughter, had blown away the competition. For the first time ever a PMD had won the Grand Championship of the entire show. This was also very special to the PMD community in that the judge, C. Martin Wood, MFH Live Oak Hounds — the most renowned judge in the U.S. — had put his stamp on a PMD champion.

One other reason the PMDs have become so popular is that the foxhunting scene has changed dramatically with the relatively new quarry now replacing the red fox in most territories from the Northeast all the way to Florida. Wiley Coyote has so drastically changed

the chase from the red fox’s meandering territorial tour to a frenzied nightmarish chase that will take you right out of your territory and adds a layer of uncertainty to the chase for the huntsman and staff.

Most of the original hunts in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Delaware where the PMD originated have gotten relatively lucky in that only an occasional coyote pops up, but when they do, most are still breaking hounds from running them.

Still in the bigger picture of our sport, most hunts except for a few have opted to run the coyotes, thus changing the overall picture of our sport as we traditional foxhunters knew it.

Thus comes the rub: how can we slow things down to the point of remaining in control of our hunts? Of course some as-

tute houndsmen thought, “well, we will just breed to those slow PMDs and all will be fine.”

I can’t tell you how many of these kinds of inquiries all of us original PMD-ites have gotten.

One problem is that most of us had bred hounds up due to the conformation issue mentioned earlier, and lo and behold, we had the same problem — they weren’t the slow hounds that they were supposed to be at all.

Take it from a Master/huntsman who took his pack of “slow” PMDs down to Southern Pines, Moore County Hounds territory, and found out the hard way that they weren’t so damn slow after all! We did have a lot of sport, with about half on coyotes and half gray foxes, which did demonstrate that after getting acclimated on the grays, PMDs could handle all sorts of quarry even in the

Sand Hills, another plus for the PMD’s great scenting ability.

THE PROBLEM WITH BREEDING FOR SPEED

Even though I probably had as top-notch a staff as one could wish for, while running coyotes I felt I had very little control of what I was used to as a chase.

I always felt like we were on a point-to-point that hardly ever ended on a good note. I will admit that there are some PMD packs that have kept from getting carried away with breeding for speed, and if I were to start anew I would certainly seek these hunts out.

One reason this theory of breeding slower hounds might work is that the coyote only goes as fast as he is pursued, so yes, most of us original PMD breed-

ers have tried not to push the envelope of speed in our programs, but if you have ever bred a pack of hounds for a certain trait you know it takes forever to see your results, especially slowing down hounds that you have bred up, as they say.

Of late, a great PMD hound came to the forefront, proving that the PMDs can accomplish almost anything if the stars align.

Yes, Golden’s Bridge and Andrews Bridge Foxhounds put together two PMD hounds that produced Golden’s Bridge Phoenix 2012 who topped even RTH’s Needy ’01 by winning both overall championships at the Virginia and Bryn Mawr shows last year.

A couple of interesting notes about GBH Phoenix 2012 and RTH Needy 2001: The pedigrees of both go back eight generations to an outcross made in 1986 by

Robert Crompton, MFH Andrews Bridge Hounds, to the Dumfrieshire Hounds Dempster 1983 and Dumfrieshire Porter 1980.

These hounds were subsequently bred to pure PMDs, with their progeny eventually being registered as pure Penn-Marydels.

Going one step further as a “true to the line” PMD hounds man, I would like to report that I hunted RTH’s Needy and she was the ultimate true PMD in all facets of her hunting ability.

GBH Phoenix is in his second season at GBH. Codie Hayes, now huntsman of GBH, has informed me that Phoenix is a very good steady PMD running in the top ten of the pack, but maybe not quite as good as her cohort Needy!

Jody Murtagh is a retired huntsman and ex-MFH.

SUMMER 2015 | 21

Mountain and Muse arrived on American shores shortly after the British bombardment of Baltimore at Fort McHenry.

Celebrating two hundred years of American Foxhound lineage

BY KIMBERLY K. EGAN

MOUNTAIN 22 | COVERTSIDE

T

he bombardment of Baltimore in 1814 marked the end of the War of 1812 and the birth of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” It also marked the arrival of two Irish foxhounds to Maryland, the state that became “the royal nursery where the most eminent family of foxhounds in America were cradled and rocked,” as written

by George Garrett, in “Fifty Years with Fox and Hound.”

Legend has it that on September 13, 1814, a ship very low on provisions waited out the bombardment before it could enter the Port of Baltimore. On it were Mountain and Muse, a present from George Osborne, the 6th Duke of Leeds, to Bolton Jackson, an Irish émigré and wealthy Baltimore iron merchant.

ORIGINS IN IRELAND

Mountain and Muse came from the Scarteen Hunt in County Limerick. Scarteen hunts a pack of black-and-tan hounds, known as Kerry beagles. Kerry beagles are larger than the standard beagle and the Irish Kennel Club recognizes them as “a vibrant hound built for speed and endurance.” A “Kerry Pack will fan out in a large circle when casting and always turn to the first hound that opens,” according to the Irish Kennel Club.

Some dispute the lineage of Mountain and Muse. Neither Mountain nor Muse were pure black-and-tan, and their head carriage and ear placement differed from the current Kerry beagle standard. These differences, whether due to cross-breeding or genetic variation, could explain why Scarteen culled the hounds from its pack.

But documents support that Mountain and Muse were Kerry beagles. First, in 1942, MFH Henry Higginson wrote in The Chronicle of the Horse that Mountain & Muse “were not Stud Book hounds, but Kerry Beagles.”

Higginson said they were the only Kerry beagles imported to America before 1930. Second, MFH Alexander Mackay-Smith had a typewritten document that says the sale of the two hounds to America appears in Scarteen’s 1814 kennel records. The document is incomplete — the page with the identity of the author is missing.

A GREAT SENSATION

Mountain and Muse were “a great sensation” in Maryland. First, they did not look or sound like the existing hound stock. They had “short ears as compared to the old gray fox hound; large, prominent dark eyes; and were dappled in color, as flecked with bluish gray-colored spots.” They had “rough, coarse, heavy coats,” and “shrill choppy notes,” as described in MacKay Smith’s papers.

Second, they conquered the newly imported red fox. In 1730, eight Maryland tobacco farmers had imported red fox — faster than the local gray fox — to add verve to American foxhunting1.

Red fox perplexed the locals, who said they could not tell if the red fox went to ground, “climbed trees, or perhaps just vanished into the air.”2 This, according to Thad Sitton in “Gray Ghosts and Red Rangers: American Hilltop Foxchasing (2010).” The local hounds were ideal for gray foxes but too slow for red fox.

Mountain and Muse, on the other hand, cast themselves “widely, and by making their hit ahead ... keep[ing] their game at the top of his speed, [would] break [the red fox] down in the first half hour.”3 EARLY TIME IN MARYLAND

Bolton Jackson came from Ireland in 1810 and amassed wealth in the Maryland iron trade. He owned real estate in Baltimore, farmland in Frederick County, and 215 acres in the Catoctin Mountains. He died in Baltimore with an estate valued at $7.3 million in 2015 dollars.

In 1823, Jackson gave Mountain and Muse to Colonel Charles Ridgely, a nephew of Maryland’s governor. Ridgely brought them to Oakland Manor, his home in Howard County. The kennels are gone but the Maryland Historical Society has the architectural

plans, thought to be the earliest architectural plans for foxhound kennels in America.4 Ridgely admired the hounds’ ability to self-cast, their speed, and their skill in tough territory.

Maryland’s territory was “the natural home of the red fox,” characterized by “a net-work of rivers cutting their way to the sea, through rocky bluffs, whose banks are densely covered with ivy, the outer timber, above the bluffs, being often thick pines, and a majority of the river country ... still heavily woodland.” The thickets “require a tough, wiry dog to push through them, or he cannot make the fox come out.”

In addition, “the long reaches from one river to the next, when the fox breaks cover, will tax any but dogs built to travel at great speed, for given good scenting, there is nothing to prevent the foxhound from running at his best gait across the high, comparatively open country.”5 The Irish ancestors of Mountain and Muse “had hunted the red fox in very much such a country as Maryland, and in very much the same fashion of hunting.” The pair could gain on “the heretofore impossible red fox, at once, not so much by their speed, as their fox sense, especially exemplified in their tremendous casting ahead, at losses frequently, gaining more on a loss than had they continued on the line.” Their wiry coats helped

AND MUSE SUMMER 2015 | 23

Mountain and Muse trace their lineage to the hounds of The Scarteen Hunt in County Limerick, Ireland.

according to Paul E. Shanor, The Henry Hound, available on the July Hound History website.

