SPORTING ART COLLECTIONS • A FOXHUNTING FIRST LADY• DRAG SEMINAR WRAP UP
THE MAGAZINE OF MOUNTED FOXHUNTING
SUMMER 2013 • $5.00
sJ o h n C o l e s 2 013 s SpriNg hiLL
cANTerbury
orANge hiLL
Comprised of 4 farms this magnificent 2426 acre horse property consist of 3 Main homes, 11 tenant houses, 8 horse barns with 174 stalls including a 32 stall foaling barn, 72 gently rolling fields & paddocks with miles of white board fencing, interior private roads, 11 Run-in Sheds, beautiful lake and bold stream. $25,000,000
Exquisite details throughout this incredible 12 bedroom Georgian Revival manor home built in 1936. Situated on over 191 acres. This lovely home boasts a Reception Hall and a white Carrara marble Flying Staircase accessing 3 levels. Over 1/2 mile of Rappahannock River frontage, spectacular views, $9,750,000 springs, ponds and rolling pasture
199 acres in the heart of the Orange County Hunt Territory s 5 Bedroom Georgian Manor sFormal living and dining roomssSolarium s Pools 2 tenant houses Horse facilities include an indoor arena with 13 stalls, paddocks and fields with run-ins. & apartment and $4,900,000 pond. In VOF Conservation Easement.
meADowgrove
peLhAm
Extraordinary estate on over 180 acres sIdeal for horses s 7 Bedrooms sNew Gourmet State of the Art Kitchen & Baths s gorgeous full wall windows, overlooking 10 acre lake s10 stall stable sPaddocks with run-in sheds sPool and poolhouse with fireplace, spa and new tennis courts. $3,900,000
Circa 1878 sExquisite 6000 square ft. brick Victorian on 52 open acres near Middleburg sElegant Dining and Living Room sBeautiful 6 stall Center-Aisle Brick Stable with 1 Bedroom Apartment and a must see Tack Room and Lounges Round Pen and riding arena with all weather footingsRun-In Sheds s Out Buildings and more. $3,750,000
Handsome 5 bedroom Manor home with heated pool on 48 acres on Atoka Road. 1 bedroom Guest Cottage complete with kitchen, 2 Barns: Hunter barn with 4 stalls & tack room, Broodmare Barn with 5 stalls and tack room. 225’x137’ Show Ring with sand footing. Board fenced fields and paddocks, 3 ponds. In VOF easement. $3,200,000
AShLeigh
grAcewooD
foxLeigh
c.1845 listed on National Register of Historic Places. Surrounded by beautiful gardens on 98 acres s Pool with 2 Bedroom Pool Houses 2 Bedroom Guest Cottage s 10 stall, 4 stall, and 3 stall barn with appropriate tack rooms, several run in sheds and a large machine shed. Attached to the10 stall barn are two separate living quarters for farm managers.Magnificent views $2,900,000
Elegant custom manor home sited on 28 acres. 4 Bedrooms, 4 ½ Baths, 12’ ceiling height, 5 fireplaces, wide width flooring, and advanced air filtration system. Heated pool within formal garden. Equestrian facilities include a 7 stall barn and arena. Minutes from I-66 and convenient to Dulles International Airport. $2,499,000
LAND
MARLEA
ArcoT hALL
The 26 acre estate sits in magnificent horse country approx. one mile west of Middleburg just off the much desired Zulla Road, this estate includes the 1½ story white brick manor home w/2 car attached garage, 4 car detached garage, heated pool, 3 stall barn with run-in shed, 2 large paddocks and offers tremendous ride out potential. $2,450,000
fox vALLey
LOGANS MILL - Extraordinary, private estate area on 179+ acres with frontage on Little River, Open Space Easement, rolling fields with mature hardwood forest, Orange County Hunt Territory, great ride out, very private, less than 10 minutes from Middleburg, views in all directions. $3,500,000
90 acres w/approx. 45 fenced acres and 45 acres in woods with trails. 3 bedroom manor home, Indoor and Outdoor Arenas ,2 barns open into the indoor arena, Main barn has 20 stalls, Show Barn- 5 oversized stalls, 3 tack rooms, office, 2 wash stalls, 2 bathrooms, laundry room, 14 paddocks. Manager’s cottage. 2 additional DUR’s and is in land use. $2,359,000
BLUEMONT LAND - 2 parcels in Piedmont Hunt Territory ~ Mostly open, rolling and fully fenced land and accessed from 3 roads. 1 home of clapboard enhance this beautiful property. Options for purchase include: 50+ acres for $588,000 71+ acres for $995,000 with 3 BR home 2 parcels POTTS MILL - on 137+ acres with frontage on Little River, Open Space Easement, rolling fields with mature hardwood forest, Orange County Hunt Territory, great ride out, very private, within 5 miles of the village of Middleburg, views in all directions. $2,800,000
Historic circa 1845 home on 32 acres in Orange County Hunt s1st floor Master sDen sDramatic Grand Salon sEnglish Kitchen slarge Dining Rooms Billiard Room sSmall 2nd Kitchen/Bar leads to Patio, Pool & charming Guest Cottage s7 Stall barn adjoins 3 bedroom, 2 bath Managers house. $1,895,000
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
2 | Covertside
Middleburg, Virginia 20118
Thomas-Talbot.com
Page 26
The best Sporting Art Collections in the US.
summer 2013 Full Cry
21 26
32
Departments
From Track to Field
The winners of our first annual Thoroughbred essay contest.
A Fox in the Museum
2
From the President
4
from the Publisher
48
Last Run of the Day
The Meet
Covertside presents the finest collections of sporting art in the country. By Amy Engle
6
MFHA News
10
Three sporting artists capture the thrill of the chase. By Laura Mullane
The Tide is Turning Courts appear to be losing patience with animal rights lawsuits. By Brian Munn
On our cover: “I like the idea of providing a window that allows people to see things they might not normally get to, like the huntsman bringing the hounds out in the morning.” Painting is Drawn Hounds, by Tony Shore. Oil on linen, 10 x 8 inches.
14
38
About Hounds Entering Your Puppies By Susan Hoffman
40
About Horses Horses from The Farm By Glenye Cain Oakford
42
History A Foxhunting First Lady By Aynsley M. Fisher
The View
With Paintbrush in Hand
Going Home
Laying the Line MFHA’s drag seminar offers tips and insights from the experts.
45
Breakfast at Covertside Galway Blazers’ Potato Gratin By Marc Patoile
46
Book Shelf Fabulous Mr. Fox By Emily Esterson
By Norman Fine
Volume 4, Number 2 summer 2013 | 1
From the president
Growing our Sport
MASTERS OF FOXHOUNDS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
A
by Ed Kelly, MFH
2 | Covertside
www.mfha.com
OFFICERS Edward Kelly, MFH • President Dr. John R. van Nagell, MFH • First Vice-President Patrick A. Leahy, MFH • Second Vice-President Rene Latiolais, MFH • Secretary-Treasurer Lt. Col. Dennis J. Foster, ex-MFH • Executive Director
MFHA FOUNDATION Edward Kelly, 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 Bill Atherton
s you read this issue, we will be well into the hound show schedule and enjoying the Thoroughbred racing programs. However, of greater excitement is our “Fairly Hunted” program. As you’ve seen in prior articles, the MFHA created the “Fairly Hunted” award to honor juniors who have hunted five times in a year. We now have well over 200 honorees for this 2012/2013 season. This idea was the genius of Kathy Rubin who hunts actively in Connecticut, New York and Virginia. We thank her for this innovative way to reach young riders and its success is beyond expectations. Next year we will coordinate directly with each hunt and hopefully we will have “Fairly Hunted” nominees from all 163 hunts in North America. Another fabulous idea was conceived by Paul Delaney, our MFHA director for the Rocky Mountain district, to create an award each year to the hunt that opens the most exciting new country or rehabilitates existing fixtures. Our sport is growing and to meet the challenge, all hunts must aggressively seek new land owner permission to expand their programs. This is a marvelous opportunity to reward those that have been the most effective. This year, as we send out the invoices to subscribing members, we will be including an opportunity to contribute to our Political Action Committee. I strongly urge you to consider it positively as this is the only vehicle we have to help those state and federal legislators who are supportive of field sports. As discussed, the MFHA is now a sports association and as the National Football League is focusing on concussions and head
trauma, we are giving serious consideration to and investigating the various opportunities to prevent injury in mounted foxhunting. Years ago the MFHA passed a recommendation strongly recommending that chin straps be used on hunt caps. Today there are new inflatable vests and many other features to minimize the risk associated with the hunting experience. Laurel Byrne, our Canadian District representative is chairing the committee to explore these options and we urge you to consider them. Good articles will be included in most issues of Covertside and she would appreciate your opinions and suggestions. Have a wonderful summer. Cordially,
Ed Kelly, MFH MFHA President
COVERTSIDE EDITORIAL BOARD Emily Esterson • Editor-in-Chief Dennis J. Foster • ex-MFH Edward Kelly • MFH Dr. John R. van Nagell• MFH
DIRECTORS Canada • Laurel Byrne, MFH Carolinas • Linda Knox McLean, MFH Central • Joseph C. Kent, MFH Great Plains • Thomas Ghrist Jr., MFH Maryland-Delaware • Sheila Brown, MFH Midsouth • Dinwiddie Lampton III, MFH Midwest •Keith Gray, MFH New England • Vernon Studer, MFH Interim New York-New Jersey • Marion Thorne, MFH Northern Virginia-West Virginia • A.A. Zimmerman, MFH Pacific • Paul McEnroe, MFH Pennsylvania • Russell B. Jones, Jr., MFH Rocky Mountain • Paul T. Delaney, MFH Southern • Sally Rasmussen Virginia • Bob Ferrer, MFH Western • John P. Dorrier Jr., MFH At Large • Mrs. C. Martin Wood, III, MFH At Large • Mason H. Lampton, MFH At Large • Dr. G. Marvin Beeman, MFH COVERTSIDE (ISSN 1547-4216) is published quarterly (February, June, August and November) by the Masters of Foxhounds Association 675 Lime Marl Lane, Berryville, VA 22611. Periodical Postage Paid at Winchester, VA 22601 and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to MFHA, PO Box 363, Millwood, VA 22646. COVERTSIDE READERS: Direct all correspondence to the same address. Tel: (540)955-5680. Website: www.mfha.com
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FROM THE PUBLISHER SUMMER 2013
On the Move
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF/PUBLISHER
S
505-553-2671 ART DIRECTOR GLENNA STOCKS production@covertside.net
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT EDITOR KATY CARTER katy@covertside.net JOANN DELANEY
ummer is in full swing outside my office window, and I’m watching two hound puppies rollick around in their enclosure behind the barn. In the past few months, the amount of activity and new programs that MFHA has launched is a bit dizzying — the Fairly Hunted award, New Hunt Country, a PAC to help elect foxhunting-friendly legislators — and so much more in the works (see President’s Letter, page 2). There’s no room among these pages to detail it all, but we urge you to check www.mfha.com regularly, and we’ll try to keep you updated when we send out our enewsletter. We’re putting the finishing touches on the summer issue of Covertside. In this issue, we’re focusing on the artists that depict our sport. We’ve also got a wonderful short piece on puppy training, which was quite helpful for my adventures with Duke and Dexter (read more about them on ecovertside.net). There’s an interesting story about hunt horses that from the Angola prison, and a profile of one of the first female huntsman, courtesy of Deep Run, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year. And, we’re really excited to announce the winners of our OTTB essay contest, sponsored by The Jockey Club. We had so many great entries, we’re going to post them in ecovertside for the next few issues. In the meantime, see our winner and honorable mention entries in the pages of the magazine. The Staff Horse of the Year and Field Horse of the Year deadline is October 1, and winners will be announced at the MFHA annual meeting. Entry information is available on the MFHA website and on ecovertside.net
EMILY ESTERSON publisher@covertside.net
One thing you won’t find among our pages is our annual photography contest. We just didn’t have enough pages to run it all, so we’ll be featuring those in our Fall issue, and as usual, we’ll pick the best horizontal shots for the MFHA North American Foxhunting Calendar (preorder yours at www.ecovertside.net/shop). In the meantime, enjoy your summer hunt club activities and your puppy walking adventures. We’re see you in the fall. Kick on!
