In & Around Horse Country Spring 2021

VOLUME XXXIII / NUMBER 2 • THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE VIRGINIA STEEPLECHASE ASSOCIATION • SPRING 2021

IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • SPRING 2021

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FOXHUNTING

Tim Michel (left), Huntsman for Bull Run Hunt and former Whipper-in at Green Spring Valley Hounds, and his wife Jody Michel (right) joined GSV Huntsman Ashley Hubbard for Closing Meet at Jackson Hole, the home of Sheila Jackson Brown, MFH, Upperco, Maryland, March 30, 2021. Karen Kandra photo

Mackenzie Aytes is clearly enjoying her second time in the hunt field at Snickersville Hounds’ Closing Meet, March 21, 2021, from Gregg Ryan’s Creekside Farm as Lynn Vendinello looks on.

Joanne Maisano photo

Ned Halle, Ex-MFH and Honorary Whipper-in at Green That’s a wrap! Joint Masters Greg McFadden Spring Valley Hounds, takes a coop in fine style at Closing and Sarah Hruda closed out the De La Brooke Meet from Jackson Hole, March 30, 2021.

Foxhounds season with a high five at Keechland Karen Kandra photo Farm, Newburg, Maryland, on March 20, 2021.

Michael Pavis photo

(l-r) Middleburg Hunt’s Penny Denegre, MFH, and Blue Ridge Hunt member Jean Stafford at the joint meet from Wind Fields Farm, home of Middleburg MFH Tim Harmon, March 15, 2021.

Joanne Maisano photo

(l-r) Middleburg-Orange County Beagles members Olivia Shultz on Jasmine and Avery Van Roy on Freckles participated in Snickersville Hounds’ Junior Day, March 14, 2021.

The hunt met at Creekside Farm and the action led the field to neighboring Sunnybank.

Haley Walsh (far right, on Obi) brought several of her students from the MiddleburgOrange County Beagles to Junior Day at Snickersville Hounds on March 14, 2021. (l-r) Brodie Crocker on Leo, Miles Clancy on Tie, and Abbey Shultz on Boxer.

Joanne Maisano photo

Joanne Maisano photo

IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • SPRING 2021

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SPORTING LIFE HIGHTLIGHTS

Junior Field Hunter Championship Back in Full Form A difficult call had to be made last year. Could the Junior Field Hunter Championship qualifying meets still be held despite the COVID restrictions? In most places, the answer was yes. Foxhunting was still active, albeit without the usual socializing. Riding in small groups in open country did not run afoul of the recommended mitigating measures. But what about the finals—an event that required interstate travel, overnight accommodations, and a larger gathering of juniors and adults than would be the case at a local qualifier hunt?

After extensive consideration, with input from multiple sources, the decision was made to cancel the entire program for 2020. COVID concerns clearly put the kibosh on the finals weekend. And without the finals, there was little purpose in holding organized qualifiers. Instead, it was strongly suggested that all hunts make a special effort to host Junior Days and work with their local Pony Clubs, 4H Clubs, and other groups that cater to young equestrians.

The pandemic isn’t fully over, but conditions have improved at least somewhat in many parts of the country. Moreover, the experts are optimistic that the situation will be markedly better by this fall, when the JNAFHC finals are traditionally held. With that brighter view toward the future, the program is back in full form this year—qualifiers, finals and all.

The 2021 Finals for the Junior North American

Callum Myer on Frenchie showing excellent form over a coop at the 2019 JNAFHC finals at Old Dominion Hounds Hunter Trials Field. Stephen Myer photo

Field Hunter Championship will be hosted by Iroquois Hunt, Lexington, Kentucky, on Saturday, October 30. There will be an opportunity to hunt on Friday with a meet-and-greet tailgate, a party Saturday evening following the finals competition (with the popular whip cracking and horn blowing contests), and the chance to hunt with Iroquois again on Sunday. The safety and well-being of everyone in attendance will be fully considered with regard to any remaining protocols that might still be in effect at that time.

Qualifying meets are held during hunt season.

Most are scheduled from September through midOctober, but dates may vary depending on the hunting season in a given area. Check with your local hunt. Hunts all along the East Coast from Massachu- (l-r) Dot Daus on Jackson and Callum Myer on Frenchie setts to Florida, as far north as Canada, and as far traveled from Camargo Hunt, Ohio, to compete in the First Field 14 & Over class at the 2019 finals hosted by west as Washington State are already on board to host Old Dominion Hounds on a chilly November day in qualifiers. More will surely be added as we get closer Orlean, Virginia. Stephen Myer photo to hunt season, so be sure to check out the website and Facebook page (see below) for updates. land conservation groups, which support the hunts One significant change for this year is the exten- participating in the JNAFHC. sion of the upper age limit from the standard 18 to Second, we want like-minded young foxhunters 19 years of age. This will allow those juniors who to meet each other. They can enjoy hunting together would have aged out following last year’s competi- and can get to know each other at the tailgate breaktion to still have one more year to compete to make fasts. In this way, they can build long lasting friendup for the lost year. The categories consist of First ships that will continue to benefit the sport for Field 14-19, First Field 13 & Under, Hilltoppers 11- decades to come.

19, and Hilltoppers 10 & Under.

And last, to make it interesting, we have the third The JNAFHC was founded in 2003 by Douglas element—a little competitive flavor!

Wise-Stuart and Iona Pillion. Marion Chungo joined We encourage everyone who cares about the futhem in 2005 and Michelle Arnold came onboard in ture of foxhunting to help support the JNAFHC. For 2014 to help organize the ever-expanding program. more information, go to www.jnafhc.com, on FaceCarla Babcock, Honorary Secretary at Camargo Hunt book at Junior North American Field Hunter Cham(OH), started helping with the program five years ago pionship, or contact Carla Babcock at as an assistant to Marion and Michelle and is now the carla.babcock09@gmail.com. organizer.

There are three fundamental goals of CENTURY 21 the organization. First, to help teach chilNew Millennium dren the importance of land conservation, particularly for the sport of foxhunting. cindy.thornhill@C21NM.com Many of our hunt meets have been pres601 S. Main Street sured by development, others have put exCulpeper, VA 22701 tensive conservation easements in place, cindythornhill.C21NM.com and others have been fortunate enough to have country that has yet to be discovered. CINDY THORNHILL In the 18 years of the Junior North Amer- Associate Broker/Realtor, CCIM, CGB, CMP Licensed in VA ican Field Hunter Championship, the orM 540.229.6400 O 540.825.1613 ganization has donated over $35,000 to

PHOTOGRAPHERS: Lynn Brubaker Liz Callar www.lizcallar.com Coady Photography Ray Cordero mainlinephotography.com Michael Gomez Allison Howell allisonhowellimages.smugmug.com Douglas Lees douglaslees@comcast.net Karen Kandra Isabel Kurek isabeljkurekphotography.com Joanne Maisano www.joannemaisano.com Stephen Myer photo Middleburg Photo www.middleburgphoto.com Sarah McCoin Loudoun Hunt Point-to-Point, Land Trust Michael Pavis of Virginia Open Hurdle, First Division Matt Spitzmueller (l-r) Animal Kingston (Graham Watters, Barry Spurlin st nd up) – 1 ; Cite (Aaron Davis, up) – 2 .

Melissa Wilkes Liz Callar photo

is published 4 times a year.

Editorial and Advertising Address: 60 Alexandria Pike, Warrenton, VA 20186 For information and advertising rates, please call (540) 347-3141, fax (540) 347-7141 Space Deadline for the Fall issue is Aug. 4, 2021. Payment in full due with copy.