Henry’s hounds had “great speed, endurance and a habit of hunting ... with a looking forward expression as if expecting to see their game.” When at a loss, “they cast ahead so constantly, recovering even a faulty line.” Their small ears showed their Mountain and Muse ancestry, and they had “oblique rather wolf-like eyes.”8 In 1846, Henry went south to Florida for his health, where his hounds ran their quarry into bayous and lagoons, succumbing to alligators. Henry sent his remaining Maryland hounds to Col. George Birdsong in Georgia, where they contributed to the “short, sharp and decisive”9 July hound.

CATHERINE POWER

THE JULY HOUND

in the undergrowth and their athleticism helped them cover the open fields.6 Unfortunately, Mountain would run not just fox but other quarry, including other hounds.

Ridgley made plans to break Mountain’s neck. Another Marylander named Benjamin Ogle, son of yet another governor of Maryland, intervened and took the pair to Belair, his Prince George’s County estate. There, he bred the pair and started the famous line. His favorite get from the pair was Sophy, whose portrait hung in the Ogle family

24 | COVERTSIDE

library at Belair until 1877.

Ogle eventually sent Mountain and Muse to Charles Carroll of Homewood, a son of the Charles Carroll who signed the Declaration of Independence, who passed Mountain on to Dr. James Buchanan of Sharpsburg, Maryland.

THE HENRY HOUND

Buchanan bred his hound Traveler to Ogle’s Sophy and named one of the puppies Captain.7 Buchanan sent Captain to a grandson of Patrick Henry in Virginia.

Captain was “a powerful

speedy hound that was rarely satisfied with anything less than an all day hunt and was never anywhere except lead dog of his pack.” He needed to hunt — “when his edge was not dulled by an adequate amount of running” he was “of a restless, devilish disposition.” And he needed to hunt well — when “returning from an unsuccessful hunt, Captain was apt to be in a quarrelsome mood and without fear, favor or mercy was likely to attack anything that crossed his path.” After siring a slew of successful Henry hounds, he was “killed as a canine felon,”

In the 1850s, a Howard County man named Nimrod Gosnell bred two Mountain and Muse offspring, a dog named Red Tickler and a bitch named Lade. Lade was tan, and was “the most untiring runner that was ever known in Howard County.” Tickler was red with a fierce, choppy voice. He is said to have had red toenails.10 Meanwhile, a Georgian named Col. Miles G. Harris traveled to Kentucky and watched two foxhounds bay a deer in less than an hour. Harris learned they were Maryland hounds so he visited Nimrod Gosnell in Howard County to find his own.11 Harris admired Tickler and Lade for their “dash, speed, bottom and nose”12 and offered to buy them on the spot.13 Instead, Gosnell gave him two “wooly haired cock-eared tan colored puppies” from the pair. The dog was black-and-tan, like a Kerry beagle, and his “coat was thick, coarse, long, and wavy . ...”14

Harris named him July, because he arrived on the first of July, and his litter-mate Mary.15 Harris’s colleagues greeted the pair with derision. They were “extremely skeptical that this unusual hound with short ears and woolly hair could match their choice breeds.”16 They did not like their cry. From afar, “the Irish hounds sounded like a flock of wild geese; and up close like popcorn popping over a hot fire.”17 The first time out the pair “not only started the fox but killed him so far ahead of the pack that the other hounds could not even be heard.”18 The fox they killed was a red fox.19 July became “an extraordinary hunter of great courage and fine sense.” He could “handle the red fox as no other dog had done in Georgia up to that time.”20 His “choppy” voice became “the sound of success.” July hounds “ran like mad” after a fox and in the dark sometimes crashed into trees. The Georgian loved them.

COL. TRIGG’S BIRDSONG HOUNDS

News of July’s ability spread and in 1867, Kentucky foxhunter Col. Haiden C. Trigg purchased a son of July named Lightfoot along with a great-granddaughter of July named Delta.21

SOURCES 1 John C. Bentley, The Maryland Hound, reprinted in H.E.C. Bryant, ed., THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND: TREATING OF THE BREEDING, REARING AND TRAINING OF THE BREED AND EMBRACING A HISTORY OF THE ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE VARIOUS STRAINS (2013) (originally published 1905) [hereinafter “H.E.C. Bryant, THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND], p.36.

2 Thad Sitton, GRAY GHOSTS AND RED RANGERS: AMERICAN HILLTOP FOXCHASING (2010), p.48.

3 Dr. A. C. Heffenger, History of

Lightfoot and Delta were “racy built, crop ear[ed], rough coated, bushy tailed and chop mouthed and looked unlike any fox hound any of us had ever seen.” The Kentuckians told Trigg he “had picked up a ‘Gold Brick.’”22 But the pair won the men over. When Lightfoot and Delta ran a red fox, the local pack “was nowhere to be heard” and the men were as “surprised at the performance of the Birdsong dogs” as they “were disgusted at their first appearance.”23 Lightfoot and Delta’s progeny were usually black-and-tan, with a “black saddle, tan sides and white tips and white about breast and neck.” One visitor pronounced them “the best on earth for courage, endurance and scenting qualities.”24 OTHER MOUNTAIN AND MUSE STRAINS

The Henry, July, and Trigg hounds are among the better-known descendants of Mountain and Muse. But there are others — the blue-eyed Sugarloaf hound, the Robertson-Goodman strain, the Walker hound, the Byron line, the Wild Goose strain, and the Arkansas Traveller.

The Wild Goose strain began in 1835 with a cross between a “black-and-tan and blue

the July Foxhound, reprinted in H.E.C. Bryant, THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND, p. 44; also quoted in Bradford Turpin, The History of the American Foxhound, FIELD & FANCY (Sept. 19, 1903).

4 See Mackay Smith Papers.

5 John C. Bentley, The Maryland Hound, reprinted in H.E.C. Bryant, THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND, p.26.

6 Ibid, p.37.

7 See Mackay Smith Papers, The Pedigree of Mr. Thomas’ Flier.

8 See Shanor, The Henry Hound.

9 Feb. 1832, American Turf

speckled” hound from Virginia, and a “white and black spotted dog” from the Maryland line.

They produced a pack that was matched “black-and-tan and white with tan points.”25 Two of these black-and-tans ran a fox through “an immense swamp” on their first time out and vanished. The owner asked a goose hunter sitting in a tree whether he had seen anything.

The man said, “‘No, but there’s the damnedest gang of wild geese flying around in that swamp that I’ve ever heard.’ ...

He had heard nothing but their “pack in full cry.”

Similarly, the Arkansas Traveller strain was “mostly the original color of black-and-tan” and ran like Mountain and Muse. They were a cross between English foxhound blood and July hounds, “the best Kentucky blood.” They were “dead game” and would “run a fox under any conditions or circumstances better than any other strain. ...” They cast “wide and ahead,” that quality “so necessary to catch a red fox.”26 THE CURRENT HOWARD COUNTY-IRON BRIDGE PACK

All but four of HCIBH are the progeny of Mountain and Muse, and our litter this year includes

Register, as quoted in the A CENTENNIAL VIEW: FOXHUNTING IN NORTH AMERICA TODAY (MFHA).

10 See Belle Meade Hunt Club, Commemorating The 1858 July Hound, available at www.weisair. net/foxhistory (cached).

11 Ibid.

12 Bradford Turpin, The History of the American Foxhound, FIELD & FANCY (Sept. 19, 1903).

13 See Belle Meade Hunt Club, Commemorating The 1858 July Hound.

14 Ibid.

four black-and-tan puppies — a third reason to believe Mountain and Muse were Kerry beagles.

The only sources of blackand-tan coloring in America are the coonhound (not a foxhound), and the Kerry beagle.

The trait is recessive, so both parents must carry the gene.

HCIBH’s black-and-tan puppies are direct descendants of Mountain and Muse on both sides, and their mother and grandmother are both black-and-tan. The likelihood that the puppies’ coloring is a fluke, and not Kerry beagle genetics, is vanishingly small.

Regardless, our 200-year hounds are “utterly obsessed with the hunting of fox.” In America, we “[f]anatical human foxhunters” have created hounds in our own image. We call them America’s 200-Year Hounds.27 Kimberly Egan is a founding member of The Mountain and Muse Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the legacy of these Maryland foxhounds. She hunts with the Howard County-Iron Bridge Hounds and serves as one of the club’s field masters.

When not hunting, Kim is a practicing lawyer who specializes in food and drug regulatory counseling and life sciences product liability matters.

15 Ibid.

16 See House of Representatives of the State of George, Resolution 724 (Mar. 30, 2007) (authorizing erection of the July Hound Historical Marker in Hancock County, Georgia).