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS AMY ENGLE MARCIA BRODY GLENYE CAIN OAKFORD SUSAN HOFFMAN
ADVERTISING AND MARKETING EASTERN SEABOARD CHERYL MICROUTSICOS sales@covertside.net 434-664-7057 NATIONAL ACCOUNTS
Emily Esterson Editor-in-Chief/Publisher PS We welcome your contributions — stories, photos, article ideas. Send us an email at publisher@covertside.net
KATHY DRESS kdress@ptd.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 Fax: 505-873-0091 Web Address: www.ecovertside.net www.mfha.com
4 | COVERTSIDE
Presented
by
Keeneland
and
Cross
Gate
Gallery
Fine Spor ting Ar t, Am e r ican Pain t in gs an d Scu l p t u re
Sir Alfred J. Munnings, P.R.A.
BLUE PRINCE II WITH HARRY CARR UP ON NEWMARKET HEATH oil on unlined canvas | 26 1/2 by 39 1/4 in. Signed and inscribed : Blue Prince My Last Painting of a Race Horse
NOVEMBER 2013 The Sporting Art Auction, 509 East Main Street, Lexington, KY 40508 859.233.3856 | www.thesportingartauction.com | auction@thesportingartauction.com
MFHA NEWS
AT THE MFHA BOARD OF
DIRECTORS’ MEETING, held on May 24 at Morven Park in Leesburg, Va., members worked on both past and new initiatives. President Ed Kelly noted that donor request cards for the MFHA’s Political Action Committee are now included with subscribing member cards when a member renews. The PAC helps MFHA support legislators who are friendly to foxhunting. He urged the membership to donate to the PAC when renewing their subscribing memberships. THE PROFESSIONAL DEVEL-
OPMENT PROGRAM continues
The 2012 class of the Professional Development Program: (l-r) Stephanie Boyer (Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds), Kate Shelby (Green Mountain Hounds), Kami Wolk (Wentworth Hunt Club), and Amy Sharkey (Windy Hollow Hunt).
to turn out successful hunt staff. Since the program launched,
ing this upcoming class). The
Selby, Kami Wolk and Stephanie
THE NEW FAIRLY HUNTED
48 hunt staff will have gone
2012 graduates are Amy Shar-
Boyer — the first time there’s
AWARD was announced in 2012,
through the PD program (includ-
key, Courtney Carson, Katharine
been a class of all women.
and has been wildly popular.
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6 | COVERTSIDE
OCTOBER 18-20 Contact: Richard Patton, MFH 505-466-4200 • rspatton@aol.com • www.cazaladron.ning.com
you CAll. you sAve. As A membeR of The mAsTeRs of foxhouNds AssoCiATioN, you ARe eligible foR sigNifiCANT sAviNgs oN NATioNAlly kNowN pRoduCTs ThRough NTRA AdvANTAge. Not only are you a part of an association that lives for the Equine sport, but your membership entitles you to special savings on products used for your equine farm, business, or personal use. To enjoy the benefits of one-stop buying, call NTRA Advantage toll-free at 866-678-4289 or visit NTRAadvantage.com.
Five Ways to Save – The John Deere Equine Association Discount Program offers five levels. • The Full-Time Program – Save up to 28% on select equipment • The Part-Time Program – Coupon savings up to $1,000 • Construction Program – Save up to 21% on select equipment • Landscape Program – Preferred Platinum pricing • JohnDeereGifts.com – Save up to 10% on non-parts merchandise What’s Next? It all begins by calling our toll-free number first 866-678-4289, where we will work with you & your local John Deere dealer to make sure you receive the proper savings.
Receive up to 40% discount on Sherwin-Williams paints, plus discounts on in-store products, including floor and wall coverings. What’s Next? Call us toll-free at 866-678-4289 to establish an individual account.
OfficeMax outfits offices with everything from office and computer supplies to paper and office furniture. From the smallest businesses to multinational corporations, you are eligible for great savings! Savings depend on the products you purchase. Members are eligible to receive the Preferred Pricing on products including general supplies, furniture, custom printing, and special orders. What’s Next? Go online to www.officemaxsolutions.com. Enter user name “ntrafarm” and password “boise01”
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Call us toll-free at 866-678-4289 or visit www.NTRAadvantage.com MF0512
About 200 juniors from 33 differ-
(GP); Kami Wolk, Wentworth
ent hunts have received it. Names
Hunt Club (NE).
and hunts will be listed in the Winter issue of Covertside.
4 The following hunts
have disbanded and were 4 The following indi-
dropped from membership:
viduals were elected to
Knoxville Hunt (RM); Colonial Fox
membership: Dr. Halina Bain,
Hounds (S. VA).
London Hunt (CA); Paul Bickel,
EQUESTRIAN • THERMAL BELT • TRYON, N C
Quality custom home on 5.91 acres in Red Fox Run, Tryon, N.C., a private community within Red Fox Golf Course. Landscaped grounds surrounded by beautiful scenes and wooded privacy. Unique pole and beam engineered construction with solid cedar siding. His and hers outbuildings, oversize 2 car garage, thermal pane windows, double interior walls, hardwood floors throughout. Beam vaulted ceiling in living-room with fireplace, sitting room, dining room, kitchen and breakfast area, bedrooms 3, baths 2-1/2 and small study. Accessed from sitting room to the elevated 731 sq. ft. deck with natural views of the property, golf course and lake. Property always maintained in excellent condition. Sale by owner: 828-894-2017. $678,000
Magazine layout.indd 1
8 | Covertside
Long Run Hounds (MS); Eliza-
4 The Board accepted the
beth Rhett DeStefano, Middleton
following hunt change requests:
Place Hounds (C); Travis Gibson,
Loudoun West has merged with
Princess Anne Hunt (VA); Mary
Fairfax; the hunt’s new name is
Carol Harsch, Bear Creek Hounds
Loudoun Fairfax Hunt (VA); De La
(S); Jane Jeffries, Mission Valley
Brooke Foxhounds changed its
Hunt Club (GP); Ken Matheis,
name to De La Brooke Foxhounds
Metamora Hunt (CE); Ed Mitchell,
W (MD); Mr. Jackson’s Oxford
Princess Anne Hunt (VA); Karen
Hounds changed to Mr. Jackson’s
Murphy, Essex Fox Hounds (NY/
Flat Creek Hounds (GP)
NJ); Douglas Nieters, Rombout Hunt (NY/NJ); Susan Satterlee,
4 The board voted to add a
Harvard Fox Hounds (W); Hank
number of member benefits and
Slack, Essex Fox Hounds (NY/
programs to MFHA. One such pro-
NJ); David Sommers, Moin-
gram is to provide fuel reimburse-
gona Hunt (GP); Elizabeth St.
ment for hunts needing help to
John, Mooreland Hunt (S); Greg
attend hound shows. Hunts apply-
Thompson, Wicomico Hunt (MD);
ing for the funds will have to show
Ann Webber, Moingona Hunt
they have a need for help. Details
5/17/2013 10:16:57 AM
will be available soon. Check
microchip. Also, MFHA members
MFHA.org for more information.
now have access to discounts with Valvoline. Vat All MFHA
4 The MFHA has noted the
members get 15 per off of their
increasing popularity of perfor-
total invoice at any Valvoline In-
mance trials and voted that per-
stant Oil Center and commercial
formance trials are now eligible
farms receive up to 30 percent
for MFHA grants of up to $500.
off of commercial products.
The performance trials must submit a request to the MFHA office
4 In Foundation news,
and provide photos and lists of
the HSBF board has approved
winners after the event.
a program to reimburse travel expenses for professionals in
4 A new member benefit
need to help them attend hound
was approved — do-it-yourself
shows and seminars on a limited,
micro-chipping (Viaguard Inc./
case-by-case basis. The individu-
Accumetrics www.viaguardinc.
als must prove need, and apply
com). The retail cost is $10 per
through the HSBF.
dog with 50 or more about $6 each. The company will give
4 The OTTB Staff Horse of
MFHA members a price of $4.00
the Year and Field Horse
per dog with lifetime registration
of the Year contest deadline
and $125 for scanners which are
is October 1. Entrants must have
normally $95 to $195. In addi-
proof of registration, a photo
tion, if a hunt wants to get a DNA
and a 500 word essay explaining
breakdown of the dog’s breed-
how the horse exhibits the best
ing, it can be taken from the
qualities of a Thoroughbred. Send
same needle used to place the
entries to Sandy@covertside.net.
There is something special about Charles Owen and its passion to make riding a safer world. Join us as we explore the journey it takes to create products good enough to carry the Charles Owen name. Over 100 years of innovation combined with the finest materials skillfully crafted by trained technicians in our purpose built factory in Great Britain. To read more, follow the link below.
summer 2013 | 9 CO-Coverside-HP_HAMPTON.indd 2
22/01/2013 16:53
the view
The Tide is Turning
Both here and across the pond, courts seem to be losing patience with animal rights lawsuits.
n Dublin, Ireland, more than 25 years ago, I remember walking into the Dublin SPCA animal shelter at Grand Canal Quay, known affectionately as the “Dogs’ and Cats’ Home.” My mission was to acquire a dog. There were, of course, some poignant questions to establish my bona fides. The first was how much space did I have? When I admitted to having a farm with some horses and a couple of spare stables, the inquest turned to opportunity and I was eventually persuaded to adopt a little old donkey and two beautiful puppies that looked like a mix of rough collie and German shepherd. They quickly settled into the family and lived out their lives with us. Indeed the donkey, which my youngest daughter named “Charley Heehaw,” lived to a very great age. Charley Haughey (pronounced Hawhee) was at that time taoiseach (prime minister) of Ireland. My daughter, even at the age of eight, had an ear for mischievous parody. At that time, I held the DSPCA shelter and all the self10 | Covertside
less staff and animal welfare volunteers who worked there, in the highest regard. Over the intervening years, my love of foxhunting and responsibilities in public relations for the Hunting Association of Ireland (HAI) and Irish Masters of Foxhounds Association (IMFHA) have often brought me into sharp confrontation with a very different brand of animal advocacy — animal rights activists. I am well aware that regular readers of Covertside will be better informed than most about the threat animal rights groups pose to our sport, but, for anyone who is still confused about the difference between animal welfare and animal rights, let me emphasize that they are not two sides of the same coin. They are instead perhaps the antithesis of the other. The former can readily be described as animal lovers, people who devote enormous time and effort in the endless struggle to alleviate animal suffering and end cruelty and neglect. Animal rights activists, on the other hand, advocate that all animals including humans
Brian Munn
I
By Brian Munn
should have equal rights. Ultimately a sick rat has as much right to life or medical intervention as a sick child and to select the child to live in preference to a sick rat is “speciesism.” Animal rights apologists often equate speciesism with racism. In his book “Animal Liberation” published in 1975, Peter Singer defined speciesism as “a prejudice or bias in favor of the interests of members of one’s own species and against those of members of other species.” I have long advocated that in donating to animal welfare organizations, we should be generous to those wonderful caring people who run animal shelters and rescue abandoned and neglected animals, but should be wary of organizations that use our donations to promote an animal rights agenda. Animal rights proponents can often be identified by their terminology. For example, they
find “exploitation of animals” just as unacceptable as cruelty. Exploitation, they have argued, includes wearing leather shoes, drinking milk and of course eating meat. Specious Lawsuits
I would like to think that in Ireland our national and local societies for the prevention of cruelty to animals continue the good work. I am confident that within those organizations there are still committed, good men and women rescuing animals from suffering. That is equally true here in America and within animal welfare organizations everywhere, but recent news stories from around the world are shattering my faith. On December 28, 2012, newspapers and other news media across America ran a story that shocked many animal welfare subscribers. CNN NEWS summed up the story with the headline:
Perf ection
Call it what you will – hacking jacket, cubbing jacket, breakfast coat, gentleman’s tweed – if it’s from Horse Country, it’s correct. This is truly versatile and functional attire, styled for the horseman, yet suitable for a wide range of occasions – tailgates, formal breakfasts, race days, the office, cocktail parties, any event that calls for casually elegant turnout. Horse Country tweed jackets are crafted from carefully selected cloth, tailored for a precise fit. They’ll provide years of durable, dependable function. When you slip one on, you’ll know just what to call it – “perfect.”