Publisher: Marion Maggiolo Managing Editor: J. Harris Anderson Advertising: Debbie Cutler (540) 347-3141, (800) 882-4868, Email: hcdebbiebtc@aol.com Contributors: J. Harris Anderson; John J. Carle II, ex-MFH;Will O’Keefe; Osmun; Barclay Rives; Virginia Equine Alliance; Jenny Young LAYOUT & DESIGN: Kate Houchin Copyright © 2021 In & Around Horse Country®. All Rights Reserved. Volume XXXIII, No. 2 POSTMASTER: CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED Regular subscription 5 issues $25.00, U.S.A. First Class subscription $35.00, Europe, Canada, etc. $45.00

IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • SPRING 2021

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IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • SPRING 2021

FOXHUNTING

Musical Saddles The Huntsman’s Challenge: Moving To A Different Hunt

By J. Harris Anderson, Managing Editor Remember when the ideal career path (Add to that the switch from live quarry meant a 40-year run with one employer to drag; more on that to follow.) leading to a gold watch and a comfort“You’re pretty much riding by the able pension? seat of your pants when you move to a The foxhunting world’s equivalent new country," Steve says. Learning the of that rare achievement is embodied by territory needs to happen quickly. Old recently retired Casanova Huntsman Dominion’s country is intensely wooded Tommy Lee Jones. We can’t attest to eiso it takes longer to get to know all the ther the gold watch or cushy pension. trails. Amwell Valley was tricky to hunt We can, however, confirm his 50-year because it’s fairly small. Old Dominion run carrying the horn for that one club. is much bigger, which makes hunting But to the extent such a career for easier once you know the area.” anyone, in any profession, was ever a Chad Wilkes, now at Aiken common occurrence, today’s reality is Hounds (SC), has also dealt with huntfar different for the vast majority of ing hounds in different parts of the American workers. According to a 2019 Southeast—Hardaway-Whitworth (AL) Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) survey, and Camden Hunt (SC)—and a stint farthe average number of jobs in a lifetime ther north at Saxonberg (PA). is now 12. Yes, a dozen different jobs.

“For me, challenges have been To be fair, the definition of “differlearning new hunt country. As huntsman, ent jobs” can be fuzzy. No matter how Charles Montgomery, Mells Fox Hounds, Blessing of the Hounds & Opening Meet, we need to be with the hounds as much 2020. Michael Gomez photo it’s defined, the reality is that most peoas possible. Of course, hounds can’t read ple are likely to hold multiple jobs, and thus jobs of shorter duration, during their a ‘No Trespassing’ sign so we tend to get in a bit of trouble with landowners.” working years.

Chad went on to describe a joint meet in Mississippi with Fox River Valley. He For many professional huntsmen—perhaps most—this pattern is quite fa- was accompanied by Tony miliar. Few, if indeed any, are on a path to replicate Tommy Lee’s achievement Leahy and hounds ran a black nor, at the opposite extreme, are they likely to hit the double-digit mark. But coyote on to a property Chad when a move from one hunt to another does occur, the logistical challenges a wasn’t familiar with. He rahuntsman faces may be substantially greater than, say, for the typical office dioed the master who told him worker. That gap is even wider with many people now working remotely from he knew the landowner and it home, thus reducing the burdens of a job change even more. You can’t hunt was okay to follow hounds. It hounds via a Zoom meeting. turned out the landowner’s senTo get a sense of what such a move entails, and to consider some tips to per- timents did not exactly align haps reduce the need for those moves, we laid out a list of specific challenges with the master’s belief. Chad and surveyed a selection of professional huntsmen, each of whom has carried the and Tony managed to collect horn for different hunts, ranging from two or three to several. Their responses hounds and make their exit. But are detailed here. it was a well-learned lesson for him about the importance of Country/Terrain knowing both the country and Charles Montgomery has seen pretty much every type of terrain in the south- the sentiments of the landowneastern part of the US. He started hunting at the age of eight and turned pro at ers.

18. He now has 43 seasons of hunting experience. His professional credentials John Tabachka’s career consist of service at Mecklenberg Hounds (NC), Shakerag Hounds (GA), spanned five hunts: Farmington Whiskey Road Foxhounds (SC), Live Oak Hounds (FL), Bull Run Hunt (VA), Hunt (VA), Green Spring Valley and now Mells Fox Hounds (TN), where he is Huntsman and Joint-Master.

Hounds (MD), Middleburg One of the biggest terrain challenges he’s faced was a southern swamp a Hunt (VA), Deep Run Hunt mile wide and 100 miles long. “You can’t cross it, so hounds had to be kept out,” (VA), and Sewickley Hunt (PA). he says. “The worst thing about swamps is the wild pigs. Hounds get very excited He’s now retired from hunt running piglets. But then they get on a bigger pig that goes to bay and the game service and is a real estate agent Chad Wilkes now sports the green coat as Aiken Hounds Huntsman. Melissa Wilkes photo changes.” in South Carolina.

Steve Farrin literally grew up in the Quorn kennels where his father was the Recalling his years hunting hounds, he cites the different profile of each terHuntsman. He began his own professional career as second whip at Hampshire ritory. “All of the hunt countries had their challenges. Farmington was very Hunt, moved to the US in 1997 where he whipped-in to hunts in Kentucky, Mary- ‘trappy,’ GSV had big fences, Middleburg had territory restrictions, Deep Run land, Georgia, New York, and Massachusetts before taking on the huntsman’s had a large section of barely accessible forest, Sewickley was steep with a lot of job at Amwell Valley Hounds in New Jersey. He served there for 12 seasons be- roads.” fore accepting an offer to hunt the Old Dominion Hounds (VA).

Spencer Allen has logged 15 years in professional hunt service, five as a His next assignment will take him back up north to carry the horn at Norfolk whipper-in and ten as huntsman. He first carried the horn at Piedmont Fox Hunt (MA), which will mean a substantial change of terrain. The MFHA roster Hounds (VA), then moved south to Live Oak Hounds (FL), and is now at Long describes the ODH country as “approximately 60 square miles of rolling foothills Run Woodford Hounds (KY). of the Blue Ridge Mountains.” Part of Norfolk’s territory consists of “seaside On learning new terrain, he says, “After a summer in country and a bit of country with sandy beaches.” Moving from rolling foothills of a mountain range cubbing behind you, that problem solves itself. And with the knowledge of into sandy seaside beaches will certainly require some significant adjustments. cumbent staff, you’re back in the fight so to speak.”

IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • SPRING 2021

Hounds Charles Montgomery considers himself fortunate to have only hunted Crossbreds throughout his four decades. “I’ve always taken families with me, so hounds are predictable. After 40 years of breeding hounds, I pretty much have it down. I also know how to integrate my hounds into a new pack. It takes five years to establish a pack of hounds. More than that, it’s a lifelong pursuit.”

He does, though, note that different country can influence the Golden Thread between huntsman and hounds. “In steeper, more mountainous country where it’s harder to stay with hounds, I breed them to hunt on their own, so they need less guidance from me but are still biddable when I’m with them.” Technology has also made the task of knowing where hounds are easier. “There were no tracking collars when I started hunting. I spent half my life looking for hounds. Now I can stay with them and that’s not such a problem.”