17 Sitton, GRAY GHOSTS AND RED RANGERS, p.48.

18 See Mackay Smith Papers.

19 See Belle Meade Hunt Club, Commemorating The 1858 July Hound.

20 John C. Bentley, The Maryland Hound, reprinted in H.E.C. Bryant, THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND, p.30.

21 W.L. Porter, The Trigg Hound, THE CHASE (1927), available at www.trigghound.com/history.

22 Ibid.

23 Ibid.

24 Ibid.

25 Dr. A. C. Heffenger, The Wild Goose Strain, reprinted in H.E.C. Bryant, THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND, p.62.

26 C. Floyd Huff, The Arkansas Traveller Strain, reprinted in H.E.C. Bryant, THE AMERICAN FOXHOUND, p.54.

27 Sitton, GRAY GHOSTS AND RED RANGERS, p.56.

SUMMER 2015 | 25

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summer activities. You can see that your horse sweats more rapidly and pants or has a readily apparent increased rate of respiration. These are normal mechanisms your horse uses to keep cool and maintain a constant temperature range so that function of tissues like muscles, nerves, and numerous organ systems can continue to work normally.

Water is the most important ingredient for the thermo-regulatory mechanism to work properly. Electrolytes are also very important to this delicate balance of proper hydration and normal tissue function because electrolytes provide the necessary chemicals and ions to every tissue to support normal actions. If

they become depleted or out of balance for any reason (too much sweating, dehydration, unbalanced intake or depleted intake) the response can be devastating to your horse.

Another problem that requires consideration is overheating. This occurs when a horse’s activity level exceeds his ability to thermoregulate. It’s most common in racehorses that compete in hot, humid environments but can occur in other equine athletes whose activities put too high a demand on the thermo-regulatory mechanisms. Endurance horses or any equines that are forced to do too much activity in extremely hot conditions during a short period of time are at risk for overheating.

Lastly is a condition that can be a result of the first two, known as anhidrosis or “nonsweating.” This condition occurs most commonly in constantly hot, humid environments when the sweating mechanism becomes exhausted due to a combination of all of the issues previously mentioned. Typically the horse starts showing a dull, dry coat and then it becomes apparent that the horse has little

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Common sense is the best approach and of course prevention is always better than reacting to any of these situations after they have happened. Proper hydration can be accomplished by offering a regular supply of clean, fresh water to your horse throughout an extremely hot day. Taking a break and even pulling the tack off of your horse and letting him have plenty of water can be just enough of a refresher to allow you and your horse to have a fulfilling and uneventful day.

Electrolytes can be supplemented during hot weather for backyard horses or year-round for professional equine athletes, and I routinely recommend this.

If your horse does become overheated, he will display signs of excessive sweating, rapid, shallow breathing, and weakness, possibly to the point of stumbling or staggering. This is an emergency situation that requires prompt action. You must remove tack and equipment immediately from your horse. You must then put cold water over his entire body in order to lower the temperature rapidly. You should introduce water to your horse for consumption in small increments, until your horse returns to normal. It will probably take a week or more to return to any activity since this can be a tremendous shock to several organs in your horse.

If anhidrosis occurs, this potential longterm situation may require some management procedures on your part and little or no activity for your horse during extremely hot weather. These horses may need a fan or mister throughout the summer months, along with electrolyte supplementation.

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FINE ART OF FOXHUNTING

S

BY KATY CARTER

ally Mitchell didn’t envision herself in an art career. She was too busy hunting with the Oakley and the Grove and Rufford, and competing her horses in dressage. While her father painted as a hobby and dragged the young Mitchell to numerous galleries and art shows, she found art and everything about it quite insufferable. In fact, she has never drawn, painted or sculpted anything and purposely avoided taking art classes in school, simply due to her then hatred of the subject. Were they alive today, Mitchell’s tortured art teachers would surely be amused, as the self-professed “waster at school” created Sally Mitchell Fine Arts Ltd. and forged a lengthy and successful career producing and selling sporting prints.

“I spent three months in Florence but most of that was having a wild time,” she laughed. “When I left school, I had a boyfriend who was an antiques dealer and by luck he happened to take me into Sotheby’s on a day when they had a sporting art sale on display. I fell in love with early English sporting art and that is where it began.”

Fifty years of business has taught Mitchell a few things and one of her early print projects still serves as a reminder to adhere to the first and foremost rule of printmaking: choose a work of art that is a strong example of its type.

28 | COVERTSIDE

English printmaker Sally Mitchell has led Europe’s leading publisher of sporting art prints into the 21st century.

“One of my first jobs was a print of fighting cocks. I trusted the artist when he told me he knew his subject,” she said. “That was a good lesson. They were totally wrong and I still have most of them 50 years later!

“Good art is not just competently executed; it has to have soul,” Mitchell explained. “A good artist works with passion, not just technique. He has to be able to use light, composition and palette as well as being able to draw and to observe, but he must also have feeling.”

Secondary concerns revolve around a piece’s appeal to a wide audience of potential buyers.

“It must reflect the buyer’s personality in some way; after all, they want it to say something about them,” she said. “Dare I say it? It also has to match the curtains!”

The printing business has changed dramatically over its 50-year life, and Mitchell has embraced the technological advances that help her company produce and sell high quality work. The addition of a Germanbuilt Cruse Flatbed Fine Art Scanner has enabled Mitchell to solve many art reproduction issues and allowed her to be in

total control of print quality.

“When we used the old offset lithograph printers, it was difficult to get just what you wanted,” she said. “The printer would blame the plate maker and vice versa while you were stuck in the middle. Now we do it all in house and we work for customers from around the world, too.”

Mitchell works with a stable of artists, particularly John Trickett, Malcolm Coward, Paul Doyle, Fred Haycock, Debbie Gillingham and Jonathan Walker. While much of the focus of her printmaking business was equestrian and countryside scenes, Trickett encouraged Mitchell to expand by offering dog prints.

“John arrived one day with these rather fine dog portraits,” she recalled. “I declared that no one would buy a picture of someone else’s dog, but I liked them so I took them to our trade stand at Badminton Horse Trials.

They created so much interest we decided to publish one. The rest is history. We were the first publishers to do offset litho prints of dogs in the UK.” After half a century in the printing business, Mitchell has seen every type of customer

imaginable come through her front door. On one occasion, a rather pompous fellow on his second marriage had requested a portrait of him and his new wife out shooting.

“She was not the prettiest, and the artist, a connoisseur of the female form, painted her as he saw her,” recalled Mitchell.

“The fellow was horrified and declared that he had been ‘lucky enough to have married a young and very beautiful woman’ and the artist had made her look like a witch. The artist duly adjusted her and the picture was received happily.”

About three years later the man returned, and asked to have her painted out of the picture.

Katy Carter is Associate Editor for Covertside.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON SALLY MITCHELL’S WORK, PLEASE VISIT

WWW.SALLYMITCHELL.COM.

JOHN MITCHELL

Compositions and Characters

The works of artist Fred Haycock are available in print through Sally Mitchell Fine Arts Ltd. Top: The Huntsman; Left: Over and On; Above: For the Thrill of It.

SUMMER 2015 | 29

FINE ART OF FOXHUNTING

Painting Pedigree Beth Munnings-Winter channels her family history to give life to her artistic pursuits.

30 | COVERTSIDE

the house,” said Winter. “It has a large skylight above its very handsome Georgian staircase.

From that lofty window, the July sunshine of that day flooded down into the stairwell and the shadowed entry hall, and onto an enormous painting of Lady Violet, riding her gray hunter alongside a stone wall on Exmoor.”

That painting ignited a passion for hunting in Winter, whose first real-life exposure to hunting was with the Fife Foxhounds during her graduate program at St. Andrews University in Scotland. Like many horse-crazy children, Winter copied Thelwell cartoons and C.W. Anderson illustrations from her favorite books. Living among numerous Munnings prints at home, she soon began her study of the master’s work. Although she pursued literature in academics, this childhood spent steeped in horses and art set the stage for what would become her career in portraying the sporting life on canvas.

Winter points out that while her family link to Munnings is the most obvious reason he remains her biggest artistic influence, her connection to his work runs deeper.

“Not only was his technique almost effortless,” she explained, “but his ability to capture movement, his intense knowledge of all things equine and the depth of his love for the subject matter have a vibrancy and energy that shine as brightly today as they did all those many years ago when the paintings were created.”

Her keen sense of observation

GILLIAN SYMONS

B

y the time she first visited Castle House, the home of legendary sporting artist Sir Alfred Munnings, in 1975, artist Beth Munnings-Winter already felt like she knew it well. Through a stack of letters written by Lady Violet Munnings, Sir Alfred’s wife, Winter had gained a feeling for the house in which her fourth cousin and artistic inspiration lived and worked before it became a museum following his death in 1959.