The carriage horse industry in New York has been targeted by the ASPCA for cruelty. Investigators found no evidence of abuse.
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“ASPCA Pays $9.3 Million to Ringling Bros. Circus Due To Untruthful Testimony Of A Paid Plaintiff And Witness.” A similar controversy occurred in December of the previous year in New York. According to a story in the New York Post, the ASPCA’s crusade to abolish the city’s 100-year-old horse carriage industry on the basis of cruelty to the horses was challenged by an NYPD cop-turned-animal-welfare agent Henry Ruiz, who claimed the ASPCA was cutting ethical and legal corners. Ruiz said that in his nine years with the ASPCA he never witnessed cruelty to a carriage horse. The controversy is still raging in England over the RSPCA’s private lawsuit against the Heythrop hunt. The RSPCA prosecuted one director of the hunt and one employee as well as the hunt company. The two men pleaded guilty to four charges,
each under a minor piece of legislation. Apparently they chose to plead guilty because they could not afford to fight the case. The judge fined one of the men £250 for each offense and the other £450. The company was handed four £1,000 fines. The RSPCA had spent £326,980.23 on solicitors, barristers and associated costs. The judge called the figure “staggering,” asking whether “the public may feel RSPCA funds could be more usefully employed.” That figure does not take into account the cost of months of surveillance and video editing. Simon Hart, former chief executive of the Countryside Alliance, and now MP for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, introduced a debate in the British House of Commons on the process of RSPCA prosecutions. I read the transcript of that debate and found it fascinating. SUMMER 2013 | 11
Clinic_ad_Covertside:Layout 1 5/6/13 1:13 PM Page 1
Raise the bar and ride better: Foxhunting and Eventing Clinic with Chris Ryan MFH, Scarteen Black and Tans, international eventer, coach, and developer of world-class horses (trained McKinlaigh)
Two clinics: Aug 27-28-29 and Aug 31-Sept 1-2 Hosted by Woodford Hounds, central Kentucky
• CliniCS FoR all agES and aBiliTiES: foxhunters riding first flight, hilltoppers and juniors; or beginner novice through advanced eventers. • dESTinaTion CliniC at historic Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, Harrodsburg, Kentucky; stabling and accommodations available on site. • nuMERouS SoCial oPPoRTuniTiES for participants and auditors. • adults: $250 per 3-day session; Youth: $200 • MuCH MoRE inFoRMaTion aVailaBlE @ thewoodfordhounds.org
12 | Covertside
Sive Doyle photo
Simon Hart avoided any reference to the hunting prosecution; indeed he quipped early in his speech that he would not mention the H word and cleverly conducted his argument without mentioning it. He did however, amid many interruptions from the house, describe two other prosecutions brought by the RSPCA on hapless English citizens. They are worth quoting here. Simon Hart: “Pauline Spoor, a pensioner from Manchester, was convicted and tagged for not putting down her old dog, which had arthritis. She admitted in court that her actions were misguided but said she could not bear to put him down as he was her constant companion. Would not, in those circumstances, a quiet word from the RSPCA have resolved the problem just as effectively and at considerably less cost? What of Georgina Langley? In 2010, three RSPCA inspectors, with police reinforcement, entered the home of the 67-year-old and took away her 13 cats, four cockerels and dog. Within days, she was told that the RSPCA had put down five of her cats. The Royal Veterinary College carried out an independent post-mortem examination on a ginger tom and an adult female, after being contacted by Miss Langley’s vet. He said: “There appears to be no good reason why the RSPCA allowed these animals to be put to sleep. The RVC post mortems concluded the cats were healthy with no signs of incorrect feeding or problems with fleas or other illnesses. This lady needed help and support, not hauling through the courts.” It does not end there. The RSPCA pushed for costs of £28,000, asking magistrates to make an order on the pensioner’s home and calling for her to be banned from keeping animals. Instead, it was ordered that Miss Langley’s dog and cockerels and one cat should be returned. She was given a conditional discharge with no fine or costs imposed. Was the action that
was taken that of a responsible and proportionate prosecutor?” Telling Testimony
From my reading of the transcript, the Commons debate on the issue of how the RSPCA processed prosecutions seemed fairly evenly split along party lines. I was surprised by the vehement anti-hunting response of certain Labour MPs nine years after they had banned hunting, but perhaps it is the response of the British Green Party MP for Brighton, Pavilion — Caroline Lucas — that is most telling. Caroline Lucas (Brighton, Pavilion): “I have to put on the public record that I am a proud member and vice-president of the RSCPA. I am also proud of the fact that the UK has laws protecting animals from abuse and neglect. There is always room for improvement, but, taken as a whole, this legislation is a marker of a civilised society that refuses to condone cruelty or tolerate the exploitation of other species.” Well now. “Tolerate the exploitation of other species.” That is a familiar phrase. I expect the jumbling of “RSPCA” to “RSCPA” was an error of the transcript and not a slip of the tongue, but would it be unreasonable to suppose that the vice-president of the RSPCA is laying another marker; that through the enforcement activities of this charity, the same civilized society will refuse to condone the exploitation of cows for their milk or hens for their eggs? Are the farmers of this civilized society also to become targets of RSPCA enforcement? For forty years, the animal rights movement has grown in strength, supported financially by people who may have thought they were supporting animal welfare. Maybe now, the tide is turning. Brian Munn is the former public relations officer for the IMFHA. He now lives in New Jersey.
summer 2013 | 13
Myopia hounds run the demonstration drag with enthusiasm.
14 | Covertside
Laying the Line MFHA’s drag seminar offers tips and insights. by Norman Fine
When it comes to American sporting history, Myopia may have no equal. The venerable Myopia Hunt Club — organized in 1882 — hosted a drag hunting seminar at its clubhouse in Hamilton, Mass., on Boston’s North Shore on Saturday, April 13, 2013. Established originally as a baseball
club by four short-sighted brothers — hence the name — Myopia boasts the oldest polo field in continuous use in the country. The golf course was built in the 1890s, and four U.S. Opens were held there on both sides
of the turn of the twentieth century. Old New England still thrives in Hamilton and environs. The Myopia clubhouse, site of the welcoming dinner on Friday night and the seminar on Saturday, reflects the traditional atmosphere of early American, no-frills simplicity. It was a privilege to walk the same halls trod by so many icons summer 2013 | 15
of our earliest sport, past cabinets displaying elaborate silver trophies from bygone days, and oil paintings preserving more than a century of Myopia Masters. The seminar attracted 132 attendees who traveled from all corners of North America. Fraser Valley Hunt in British Columbia came the farthest, while other attendees came from Florida, Washington state, and Ontario. It included panel discussions, a live demonstration courtesy of Myopia Huntsman Brian Kiely, and plenty of opportunity for hospitality and socializing. PANEL DISCUSSIONS
While today most hunts that move to drag hunting do so as a result of loss of open space in their hunting country, it’s interesting to note that three of the older hunts represented on the panel — Myopia, Norfolk, and Aiken — have been drag packs from the outset. Myopia and Norfolk were organized by wealthy New 16 | Covertside
Englanders who wanted to hunt but also wanted to be in their offices by 9:00 a.m. The drag hunt gave them the control they needed to catch the Boston train in time. Panelists for the morning’s session were Linda Knox McLean, MFH, Aiken Hounds (S.C.); Fred Iozzo, MFH and huntsman, Wayne-DuPage Hunt (Ill.); Cindy Piper, MFH, Long Lake Hounds (Minn.); and Paul Sherman, MFH and huntsman, Wellington Waterloo Hunt (Ont.). The afternoon panel — all professional huntsmen — consisted of Brian Kiely, Myopia; Katherine Gunter, Aiken; John Elliott, Norfolk Hunt (Mass.); and Antony Gaylard, Toronto and North York (Ont.). (Although Toronto and North York is a live hunt, Gaylard had extensive drag hunting experience at the Ottawa Valley Hunt in Ontario.) All the panelists stated that their goal was to simulate live hunting. “I want to make it as real as possible,” said Kiely. “People shouldn’t be able to tell whether we’re hunting live or drag.”
“We try to make it realistic,” said Gunter. “ We lay the drag through the woods as the fox might run.” It hasn’t always been that way. In years past, some hunts — even among those represented on the panel — were out to give their members a fast gallop over fences. The drag was laid straight down the trails, and hounds and riders raced and jumped at steeplechase speeds. SCENT
The scent formula used by drag hunts is sometimes a closely guarded secret. Not at this seminar, however. All panelists were frank and open about their scent mix, how they vary it, and how much detail about the line of the drag is divulged to Masters and staff. In the old days, most drag hunts used fox urine, often with other additives to help out on poor scenting days. Some years ago many hunts, even including some on the panel, abandoned the use of fox urine and switched to anise as the primary
Long Lake also plays it according to the country. “In open country, we tend to tell the huntsman less,” said Piper. “He crabs about that!” The method of laying the drag varied all over the lot. Panelists use people afoot, on horseback, and on a motorized four-wheeler. Some drag it, some spray it, and some dribble it. Aiken lays the drag on horseback and on foot, using a spray bottle or a rag, sometimes a combination of the two. “Foxes” on foot will even crawl under bushes on their hands and knees to add to the realism. At Norfolk, the drag is laid on foot in the belief that it can more closely simulate the perambulations of a fox. A different person lays each section. When Gaylard arrived at Ottawa Valley, the drag was laid on horseback, but he found that wherever there was a trail, the riders would take the easy route. He stopped that practice and switched to having the drag laid on foot. Once hounds had to search for the scent, it became more interesting for him as a huntsman.
An advantage to laying the drag from horseback, as described by one attendee, was that she could wait until she heard hounds coming closer, then move off again with her bottle on her swift Thoroughbred cross. In so doing, she said, they got runs of twenty to twenty-five minutes. Kiely likes to start his drag lines with a weaker scent to make his hounds work and get steady on the line. To accomplish this, he takes the old, rolled-up drag towel from the previous hunt that had been hung to dry and wets it in water without adding any more fresh scent. In that manner, the line is started. After perhaps a half-mile the towel is dipped in the fresh solution, and dipped again every half-mile or so. It’s dragged behind a four-wheeler and allowed to bounce along the ground. “We tried using a spray, but we got it all over ourselves!” he said. HOUNDS
Panelists spoke to the question of the breeding, training, and handling of drag hounds in the field.
Huntsman Brian Kiely with hounds. The tennis ball means playtime!