Steve and Jennifer Farrin, Old Dominion Hounds Opening Meet, 2019. The Farrins have recently moved to Norfolk Hunt in Massachusetts. Joanne Maisano photo

Steve Farrin’s experience runs counter to Charles Montgomery’s in that he’s dealt with the full range of breeds: English (including Old English), Crossbred, American. He’ll be taking over a mixed bag at Norfolk with some Penn-Marydel blood included. “Trust is the main thing to get across to hounds. When I moved to Amwell Valley, the hounds hadn’t been walked out for two months and they could be on the side of riotous. It took time for them to learn to trust me.” The trust factor works both ways, he says. “The Huntsman also has to learn which hounds he can trust.” Farrin’s policy is that hounds should be walked out every day (extreme weather or ground conditions excepted). A steady routine and daily reinforcement of the huntsman/hounds relationship is critical.

The age and number of hounds figures into the transition process as well.

“It’s harder with young hounds and a large pack.” He’ll be working with a relatively small pack at Norfolk. The ODH pack is roughly two and a half times the size of Norfolk’s, so the transition may be somewhat easier, albeit surely not without its own challenges.

John Tabachka adds that each pack he hunted was bred for its specific country: Crossbreds at GSV, Farmington, and Deep Run, American at Middleburg and Sewickley. All were equally up to their tasks.

Spencer Allen adds his insights. “When I first took the horn at Piedmont, it was Crossbred, but heavy on the American side, and a few purebred American hounds. As my time went on there, we were working in earnest towards a pure American pack. When I went to Live Oak, it was a mostly English pack, and now in Kentucky we lean very heavy on the Penn-Marydel side of things. Each and every breed brings its own set of pros and cons, blessings and curses, and stereotypes. It was a challenge to overcome the latter and accept and adapt to the former.

One of the most difficult things any huntsman has to go through is saying goodbye to his or her old pack, and throwing yourself heart and soul in to a new pack, with which you have no bond, no time in kennels or the field, and the poor things are pining away for their old huntsman, not understanding why he isn’t there May first. Add in the fact that it’s a breed you may never have worked with before, and the tally keeps on racking up against you. I really had to check whatever ego I had at the door and become a student of the breed. I think it’s best looked at as a start from the very beginning. Be humble and pick up the phone and consult peers who are familiar with the breed.”

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Quarry We cited a variety of game in our questionnaire: fox, coyote, bobcat, big cats, or other; and a separate consideration for live versus drag. Charles Montgomery added another (pigs), differentiated between red and gray fox, and ranked each in order of his preference.

He explains. “One season at Live Oak we were struggling for fox and coyote quarry. Pigs were considered riot but we decided to make them huntable quarry.

They’re a big problem in most areas of the south and landowners want them annihilated.” As for more conventional quarry, “Bobcat is my favorite. They’re low scenting and if hounds can run bobcat, they can hunt anything. My second is gray fox, also low scenting.” Then, in what may strike the more ardent traditionalists of ars venatica as apostasy, he says, “My least favorite is red fox. They’re difficult to hunt. They run faster than coyote but for shorter periods. You need hounds with good noses that can stay with a red fox until it slows down.” Not surprisingly, he concludes, “Limiting quarry limits your sport.”

Steve Farrin can relate to the difficulty of changing from one quarry to another, in his case from fox to coyote. “Amwell Valley had lots of foxes, but then the coyote started moving in and the foxes stayed close to their dens, which meant blank days. So we started feeding the country to support the fox population.” It was a valuable lesson in the importance of helping sustain the quarry that provides your sport.

Coyote won’t be a problem at Norfolk. Nor will a lack of foxes or any other live quarry. Norfolk is strictly a drag hunt. “That will offset some of the difference in the country,” Steve says. “Some people say it will be a breeze, but I’m not so sure. The challenge will be learning the mixture of scent.” He plans to talk to other huntsmen who have experience with a drag pack for their counsel on how to handle the transition.

One of those on Steve’s contact list is John Tabachka. It was red fox only when John started, but then the coyote moved in and had to be factored into the game. His final posting was with a drag pack. While he missed the unpredictability of live quarry, he concedes hunting drag was necessary due to three factors.

“One, the territory was not suitable to chase anything live; two, the riding membership preferred the drag style; and, three, the vast number of roads would have led to disaster if hounds got on live quarry.”

When Spencer moved to Live Oak, he found quarry options were about to explode. “In Virginia, we only hunted red foxes. We would break our hounds to coyote as we would deer. When I got to Live Oak, I hardly saw a fox, but did I have a learning curve ahead of me! For the first time in my life, I was hunting coyote, bobcat, and wild hog!

Each presented its own challenge, technique, and thrill. But where to start to even begin to learn that? Thank the Lord I was blessed with experienced leadership that has hunted this quarry before with Marty and Daphne Wood, and a very supportive staff that babysat me through the process.

I also had to, once again, start over and reach out Spencer Allen, Long Run Woodford Hounds (KY) Huntsman, at the Belle Meade Performance Trials, to peers in the south. I January, 2021. Allison Howell photo had to shut up, watch, and listen.”

Hunt Staff/Field Leaders/Territory Maintenance Charles recalls some rocky times early in his career working with all amateur staff. He needed their help to learn the country. But many were themselves new to the task of whipping-in and there were difficulties getting them to understand what he wanted. He does, though, recall working with an excellent amateur staff at Deep Run when he whipped-in there. At the other end of the spectrum, the team at Live Oak consisted of all professionals.

Fortunately, Charles made one brilliant move some years ago to assure he always had at least one topnotch whip at his side. “I was lucky enough to marry someone for whom hunting is as much a passion for her as it is for me. Boo is one of the best whips in the country.”

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IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • SPRING 2021

Although Steve served as professional staff for other huntsmen during his years as a whipper-in, he’s only had honorary whips working with him since he took up the horn. “Professional staff is hard to find these days,” he says. “Very few new people are coming into the sport as professionals. A huntsman can’t be hard on the amateurs.

Natural talent is needed to be effective. It helps to have staff help walk out Steve Farrin moving off with the Old Dominion Hounds hounds, and they should from Henchman’s Lea, November, 2019. know all the hounds.”

Joanne Maisano photo Steve does, though, share one happy similarity with Charles: His wife Jennifer is also an invaluable helper in both the kennels and serving as a whipper-in on hunting days.

For field leaders, Steve likes the followers to be close enough to see the hound work. He has no problem with first field being in his pocket, as long as the field doesn’t interfere with the hounds. His counsel to the field leader is, “If you can’t see the two buttons on the back of my coat, you’re too far away.”

As for trail maintenance and building/repairing jumps, “If you have a team of two or three good people, and the right equipment, you can get a lot done. We built or repaired 60 coops at Old Dominion last year.”

John’s experience more closely mirrors Charles', a mix of honorary and professional staff. “I worked with both honorary and professional staff and, with few exceptions, professional staff is the best. Amateur staff is just that, they have other priorities in life. A few are extremely dedicated, but most are easily distracted by the cameras or social aspect of the hunt.” He adds, not surprisingly, “Professional staff is far and away more dedicated to their craft.” But, of course, as Steve pointed out, professional whippers-in are a rare commodity these days.

Spencer believes that a team-building approach is especially important when working with amateur staff. “At Piedmont and Live Oak I was surrounded by a professional staff from top to bottom. In some ways this was a dream, but in other ways it presented its own unique challenges and frustrations.

“When I came to Kentucky, all of my staff were amateurs, with jobs and lives outside of hunting. I had to learn to orchestrate a saddle fitter, UPS pilot, DOD contractor, secretary, mom, et cetera into a cohesive staff with a depth chart to cover a three-day-a-week pack. But one thing remains true, whether it be a seasoned professional with years under their belt, or a nurse practitioner giving you one Saturday a week, we need each other. I can’t do my job if they aren’t doing theirs. As the old saying goes, a great whip can make a mediocre huntsman look great, but a mediocre whip can make a great huntsman look awful.