“I vividly recall the first sensation of entering

BY KATY CARTER

supplies her with innumerable opportunities to begin creating something new in her studio.

Taking another cue from her famous relative, Winter’s focus in her work is the subject itself.

“The essence of any painting is that glint of expectation and devotion in a hound’s eye,” she said. “That moment of a horse’s suspension over a hedge, the steam rising off the backs of the field at an early morning check, or the impudence and mysterious beauty of that endlessly fascinating creature, the fox!”

But what of contemporary sporting artists?

“With so many talented contemporary artists, it’s difficult to name just one whose work I admire,” she said. “But I’d have to say Charles Church. Church’s ability to convincingly and knowledgeably paint not only horses, but also hounds, landscape and atmosphere set him apart, to my mind.”

Winter seeks art wherever she goes, whether she is traveling abroad or out hunting, but her favorite museum is the Munnings Museum at Castle House. Each time she visits, Winter finds a true sense of Munnings’ presence throughout the museum; from the grounds

Intrepid International distributor of Sally Mitchell Fine Art to the horse world in North America.

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For art connoisseurs with a strong focus on fox hunting, hounds and horses there is no finer source. To view the full collection visit: www.intrepidIntl.com use drop down menu, go to: Haddington Green-Equestrian Art. Vast majority of prints are small run editions, signed & numbered.

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he rode through, to the library filled with his favorite Dickens and Surtees volumes, to the barns where Lady Violet kept her hunt horses.

Painting coats, spattered with an array of oils, hang next to Munnings’ hunting cap and boots in the hall, offering further inspiration to Winter and many others.

“There is no sport — equestrian or otherwise — which lends itself so beautifully to the artistic eye,” she decrees. “The myriad of horses, the colors and elegance of hunting attire, the inspiring settings for the sport under often atmospheric conditions, both artistic and cultural traditions surrounding fox hunting, and the sheer raw and timeless energy of the chase provide unsurpassed visual inspiration.”

Katy Carter is associate editor for Covertside.

32 | COVERTSIDE

Above: Eglinton and Caledon Hounds in Late Evening.

Left: Friday Night Polish.

Opposite page: Introspection.

BETH MUNNINGS-WINTER IS A SPORTING ARTIST IN PICKENS, SOUTH CAROLINA. SHE HAS HUNTED WITH THE EGLINTON AND CALEDON HUNT IN ONTARIO AND HER YET UNFULFILLED ASPIRATION IS TO HUNT ASIDE, PREFERABLY ON A GRAY MARE. MORE INFORMATION ON HER WORK MAY BE FOUND AT

WWW.MUNNINGSART.COM.

Leave a Legacy of Love.

Never before has it been so important for foxhunters to look toward the horizon. By including the MfHa foundation in your will, trust or beneficiary designation, you can pass on your love of foxhunting and conservation to future generations.

I have included the MFHA Foundation in my will, trust, or by beneficiary designation.

Name: Address:

Please send me information about ways to leave a legacy.

Phone: I would like to speak to someone about making a gift.

Please call me.

Email: Mail to: MFHA Foundation, Attn: Legacy Program PO Box 363, Millwood, VA 22646

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Q&A FIVE QUESTIONS FOR …

DAVID CHATOWSKY

Portraits

Sporting Art

David Chatowsky, Artist

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Pat Carter patraycarter@aol . com

avid Chatowsky is a prominent artist originally from Block Island, Rhode Island. After spending his childhood deeply engrossed in creating artwork, he pursued his Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting at the University of Florida. David has produced a broad range of award-winning work, from large-scale murals and commercial installations to intimate still-life portraits, all with a focus on nature. He recently began hunting with Golden’s Bridge Hounds (N.Y.), and has incorporated his newfound love for all things hunting into his recent works. David’s paintings can be found at the Florida Museum of Natural Art, in private collections worldwide, and at his Provenance Gallery in Bedford Hills, New York.

For more information, please visit provenancegallery.com.

Oil Paintings of

Animals, Nature & Equine Sports by

Beth Evans

1) HOW HAS HUNTING PLAYED A ROLE IN YOUR DEVELOPMENT AS AN ARTIST? HOW DOES IT INSPIRE YOU? Hunting has played an enormous role with my artistic development, as it has now become the central theme of my work. Having always been a lover of open space and the animals and people who call the country home, it was a natural fit for me to paint them. There is also an emotional component to the subjects I paint, and I am not only very fond of my fellow hunters, but of the open space we all strive to protect.

2) WHAT IS THE MOST INDISPENSABLE TOOL IN YOUR STUDIO?

“Waiting for Action” www.BethEvansFineArt.com evansequineart@rcn.com

The natural light!

3) WHO ARE YOUR MAJOR INFLUENCES AND WHY? Vincent Van Gogh is a major influence because of his unprecedented paint strokes and compositions. Georgia O’Keeffe is another influence, as her paintings speak of the beauty within nature and this beauty is what I strive to reflect in my art, too.

4) IS THERE AN ELEMENT OF HUNTING YOU MOST ENJOY PORTRAYING IN YOUR WORK? I love painting the bold colors of the hunt juxtaposed upon the rustic landscapes. Again, my deep appreciation for the sport and the country guides me in placing each stroke of color exactly where it should be.

5) WHAT IS MORE IMPORTANT TO YOU: THE SUBJECT OF A PIECE OR THE METHOD YOU USE? The subject is more important as it dictates the method I use. In order to understand how to paint this way, you have to know your subject. You have to spend time in the saddle on the hunt paying close attention to the details. For example, when painting horses, I want my paint strokes smooth and in the direction of how the light falls on them. I use this method because when looking at horses, they appear smooth, almost silky. By following the light with my brush strokes, I am able to paint a natural looking three-dimensional horse on a two-dimensional plane.

Conversely, when painting a subject with rough texture — such as bark, briars, and stones — the method would build up the paint to increase the painting’s actual rough texture. I would also vary my strokes as light gets broken over this texture.

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EDUCATION

AMY FRITZ

Tommy Gesell strives to incorporate communication, trust, and calmness into his work with the Wiggins Hounds’ staff and pack.

Trust, Calm and Loyalty

A Professional Development Program participant reflects on the ingredients for successful communication. BY TOMMY GESELL

A

s part of the Professional Development Program, students are sent off to various hunts in order to observe and learn from the huntsmen and staff of some pretty prestigious packs. I was happy to learn that I’d be visiting Hillsboro Hounds and its huntsman, Johnny Gray. For most of this program thus far, my focus has been on hounds and hunting them. The prospect of riding with Hillsboro caused me to change gears and re-focus some of my attention on horsemanship.

I’d heard from friends that Hillsboro “rides hard.” No one would really define what they meant by “hard,” so I wanted to make sure I was prepared. I wasn’t sure what the protocol

36 | COVERTSIDE

would be and I didn’t know who I’d be riding with or what position I would be asked to take.

Would I ride with the huntsman?

The staff? Since I wanted to make sure I could keep up and not embarrass myself or anyone else, I pushed my riding a bit in the weeks beforehand. However, once I was actually on my way to Hillsboro, my brain returned to hounds. I still had many questions about the care and working of the hounds and about the hunting itself. As with all things related to this sport, one question seemed to just cause an avalanche of more questions.

It’s natural, I think, to want to impress a peer or mentor and tell them that you’re fine and you really don’t have any questions, but I’ve learned that it’s better to check pride at the door when it

comes to inquiries or pleading ignorance to any one subject.

And I would have a lot of questions for the huntsman and staff of Hillsboro.

ROUTINE AND RELAXATION

On my arrival, I was invited to walk out hounds with Johnny and his first whipper-in. It was helpful for me to see that our procedure is similar to Hillsboro’s in that collaring hounds is still collaring hounds; coupling hounds is still coupling hounds; feeding hounds is still feeding hounds. I found myself relaxing a little regarding kennel routine, and becoming aware that it is not necessarily an exact science. It’s just a routine you develop over time. Also, it was very heartening to see one

huntsman and one staff member walking out 30-plus couple in a relaxed manner.

I was impressed with the calm but vigilant air in which the hounds were walked out. It’s a message that keeps repeating itself — that I can relax a little bit more when walking out; that my staff can relax more as well.

The Hillsboro whipper-in did rate a hound or two on our walk, but it was quick, efficient, calm, and affected only the hound she was rating, rather than the entire pack. My staff and I, though more relaxed than before my trip to Maryland, still have room to relax even more! Thanks to the walk at Hillsboro, I’m working on getting my staff to trust me when I say that it’s OK to let a hound range a little further from me and working on getting everyone to learn the fine line between ranging vs. taking off wildly.