Mary Marks
Mary Marks
The Masters weigh in: (l-r) moderator and MFHA President Ed Kelly, Linda McLean, Cindy Piper, Fred Iozzo, and Paul Sherman.
ingredient. One reason for this, I am told, was to get and keep good human “foxes,” many of whom found the smell of the urine distasteful. Today, however, each hunt represented on the panel uses fox urine once again as the primary ingredient. Huntsmen Kiely and Elliott use a mixture of fox urine, glycerin, and water, with a dash of anise. Kiely explained that he includes the anise as an identifying signature to the hounds, so they will recognize the mixture and discriminate it from live fox and other riot. Both Kiely and Elliott are hunting in suburban areas close to Boston, and they train their hounds to consider any scent other than the drag as riot. Glycerin helps the mixture stick to the leaves and grass and hold the scent. Since glycerin emulsifies (doesn’t separate) in the mix, it is preferable to vegetable oil because it adheres to the scent molecules and slows the evaporation process. While Kiely uses the same mixture no matter the scenting conditions, other panelists modify their scent mixture to compensate for varying conditions. On windy days, Elliott soaks some kibble in the mixture to absorb and hold the scent. The kibble is dropped at intervals on the line. “Scenting conditions are the most underrated consideration in drag hunting,” Elliott explained. “Our enemies are wind, heat, and dry, parched ground. Scenting conditions really matter.” Another consideration discussed by panelists hunting in built-up areas was the importance of knowing exactly where the drag has been laid. “I have very little time to stop them if they go wrong,” explained Elliott. On the other hand, there are some, like Iozzo and Sherman, who don’t want to know where the drag is laid. “Start here and end here, I tell them,” said Sherman. “I don’t care what they do in between. I like to be surprised.” Sherman did admit, though, in tight country he needs to know more.
summer 2013 | 17
Kiely prefers American hounds for their eagerness to please and their ability to learn from each other. He uses the tennis ball as a training aid (see Spring 2013 Covertside article). The ball is planted for hounds to find and to mark the end of each section so they will know to stop. While some drag hunts leave hound food at the end of a line as a signal for hounds to stop, Elliott found that practice to pose a problem. “They check out every place where a hunt has ever ended on their way past!” he said. Aiken uses Penn-Marydels, a breed which Huntsman Gunter finds steadier on deer — an occasional problem in the Hitchcock Woods. Aiken breeds one litter per year and supplements with drafts from other hunts. The Wayne-DuPage pack comprises mainly Midland Crossbreds, but Iozzo is considering the introduction of Penn-Marydels to his pack. Wellington-Waterloo has a Crossbred pack and takes drafts from nearby
live hunts, which Sherman says integrate very well with their pack. Norfolk also uses Crossbred hounds. “I want a hound that is looking over its shoulder to make sure I’m there,” Elliott said. Gaylard believes that hounds should be either live or drag, not both. At Ottawa Valley, fox, coyote, and deer are
considered riot. Only the drag is the correct quarry. For Aiken, however, Huntsman Gunter won’t stop hounds if they pick up the line of a fox, but as soon as they check she will call them back. Gunter, Kiely, and Gaylard draw with hounds toward the start of each section as if seeking the fox. Gaylard believes
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that hounds should work to find and be allowed to steady on the line. “That’s where the cry comes from,” he said. When hounds start off flying, their heads are up and there is less voice. Cry can increase fourfold when their heads are down, working, and steady on the line, he explained. Experienced drag huntsmen agree that when it comes to the application of scent, “less is more.” THE FIELD
Most hunts these days offer at least two fields, sometimes three. Aiken offers riders a first flight and a hilltopping field. The latter is for non-jumpers, and they often follow a separate but more direct route. With those The huntsman’s panel (l–r): wonderfully inviting brush-filled Moderator post-and-rail fences — known all Dennis Foster, John Elliott, over North America’s horse country Antony Gaylard, as, what else, the Aiken — permaKatherine Gunter, and Brian Kiely. nently installed throughout the Hitchcock Woods, McLean likes to take her first flight on a route that will give her covertside half page field a smooth and fluid continuous
hand gallop over a number of fences. As a matter of safety, at WellingtonWaterloo, all new riders must start in the second field with an assigned mentor, no matter the level of expertise they profess to possess. The field master or their mentor must pass on their ability to move up to the first field. At WayneDuPage, every new person must ride with an existing hunt member at first. Upon conclusion of the panel discussions, three chartered buses transported the seminar attendees to Groton House Farm where Masters, staff, and hounds demonstrated a short drag hunt. Huntsman Brian Kiely, a native of Ireland, displayed an impressive rapport with his hounds. While waiting for the first draw, he allowed them to range freely, rather than keeping them tightly packed around his horse’s heels. After investigating their surroundings and emptying, they tended to pack in of their own accord and relax close by him. At the conclusion of the drag, Kiely rewarded hounds by tossing a tennis
ball, accompanied by exuberant whoowhoops. After that, they were once again content to relax near him or lay at his feet. HOSPITALITY
Myopia Masters, staff and members clearly made an effort to make this seminar both a valuable and enjoyable experience. The clubhouse venue was perfect and the dining first-class. Finally, members Josh Lerner and Wendy Wood opened their lovely home to the entire crowd for a farewell dinner, providing a most hospitable and personal touch. Thank you Masters Ted Mehm and Kim Cutler for a most enjoyable and productive weekend. Norman Fine is the editor of Foxhunting Life, an e-magazine and web-based resource for foxhunters. He is the former editor of Covertside magazine, editor of The Derrydale Press Foxhunters’ Library, and the author of four books.
summer 2013 | 19
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We all know it: Thoroughbreds make excellent hunt horses. Foxhunters love their stamina and their heart, their loyalty and their biddable nature. All that folderol about OTTBs being too hot, too lame or too used up are mostly myths that plenty of OTTB owners can prove wrong.
From Track to Field O
ur OTTB essay contest (prizes sponsored by The Jockey Club’s Thoroughbred Incentive Program) drew 35 stories of the bold, the brave and the beautiful. Some were funny, some were heartbreaking but all were, in the words of essay contest judge and celebrated author Rita Mae Brown, darn good. So even if you didn’t win the grand prize, know that all the judges had a hard time picking the winners.
Read on and enjoy, and the next time you’re in the market for a horse, consider rehoming an OTTB. t
summer 2013 | 21
Essay Contest
Name: Lilla Mason Hunt Name: Iroquois Hunt Thoroughbred’s Nickname: Courage
I believe that when a beloved horse dies it often sends a sign to let you know the spirit lives on. So it was with a grand little off-the-track Thoroughbred named Courage. It was the last hunt of the season, the last run was over. I gave Courage a pat. Little did I know this would be our last hunt together. It was then I noticed I had lost my horn. Courage was about 15.3 hands high, and built like a quarter horse. He had a way of thinking things through and often coming up with the most remarkable tactics to solve problems. I remember one day in his first season. I approached a coop that had a puddle of water on the take-off side. I slowed
to a trot so he could go through the water and pop over the coop. Courage had a different idea. He leaped over the five-foot puddle, banked the apex of the coop first with his front end then his hind end, pushing off and landing clear on the other side! Horses off the track have the advantage of being really broke to things like machinery and traffic, loading and unloading, being washed, etc. But you sometimes forget what they haven’t been exposed to. His first season we were galloping flat out in an open field, hounds were in full cry and I was relaying the information to the huntsman on the radio when Courage propped to a halt and sent me fly-
Our Judges Rita Mae Brown has written 52 novels, screenplays and poems, and has been nominated for Emmy Awards. Her Sister Jane mystery series follows the antics of Virginia hunt country characters. She carries the horn for Oak Ridge Hunt Club and is also an MFH. “I’m older than dirt and happier than hell,” she told Covertside.
22 | Covertside
First Place Winner ing through the air. He stood over me, no one was around (or so I thought), so I retrieved my radio, hopped back on and was off again. Later in the day I was out on point standing near our retired huntsman’s truck. He rolled down the window and said to me, “They don’t have any cow pies on the racetrack do they?” Once you have earned their trust, there are no greater staff horses than off-the-track Thoroughbreds. They love to gallop and following hounds gives them a feeling of being in charge. Courage was well mannered, but on hunt days you had to lead him into the barn with a chain over his nose because he would act like
a mad stallion, jigging and snorting. If he wasn’t selected to go hunting he would make a huge fuss and then gallop alongside the trailer as we pulled out of the farm. You could still hear him whinnying miles down the road. I hunted the hounds off him for nine seasons. He died the night before our first day of cub hunting. That morning the Master came down to the barn to put his boots on and said that he had found a horn in a coat pocket. It was the one I had lost, my last hunt day riding Courage. A chill went down my spine and tears welled up in my eyes as I knew that was Courage’s way of saying goodbye, and thanks.
Jan Neuharth, is author of the Hunt Country Suspense Novel series. An attorney and avid equestrian, she practiced law in Los Angeles before moving to Middleburg, Va., to establish Paper Chase Farms, one of the premier equestrian facilities of its kind. Life in the historic, picturesque Virginia hunt country inspires the setting, plots, and characters for her novels. She lives with her husband, Joseph Keusch, former Joint Master of the Fairfax Hunt, and their children. She is at work on the fourth novel in her Hunt Country Suspense Series.
Name: Terence B. Hook Hunt Name: Green Mountain Hounds Thoroughbred’s Nickname: Salisbury Rose
I REALLY HATE THAT HORSE. She looked at me where I was lying on the ground, having skidded fifty feet on my face across a stubbly hay field, my accoutrements scattered along my path like the proverbial yard sale. She gazed at me briefly, executed a lovely turn on her haunches, and galloped off toward the trailers several miles away. I groaned, hoisted myself to my feet, retrieved my whip and other detritus and began to trudge home. To make matters worse, the hound we had been attempting to retrieve was nowhere to be found. During the long and painful trek back I reviewed in my mind all the evil things that
she had done to me, and plotted my revenge. Although I had bought her almost on a whim as a pony club horse for my daughter, I had been whipping-in on the redoubtable Salisbury Rose, more familiarly known as Sally, for a number of years. At that time Sally was pushing 20, but showed no signs of slowing down. Her race record in Maryland seemed pretty impressive to me; she had retired from the track at about age six. A typical Thoroughbred mare, she was spooky and hot. I had long ago learned to sit deep in the saddle and look about as if I were a horse. I tried to antici-
JOHN STRASSBURGER has hunted for more than 40 years, starting with the Spring Valley Hounds (N.J.) and then working for three seasons in the stable of the Essex Fox Hounds (N.J.). While editor of The Chronicle of the Horse, from 1986 to 2006, he followed more than two dozen packs throughout the United States, Canada and England. He edited the MFHA’s Centennial Book in 2007.
pate the scary stumps, bushes, and shadows, but did not always succeed. I had not really come off her very often, but once or twice it was a painful six weeks or so to heal. Once I unwisely tried to sit her “springtime buck” and broke my coccyx, which was a year in binding up. My farrier complained about her shelly little feet, and despite his best efforts we sometimes lost a shoe. As I limped along, I began to consider her more deeply. Running home, reins dragging, could she have hurt herself? What if she ran into the road and was hit? I remembered the trip to Geneseo and Limestone Creek, two back-toback days of all-out, hellbent-for-leather hunting. She never refused a jump, and never hesitated at a gallop. She was sure-footed and willing, up the rocky hills and into the muddy ditches. I remembered how touchingly she whinnied a greeting when I came to her stall to collect her in
the morning. I remembered how we had both taken a header into a ditch, both emerging unscathed, and she never blamed me for it. I remembered the exhilaration of riding her at speed — like sitting on a rocket ship — eyes streaming tears and barely able to breathe — those “shelly little feet” barely touching the ground, her motorboating respiration keeping time to the gallop. I remembered her at the joint meet at Myopia, where she took me safely over the jumps despite the treacherous snow. I remembered how she lets me hang in her mouth and thrash all over her back, and always forgives me. She’s a queen and always a lady. I really love that horse.
ESSAY CONTEST
Honorable Mention
SUMMER 2013 | 23
Special Advertising Section What exactly is happening in aging joints?
Joint Health for Hunt Horses
Why do professionals, like top Thoroughbred trainer Todd Pletcher, use the LubriSyn family of products on their horses?
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rofessional racehorse trainers such as Todd Pletcher want to be able to train their horses as much as they can to maximize each horse’s potential. In order to do that they utilize LubriSynHA. Mr. Pletcher has been using our products going on nine years now. During that time, the number of joint injections he has used has decreased by 30 percent. This reduces the chances of reactions, infections, and wear and tear to the joint itself from continued injections. Additionally, this saves the owners a substantial amount of money; injections are, after all, costly procedures. Top trainers are looking to stay ahead by preventing issues that are caused by the wear and tear of normal training regimens. Since Pletcher uses LubriSynHA as a preventative, the horses are able to handle a much more intense training schedule without having the need for as many restorative treatments. Why did you develop LubriSynHA as a daily supplement?