“Spend time with your staff. Meet their families. Eat and drink with them.

Play with their kids. Don’t let the hunt field be the beginning and the end of your relationship. I found that if I built from that foundation, by the time hunting starts, not only do I have staff who know where I come from and where I’m wanting to go, I have a band of people who all share a same story.”

Hunting Style Charles has some firmly held opinions on this topic, garnered from his 40plus years of experience, during which time the sport has changed in a number of ways. “Before a huntsman takes a job, he should be sure the philosophy of hunting held by the masters and the hunt committee aligns with his. As huntsman, I want to do the ultimate, be out for long days and have a field that can keep up.

When I started, first field paid the bills. Now second and third or fourth fields pay the bills. I’ve always tried to have a great field leader. If the field can’t keep up, a good field leader can still keep them happy. The last guy in third field and I don’t look at hunting the same. It’s a multi-faceted sport done for different reasons, but it doesn’t mean all those reasons can’t have a place in the hunting field.

To achieve that, you have to keep the communication level up and the huntsman must be involved in the decision process.”

He points out one example from his experience at Mells to help keep the non-jumpers closer to the sport. Many of the metal gates were hard to open and close and by the time second or third field got through, hounds would be gone.

So they started putting in rider gates next to each coop to make it easier for the non-jumpers to get through and stay with hounds.

Other factors can influence how “hard riding” a given club is, as John Tabachka recounted. “I hunted with packs that went out well over 100 times per season, and also some that barely got out 50. The terrain, weather, and drive of the club were all factors in how many days hunting happened in a season. Not to mention the financial burden of more staff, hounds, horses, and need for large enough country for more days afield.”

Club Culture/Organization We would, of course, like to see everyone in every hunt turned out to Horse Country standards every day afield. The practical reality is that turnout standards, a reflection of a club’s culture, vary from one hunt to another; some rigidly formal at all times, others more casual. For professional huntsmen, though, there’s only one standard.

“As a role model,” Charles says, “I try to uphold traditional Old English standards. That doesn’t mean others have to dress the same way, but I do want them to be aware of and understand the traditions. It’s an educational thing. For example, Boo and I will always braid for special occasions. If others don’t want to braid, that’s okay. For joint meets, if my hounds are in the field, I’ll wear scarlet. If not, I wear black. I don’t want to see the traditions leave us. When I was growing up, hunting knowledge wasn’t written down, the old traditions and what they mean. People don’t even know what questions to ask.”

As for organizational style, Charles has found that a private pack is best for reducing division and assuring a smoother operation. Where masters are elected by a committee, political strife may occur. That can make things difficult for the huntsman, even more so if the whippers-in support different factions. Whatever the organizational structure, Charles says, “You have to make sure your hunting philosophy aligns with the leadership’s.”

Tabachka echoes the sentiment that every club is different. “Some are ‘a horse club with a drinking problem,’ some are a ‘drinking club with a horse problem,’ while others focus solely on the sport. I prefer one somewhere in the middle. I love proper turnout, but I don’t know anyone whose horse is a better jumper because they have the right number of buttons on their coat. One thing I didn’t like to see was newcomers with great enthusiasm being relegated to the back of the field and not being able to stay with hounds and the field leader because tradition dictated that they couldn’t pass a senior member even if he or she couldn’t keep up.”

Personal Support John Tabachka experienced a range of high and lows in terms of support and accommodations over the span of his career. “The staff horses,” he says, “both honorary and professional, should be the best in the field, the fittest, and the best turned out. These horses (as well as those who ride them) are the tip of the spear for the club. You never get a second chance at a first impression. I preferred Thoroughbreds for my staff horses. They keep up, look good, and are the most athletic. The truck/trailer should be big enough to haul both the horse(s) and hounds.”

And what about those hours when you’re not on a horse? “Living quarters for staff should be comfortable, warm, and dry,” John says. “This is not always the case. I have lived in homes with regular floods in the basement after rains, a home with only one heat vent on the first floor to heat the entire two-story house, but yet others provided very nice accommodations (swimming pool, central A/C, fireplaces, etc.). All of the kennels I worked in were very workman like, or were remodeled while I was there to become so. Trail clearing equipment (tractor and mower) should be strong enough to do the work, yet small enough to get where you need to go.”

John Tabachka at Sewickley Hunt’s Opening Meet, 2019. Ray Cordero photo

IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • SPRING 2021

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Chad Wilkes has some thoughts on this as well. “I believe that the right equipment has a key part in hiring and keeping a huntsman. I’m not saying to go buy a new truck or trailer for them, but be prepared to make the occasional upgrade when things need replacing—for example, tracking collars, kennel gates, and fencing. Basically, if you look at the huntsman’s house as a place you would go camping in for one night only, then it’s time for an upgrade. It doesn’t have to be marble countertops and vaulted ceilings, but I have seen some huntsman houses that I would not let the hounds stay in. You would be amazed what a fresh coat of paint and some bargain flooring would do.”

Family Transitions In some instances, it’s not just the huntsman who’s faced with packing up and moving on. Spouses or significant others and school age children may be part of the entourage. If the spouse or SO isn’t part of the new hunt’s hiring package, that could mean a need for that person to find other employment at the new location. And as staff changes typically occur in the spring after the season ends, kids might still have a couple of months to go before the school year ends.

With or without partners and dependents, moving can be a costly and burdensome undertaking, especially if the move entails taking horses and possibly several hounds along as well.

There’s no universal counsel on this, other than the general assumption that the hunts involved should be as accommodating and supportive as possible to facilitate the transition.

Advice for Masters/Club Leaders For our final question, we asked, “What advice should be given to masters/club leaders when faced with the need, for whatever reason, to hire a new huntsman?” Their thoughts: Charles Montgomery: “Communication is the most important thing. If you’re going to work for a hunt, it’s as important for the huntsman to interview them as well as for them to interview him. I’ve become better at expressing my positions and not just letting things fester.”

Steve Farrin: “Ask for three to five references and check them out thoroughly.

Some people have the gift of gab and can sound impressive. But they may Charles and Boo Shepherd Montgomery share a moment not be able to live up to the hype. Hunts- before the start of Mells Fox Hounds Opening Meet, 2020.

Sarah McCoin photo men’s jobs are becoming harder to find. It’s like a game of musical saddles. Who’s going to be left standing when the music stops?”

John Tabachka (now out of the game and unfettered by the need for restraint): “If you hire a professional, let him do his job. You hired them, now get out of the way and let the job get done. This doesn’t mean to not be involved, but do not interfere with the process.”

Chad Wilkes (who’s still in the game, shares John’s position): “The advice I would give to the masters when hiring a new huntsman would be to try not to make them something they are not. Every huntsman has their own unique style of hunting hounds. Try not to compare them to the last huntsman and avoid saying, ‘Well, this is how the former huntsman did things and this is how we want you to do it.’ If you truly stand behind your huntsman and support them, then so will the membership.”

Spencer Allen: “I would advise Masters to really go through the process and interview every single candidate who sent in a letter. Make sure the person you hire is a right fit for your hunt, and the long-term vision of what your hunt wants to be. It’s equally difficult for the huntsman who makes his living and feeds his kids on this decision. Don’t be a hunt that switches staff every other year. It’s bad for morale, it’s stressful on subscribers, and it’s cruel to hounds. Everything won’t be perfect all the time. But if you support each other, stay loyal to each other, and back each other up in all weather, because you picked the right person, you will be united in a mutual love of your hunt that will ultimately transcend your day to day life.”