As with other practices I brought back from the Maryland trip, this habit is slowly but surely manifesting itself. As my trust in my hounds grows, their trust in me seems to grow. As this develops, I hope my staff’s trust in me grows as well. It’s difficult, sometimes, to effectively share what I’m learning from the masters of this craft with people back home, but I can only hope that as I implement what they practice and we enjoy successes here and there, they will eventually be able to absorb the benefit of the education I’m receiving from the MFHA, too.

RIDE HARD, HUNT CALMLY

All thoughts of another leisurely

hound walk quickly left my head on the second day of the visit when it was time to hunt and I was placed in the position of whipper-in. It’s been a little while since I’ve been in this position, but the experience was a great reminder of what things look like from the vantage point of staff! I was reminded of many things, not the least of which was that horsemanship is pretty crucial if one is in the position of whipper-in or huntsman.

One would think that this bit of information would be obvious to someone like myself; someone who is a pretty good rider.

However, after tearing through the ups and downs of the terrain that is Hillsboro, I am not embarrassed to admit that it took my calf muscles two days to recover from the experience.

I don’t think I would’ve fared as well or kept up with hounds if I weren’t the rider that I am. It’s not that Hillsboro rides wildly or aimlessly at all (because they don’t), it’s simply that the terrain upon which they are required to ride is vastly different from the soft, flat territory to which I’ve become accustomed and it is far more demanding. So I would agree that Hillsboro does indeed ride hard (but smart)!

Our first venture out brought us a blank day, but our second was a barn burner! I had a great time on each of the days and, frankly, it was nice to see that even the best have a blank day.

I’ll feel less let down when I have one. There were few differences in the conditions between the two days. On the first day, the

temperature rose fairly quickly and on the second, successful day, it didn’t. On the second day, while it was pretty breezy on the tops of the hills, it was relatively quieter in the valleys. On each of these days I observed how quietly Johnny took the hounds to covert. From the time we left the meet until Johnny made his first draw, the hounds were relaxed and under control. There were instances of riot on both days, but it was recognized immediately and dealt with effectively and efficiently. The hounds were then settled and quickly put back to work.

Throughout the two days of hunting, I was also reminded how important effective communication is between huntsman and staff. Johnny’s direction was clear and exact, keeping chatter on the radios to an absolute minimum. What few questions came from staff after specific instruction were answered precisely.

Most of the time, the answer to the huntsman was a simple “10-4.” Even during moments of great excitement, the communication stayed on the reasonable side of calm. I was so impressed with their communication style, that it has become a goal of mine to work that way with my staff. I think that this will likely evolve naturally as staff and I get comfortable and more familiar with our territory and hounds.

TEAMWORK IS KEY

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field have in the huntsman.

Observing Hillsboro made me realize how profoundly crucial it is that the staff and huntsman’s faith in each other is undoubted. Trust and loyalty were topics that arose more than once throughout the visit, almost as an aside regarding other issues. For example, it was pointed out that the communication works so well because the staff acts on the belief that their huntsman is being truthful and that he is correct. There has always been that tongue-in-cheek comment about the huntsman always being right.

In Lieutenant Colonel Dennis J. Foster’s book “WhipperIn,” he wrote, “But don’t forget the Golden Rule: The huntsman is always right, even when he may be technically wrong.”

Until my visit to Hillsboro, I’m not sure I realized all that this statement encompasses.

I understand now that it’s not necessarily that the sentiment is referencing the huntsman’s ego, but more that the huntsman can better do his job if he believes that his staff will be where he has asked them to be.

The confidence that a whipperin will play a great left tackle to the huntsman’s quarterback is a component that I’ve never really thought about before in an applicable way. Sure, we read all about the jokes, the egos, the barking of orders, but to see exactly HOW that piece of the puzzle fits in and keeps the engine running was really eye-opening to me. Sure, it may not be true that the huntsman is “always right,” but that the staff has to believe that; they have to

behave as if he is never wrong.

When Johnny Gray sent his staff into the field, they were always where he asked them to be, or they were on the way! Of course, some could say that’s because they’ve built a rapport, but he had people on staff with varied years under his leadership: a first-year whipper-in, a person with five years as a whipper-in, and a Master whipping-in. And as he sent me out into the territory as staff, I had to believe in what he said simply because he was the huntsman. I was in strange territory on a horse I didn’t know.

I didn’t just believe him because he has more than 30 seasons with Hillsboro. I believed him because he was the huntsman.

I returned home still having hounds on the brain. Because of this program, I’ve started to think of my hounds differently, as the weight of the responsibilities I’m undertaking became even more apparent: Am I showing my hounds the best care? Am I offering the hounds enough exercise? Enough sport?

Am I keeping them keen? While with each assignment and kennel visit, I grow more comfortable with what I’m doing, I still find myself working over tons of these questions. Hopefully the resources that this program has provided me with, along with the mentorship that I’ve received all along from the very gracious, generous hunts along the way will be a continued source of ever-evolving answers.

Tommy Gesell is the professional huntsman for the Wiggins Hounds in Ehrhardt, South Carolina.

ASK THE HUNTSMAN

A Work in Progress

Pam Beach Hounds Huntsman Noel Ryan.

Palm Beach Hounds Huntsman Noel Ryan addresses building a pack. BY KATY CARTER

P

TIFFANY DANIELLE

ALM BEACH HOUNDS’ Huntsman Noel Ryan has to his credit the distinction of having hunted hounds on three continents. At age 21, he left his native Ireland and spent 15 years hunting around the globe, traveling to England, Australia and New Zealand. Ryan landed in the United States in 1995, whipping-in to Orange County, Virginia, before carrying the horn for Misty River (Arkansas), Radnor (Pennsylvania), and Loudoun (Virginia). When the opportunity to serve as huntsman to Palm Beach Hounds arose in 2011, he jumped at the chance to embark on yet another adventure, hunting the challenging 120,000 acres of PBH territory in south Florida.

COVERTSIDE: What type of hound have you found works best in your country?

COVERTSIDE: What are your goals for the breeding program?

NOEL: I need my hounds to be biddable, confident and happy at their job and I’ve been very lucky to have had a good basis from which to start. The majority of my pack is Crossbred and I’m delighted with them. Regardless of the type of hound you hunt you must lead them by example.

Early in the season I take the pack to a fixture where we hunt on foot; if I can stay running, I expect hounds to as well. This creates a great work ethic in the pack and gives them great drive and confidence.

They work harder when, every once in a while, you get stuck in there with them.

NOEL: Ultimately my goal is to have a level pack of a type I like and have consistency throughout the pack. A breeding program is always a work in progress, and it takes time to see results. Unfortunately, convenience also plays a role in my breeding program, as we are the southernmost pack in North America and thus hours away from other hunts. Many times it’s just not possible to get away to check for potential stallion hounds or to bring a bitch to be bred when she’s in season.

DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION FOR A HUNTSMAN? WRITE KATY@COVERTSIDE.NET

COVERTSIDE: When drafting hounds, what do you specifically seek? Do you research pedigrees on potential draftees?

NOEL: It may sound strange, but the first thing I look for when drafting a hound is the personality of the huntsman. I firmly believe that any pack of hounds will reflect the personality of their huntsman.

Of course, I research the pedigrees and the MFHA’s Foxdog pedigree search is an invaluable resource. If I am drafting an unentered hound, I will check to see how its bloodline will tie in with my plans for breeding three years down the road.

Katy Carter is the associate editor for Covertside and the editor of ecovertside.net.

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HORSES & HOUNDS

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Hoof Hazards

How to treat sprung shoes and heal bulb lacerations

Y

ou and your best friends (both twoand four-legged) meet up for a beautiful morning hunt. You have been looking forward to a day like this for the past several weeks and nothing can ruin it … until your horse overreaches.

You realize that not only has your horse sprung a shoe, he also has a small heel bulb laceration. What should you do next? How could you be better prepared for this situation in the future?

Prepared horse owners should always keep a couple of simple tools in their trailer for a loose shoe. When a horse has a sprung shoe (meaning the shoe has shifted to an abnormal position on the hoof), you’ll want to remove it to prevent any further damage (especially if the shoe has clips that can cut into the hoof wall). The

5 40 | COVERTSIDE

tools an owner usually uses to pull a shoe include a rasp and shoe pullers/nippers (1). Use the fine-toothed side of the rasp to smooth off the nail heads so that they are flush to the hoof wall. Then use the shoe pullers to remove the shoe, starting at the heels and pulling the shoe toward the toe. The nails will loosen and the shoe should come off with minimal resistance. Most farriers would be happy to show you how to safely remove a shoe so that you are prepared.