It is widely accepted in the veterinary field that using hyaluronic acid helps maintain joints, whether it is injected directly into the 24 | Covertside
joints, into the blood, or absorbed orally. The idea behind the creation of LubriSynHA’s orally administered hyaluronic acid was to fill the need for a safer, cost effective method to maintain healthy joints for equine athletes. A daily dose of our liquid formula ensures a constant level of hyaluronic acid in the bloodstream making it more readily available to the joints; avoiding the highs and lows that are commonplace with injectable hyaluronic acid. Through numerous trial and error attempts we have been able to prove scientifically (Journal of Applied Nutrition: November 2004) that it was readily absorbed orally. We have also found that it is a more convenient and cost effective way to administer daily. Not only is it convenient but also it is much, much safer than an injectable. Intravenous injections can cause a number of complications, including a sterile abscess, thrombosis of the vein, a reaction from the injection, the vein can be missed and the product not absorbed into the bloodstream. Using a needle injection can cause bacteria and/or foreign debris to be unintentionally administered. Using oral hyaluronic acid administration can eliminate most of these risks entirely.
The wear and tear of everyday trauma and stress causes normal changes in the aging joint. In the case of racehorses, damage to the end cap cartilage is created on the long bones carpus, hocks, fetlocks, and the stifle. Osteoarthritis is the process of inflammation due to the loss of articular cartilage on the end caps. Deterioration of cartilage leads to the breakdown of hyaluronic acid – causing the synovial fluid to be thinner and more watery – thus providing less protection, leading to more friction and therefore the breakdown of the cartilage itself. The best way to deal with any inflammatory process is to be preventative. The earlier that these equine athletes are supplemented with LubriSynHA’s high molecular weight hyaluronic acid, the more beneficial it will be. In the case of OTTBs that go on to become field hunters, even though the horse’s level of activity decreases, the arthritis is still present and hyaluronic acid can decrease symptoms such as inflammation. Why not glucosamine and chondroitin?
In the most recent studies, glucosamine and chondroitin have shown over time that they are incorporated less and less into the cartilage. In other words, the efficacy rate is not as high as previously thought. Studies have shown that glucosamine and chondroitin are not as effective preventatively or therapeutically, which is why I have generally stayed away from their use in my practice. How can this benefit my field hunter?
A lot of fieldhunters in use today are a little bit older and stay in use for a long time. The horses may be laid off work for a period of time, and then get less exercise during the off season. They may put on weight during their layoff, which causes wear and tear on their joints when they come back into work. During the season, they are subjected to stress on their joints as they participate in the hunt, jumping and galloping over uneven terrain. Having a daily dose of hyaluronic acid readily available allows the horse to be more comfortable as he performs in the hunt. LubriSynHA is a good preventative and a great supplement to add to your horse’s diet to maximize their comfort and performance level.
WHEN SHOULD I START MY HUNTER ON JOINT HEALTH SUPPLEMENTATION?
Get Sound. Stay Sound.
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Joint health supplementation should begin prior to cubbing season as the horses are being geared up for the hunt with increased exercise. While the horses were resting during the off-season, they may have gained weight and lost muscle. The result is a stiffer horse and LubriSynHA will help with that discomfort. Summer legging up season is a good time to start supplementing to prevent problems later on. As I always say, preventative medicine is always smarter and less expensive than restorative measures.
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SUMMER 2013 | 25
Obj. No. 85.490.3 James Pollard (British, 1792-1867) The Hertfordshire Hunt: A Fox Chase, 1839 Oil on canvas 16” x 22”. Inscribed J Pollard 1839 at lower center. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond. Paul Mellon Collection. Photo: Katherine Wetzel © Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
26 | Covertside
a
fox in the
museum Collections of sporting art feed the hunt-starved soul. By Amy Engle
I
t’s no surprise that lovers of horses and hounds are drawn to art depicting the relationships between humans and animals, and the landscapes in which they live, hunt, play and perish. And although the tradition of sporting art began as a form of documentation (portraits of beloved dogs, horses, and livestock, artistic snapshots of the field during a hunt) it evolved into a rich genre that captured the social history of a bygone time and bore witness to the slow creep of industrialization into the rural, pastoral lifestyle.
Though frequently maligned for its documentary impulse, the genre experienced a renaissance in the 1960s that continues to this day in museums, galleries and private collections all across the United States, Europe and the United Kingdom. Here, to correspond with some of foxhunting’s most beloved summertime retreats, we’ve assembled a rundown of this country’s finest collections of sporting art. Whether you’re a veteran collector or a nascent admirer, these world-class exhibitions are bound to delight, inspire and soothe your hunt-starved spirit until the real life art of the chase can begin again this fall.
Image courtesy International Museum of the Horse
summer 2013 | 27
Paul Mellon Collection at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts 200 N. Boulevard Richmond, VA 804-340-1405 www.vmfa.state.va.us Open 365 days a year and the permanent collections are always free to the public.
Part of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, the Paul Mellon collection boasts the largest number of collected works from British sporting artists anywhere in the world — includ-
After spending time in England as a young man, Mellon fell in love with horses and rural sporting culture. He began collecting British sporting art in earnest during the 1960s, and his passion quickly ignited a new appreciation for the genre among collectors in the United States and abroad. Over the years Mellon collected and commissioned an astonishing number of pieces from the famous names in British sporting art including John Wootton, James Pollard and George Stubbs, as well as from many lesser known but equally fascinating artists. In addition to the Paul Mellon
or the bronze hounds, horses, stags, and other sublime scenes by master animalier artist Antoine Louis Barye. In the American collection look for sporting subjects captured by famous American artists such as Edward Troye and Winslow Homer. Along with the permanent collections, the VMFA is hosting two upcoming exhibitions of interest to sporting art enthusiasts. Through August 4th don’t miss “Domestic, Wild, Divine: Artists Look at Animals,” a look at the complex relationships forged between humans and their fellow animals as represented by artists
The National Sporting Museum and Library 102 The Plains Road Middleburg, VA 20117 540-687-6542 www.nsl.org Museum hours: Wednesday– Saturday 10 a.m.–4 p.m. and Sunday noon–4 p.m. Library hours: Tuesday–Friday 10 a.m.–4 p.m. and Saturday 1 p.m.–4 p.m.
In the heart of hunt country in Middleburg you’ll find one of the country’s finest collections of sporting paintings, sculpture, prints, and objets d’art at
Here, to correspond with some of foxhunting’s most beloved summertime retreats, we’ve assembled a rundown of this country’s finest collections of sporting art.
ing Britain. This impressive assortment, which fills half of the museum’s spacious west wing, was a gift from philanthropist, collector and renowned racing Thoroughbred breeder Paul Mellon. 28 | Covertside
Collection, you’ll find sporting subjects depicted by a wide range of artists from French impressionists to American masters waiting for you within the walls of the VMFA. Be sure not to miss the life-like horse waxes by Degas,
from prehistory to the present. And after August 31st keep an eye out for “Catching Sight: The World of the British Sporting Print,” an examination of the common but often overlooked British sporting print.
the National Sporting Library and Museum. Dedicated to preserving, promoting and sharing the literature, art and culture of equestrian, angling and field sports, the NSL was designed
primarily as a center for research on horse and field sports. Thanks to generous gifts from a number of this country’s great sporting families, the museum has expanded over the years to include a notable collection of artworks from American, British, and Continental artists such as Ben Marshall, Sir Alfred J. Munnings, Abraham Van Calraet, Henri de Lattre, Lionel D. R. Edwards, John Emms, Edward Troye, and many more. In addition to the artwork, the National Sporting Library boasts over 24,000 volumes — from works of literature to research papers, hunt diaries, scrapbooks, and unpublished manuscripts — on sporting subjects ranging from horse racing, foxhunting and beagling to angling, wing shooting and falconry. If you’re planning a summer visit to the NSL, be sure to check out two extraordinary exhibits on famous British artist Sir Alfred J. Munnings: “Munnings: Out in the Open,” and “Sir Alfred Munnings in Print.” Both exhibits explore a cross-section of the artist’s works from paintings to books, letters, sketches, prints and other ephemera. The Shelburne Museum 6000 Shelburne Road Shelburne, VT 802-985-3346 www.shelburnemuseum.org May 12, 2013–October 31, 2013. Daily 10 a.m.–5 p.m., Wednesday evenings in July and August until 7 p.m.
Located in Vermont’s Lake Champlain Valley, the Shelburne Museum boasts a collection as eclectic and unconventional as its founder, Electra Havemeyer Webb. An avid
hunter and horsewoman, Webb was also a pioneering collector of folk art and Americana, and the works displayed throughout the Shelburne exemplify her distinctly American aesthetic. To create the museum that houses her extensive collections, Webb relocated 20 historic 18th- and 19thcentury structures — including a saltbox schoolhouse, a jail, and even a 220-foot steamboat — from New England and New York to the Shelburne site. Today, within the walls of these structures, visitors can enjoy 150,000 works ranging from Impressionist paintings and Asian artifacts to folk art and textiles, decoys and carriages. Some sporting-themed highlights include Huntsman on Foot and Hounds (1802), by Benjamin Marshall, Coursing the Fox (c.1780-1800), by Philip Reinagle, Epping Hunt (1805), by Dean Wolstenholme, and Fox Hunting Scene (1814, oil on canvas), by John Nost Sartorius. In addition, the Brick House, located about two miles from the museum itself, is a living homage to the heyday of sporting pursuits. Originally used as a retreat for foxhunting, the house evolved into a kind of proto-museum in which Electra experimented with different ideas for displaying folk art, furniture and textiles. Finally, the Pleissner Gallery features a rotating display of 40 of the museum’s collection of 600 watercolors and oil paintings by nationally recognized landscape and sporting arts painter Ogden Minton Pleissner. The current exhibit features mainly landscapes, but be sure to check with the museum to see when his sporting scenes will again be featured.
From Collections to Collector
T
hough not a museum, Cross Gate Gallery in Lexington, Kentucky, is one of the leading sporting art galleries in the country, and is well worth a visit if you’re planning a trip to bluegrass country. Established in 1974 by Greg Ladd, the gallery features a veritable Who’s Who of sporting artists including Andre Pater (featured in last summer’s issue of Covertside), Richard Stone Reeves, Sir Alfred Munnings and more. And if you are in the market for some exceptional pieces of sporting art to add to (or help you begin) your collection, you won’t want to miss the sporting
art event of the season — the inaugural Fine Sporting Art, American Paintings and Sculpture Auction, a collaboration between the Cross Gate Gallery and Keeneland Racetrack. This premiere event will take place in November 2013, and will feature approximately 200 works by modern and 19th century American and British sporting artists. Works in the auction will be on display at Keeneland through the fall race meet in October as well as the September and November sales. Proceeds from the auction will go to support Keeneland’s not-for-profit initiatives, including the Keeneland Library Foundation.
Cross Gate Gallery
509 East Main Street, Lexington, KY (859) 233-3856 info@crossgategallery.com • www.crossgategallery.com
The Sporting Art Auction
509 East Main Street, Lexington, KY (859) 233-3856 auctions@thesportingartauction.com www.thesportingartauction.com
summer 2013 | 29
MUSEUM OF HOUNDS AND HUNTING NORTH AMERICA Morven Park 17263 Southern Plantation Lane Leesburg, VA 20178-7433 703-777-2414 www.mhhna.org Open five days a week with year-round admission.