Spencer & Leta Allen hunting the Long Run Woodford Hounds at Crab Orchard, October, 2020. Barry Spurlin photo

Concluding Thoughts The level of interaction a hunt member has with the club’s huntsman can vary widely, from daily contact to little more than fleeting glimpses on hunting days. But no matter the level of involvement or the field a member rides in (including car followers), the huntsman is the key player in how the sport unfolds for everyone following hounds. As with any collective human endeavor, there will be different opinions and likely some personality conflicts. But as a wise person once said, if two people always agree on everything, one of them isn’t necessary. The key is to recognize the challenges a huntsman faces, especially when making a move from one club to another, and offer support in whatever ways possible and appropriate. If nothing else, the membership should at least be mindful to not create additional challenges for the new huntsman to deal with.

Assimilation doesn’t happen overnight. Depending on the complexity of the changes from one hunt to another, even a few seasons might be required.

Andy Bozdan, now at Camargo Hunt (OH), has seen his share of challenges.

He served in his native UK and then a stint in Australia before moving to the States. His first job in the US was at Tennessee Valley Hunt (TN), then Loudoun Fairfax (VA), and a short stretch whipping-in to Graham Buston at Blue Ridge Hunt (VA) before moving with his professional whipper-in wife Erin to Camargo.

Andy provided some input akin to what’s been recounted here, but ended his remarks with a bit of counsel he’s found helpful. “The trick, if there is one, is to start afresh each time and go into the new job with all the enthusiasm and determination that got you this far in the first place.”

Good advice for all to follow.

Andy and Erin Bozdan parading the Loudoun Fairfax hounds at the Loudoun Hunt Point-to-Point in 2016. The Bozdans are now at Ohio’s Camargo Hunt.

Middleburg Photo

IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • SPRING 2021

8

OSMUN’S OBSERVATIONS

The View From Virginia (We’re Not in Montana Anymore) Claudia Coleman illustration

Dear Luna, How is my favorite Australian Shepherd doing?

Has it already been seven months since I was whisked away from my home in the mountains of Montana and settled in the rolling hills of Virginia? It was such a long car trip, I thought I was off to the show ring again—until I realized we had bypassed the visit to the groomer.

The transition has been easy. I have a white bed and a tan bed, a red and black blanket. Marion, my new boss, lets me move about freely and I go from sofa to crate to bed at will. She leaves the crate gate open. The water in my bowl is so awful, I drink the pool water whenever she’s not watching. When she does catch me, she claps her hands and squeals, “No, no no!” and chases me.

It’s great fun to have her trot around the yard flailing. She’ll never catch me even with a lasso.

I haven’t had a chance to set up my own email, so I am using Horse Country Saddlery’s account. That’s where I work now! It’s a fine shop that specializes in quality tack and apparel for the discerning horse and rider (their words). I’m still finding my paws here. My job description is a bit fuzzy. Mostly, Marion calls me away from the desk to meet and greet other dogs that visit the store. I had to ask a Jack Russell to leave the other day. He lifted his leg right in front of me.

I’m supposed to handle marketing but my suggestions haven’t reached the planning stage. Marion keeps telling me I don’t understand the customers or how the store flows yet. It seems our shoppers are different from non-horse shoppers.

Even different from Montana people. I asked Marion if that was why she had so many whips in stock but she said no, those were for lunging horses. Who knew!

Just to let you know about this area, the store is nestled in the quaint town of Warrenton, the county seat and hub of Virginia foxhunting and equestrian life.

The farms (they’re not called ranches) are smaller than we see in Montana, with stone fences and large stables for horses. Not too many cattle. There is a Longhorn farm up the road a piece (a “piece” might be five miles) and a strange looking beast called a llama. No bison, though. And no zebras, which, for some reason, is the store mascot.

Yes, Virginia is very different from our old prowling grounds under the Big Sky. The snow-covered peaks I remember are now knolls and knobs of dark green dotted with trees. In spring, there is a flowering tree they call a dogwood. The undergrowth is a lush darker green, punctuated by pink and white mountain laurel, a variation of rhododendron, that deer love to munch on. I gather they don’t care for deer here and foxhounds have to be “deer proof,” a new term for me.

And guess what! No wolves or grizzlies! Sure, the odd coyote slinks about and the black bears are pretty tame, but the big bruisers are nowhere to be found.

One bear trotted through the store parking lot a few months back…right here in town. Just like Montana. But this one looked lost and just wanted to find the way out of town. Not like the Montana bruins that act like they own the place and will bite your head off if you bark at them.

Let me tell you about the store where I work. It’s a large store; two stories

Huntsman Jordan Hicks moves off from Oak Spring Farm on March 5, 2021 as Piedmont Fox Hounds celebrates 180 years of foxhunting. Douglas Lees photo

with the saddlery being downstairs. It’s cool downstairs and is run by my friend, Kaylee. The saddlery is for real English riders which I have never seen before. For clothing, I’ve learned the following: Foxhunters wear red coats and show riders wear navy jackets. Simple delineation.

Luna, you should memorize that bit of information since Marion explains they wear red coats in Montana now. You might even see a foxhunter in the distance. Everyone wears a crash helmet because they jump over fences. When going to dinner, wear a Horse Country scarf; when going to the races, wear a Horse Country fancy hat. Men wear Horse Country tweed caps. Horse Country gifts are in demand. Our giftwrap is requested.

“Simple, simple, simple,” Marion tells me.

In Montana, we’re proud of our open range.

In Virginia, they are proud of their fences. Having said that, there is a huge conservation movement here to keep development at bay. This county, Fauquier (Faw-keer; I still can’t pronounce it properly), has preserved 100,000 acres of land from over-development. It’s the big topic they all talk about at dinner parties (not cookouts). And they talk about bitcoin. What is that? I’m thinking it’s a really, really hard snaffle.

I remember how chilly the mornings are there and wish we had known about the dog coats available at Horse Country, much more substantial and fitted than the towels they covered me with at the dog shows.

Do you know they dress horses here? Even dress them for flies. I watched as they unpacked fly sheets for the fly summer. Marion says she’s waiting for the cicadas to start biting.

Humans don’t suffer either! It’s much hotter here and everyone is talking about the summer swelter while picking out new shirts to cool off. These shirts have zippers instead of snaps. Boots have zippers, too. It’s just so English here in Virginia. La de da!

I am pretty well settled into my new life as a Virginia gent, as Marion put a fancy collar on me, with my name and phone number and the message “REWARD,” since not many folks here know me by sight (yet). Sometimes I think of our time together, sitting on the big porch and listening to the wolves singing under the moon. At night, Marion and I sit on the sofa and watch Netflix. Life is different here. I have a dog walker most mornings. Her name is Kathy Peleton and I like her.

Oh, I almost forgot. Marion had a portrait done of me by an artist named Claudia Coleman and it will be presented in the Boardroom next week! I’ll be bathed for the presentation. It will hang next to the portraits of my predecessors Pandore, Aga, and Bunson. Mighty big paw tracks to step into!

Guess I’m here to stay.

So, Luna, how is your spring going? Is that cross-eyed sheep still giving you fits? Please write.