What should you do if your horse has stepped on a toe or quarter clip? If this happens, a hoof pack is generally warranted to prevent any further damage such as a sole bruise, or a deep abscess from forming. A hoof pack can be applied safely and quickly in several different ways. The minimal materials required generally include pad-

6

BY MARTY WHITEHOUSE, DVM

ding or a disposable diaper, Vetrap, Elastikon 4-inch tape, and duct tape. The padding needs to be large enough to cover the bottom of the hoof and come up the outside. A diaper will work very well for most normal-sized hooves. Animalintex or some drawing agent of your choice may be used over the defect in the wall created by the clip.

Place the padding/diaper over the entire hoof. Elastikon or Vetrap can be used next to help hold the bandage in place (2).

Finally, “weave” duct tape into either a star or square and place it over the bandage to provide a durable outer barrier (3). The bandage may need to have a small strip cut at the top near the coronary band to prevent any binding, which can restrict blood flow to the hoof (4).

A heel bulb laceration can occur when a horse’s hind leg overextends and strikes the

7

front heel. This area is very vascular and can bleed extensively, even with a small nick.

To be prepared for this situation, keep 4 x 4″ gauze pads and Vetrap handy. Apply the gauze directly to the wound and wrap the Vetrap over the bandage to hold it in place (5, 6). This is a pressure wrap, which is used to help stop a wound from bleeding and allow hemostasis (blood clotting) to occur. Once the wrap is in place, do not remove this first layer even if blood seeps through the gauze and Vetrap. Instead, place another layer of gauze and Vetrap over the first (7). Removing the original gauze will disrupt the blood clot, causing the wound to bleed more.

For heel bulb lacerations or a clip stuck in a hoof, consult your primary veterinarian about his or her preferred course of action.

Most of these injuries need some after-care, so a prompt phone call can lead to a quicker recovery for your horse.

Dr. Marty Whitehouse is a sport horse veterinarian with Hagyard Equine Medical Institute in Lexington, Kentucky. She competed in the North American Young Rider Championships and currently participates in eventing.

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SUMMER 2015 | 41

HOUNDS & HORSES

Short Legs, Big Fun

Grand Canyon Hounds’ staff preserve the Paradise Valley Beagles’ grand tradition and bloodlines.

BY MARC C. PATOILE | PHOTOGRAPHS ZINA BALASH

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hen I took our daughter out of school to go beagling, I counted my blessings — the attendance secretary at her school is from Ireland and has been out to follow the County Limerick Foxhounds. When our daughter told her, “We’re going beagling today,” the secretary replied, “Tallyho.” I was just thankful I didn’t have to try to explain the sport of hunting a hare or rabbit with a pack of beagles bred to hunt by scent, and only secondarily by sight. And, I didn’t have to explain why I was dressed in riding clothes, because unlike most beagle packs in the United Kingdom, the Paradise Valley Beagles (PVB) are followed mounted, not on foot. However, some harrier packs in the UK have a mounted following, which is interesting as the PVB now includes a few harriers in the pack as well, as the PVB are often pursuing the larger and faster jackrabbit.

Our family has been fortunate enough to follow six packs so far, from Arizona to

42 | COVERTSIDE

Ireland, and even a beagle pack in France on the day of our wedding. Each one was unique.

But, perhaps PVB is the most interesting with its combination of scent and sight hounds, following an ancient tradition.

Few other modern hunts are currently using a combination of beagles and harriers. It probably helps to have abundance of jackrabbits and close to 100,000 acres to pursue them upon.

A STORIED HISTORY

The history of beagling in Britain begins at the time of the Norman conquest, when beagles were first used for finding hares that were then coursed (hunted by sight) by greyhounds. The popularity of beagling was diminished somewhat by the explosion of foxhunting from the middle of the eighteenth century onward.

Yet the beagling tradition continued and grew despite competition for the sportsman’s attention from its younger cousin. In 1875, there were approximately ten formally organized packs in Great Britain.

By 1903 there were fifty-five;

The Paradise Valley Beagles’ history begins in Wales, and includes bloodlines descended from the Britannia Beagles (UK), the official pack of the British Royal Navy.

today there are eighty-five packs in Britain and another thirty in the United States.

But for Paradise Valley Beagles, chasing jackrabbits in Phoenix through greasewood and arroyos was probably strange enough when the pack formed in 1983.

Horse-riding enthusiast Margaret Bohannan imported, for one crazy day, the hunting traditions of her native Wales to the Southwest. She came to Arizona from Wales and met her husband, Robert C. Bohannan Jr., a mortgage banker from Ohio, at the Grass Ridge Hounds in Sonoita, Arizona. They became charter members of the High Country Hounds in Flagstaff.

They began as a drag with just four hounds: Ambush, Anchor, Playfair and Padgent, galloping through the desert north of Shea Boulevard in

Phoenix. The Bohannans figured it was so much fun that they ought to start a pack, and with the help of a British friend who gave them a couple of hounds from the Britannia Beagles — the official pack of the British Royal Navy — they started breeding one. Membership blossomed to some 50 to 60 members and they registered with the National Beagle Club, adopting traditional green beagler’s frocks and vests of Buchanan plaid, fabric worn by the Bohannans’ ancestors.

ROLE REVERSAL

The Paradise Valley Beagles, like most hunts, began finding areas they hunted in suburban Phoenix disappearing. Recently, the pack was in the process of disbanding when Grand Canyon Hounds whipper-in Amanda Wilson, wife of GCH Huntsman

Timeless Styling.

Classic Fit. Peter Wilson, considered approaching PVB about taking the pack.

Amanda said, “I remember thinking what a shame it would be as they are such a unique pack — a recognized pack hunting jackrabbits on horseback with English beagles! On top of that they have such a great membership that it just seemed a shame for it all to go away.”

She then asked Paul Delaney, MFH Grand Canyon, if she might be allowed to take on the beagle pack in addition to her duties with the Grand Canyon pack. Mr. Delaney, never missing a chance for sport, willingly agreed, and Amanda became huntsman for PVB and the pack moved to the GCH kennel property. As reverse fortune would have it, her husband often whips-in to her for the PVB, as does fellow

GCH Professional Whipper-in Jimmy Boyle. Peter says that for him as a huntsman it gives a good perspective to whip-in sometimes and Amanda says she thinks hunting the beagles has made her a better whipperin to the foxhounds.

Amanda commented on her hunting the beagles, “It’s really neat getting to learn so much from Peter, Jimmy and now Peter’s brother Crispin who is living in Flagstaff, too. They are a huge wealth of knowledge.

And the members of the club are just fantastic. I really rely on the membership to help me walk out the hounds and train puppies, as Peter and Jimmy have their hands full caring for the foxhounds. It is such a positive, supportive group of people that it really makes having the beagles even more fun for me!”

Amanda commented on bloodlines and the future of the breeding program of the pack, “PVB has had a real continuity in their breeding program throughout the years. We still

The author and his daughter, members of the Arapahoe, got a chance to hunt with the Paradise Valley Beagles during a joint meet.

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have a female line in the kennel that goes all the way back to some of the original hounds drafted to PVB by the Woodfield pack in the 1980s. The hounds themselves are really unique.

In addition to some American blood, there is a lot of English, Irish, and Welsh blood as well as a bit of harrier, which gives them more size and a really forward style of hunting.”

While the size and long stride of the English beagles suits their open country and quarry well, “We are in a very dry climate and keeping up the scenting ability of the pack is just as important,” Amanda said. “I had been looking for a female American beagle outcross this past year to bring in for genetic diversity and to improve

44 | COVERTSIDE

the overall scenting ability of the pack in the future. Thanks to a draft from Moore County MFH Lincoln Sadler of the Entwhistle Village Beagles and another from Angela Murray, MFH at Red Rock Hounds, I have two litters of American/English crosses that I am really looking forward to entering next year.”

The PVB hunt now goes out of Flagstaff most days, except when they are travelling to join joint meets, such as with the Arapahoe Hunt in Colorado. The joint meet with Arapahoe is featured in the photographs here.

Marc Patoile and his family hunt with the Arapahoe Hunt in Colorado. Marc is a frequent Covertside contributor.

LIBRARY

Community in the Commonwealth

Authors Christopher and Glenye Oakford explore the rich history of the Iroquois Hunt. REVIEW BY KATY CARTER

THE IROQUOIS HUNT: A BLUEGRASS FOXHUNTING TRADITION

By Christopher Oakford and Glenye Oakford The History Press, Charleston, S.C. 29403 174 pp. $19.99 paperback

is very clear that the driving force behind the Iroquois is the people.

From founder and first Master of Foxhounds, General Roger D. Williams, to present-day MFH and Huntsman Lilla S. Mason, the story of the Iroquois is peppered with influential personalities linked not only to hunting and the

development of the city of Lexington, but to some of the most important developments in U.S. history as well.