Three Couples and a Robin 60”x60” oil on Panel
LESLIE SHIELS 615-599-5102
in historic Leiper’s Fork, Tennessee lisa@leiperscreekgallery.com
Within the stately mansion and grounds of historic Morven Park you’ll find the Museum of Hounds and Hunting — an institution dedicated to preserving the art, artifacts and memorabilia of the sport of foxhunting. The museum creates educational exhibits to increase public awareness and understanding of this centuriesold sport. Highlights of the museum’s collection include the John Bowles Collection of Lionel Edwards Sporting Art, which offers visitors the rare opportunity to view the creative process behind the work of one of the twentieth century’s foremost sporting artists. Also of note are sketches of famed foxhounds Mountain and Muse (the progenitors of many American foxhound lines). These drawings by Benjamin Ogle have been painstakingly restored and re-framed, and are ready to be admired by summer visitors to Morven Park. Finally, be sure to keep an eye out for an understated bronze hound head by American sculptor Mary Phillips Coker. This sculpture hails from the personal collection of Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, a member of the Orange County Hunt (Va.), and the Essex Fox Hounds (N.J.). Such pieces are a reminder of the important role the sport has played in our nation’s past. And, with help from institutions like the Museum of Hounds and Hunting, the role it will continue to play well into the future. Amy Engle is a freelance writer and former managing editor of Covertside.
30 | COVERTSIDE
GOOD CAUSE, GREAT ART
T
he United Kingdom’s Countryside Alliance, an organization dedicated to defending and promoting country sports and the rural lifestyle, will hold its 19th annual Sporting Auction this November at the New York Racquet and Tennis Club, Park Avenue. The auction represents a wonderful opportunity for sporting enthusiasts to purchase extraordinary pieces of art and oncein-a-lifetime experiences while supporting important work of the Countryside Alliance. Past auctions have featured works from a wide variety of sporting artists including Lady Emma Tennant, whose paintings are collected by HRH the Prince of Wales; oils by the American artist Henry Koehler; bronzes by British wildlife sculptor Hamish Mackie; a portrait sitting with Hugo Burnand, the official Royal Wedding photographer; lunch or dinner with Julian Fellowes, creator and writer of Downton Abbey; a private box at The Royal Albert Hall; and a private tour of Chatsworth House with The Duke of Devonshire to view the famous collection of works of art, furniture, sculpture, rare books and other artifacts dating from the 16th Century to the present day. For more information about the selection of works and experiences or to request a Countryside Alliance auction catalogue, please contact theladymancroft@countryside-alliance.org.
covertside_spring13_Layout 1 22/01/2013 20:48 Page 1
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901-465-2609
summer 2013 | 31
With Paintbrush in Hand
Fence at Harford Hill, oil on panel, 18” X 24”
Three sporting artists capture the thrill of the chase. BY LAURA MULLANE
Tony Shore grew up riding BMX bikes and skateboards on the rough streets of inner city Baltimore. Dana Lee Thompson got kicked out of art class as a child for throwing water on other students with her brush. Barbara Nelson was a wildlife biologist who started her art career carving wooden duck decoys “for kicks.” Despite their diverse — and decidedly non-foxhunting — pasts, all of them ended up in the same place: creating art inspired by foxhunting.
F
or Thompson, a selftaught artist who began painting pet portraits 15 years ago and hunted for six seasons with the Casanova Hunt in Piedmont, Va., her exposure to foxhunting came later in life. But once she started hunting, it was the hounds that won her heart — and paintbrush. “I fell in love with the hounds pretty much from the get-go,” she said. Most of her art since then has been devoted to capturing the hounds both at work and rest. “The biggest challenge is trying
32 | COVERTSIDE
AGE: 41
Tony Shore
TRAINING: BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art, MFA from Yale University School of Art HUNT AFFILIATION: Elkridge-Harford Hunt in
Monkton, Maryland
IN HIS OWN WORDS: “I like the idea of providing
to get their expressions right. To capture their ease when they’re not working, it’s tough.” Sculptor Barbara Nelson also came to foxhunting later — when she was in her 30s. A wildlife biologist, Nelson hunted birds most of her life and began bird carving, a career that garnered her numerous awards. When she started foxhunting (today she is Master of Whiskey Road Hounds in Aiken, S.C.), she added foxes and foxhunting scenes to her repertoire. “Foxes are a charming animal,” she said. “I love the poses they do. They can be funny and they
a window that allows people to see things they might not normally get to, like the huntsman bringing the hounds out in the morning.”
Reflection at White Farm, oil on linen, 24” x 36”
Drawn Hounds, oil on linen, 10” x 8”
summer 2013 | 33
Left, Trailer Hound, Selected for the 2011 Society of Animal Artists Show at The Dennos Museum in Traverse City, Michigan. Below, Hounds in Fog
The Domino Effect, Selected for the 2010 50th Anniversary Show, Society of Animal Artists San Diego, California.
34 | Covertside
Dana Lee Thompson AGE: 58
TRAINING: Self-taught; began painting career 15 years ago doing pet portraits HUNT AFFILIATION: Formerly with
the Casanova Hunt in Piedmont, Virginia
IN HER OWN WORDS: “I hunted for six
seasons. I went out again a couple years ago, but decided I was more interested in painting the hounds than hunting.”
can be predatorial [sic]. They’re a really great subject matter.” For painter Tony Shore, who graduated with an MFA from Yale University’s School of Art and teaches at the Maryland Institute College of Art, his foray into foxhunting art began just four years ago. Although Shore’s wife used to hunt with the Wicomico Hunt on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, he didn’t have much interest in hunting art until he saw exhibits of 16th century artist George Stubbs’ work and 20th century sporting artist Franklin Voss. “I teach my students that, to paint anything believably, you have to understand it,” said Shore. So he set out to understand foxhunting: first by car following the Elkridge-Harford Hunt Club in Monkton, Md., and then taking riding lessons and capping a few times. Realizing, as many of us do, that simply learning about foxhunting can quickly turn into an addiction, Shore and his wife
adopted a 10-year-old PercheronThoroughbred mare and he hunted his first full season this past year. A grant from the state of Maryland’s Traditions Project has made painting contemporary foxhunting scenes a full-time pursuit for Shore, who sees interesting parallels between hunting and the BMX and skateboarding days of his youth. “There’s a danger to both,” he said. “Riding a horse is like riding a bike with a brain.” HONESTY THROUGH ART
That danger is something that also intrigues Nelson. “This is a life and death kind of sport,” she said. “In a lot of antique art, the hunt scene shows the deer being ripped apart. That’s not where I want to go. But it’s not Bambi, either. I want to say what it really is: It’s a sport that sometimes ends in death. The challenge is not to be phony and fake. You want to say what the sport is really about.”
SUMMER 2013 | 35
Shore sees himself as a documentarian, catching moments in time and place that might not exist in future years because of land development in the ElkridgeHarford hunting area. “When I paint something, I wonder if this is the last time this scene is going to look this way,” he said. It’s this sense of preservation that fuels his desire to capture every detail, down to the number of buttons on a hunt coat and the type of bit a horse is wearing. “There’s something timeless about painting hunt scenes in this century.” Another part of the honesty is conveyed through technique. For Thompson, it means capturing the subtleties of the hounds’ attitudes and personalities. “I like to get up close and personal, and paint what the hounds are showing me,” she said. She works from photographs, but takes all of her own photos. “It never really comes out when you work from someone else’s photos. I have to be there — to see it, smell it, feel it. That’s how it becomes real.” Nelson cites the importance of getting proportions right and really knowing the subject matter. Her degree in wildlife biology required her to take a number of anatomy courses — something she feels has helped her as an artist. It also helps, of course, to love animals. Nelson grew up with animals in a family that stressed the importance of treating them humanely. She went on to have a career with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and was appointed commissioner to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. “I diverged from my family in that I was willing to hunt,” she said. “I think hunting is an important part of American culture. If you’re a wildlife biologist and you live in the Midwest, you have to know what hunting is all about. But I believe in ethics in sportsmanship. Animals need to be given a fighting chance.” Today, Nelson is president and 36 | COVERTSIDE
CEO of the SPCA Albrecht Center for Animal Welfare in Aiken. Shore’s degrees in art also required he take a lot of anatomy courses, but not of the equine variety. He had to learn that himself — a fun but difficult challenge. As he described it: “Painting horses is like painting an alien anatomy.” The other challenge is conveying the relationship between horse and rider. “A lot of artists can paint people and a lot of artists can paint horses. But there aren’t a lot of artists who can paint the connection between the person and the horse.” This skill comes down to observation and translating observation, something that he’ believes puts him at an advantage for capturing hunt scenes. SHIFTING PERCEPTION
Shore, who has done a number of acclaimed non-hunting paintings on black velvet, sees parallels between perceptions of that work and his sporting art. “There’s a certain stigma attached to velvet paintings and how they’re perceived in the art world, and there’s a stigma attached to sporting art, too,” he said. “My work has been embraced by the foxhunting world, but when people in the art world who know my work as a contemporary artist see my hunt scenes, they’re shocked. They don’t think of it in terms of contemporary art.” Shore hopes his work will help increase acceptance for sporting art in the mainstream art world. “I’m amazed at how I can meet people in Baltimore, where I live, and tell them about foxhunting and they have no idea it’s something that’s still done today — even though it’s happening only a few miles from them,” he said. “It’s exciting to be a part of something that shows people what this sport is about and preserves it.” Laura Mullane began writing professionally in 1995.She’s an avid equestrian and lives in northern New Mexico.
Far right, Red Foxes Playing; center, Back to the Brush; top left, Broken Rails; above, whip rack with hunting motif.
AGE: 57
Barbara Nelson
TRAINING: Self-taught; began sculpting 30+ years ago HUNT AFFILIATION: Whiskey Road Fox Hounds in Aiken,
South Carolina (Joint Master of Hounds)
IN HER OWN WORDS: “Because I’ve been a hunter a great
deal of my life, I have an appreciation for wildlife. I love foxhunting because I get to enjoy my passions, which are dogs and hounds, and I get to enjoy the wildlife.”
SUMMER 2013 | 37
Emily Esterson
about hounds
Entering Your Puppies
It’s time for them to grow up and put their noses to the ground.
T
he companion Covertside story (Spring 2013) about puppy nutrition is a great segue for this article. If you’ve attended to your young hounds’ developmental needs, they’ll be physically and mentally ready for training. A Normal Puppyhood
Practically all mammalian species learn new skills and how to interact with others through play. Running, jumping, chasing, chewing, and wrestling with siblings are perfectly normal behaviors and as much fun 38 | Covertside
By Susan Hoffman
for us to watch as it is for them to do. The bitch’s job is to make sure play doesn’t become dangerous, and some are better at this than others. The best moms know just when to step in and correct a pup that is out of line with a sharp nip to the neck and possibly a flattening-of-thepaw on the torso. So, even at a tender age, young hounds learn important concepts that will stick with them for life: they have a place in the pack’s social hierarchy; there are behavioral boundaries; there are repercussions for breaking the rules; and, authority has the last word.
You can use your understanding of this natural, ingrained canine behavior to your advantage. Begin training your puppies as soon as they’re weaned. You’ve probably been calling them by their names for weeks, and now that they know who they are, you can use their names to get their attention for teaching basic obedience. Start with simple commands like “Corky, come! Corky, kennel up! Corky, off!” and so on. Most dog trainers agree positive reinforcement produces better results than negative, so always pair your commands with an
encouraging tone of voice. Your goal is to reward them for focusing on you and to mark the desired behavior with an emphatic “yes!” or a delectable treat. Their little attention spans are not much different from a human toddler’s so keep your training sessions short at first. A few times daily for a few minutes is better than an hour every other day. In a perfect world, every puppy is an obedience school star, but you’ll soon see who is most eager to please, who is the most sharp-witted, and who slips into that inattentive “Hey, earth-to-Corky” zone. Take
Leash training may be difficult at first. Dexter prefers to chew on his leash rather than “come along.”
note of this, as down the road it may provide clues as to which hounds are the most biddable. Moving Along
As soon as hound pups have their basic inoculations you should get them used to walking out. Some kennels like to leash Mom, operating on the assumption that her puppies will naturally (hopefully) follow along. Others prefer to remove Mom from the picture and walk out as part of obedience training. Don’t be surprised if puppies’ first reaction to being on leads is to put on the brakes. And, although they may be stymied by their first fallen tree limb, keep encouraging them to “hurry up” or “come along” and soon they’ll literally be taking more and more obstacles in stride. It’s just as important to teach them what not to follow. A sharp-toned “leave it” or “no” is necessary if your hound stares down or attempts to lunge at dogs outside of his pack, or at a squirrel or the neighbor’s cat, for that matter. These walk-outs can be physically and mentally exhausting for young hounds, so just as you did in basic obedience training, start slowly and gradually increase the frequency and duration of your walks. By the time the adolescent hounds are a few months old, and certainly by the time they’re six months old, they should readily follow their handlers or huntsman off-lead and begin learning the sounds of the horn. Some hunts prefer to do this with the able assistance of a few reliable older hounds because of the powerful influence of the pack. The older hounds train the
younger ones by setting an example. Many hunts prefer traditional coupling: an experienced, wise hound physically tethered to a youngster, the theory being that the youngster can’t break away to chase a cow or a deer. Other hunts prefer “virtual coupling” by introducing a few puppies at a time into a group of older, reliable hounds to avoid the possibility of an unintentional bad tangling on an object. Whatever method works for you, be sure you couple old and young hounds with compatible personalities, as a hard-headed adult may not tolerate an overlyexuberant puppy.