Your friend, Osmun

180th Piedmont Fox Hounds Anniversary meet at Oak Spring Farm, March 5, 2021. (l-r) George Grayson and Tad Zimmerman, MFH, crossing the bridge at Goose Creek. Douglas Lees photo

Orange County Hounds hunting from Oakendale, March 6, 2021. (l-r) Jeb Hannum, field master; John Coles, MFH; Neil Morris, MFH. Douglas Lees photo

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The notes of “Boots & Saddles” call the riders to the post.

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IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • SPRING 2021

JENNY’S PICKS As I write this, the forsythia are blooming, spring birds are calling, and the weather is warming.

Time to pick up fallen branches, clean up the garden, get the winter hair off the horses, and enjoy life as we begin to get back to a more normal schedule. But for those rainy days and evenings, we’ve lined up some lovely new books to peruse.

HORSE COUNTRY BOOKSELLERS Specialists in New, Old & Rare Books on Horses, Foxhunting,

9 of Alcatraz, for instance, abandoned as a prison, had beautiful gardens tended by the prisoners.

When they left, wild goats took over and began eating their way across the island. In a few cases, “before” photographs are included, but gardens of old were probably seldom photographed before color photography became popular. Hardcover, 213pp. $50.00

Eventing, Polo, Racing, Steeplechasing & Sporting Art Fine, Norman. Blind Bombing. You’ve probably Teneues, publisher. Best Unique Hotels & Reread Norman Fine’s books on foxhunting; this lattreats. Editors Sebastian Schoellgen, Martin est depicts hunting of a very different and very Nicholas Kunz, and Jurgen Salzer have selected 60 Alexandria Pike, Warrenton, VA 20186 deadly sort: the development of mechanisms to 84 hotel rooms around the world to feature in this 800-882-HUNT • 540-347-3141 locate bombing targets when cloud cover renders elegant book with a velvet-plush cover. They them invisible (i.e., radar). In the process, Fine range from Alpine to seaside resorts, an ancient named Sherman (after a singer) who decides he wants to treats us to a fascinating collection of war stories and po- enter a burro race in Colorado. In case you aren’t familiar Swiss castle (no, it isn’t crumbling and has several obvilitical machinations, as Roosevelt fights an uncooperative with burro races, this involves a difficult trek running, ously new additions) to thatched coconut palm huts in the United States while trying to assist England and France in climbing or walking over a mountain beside a burro fitted Maldives. (Go there before they’re completely underwater resisting the German invasion of European countries. As I out with goldmining gear—pack saddle, pan and pick. Not due to climate warming!) And let’s not omit mention of browse through the book trying to write this synopsis, I re- so bad? Well, first, this particular donkey was rescued from “Goldfinger,” the Spanish floating boutique hotel inspired alize that I am going to have to buy this and read it thor- an owner that, while not intentionally cruel, simply did not by James Bond! Funny, there are no hotels listed in Russia, oughly! Kudos, Norman – you’ve done it again. Hardcover, know how to take care of animals. The poor thing had “slip- China, or North Korea… and only a few in the USA. Any230pp. $29.95 per feet” that looked like those images of a medieval jester, way, there are plenty of tantalizing sites across enough of Don, Monty; and Derry Moore. American Gardens. The was malnourished and had other issues as well. Second, the world for most anyone to choose from, once the world authors have divided these sites into three “Journeys”. Jour- teaching him to run alongside a person required the multi- opens up to visitation again. Text is in both English and ney One traverses south from Washington, DC, and Vir- ple assistance of a goat buddy and not one but two other German. Classy hardcover, 271pp. $95.00 (N.B.-we have ginia to Louisiana and Florida. Journey Two treks the north donkeys and people, all of which had to be accustomed to just one of these.) from Pennsylvania through New Jersey and New York to going through woods and water (!!) without balking every Hatherleigh Press, pub. The Horse Lover’s Quotation Missouri and Illinois. Journey Three heads west to Arizona, twenty strides. And last, there is the altitude difference—if Book. This small volume celebrates “grace, beauty, spirit California, and Washington State. Included are gardens you’re not used to “mile-high” altitudes, you can go down & freedom.” Quotations have been selected from equestrifrom the rooftops of the city to Central Park; historic gar- fast and not get up. I loved this book, well written and up- ans, authors, poets, soldiers, statesmen, Bedouins, cowdens such as Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello and Middleton beat in spite of a series of difficulties. You’ll get an insider’s boys, Native Americans, even good old Anonymous. They Place; Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous home Fallingwater; view of Amish life and meet some great people along the will bring pleasure to the reader—or the listener, if you cactus gardens in Phoenix; and Bunny Mellon’s home Oak way—because this is not fiction but fact. And if you know choose to use one in a lecture. You’ll recognize some, more Springs outside Middleburg, Virginia. Hardcover, 223pp. an avid runner, this might also make a nice gift. Paperback, if you read a great deal of works by the great trainers and 336pp. $16.95 $50.00 riders throughout history. (Of course there’s Xenophon!)

Lederman, Larry. Garden Portraits. Just in time for Vir- Ojeda, Oscar Riera; and Victor Deupi. Stables – High De- Hardcover, 88pp. $12.50 ginia’s Garden Week, this lovely new volume of garden sign for Horse and Home. Planning on building a new sta- Two for the youngsters: photography is the next best thing to “forest bathing,” cher- ble and want the best? Check out the new structures created Sallas, Ellen. Been There Done That. Joining our other ished time spent just being quietly in the woods and ab- by architects from all over the world. No imitations of Eng- coloring books in the “I Love –” series is this collection of sorbing the soothing atmosphere. These are all private lish or Continental old world stables here—these are all mishaps, from the dressage rider whose mount is standing gardens located in Connecticut and New York; a main fea- fresh, beautiful, and, yes, expensive. But it’s fun to look, chewing the flowers at “C” to innumerable jumping disasture of all is the privacy of surrounding woods. Larry Led- even if it’s beyond your budget. You can still use ideas and ters. Lots of different colors can be applied to the erman, the photographer, has an uncanny eye for capturing scale them down. Great color photos without an excessive showjumping and cross-country fences and riders as well the exquisite beauty of the sites so well you can almost amount of text. Hardcover, 273pp. $55.00 as to the extra images from two of Sallas’s other books feasmell the earth and hear the gurgle of water in the streams Seebohm, Caroline. Rescuing Eden/Preserving America’s turing wildly-patterned fantasy mounts. Softcover, unpagas you walk along the paths or pause at lakeside. Don’t ex- Historic Gardens. Perhaps one of the most fragile creations inated. $7.99 pect lots of large blowups of perennials and annuals or for- of mankind are gardens, so easily destroyed by negligence, Tuohy, Lois. Deer Heart. This one’s for young readers, mal flowerbeds, but this is absolutely the most refreshing reconstruction to keep apace with current trends, or develabout an abandoned fawn whose mother was hit by a car. garden book I’ve yet seen. Feeling stressed? Just sit down opment growth. Illustrated by photographs by Curtice TayTwo farmhands find the fawn in tall grass and take it back with a glass or cup of whatever relaxes you, pick up the lor, Seebohm has selected thirty special gardens that have to the farm, where the owners call their vet to come out for book, and the large-format photos will instill a feeling of been rescued from oblivion and tells their stories. Some it. It is a true story; the author and her husband were the serenity. Hardcover, 224pp. $50.00 you will have heard of, many you may not. You might recfarm owners, and Lois recounts how the fawn was raised ognize Middleton Place in South Carolina or the Ladew ToMcDougall. Running with Sherman. No, this isn’t about and released to be wild when grown enough. The color ila Union Army soldier under Sherman in Georgia, it’s by a piary Gardens in Maryland, with their famous foxhunting lustrations are darling. Softcover, 24pp. $14.00 man in the Amish country of Pennsylvania who has a burro topiary; the rest were unfamiliar to me. The prison island

Maryland Races

118th Grand National, Butler, Maryland, April 17, 2021 (l-r) Hill Tie (Teddy Davies, up); Le Chevalier (#4, McLane Hendriks, up) – 1st.