Certain themes ring throughout the book, namely, the adherence of the club to the community-driven beliefs and goals of General Williams. “From

HUGH OAKFORD

I

n their recent book, “The Iroquois Hunt: A Bluegrass Foxhunting Tradition,” Christopher and Glenye Oakford have unsurprisingly set a new standard for hunt histories.

Christopher, a trained historian, grew up in England and worked for the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence, where he was responsible for helping to identify the remains of fallen British soldiers from various past wars. Glenye has spent 20 years covering horse sports for various publications, including The Blood-Horse, Daily Racing Form, and ESPN.com. She is also the author of “The Home Run Horse,” a history of the quest for a life-changing champion racehorse. Glenye won an Eclipse Award in 2012 for her multimedia work in the Thoroughbred racing industry. Both Christopher and Glenye are frequent contributors to Covertside.

While the Oakfords’ in-depth research has unearthed varying accounts as to when Iroquois was originally founded and the origin of the club’s name, history

the start, the club was always outward-looking; it was never simply a haven in which a small group of rich Bluegrass aristocrats could insulate themselves,” write the Oakfords. “Instead, its members were always eager to be involved in the life of the town.

And to a significant degree, the members helped create the town in which they lived.”

The idea of community is one to which foxhunters throughout history have adhered to promote, grow and protect the sport.

Generations of Iroquois members have followed in the footsteps of the individuals who came before them to provide a greater sense of the club’s role in the Bluegrass community, show outstanding sport, protect thousands of acres of country and, as the Oakfords so eloquently describe, find new ways to promote the well-being of the organization itself.

This well researched and beautifully written account of the Iroquois Hunt’s founding, subsequent re-founding and the stories of the dedicated individuals whose lives became intertwined with the Iroquois will leave any history or hunting enthusiast hoping for another book from these two skilled foxhunting scribes.

Katy Carter is the associate editor for Covertside and the editor for ecovertside.net.

SUMMER 2015 | 45

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to tradition and style in the field.

SAFETY STANDARDS

Helmets must pass rigorous testing standards before becoming certified. The major international helmet standards include: ASTM F1163 (U.S.), PAS015:2011 (U.K.), specification VG1 01.040 2014-12 (EUR), and SNELL E2001 (International). The four major certifications include: SEI (U.S), BSI Kitemark (Great Britain), CE mark (Europe), and SNELL (International). All of the certification agencies require the helmets to pass an initial test after

the helmet design is released; however, some then require further testing to maintain certification.

So what do all these acronyms mean and how do you decide which standard certification is best for your purposes? It depends on your personal circumstances. The safest standard is the one that simulates a type of accident you might encounter.

The more standards a helmet meets means that the helmet has been proven protective in more types of falls. Wearing a helmet that meets or exceeds the standards and certifications above

is a smart decision for those who get their kicks galloping at speed across country following hounds, as the unpredictable nature of the sport can result in troublesome accidents; a low-hanging branch, slippery footing, or a “ware hole!” heeded a moment too late have the potential to cause riders and horses to part company.

HELMET FIT AND COMFORT

Charles Owen & Co. holds fast to the mantra the safest helmet is the one that fits you best. A helmet that doesn’t stay properly fitted on your head won’t be able to protect you from injury in a fall. Helmets, like people, come in a variety of shapes and sizes. With the help of a trained helmet fitter at your favorite Charles Owen stockist, you can find a helmet that suits

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your individual needs. A new helmet should fit snugly, never rock backwards, forwards, or sideways.

It should fit smoothly around your entire head. Gaps between the helmet and your head indicate that you should choose something different. No one wants to miss a view or lose sight of hounds on a run because their helmet has fallen over their eyes!

STYLE

Once you have found a helmet that fits correctly, the fun begins

velvet include the Wellington Classic, Showjumper XP, and the Hampton. The Ayr8 Classic is a velvet model with the added benefit of ventilation, a feature that many foxhunters will appreciate on those days when hounds are particularly on fire!

Modern microsuede is another style option found in helmets such as the Ayr8, GR8, and Wellington Pro. This fabric offers a more modern look without going overboard. For those who prefer a skull cap and cover combination,

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Charles Owen & Co. features the Pro II, J3, and 4Star models, the latter of which is made with aramid fibers embedded in a particularly tough resin matrix for vastly improved crush resistance.

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FARE & FLASK

MICHAEL STERN

from BELLE MEADE, Thomson, Ga.

Foxhunters from near and far visit Belle Meade for hunting and hospitality.

BELLE MEADE’S FINE FARE

Performance trials participants feast on home cooking and southern hospitality.

BY MICHAEL STERN

“I

February 27, 2015: Thomson, Ga

48 | COVERTSIDE

BMH’s Performance Trials: “A joint meet on steroids.”

Michael Stern has co-authored over forty books about American food and popular culture.

He created roadfood.com and is heard weekly on Public Radio’s “The Splendid Table”.

MICHAEL STERN

t is all about the hounds!” proclaimed a horseman as he swung into the saddle to join some sixty riders for stirrup cup, scones, and little cheese-laced sausage balls before Belle Meade’s annual performance trials. The club’s famously exuberant hunts through 35,000 acres of field and forest regularly attract out-of-towners; but this late-February weekend boasted an especially far-flung guest list that included visitors from Golden’s Bridge Hounds of New York, Midland Fox Hounds of

Georgia, Sedgefield Hunt of North Carolina, and Mill Creek Hunt of Illinois. All had come with their finest hounds to form a super pack in which each hound was to be judged on its hunting skills.

Four fields set out behind Master and Huntsman Epp Wilson, who referred to the trials as a “joint meet on steroids.” His all-star, ad hoc pack made beautiful music all morning trailing two coyotes,

a gray fox, and a bobcat — a ride challenging enough that one of the day’s runs qualified participants for Belle Meade Rough-Rider status, earned by sticking with a sustained chase of at least 45 minutes.

Shortly after noon, glowing with the blissful post-hunt paradox of invigoration and fatigue, riders gathered around a bonfire or scraped copious red clay splatter from their boots to mingle in the club house, known as Boots Hall, and avail themselves of the serve-yourself bar set up on the back porch. To munch with drinks, a credenza held dips and chips and velvety chicken liver pâté enveloped in port wine gelée, obtained from the

Willcox Hotel in Aiken, South Carolina. A few sweet-tooth types leapfrogged over hors d’oeuvre to sneak slices of rumsopped pound cake at a nearby table of desserts that also held chocolate cake, two angel food cakes (one lemon-frosted, the other chocolate buttercream), and featherweight meringues.

Hunters, ground support, family, and friends grew quiet for a blessing and prayer led by Epp Wilson, then lined up at a buffet that suffused the room with the bouquet of home cooking. The day’s chefs, longtime Belle Meade members Gina Salatino and Sarah Wildasin, made the cakes, twice baked potatoes, salads, and the swoonfully fragrant entrée: braised chicken with leeks and carrots. If the chicken reminded guests of a good old-fashioned Sunday supper at home, no surprise: it is a family recipe that Gina inherited from her mother. Served over rice and glistening with aromatic gravy, this chicken is a warm dish suited to a cool day and just right for hunters in search of salubrious comfort food.

the recipe

BRAISED CHICKEN WITH LEEKS Gina says that when she cooks for large groups of people, she uses pots on top of the stove for braising, then transfers several batches into bigger pans in the oven. “This way you can prepare ahead of time and just pop the large quantities in the oven the next day for a crowd!” The recipe can be made using carrots or parsnips or a mix of both. (Note: I have found that the flavors in this dish, once baked, harmonize overnight, making it more delicious the next day.)

INGREDIENTS:

DIRECTIONS:

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

• 2 pounds skinless thighs (breasts may be used, too)

Heat the vegetable oil over medium heat in a large, ovenproof pot. Generously salt and pepper the chicken and cook it in the oil until golden on all sides. Remove the chicken from the oil and set it aside.

• Salt and pepper • 2 leeks (white and pale green parts), thinly sliced – about 2 cups worth • 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar • 4-6 medium-size carrots or parsnips, cut into 2-inch lengths • 10 fresh sage leaves

MICHAEL STERN

• 2 cups low-sodium chicken stock

Braised chicken with leeks is the perfect comfort food after a long day’s hunting.

Add the leeks to the oil and cook them until tender – no more than 5 minutes.

Add the apple cider vinegar and as it heats use a wooden spoon to scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the parsnips, carrots, sage leaves, chicken stock and seared chicken. Cover and put it in the oven. Cook 50 minutes or until the chicken is fall-apart tender.

Serve over rice.

SUMMER 2015 | 49

THE FIND

HUNTLEY EQUESTRIAN BAG PRICE: $199.99

If you have been looking for a durable, functional and beautiful leather bag, your search is over!