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Roading
Every hunt differs here as well, but most introduce hounds to the huntsman on horseback at some point between six months to one year of age. In fact, if hounds are kenneled near staff horses, so much the better, because it’s good for hounds to learn about equine smells and to respect the horses’ feet at an early age. If the young hounds have been walking out with the huntsman and coupled with experienced, older hounds, it should be a surprisingly easy transition. It should be a simple matter of “As the pack goeth, so shall I go”. Now that you’re on horseback, you can really pick up the pace, cross deeper streams and jump fences. You can double-horn as you trot or gallop so your hounds learn doubling means fast, and so on. After a few weeks or months, you’ll marvel that the same puppies who were afraid of a twig now willingly run through the thickest of thickets. Susan Hoffman hunts with Andrews Bridge Foxhounds (Pa.), She is president of communications company Susan Hoffman Associates. summer 2013 | 39
about horses
Angola Prison Media
Future foxhunter? The Angola Prison horse auction has become a popular source of foxhunters for many hunts in the Southeast.
Horses from The Farm
A prison inmate program brings buyers from many hunts. By Glenye Cain Oakford
P
aula Canova had finally found a perfect young hunt horse: Caleb, a seven-year-old Percheron-Thoroughbred cross, at a Maryland sport horse farm. “I call him ‘Driving Miss Daisy,’” said Canova, who hunts with Howard County-Iron Bridge in Maryland. “He is sweet, he is careful, he wants to please me. He’s not mean. When I get done riding him and he’s done well and I pat him, he puts his head down and knows he did good. He doesn’t like to get in trouble, and he very rarely does. He’s a great, honest horse. And if I ever get another one, I’ll get that Percheron-Thoroughbred cross.”
40 | Covertside
Having fallen in love with her new hunting companion, Canova was interested to know everything she could about him, starting with his birthday and parentage. She knew that Caleb’s seller, Maryland sport horse breeder and trainer Lori Garnant, had bought him at an auction, but Garnant did not know the gelding’s birthdate. “When I got him, I got his Coggins, but I couldn’t read who the previous owner was, so I called the vet who did the Coggins,” Canova said. “The Coggins didn’t have a name for him, just a number, and something that looked to me like DOL. The vet
goes,‘That’s DOC. Department of Corrections.’ I said, ‘Huh?’” Now the tattoo on Caleb’s stifle — the number 621 above an outline of the state of Louisiana — made some sense. He’d been in prison. But not as a criminal mastermind. Caleb was bred at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, better known as the Angola prison, near Baton Rouge. He received his early basic training from inmates there, then was sold at a prison auction that’s quietly gaining foxhunters’ attention as a source of hunt prospects. There have always been horses at Angola, says the prison’s public relations agent, Cathy Fontenot.
Nicknamed “The Farm,” Angola covers 18,000 acres, much of it farmland worked by the prison labor force, the produce from which is both for sale on the open market and provides the facility’s food. The land’s history is grim. It used to be four plantations known for Angolan slaves, and, even after the Civil War, the first privately run prison there from about 1880 until the early 1900s was, as the Oxford American Dictionary recently described it, “a de facto slave plantation.” Angola prison was infamous more recently, in the 1970s and ’80s, for gangs and violence, a trend that has declined steadily since Warden Burl Cain, a reformminded evangelical, took charge in 1995. Angola’s horses are iconic: armed guards on prison-bred Quarter Horses or paints march the field laborers to work and watch over them during the day, and draft horses are available to pull plows and wagons — including the hearse that carries dead inmates for burial at the prison cemetery. The draft horses are something of a specialty; Warden Cain is a Percheron breeder, and that breed — including Cain’s own stallions, Fontenot says — has contributed significantly to the prison horse population, particularly to the PercheronThoroughbred cross that some there have dubbed “the Louisiana warmblood.” Supplementing the prison’s breeding program are occasional donations, particularly of warmbloods. The horse-breeding program supplies Angola’s work horses and also serves as a work pro-
gram for a select group of about 50 “trustees” from the penitentiary’s more than 5,000 inmates, a population that includes some 4,000 men serving life sentences. The trustees, Fontenot says, generally have been at Angola for 10 or 15 years with good behavior. “We have a higher-ranking corrections professional who is usually in security who supervises the inmates who break the horses and train them to be field horses,” explains Fontenot, who adds that an outside horse trainer from the New Orleans mounted patrol also has worked with the program. “The inmates help with the training, the feeding, horseshoeing, everything. The Louisiana State University veterinary school also is a big partner of ours. “Our field operations produce about five million pounds of vegetables that feed over 11,000 inmates incarcerated here and in four other prisons across the state. So with budget cuts in mind, you need to supervise large amounts of people in the open areas. Having horses that will stand there for four hours at a time, in the morning and then after meal time, that’s a very important security and production function. But it’s also animal therapy. The inmates like being around these big, impressive, living things, and they learn responsibility for them.” The auction started in 2010 partly as a way to thin the prison’s 200-horse herd, Fontenot says, though it also raises money for the prison. The auction takes place irregularly, depending on the availability of suitable horses, and is put on in conjunction with the prison’s rodeo, which takes place in October. It’s unlikely to take place in 2013, according to the auction’s Facebook page. “Due to the success of prior sales and the high demand for service horses with public police departments, we will not have enough horses for a public auction,” the
page said in March. “We’ve had people come from as far away as Canada,” Fontenot says of the two auctions Angola has held so far, in 2010 and 2011. The prison horse program’s crossbreds are what sparked breeder and trainer Lori Garnant’s interest. “I’m a small breeder, and I can’t possibly, nor do I want to, breed all the horses I sell, so I’m always in the market for crossbreds,” says Garnant, a Blue Ridge Hunt member who also breeds draft crosses herself at her Dundulk Sport Horses in Middletown, Maryland. “When I saw a horse that had some Thoroughbred, some warmblood, and some draft, I was interested in that.” Garnant decided to attend the 2011 Angola auction after finding the sale’s catalog listed online and talking to fellow foxhunters from Louisiana who were familiar with the program. “I thought it was a grand adventure,” Garnant says. “Their hip numbers didn’t always coordinate with their catalog numbers, and we had about three hours to look for the horses we had marked before the auction. They had a lot of horses, and we’d never seen them before. I understood later that you could go in beforehand and have a look at the horses, talk to the inmates about which ones were quiet and which ones were easy. But we had to make decisions on the fly, watch the horses trot and jog and talk to as many people as we could. We brought back three and sold them all within four or five months. They were really nice horses in terms of their temperament and movement. “I think it’s a great program for the inmates.They get to handle the animals, raise and train them rather than sitting and staring at four walls all day.” Garnant says the auction’s prices covered a big range, from several hundred dollars to
$6,000 or $7,000, and she noted that potential bidders should remember many of the horses are only halter-broken or broken to saddle but not extensively trained. “You have to do your homework, and you have to know a little about bloodlines ... how much draft blood versus warmblood or light horse blood, and figure that out beforehand.” Word is starting to get out about the Angola auction, thanks partly to the Animal Planet television series “Louisiana Lockdown” that features the prison, and also to the Angola graduates’ growing reputation as sport, hunt, and police horses. When Paula Canova took her horse Caleb on a hunter pace, a woman trotted by her, spotted Caleb’s distinctive tattoo, and said: “So, did you get your horse out of the Angola prison?”
For Canova, her hunt horse’s prison connection became more than a curiosity after she learned more about the Angola horsebreeding program from “Louisiana Lockdown.” “I was shocked when I found out,” says Canova. “But I was fine with it, and once we started getting the history of it, I thought, ‘This is pretty cool.’ Now I feel honored to have this horse. Seeing those trustees and how they got to that position, how much some of those gentlemen loved those horses and how well they took care of them, I just thought it was very cool that I had a horse that was there. He has some interesting history to him.” Glenye Cain Oakford is the hon. secretary for Iroquois Hunt and writes Full Cry: A Hound Blog, at www. houndwelfare. wordpress.com.
Matthew eliott, a long time equine veterinarian and first time author presents this delightful book which lovers of horses and all animals will relish.
Dr. Eliott is a masterful storyteller who captures with humor and humility the magical world of horses. In his stories you will meet a cast of memorable characters and gain insight into the daily life and unusual adventures of a vet on the road. Published by
RiverHorse Press $15.00 (soft cover, 176 pgs )
Available, July 15, 2013 To order, contact…
farmonthelake@gmail.com SUMMER 2013 | 41
Stallside Ad-Final-2.indd 1
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HISTORY
A Foxhunting First Lady
Deep Run Hunt Club looks back at the World War II years. BY AYNSLEY M. FISHER PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY DEEP RUN
I
n 1938, on the eve of World War II, two British expatriates living with their family in Geneva, Switzerland, Ulric Charles Paul Marraccini and Mabel Whittall Marraccini, sent their 20-yearold daughter, Georginia “Gina” Marraccini, away from Europe’s escalating crisis to live with relatives in Richmond, Va. No one could have guessed that young Gina would become one of the first, if not the first, and youngest, female huntsman for foxhunting clubs across the country. Gina lived with her aunt and uncle, Marie Helena Marraccini Archbell and the American tobacconist, Jehu Archbell, near the University of Richmond. Just
through the woods lived a family with four young children and horses. As it turned out, this was the family of Dr. J. Asa Shield, MFH (1944-48) for the Deep Run Hunt Club. When Dr. Shield discovered that Gina was not only a great babysitter but a talented equestrian, he invited her to exercise his horses and to later hunt with the club. Organized in 1887, Deep Run, the second oldest hunt in the country, celebrated its 125th anniversary in 2012. The hunt was founded by an Irishman named Mr. Blacker, his two British sonsin-law the Handcock brothers and the British consul Mr. Brine. The men no doubt were missing the favorite sport of their
homelands. So they got together some hounds, kept them at Blacker’s home, called Chantilly, and named the fledgling club for a stream that ran through nearby Henrico County. Before long, they outgrew Chantilly and at Major Lewis Ginter’s invitation, they moved the club to Rosedale Lodge in 1896. Here the club emerged as a true social hub with a clubhouse, stalls for 40 horses, a mile racetrack with biannual race meets, a bicycle shed and a nine-hole golf course, one of the first in Virginia. After the club merged for a brief period of time with the Country Club of Virginia, World War I imposed a hunting holiday and the hounds were dispersed. However, in 1923, the club took a lease on a property on Broad Street Road and with renewed spirit, rebuilt the hound pack (largely Virginia redbone hounds), and hunting activities resumed with Gina Marraccini was an elegant horsewoman and a force to be reckoned with.