124th Maryland Hunt Cup Le Chevalier, owned by Mike Smith and trained by Julie Glyndon, Maryland, April 24, 2021 Gomena, is the first Virginia-owned and trained horse to At the13th fence, winner Vintage Vinnie (Dan Nevin, up) 110th My Lady’s Manor win the Grand National since 1956 when Uncle Pierre, Monkton, Maryland, April 10, 2021 owned and trained by Cyrus Manierre and ridden by Laddie went on to set a record in the race with a time of 8:22 3/5. st Isabel Kurek photo Vintage Vinnie (Chris Gracie, up) – 1 . Doglas Lees photo Murray, won this race. Douglas Lees photo

10

IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • SPRING 2021

RACING

Spring Races

By Will O’Keefe

Warrenton Hunt Point-To-Point 3/13/21 Last year with the pandemic looming, horsemen came out in force at the Warrenton Hunt Point-to-Point with 89 horses running in 11 races. If there was going to be a season, the horsemen were going to be ready. Unfortunately, to everybody’s chagrin, the next steeplechase racing would be the Middleburg Spring Races in the middle of June.

In 2021, most of the sanctioned meets pushed the dates of their meets to later in the spring with the hope that the vaccines would be effective and more people would be allowed to attend.

This year at Warrenton there were only 19 horses that contested 5 races—two over timber, two on the flat, and a sidesaddle race. There weren’t enough entries to hold the three hurdle races, but before the first race there were two groups of horses that schooled over the hurdles that had been set up for the races.

The highlight of the races was the fact that five apprentice riders had the opportunity to be aboard all of the entries. Skylar McKenna won the first race for her mother Kathy Neilson with Armata Stables’ Highway Prince in a three-horse open timber race. After Jeffery G. (ForWarrenton Hunt Point-to-Point, Open Flat (l-r) Awesome Adrian (Skylar McKenna, up) – 1st; est Kelly) led the first time around, he relinquished the lead to Armata’s Some Response (Teddy Davies) and Highway Prince on the backside.

Better Tapit (Courtney Dankanich, up) – 3rd.

Douglas Lees photo These two raced as a team to the finish where Highway Prince got the win by 1 length in a driving finish.

In the novice timber race that followed, Sophie Henelius rode Four Virginia Gent’s First Friday to a three-length victory over Sycamore Run Farm’s Scherzo (Skylar McKenna). First Friday set the pace, and Scherzo could not mount a challenge.

Skylar and Kathy got their second win when Nancy J. Reed’s Awesome Adrian scored in the open flat race by 1¾ lengths over Melissa Cantacuzene’s Yankee Doodle Boy (Sophie Henelius).

Courtney Dankanich got her third lifetime flat win on Wendy Hendriks’ Embrace the Grind. The winner led most of the way with Beverly Warrenton Hunt Point-to-Point, Spring Valley Open Timber (l-r) Highway Prince (Skylar Steinmann’s Marvari (Sophie Henelius) within striking distance. When McKenna, up) – 1st; Some Response (Teddy Marvari made a bid, it was to no avail as Embrace the Grind won by Davies, up) – 2nd. Douglas Lees photo 2¼ lengths. Ricky Hendriks trained the winner.

In the sidesaddle race, Julie Nafe’s Sky Babe came from off the pace in the final half mile to beat Cherry Blossom Farm LLC’s Soul Approval (Devon Zebrovious) by 5 lengths.

Warrenton Hunt Point-to-Point, Novice Timber First Friday (Sophie Henelius, up) – 1st.

Douglas Lees photo

Piedmont Fox Hounds Point-to-Point, George Robert Slater Memorial Maiden Timber (l-r) Indian Hawk (McLane Hendriks, up) – 1st; Include It (Chris Gracie, up) – 2nd. Douglas Lees photo

Piedmont Fox Hounds Point-to-Point, Thomas M. Beach & Virginia A. Beach Memorial Lady Rider Timber (l-r) Aggressive (Skylar McKenna, up) – 3rd; Bridge Builder (Erin Swope, up) – 2nd; Cocodimama (Chloe Hannum, up) – 1st. Douglas Lees photo

Piedmont Fox Hounds Point-to-Point 3/20/21 The Piedmont Fox Hounds Point-to-Point was run on March 20 and, as usual, it was a great day of timber and flat racing. The featured Rokeby Challenge Cup is a timber classic, and the victorious Just Wait and See (Ire) gave Kinross Farm (Zohar and Lisa Ben Dov) their record breaking seventh win in this race. Rider Chris Gracie took command immediately after the drop of Graham Alcock’s flag, and the other two starters could only watch from afar.

Irvin Naylor’s Hooded (McLane Hendriks) was a distant second and Ann Jackson’s Flash Jackson fell. This feat also gave trainer Richard Valentine his seventh Rokeby Bowl and his second with a Kinross Farm runner.

Irvin S. Naylor’s Indian Hawk (McLean Hendriks) broke his maiden over timber in the first race in a four-horse field. The top three finishers ran as a group most of the race but it was Indian Hawk and Riverdee Stable’s Include It (Chris Gracie), who battled over the last and up the hill to the finish. Indian Hawk, who is trained by Cyril Murphy, got home 1 length before Include It. The amateur and novice rider timber race produced two maidenbreaking performances. The winning horse was Blythe Miller Davies’ Coastal Moon and the winning rider was her son, Teddy Davies, who won his first race over fences. This race was also decided in the stretch Piedmont Fox Hounds Point-to-Point, Rokeby Challenge Bowl Open Timber with Mrs. George L. Ohrstrom, Jr.’s Hafajay and the winner jumping Just Wait And See (Chris Gracie, up) – 1st. the last fence as a team. Hafajay fell short by 2¼ lengths. For the winDouglas Lees photo ner this was a family celebration. Trainer Joseph Davies, owner Blythe Davies, and Teddy had a happy trip back to Maryland. What a pedigree for a rider. Blythe and Joe won a combined 272 races over fences at point-to-points and sanctioned races in their careers.

Maidens were being broken left and right, and Adlestrop Hill’s Cocodimama and rider Chloe Hannum joined the party after the lady rider timber race. Celtic Venture Stables’ Bridge Builder (Erin Swope) led most of the race and had a share of the lead at the last fence, but Cocodimama had moved alongside and landed running. Emily Hannum trained the winner, who won by 1¼ lengths.

For an encore, Chloe Hannum broke her maiden on the flat with her sister Flora’s Paddy’s Crown. Paddy’s Crown led throughout the race and won handily by 4 lengths. For Richard Valentine this was his second visit to the winners’ circle.

Trainer Neil Morris saddled and Graham Watters rode the winners of the open and Virginia-bred flat races.

In the open race Noble Stables’ On a Rock was never far from the front and won handily by 2 lengths. Flying Elvis Stable’s took the Virginia-bred race with Morgan’s Piedmont Fox Hounds Point-to-Point, C. Reed Thomas, MFH Memorial Amateur & Novice Rider Timber Ford Farm’s River Deep (Gerard Galligan) falling short (l-r) Coastal Moon (#2, Teddy Davies, up) – 1st; Hafajay (#3, by ½ length.