Huntley Equestrian’s luxurious duffle bag is made from the finest nappa leather in a basket weave design with an equestrian-patterned silk fabric trimmed along the center. Features include a fully lined interior with a small interior zipper pocket and two open pockets, steel and brass hardware, and a detachable, adjustable leather shoulder strap. This bag is stunning!

Find a Huntley Equestrian retailer near you www.huntleyequestrian.com.

KBF99 BRUSHES PRICE: $4.99 AND UP

KBF99 Brushes are a new line of anti-bacterial stable and grooming products clinically proven to kill bacteria and fungus without the use of chemicals. A study completed at Coventry University (UK) showed that regular use of KBF99 Brushes effectively killed 99.99% of the bacteria/fungus that can cause strangles, ringworm and E. coli. Customers have also reported excellent results against mud fever, rain scald, scurf and thrush.

BETTE & COURT JACKABLE

PRICE: $98.00 The Jackable UV Protection Jacket for women is an essential addition to your summer trail riding wardrobe.

Featuring a full-zip placket and stand up collar, this lightweight jacket lets you maneuver without restriction and packs into the back storage pocket for when you want to take your style on the go. This piece is available in white for those magical folks who manage to stay clean at the barn and in black for those equestriennes who get dirty.

Find it at www.bette-court.com.

The complete range of KBF99 Brushes may be found at The Sound Equine www.soundequine.net.

SSG KOOL SKIN GLOVE PRICE: $29.99

Finally, a glove with the ultimate ventilation and comfort! The SSG Kool Skin Glove is the obvious choice for extra hot weather riding. These durable gloves are made of high tech, ventilated fabric that is not only easy to wear, but also to wash. Just toss in the washing machine after a long hot day at the barn!

Unisex sizes available in black: 6, 7, 7.5, 8, 9 Find a retailer at www.ssgridinggloves.com.

50 | COVERTSIDE

Experience Oregon wine country on a fabulous riding adventure!

Enjoy all the Pacific Northwest has to offer on an easy-to-get-to, six day, six night English Riding Vacation! Ride in the mountains, on the beach and through scenic vineyard land on our well-trained, sturdy and talented mounts; inclusive of wonderful accommodations, meals, wine tastings and transfers throughout the ride.

Booking 2015 now!

Contact us: 971-241-2684, WillametteCoastRide.com

17 h. Holsteiner stallion AHHA, RPSI, ISR/Old NA 2015 MFHA member rate: $900 LFG Rosemarie Merle-Smith 434-249-0310 Virginia Field Hunters.com Sales - Training

Catch 22 & Grosvenor Merle-Smith, MFH

SUMMER 2015 | 51

LAST RUN OF THE DAY Photograph by Larry Stava

The Den

Photographer Larry Stava was walking by a creek with granddaughter Layla (five years old). She wanted to know what lived in this hole they found. Larry put up a game camera and when he went through the pictures he found two adult fox and some babies.

These photos were taken when the kits had been moved to a different den. Larry took this picture while he was driving his tractor to put hay in the turnout pens.—CARINE STAVA

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 52 | COVERTSIDE

THE CLOSEST EQUESTRIAN COMMUNITY TO DOWNTOWN AIKEN

Located six miles and ten easy minutes from downtown Aiken, Tod’s Hill presents a new opportunity for those who love land, horses, and Aiken living. You can ride for hours on private scenic trails, yet make it to downtown’s cafes and shops in minutes.

EQUESTRIAN HOMESITES FROM 6 TO 22 ACRES PRICES STARTING AT $9500 AN ACRE

OK CO

S B R I DGE

D ROA

TOD’S HILL

Marketed By The ReMax Collection Tattersall Group Karl McMillan

Just 10 minutesFinefrom Homes & Luxury Properties downtown Aiken.

843-693-6115 Fine Homes & Luxury Properties

Fine Homes & Luxury Properties

www.TodsHill.com

ATOKA PROPERTIES www.atokaproperties.com MIDDLEBURG REAL ESTATE www.middleburgrealestate.com

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PATRICKSWELL - MARSHALL

MOUNT AIRY, UPPERVILLE HERITAGE FARM

HATCHERS MILL - MARSHALL

Fantastic opportunity. Rarely available large parcel. 296 Acres.

Zoned RA. Potential Easement Credit. Main Stucco Home plus

Extraordinary brick colonial on 50+ gorgeous acres in prestigious Greystone. Over 9000 sq.ft.of spectacular living space featuring 3 finished levels. Heated pool, tennis court & brilliant gardens pond, mtn views, in a private & secluded location. $4,300,000 Peter Pejacsevich 540-270-3835 Scott Buzzelli 540-454-1399

Whirlwind Farm encompasses 56 acres of manicured lawns justmins from Middleburg. Custom built w/ extraordinary quality & craftsmanship. Detailed moldings & elegant rooms. Pool & terrace.

Apartment over the 3 bay carriage house. OC Hunt. $2,995,000 Peter Pejacsevich 540-270-3835 Scott Buzzelli 540-454-1399

Orange County Foxhunting Territory. FQ7935337 $5,500,000 Peter Pejacsevich 540-270-3835 Scott Buzzelli 540-454-1399 STONEBROOK FARM

CLOVERLAND FARM

Majestic is the only way to describe Stonebrook Farm! Main house c.1750 w/ Stone Addition c. 1793 & recent total renovation fantastic horse facilities, riding arena, 8+ stall barn w/ living space on 22 stunning acres. Gardens & patios. $1,499,000 Peter Pejacsevich 540-270-3835 Scott Buzzelli 540-454-1399

Beautiful home sits on 54 acres with Goose Creek surround

WEXFORD - KENNEDY RETREAT

TWISTED OAK - WHITE POST

WEXFORD, The original J.F. Kennedy family retreat. 1st time on market in 1/4 century! Privately situated, commanding views from every room. Stone fences, pond, pool, tennis ct., stables. 166+ a/c in $7,950,000 4 parcels. Mins from Historic Middleburg!

Timber, stucco, limestone cust const home privately on 60 acw/ vernal stream & pond.Stone fireplace open to Kitchen & dining ideal for entertaining. Sustainably built w/ solar radiant systems. Garage w/guest qtrs, run-in shed, hay barn, greenhse, large shop w/ apt & office. Blue Ridge Hunt $1,395,00

Patricia Burns

540-454-6723

room & living area. 3 bdrm, 2 bath guest house and gorgeous 8-stall stone barn w/ tack room. LO8269159 $2,800,000 Peter Pejacsevich 540-270-3835 Scott Buzzelli 540-454-1399

Anne McIntosh

703-509-4499

Overlooking 149 acres in Orange County Hunt, Cloverland Farm is truly a masterpiece of fine country living. Exquisite stone home constructed of the highest quality and finishes.

Peter Pejacsevich 540-270-3835 Scott Buzzelli 540-454-1399 $6,500,000 KENNEL RD - BOYCE

Charming 6 bdrm/4 full bath house on ten acres in the heart of Blue Ridge Hunt Country. Features include master on main level, open kitchen, sun room w/ stone fireplace, finished basement w/ bedroom/full bath, library, & more. 2, 2-car garages, 2 barns, pool, potting shed, dog kennel, mature landscaping, stone work, flagstone patio. Add'l 22 acress avail. $1,050,000 Anne McIntosh 703-509-4499

RECTORTOWN RD - MARSHALL

MELMORE - MIDDLEBURG

KENNAL RD - BOYCE

Charming cottage in historic Rectortown. 3 bedroom/2.5 bath home works well as a weekend retreat or full-time living. Amenities include Viking range, soapstone countertops, exquisite HW flrs, porches on 1st/2nd levels, wood-burning FP, within 10 mins of Middleburg, Marshall DC <60 minutes. $549,000

Melmore estates, all brick colonial, 4 bedrooms, 3+baths, 4100 sq.ft. Custom Kitchen cabnets, wolf range, all new appliances. 3 fireplaces, finished basement, pantry w/dbl oven, central vac, pine floors, columns, moldings, stairs to unfnshed 3rd floor. $1,175,000 Scott Buzzelli 540-454-1399 Peter Pejacsevich 540-270-3835

Charming authentic log cabin, 5 acres in Clarke County S of rt 50. Potential for horses, huntbox, private lot, surrounded by land in easement. HW flooring & beamed cellings. Constructed in 1997, recent new HVAC. Within 5 mins of village of Millwood, 50 min to Dulles airport, 20 min to Winchester. $405,000 Anne McIntosh 703-509-4499

Walter Woodson 703-499-4961

115 NORTH 21ST STREET PURCELLVILLE VA | 10 E. WASHINGTON STREET MIDDLEBURG, VA