42 | COVERTSIDE
enthusiasm. The property, known by many as the Old Deep Run, had a clubhouse, kennels, barns and show ring, just west of the Richmond city limits where the paved road turned to dirt and the streetcar turned around to head back to the city. All drag hunts travel over preset courses, and these hunts were scripted, even with instructions. Foxes slept on burlap sacks in pens behind the barns and just prior to the hunt leaving, the sacks were dragged over the course, laying down a scent that was so hot, the hounds were ready to run. These drag hunts were fast and furious by all accounts, and the fences were big. As World War II unfolded and many club members were sent to serve their country, the future of hunting appeared uncertain. Rather than disband the hounds once again in the face of global conflict, the club invited Gina Marraccini to step in as huntsman. Leadership positions were not typically given over to a woman, so this was a bit unprecedented in the sport of foxhunting.
(l-r) Dr. James Tucker, honorary whipper-in, Dr. J. Asa Shield, MFH, Gina Marraccini, honorary huntsman, New Year’s Day, 1945.
Gina was an exception and a force to be reckoned with. She was born in Smyrna (modern-day Izmir), Turkey, in 1918. In 1920, her family left Turkey on the cusp of the country’s civil war, and took up subsequent residences in Tunis, North Africa, as well as Rome, Athens and Geneva where she attend the University of Geneva and studied political science. It was rumored that, as a young girl, she had been invited to present a bouquet of flowers to Benito Mussolini, where she hurled them at his feet, hissed at the dictator and ran off. Gina demonstrated a flair for linguistics and was fluent in several languages, which led her to assist the Allied Forces and the American Red Cross as a translator during the war. So it happened that the Deep Run hounds found themselves in very capable hands during the war years. In 1939, in response to the pressure from the suburbanization of the city of Richmond, Deep Run began looking
west for new hunting territory. The club purchased 142 acres in Goochland County, but due to the war, put all development on the property on hold. However, Dr. Shield also had a property in Goochland, Fullstream Farm, and he accommodated some of the Deep Run hounds and kept his own private pack. Essentially he had a drag pack and a live pack in matching shed-row barns. His tack room became an unofficial clubhouse for visiting Deep Run members. Gina hunted the hounds both in Richmond at the Old Deep Run and also in Goochland with Dr. Shield (MFH 1944-48). It’s hard to imagine today, but during the ’40s, hardly anyone owned a horse van or trailer, so members boarded at the clubhouse barns or hacked from somewhere off-site to the meets. On days when hunts left from Goochland, Dr. Shield would leave his home near the University of Richmond in the dark, ride down River Road for roughly 18 miles, hunt most of the day and ride home in the dark. It’s no stretch to imagine that Gina did too. Longtime Deep Run member Don Faulkner recalls his first memory of foxhunting during the war. “I was 11 years old,” he says, “and Gina Marraccini took the hunt out. This Gina Marraccini was something to look at — up on her horse, hair done up in a French braid, and her name — she was something.” Indeed, Gina Marraccini must have broken a lot of hearts, particularly in the hunt field. She was stunning, regal, self-assured and a talented rider. Ultimately
Don’t miss this important book! The Red Fox in Art
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A masterful, comprehensive tribute to one of the great iconic animals of art and literature – a must-have book for all readers, collectors, and lovers of wildlife.
Trade edition • hard cover with dust jacket • 650 copies Both opulent, full-color editions, authored and curated by John Orrelle, are 11 x 11 inches with 360 pages, featuring nearly 300 paintings and sculpture. Deluxe edition in slip case • 100 copies signed and numbered
Available at www.skagitriverpress.com SUMMER 2013 | 43
PHOTO BY CHANDLER WILLETT
Oldfields School is located in the heart of Maryland hunt country. For more information contact Oldfields School PhillipsA@OldfieldsSchool.org 410-472-4800 www.OldfieldsSchool.org
ATTENTION FOXHUNTERS Now is the time to check your equipment — Saddles, girths, bridles, breastplates, flasks, sandwich cases, whips, and of course, your boots. Be ready for the fall by having your repairs done now. We hope you will be attending the Virginia Foxhound Club Annual Show and that you will come by Journeymen when you visit Middleburg. So check the tack room, bring in your repairs and we can easily ship the finished items to you.
Custom chaps/tack, boot and blanket repair 2 West Federal Street • Middleburg, VA 20117 Monday - Saturday 8:00 - 4:30 540-687-5888 • 800-962-4405 44 | COVERTSIDE
she would meet her husband James W. Rawles on the tennis court, of which he later said, “She had me at, ‘Bonjour!’” They had five children and 15 grandchildren. Daughter Elizabeth Rawles “Lilliboo” Cronly grew up foxhunting with Deep Run and has remained involved in many aspects of club activities through the years. Cronly’s son, Thomas, 20, likewise grew up as an active member of Deep Run and recently earned his hunt colors. Gina Marraccini Rawles was a remarkable woman in all aspects of her life. Her legacy lives on, as the first female huntsman not only for Deep Run, but likely for hunts across the country. If not for her leadership at a time when hunts were dispersing their hounds, Deep Run’s history would look very different today. As Deep Run continues to celebrate its 125th anniversary, it’s a time for reflection and gratitude to those people who contributed their time, passion and expertise to the great sport of foxhunting through the years, and Gina Marraccini Rawles tops the list. She will be remembered as one of foxhunting’s true first ladies. Aynsley Fisher is a freelance feature writer based in Richmond, Va., and a member of Deep Run.
NOTES FROM GINA Gina’s personal archives contain several drag hunt “courses” with detailed notes in her own hand. Excerpts from Gina Marracinni’s hunting diaries: January 1st, 1946 New Year’s Hunt (Higginbotham Course) • Cast at Battery and Three Chopt Rds.- by Chow dogs- cross College Rd. by University of Richmond gymnasium. Till University Lake. Check. Hack till Mule Barn. • Cast at Mule Barn till University Gates. Check. Hack till River and Ridge Rds. • Cross Broad Street and cast by little pig pen. Cross Bethlehem Road over plank jump till Staples Mill. Check. • Cast till Club House.
Deep Run hounds and staff hacking to a covert, with one of hunting history’s first female huntsmen.
BREAKFAST AT COVERTSIDE Galway Blazers’ Potato Gratin • 2 CUPS CREAM • 2 CUPS 2% REDUCED-FAT MILK • 2 CUPS THINLY SLICED LEEKS (about 2 large leeks, just the white part) • 1 teaspoon SALT • 1/4 teaspoon GROUND BLACK PEPPER • 3 lbs. POTATOES (Yukon gold or russets), peeled and cut into 1/4” slices • 8 THYME SPRIGS, left whole and intact • 1 BAY LEAF
MARC PATOILE
Margaret’s cheesy goodness will surpass any other potato-andcheese concoction you may have in your repertoire.
Galway Blazers’ Potato Gratin
• 4 GARLIC CLOVES, minced • COOKING SPRAY • 1 CUPS SHREDDED GRUYÈRE CHEESE Preheat oven to 375° F. Place cream, milk, leek, salt, pepper, potato, thyme, bay leaf, and garlic in Dutch oven and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer 10 min., or until potatoes are tender. Discard thyme and bay leaf. Spoon half of the potato mixture into a 13×9 baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with half of the cheese. Top with remaining potatoes and remaining cheese. Bake at 375° F. for 1 hour or until golden brown. Stand 10 minutes before serving.
BY MARC PATOILE
there were small dinner parties where hunters often gathered to recount the day with food and drink. We can only guess that the County Galway hunters have been afraid to gather in large numbers since in the 1840s when the Galway men entertained the Ormond Hunt at a joint meet, where they hunted Dooley’s Hotel, Birr. On one occasion the festivities resulted in the burning of the hotel and, hence, their moniker “The Blazers.” Following one of those small dinner parties, we threw away our recipes for cheesy potatoes of all kinds — including potatoes au gratin, galette de pommes de terre, and pommes Anna, as this dish surpasses them all. It is simply the best potato side dish you’ll ever make, or want. Margaret, having owned a catering business in her early life, loves to clip recipes from various MARC PATOILE
I
n Ireland, the Irish Potato Famine, or what they simply call the Great Famine, was a period of mass starvation, disease and emigration between 1845 and 1852, which was a result of a potato disease known as potato blight. The disease is a spore which caused the potatoes to rot in the ground, causing many to go hungry, as one-third of the population was entirely dependent upon the potato as a food and income source. Wet weather in 2012 and the Big Freeze in 2011 have been the source of more than the usual talk of potatoes by more than just farmers throughout the country of the County Galway Hunt, participants of which are known as “The Blazers.” The Blazers’ hunt country covers about 30 square miles of limestone pasture with dry stone walls and what they describe as “good light going.” After following our friend Margaret Williamson throughout the County Galway hunt country on the best hirelings we have ever known, courtesy of Frank Burke, we can say hunting with The Blazers can be blazing fast with jumps that can test your mettle. And,
sources and she is the type of home chef to always be trying something new, keeping all of these clippings in a binder at the ready in her kitchen. But, this is one of the few recipes that she actually keeps with her in a smaller cooking notebook, which she takes on all of her travels, as this is the sort of dish that is always a hit with diners, no matter where she finds herself. It is simple to put together, especially so if you are quick with potato peeling and slicing. And then you just have to wait an hour for the bubbling goodness to come out of the oven. We think you’ll find it worthy of even a reputation such as the one The Blazers hold. Huntsman Thomas Dempsey, looking back for hounds to come along, as they are hacked down a road to the next covert.
SUMMER 2013 | 45
Book shelf
Fabulous Mr. Fox
A sporting author collects the most stunning in fox art.
T
reviewed By Emily esterson
he note that came with John Orrelle’s new book, “The Red Fox in Art,” said, “Emily, don’t drop this on your foot.” Indeed, published just a few months ago, this hefty book is a beauty through and through. Although not a foxhunter, Orrelle is a sporting art enthusiast and it’s clear that, while he may never have ridden to hounds, his appreciation of the fox that we hold as an icon of our sport is just as passionate. He writes in the introduction: “Anchored in a very large body of art, the spirit and persona of the red fox has proven forever alluring. Whether seen as rapscallion chicken thief or
the red fox in art By John Orrelle Skagit River Press $75+ shipping www.skagitriverpress.com
the embodiment of pure, unfettered freedom, he is with us to stay, one way or another. The ancient voice of the red fox is undeniable and insistent and doubtless always will be.” Although the majority of the oversized pages are devoted to the art, in his opening chapters Orrelle is an eloquent tour guide through the centuries. No surprise there — the author is a contributor to the literary Gray’s Sporting Journal, as well as Field & Stream and Fly Fisherman, among other publications. “The Red Fox in Art” is comprehensive. It begins with a treatise on the history of the red fox in art beginning in 1900s Europe and crossing the Atlantic to today’s artists. Plates
include familiar names to collectors, such as James Pollard, James Seymour and contemporary artists such as Lanford Monroe and sculptor Barbara Nelson (MFH, Whiskey Road Foxhounds). There are landscapes, portraits, drawings, and even magazine covers depicting the stunning and mysterious red fox. At 350 pages, there’s plenty to digest here. “The Red Fox in Art” is a visual feast for fox lovers, art lovers and those with an appreciation for landscape and wildlife. This coffee table book won’t gather any dust, I promise. It begs to be opened, read and loved.
Save t he Da te!
! e t a D e h t e v Sa
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SUMMER 2013 | 47
LAST RUN OF THE DAY Photograph by Doug Gehlsen
Come along...
BARRY MAGNER, THE MIDDLEBURG HOUNDS HUNTSMAN, raises some livestock alongside the hounds. The idea is for the hounds to become accustomed to other animals. The lamb, I believe, was orphaned but treats the pack as its herd. The lamb trots around with Barry and the hounds and even jumps stone walls with the hounds.—DOUG GEHLSEN
EDITOR’S NOTE: Do you have a photo, story or essay to share with Covertside? Send high-resolution, 300 dpi photographs or essays to editor@covertside.net, or snail mail to Covertside, 2329 Lakeview Rd. SW, Albuquerque, NM 87105 48 | COVERTSIDE
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