Chris Gracie, up) – 2nd. Douglas Lees photo

IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • SPRING 2021

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The Second Warrenton Hunt Point-to-Point 3/28/21 When the Orange County Hounds Point-to-Point was cancelled this year, the Warrenton Hunt stepped forward and ran a second meet at Airlie on Sunday, March 28. This time there were four hurdle races over the Airlie Race Course. The day started with Keystone Thoroughbreds’ Noah and the Ark (Gerard Galligan) winning the open hurdle race. Noah and the Ark was rated off the pace, started to rally in the final quarter mile and got up in the final furlong to beat South Branch Equine LLC’s Compass Zone (Sean McDermott) by ¾ length. Todd McKenna saddled the winner.

The following race for amateur and novice riders was a 7length victory for Flora Hannum’s Paddy’s Crown (Chloe Hannum).

The second place runner, Fearnaught Farm LLC’s Lemon Again (Bryan Cullinane), could not run with the winner, who was trained

by Richard Valentine.

Second Warrenton Hunt Point-to-Point, Novice Timber Trainer Doug Fout has always supported the Warrenton Hunt On the way to the winners circle (l-r): Sean McDermott Point-to-Points, and this meet was not an exception. He ran 11 on Master Seville – 3rd; Gerard Galligan on Elucidation horses and had three winners and four second place finishers. His – 1st; Eddie Keating on Huyana –2nd. Douglas Lees photo first win was in a division of the maiden hurdle with Beverly Steinmann’s Marvari (Sophie Henelius). From the start of the race Marvari took command and romped home by 10 lengths. Virginia Lazenby Racing Stable LLC’s Tap Dance Star (Bernie Dalton) finSecond Warrenton Hunt Point-to-Point, ished second while not a threat to the winner. Trainer Kate Dalton Maiden Hurdle, First Division saddled Virginia Lazenby Racing Stable LLC’s Western Crusader Marvari (Sophie Henelius, up) – 1st.

(Bernie Dalton) to win the second division. Fearnaught Farm LLC’s Douglas Lees photo Princeville (Sophie Henelius) jumped with Western Crusader over the last hurdle, and these two battled the length of the stretch before Western Crusader proved best by ½ length.

The featured open timber race was won by Frank A. Bonsal, Jr.’s Stand Down (Eddie Keating) over Four Virginia Gents’ First Friday (Sophie Henelius). Stand Down set the pace with First Friday in his shadow. These two charged down the stretch, and Stand Down proved best by 1 length. Casey Pinkard Savin is doing a great job Second Warrenton Hunt Point-to-Point, Open Timber bringing Stand Down back to his better form.

Stand Down (Eddie Keating, up) –1st. Douglas Lees photo The novice timber race was another thriller. Jeremy Batoff’s Elucidation (Gerard Galligan) was rated off the early pace that was set by EHB Racing’s Huyana (Eddie Keating). Huyana led into the stretch, but Elucidation was on the move and reached the front just Second Warrenton Hunt Point-to-Point, Maiden Hurdle, Second Division a few strides before the finish. The margin was ½ length. Willie (l-r) Western Crusader (Bernie Dalton, up) – Dowling saddled the winner. st nd Doug Fout won two of the three flat races on the card with two 1 ; Princeville (Sophie Henelius, up) –2 .

Douglas Lees photo horses owned by Beverly R. Steinman. Deposit (Bernie Dalton) won the open flat race over his stablemate, Go as You Please. These two ran on the pace throughout the race and Deposit beat Go As You Please by 4 lengths.

Fout and Steinman struck again with Wild Cat (Sara Katz), who broke his maiden on the flat in the finale.

Wildcat was never far from the lead and drew away to win easily by 2 lengths. PathFinder Racing’s Milton Road (Gerard Galligan) and their Barrantes (Brian Cullinane) had to settle for second and third.

Second Warrenton Hunt Point-to-Point, Open Hurdle

Old Dominion Hounds Point-to-Point 4/3/21 (l-r) Noah And The Ark (Gerard Galligan, up) –1st; The Old Dominion Hounds Point-to-Point normally has to compete with Elkridge-Harford Point-to-Point and Compass Zone (Sean McDermott, up) – 2nd; Mr. Sarinana (Bernie Dalton, up) – 3rd. Douglas Lees photo a sanctioned race meet in the South for entries. But this year the sanctioned meet did not run, and the entries and racing were excellent at Old Dominion. The list of owners and trainers made it seem like a sanctioned meet.

After a highly successful day at the Second Warrenton Point-to-Point, it didn’t take long for Doug Fout to find the winners’ circle at Old Dominion. Beverly R. Steinman’s Go As You Please (Sophie Henelius) rallied to win the Amateur/Novice Rider Hurdle Race. Sanna Neilson’s Ebullience (Parker Hendriks) made most of the running, but Go As You Please closed with a rush and just got up to win by a head. Fout also saddled Sharon Sheppard’s Undisclosed (Bryan Cullinane) to beat Gordonsdale Farm’s Canyon Road (Parker Hendriks).

Undisclosed took command the last time around and held off Canyon Road to win by 1½ lengths.

Old Dominion Hounds Point-to-Point, Ben Venue Lady Rider Timber. Cocodimama (Chloe Hannum, up) – 1st.

The maiden hurdle race was split with Edition Douglas Lees photo Farm’s Riendo (Bernie Dalton) winning the first division by 2 lengths over Wendy W. Hendriks’ Embrace the Grind (Courtney Dankanavich). The winner was never far from the lead and got Embrace the Grind in the run in from the last hurdle. Kate Dalton was the winning trainer.

In the second division, Riverdee Stable’s Gostisbehere (Graham Watters) won easily by 2 lengths over Old Dominion Team Valor International & Gary Barber’s Hayabusa Hounds Point-toThe Volanee Maiden Point, Leeds Don One (Bernie Dalton). Jack Fisher saddled the winner, Old Dominion Hounds PointHurdle, Second Division Open Timber to-Point, The Volanee who had found a way into the race. Gostisbehere had Gostisbehere (Graham Fletched (Forrest Maiden Hurdle, First Div. been in the first division but failed to start. Given an- Riendo (Bernie Dalton, up) – st Watters, up) – 1 .

Kelly, up) – 1st. other chance by the Stewards, he redeemed himself.

Douglas Lees photo Douglas Lees photo 1st. Douglas Lees photo

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IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • SPRING 2021

Kate and Bernie Dalton made it two wins and a second with their three runners. The third was Del Rio Chasers’ Razoul, who won the open hurdle race by 2½ lengths over DASH Stables’ Prayer Hope (Graham Watters). Prayer Hope had the lead but could not hold off Razoul.

Forrest Kelly had won the open timber race at Old Dominion two years ago with his Monstaleur and was seeking back-to-back wins in this race with his Fletched. He was facing two powerful entries from trainer Jack Fisher. Beating Mrs. John R. S. Fisher’s Schoodic (Hadden Frost) and Bruton StreetUS’s Preseli Rock (Connor Hankin) was a difficult task.

Fletched was not impressed and drew off to a comfortable lead after the start, and the result was never in question with 12 Old Dominion Hounds Point-to-Point, Meeting lengths the final margin over Preseli Rock and Schoodic far House Mountain Open Hurdle Old Dominion Hounds Point-to-Point, High Thicket (l-r) Prayer Hope (Graham Watters, up) – 2nd; Razoul behind.

Novice Rider Flat (#6, Bernie Dalton, up) –1st. Douglas Lees photo Leading trainer Neil Morris swept the final three flat (l-r) Argentic (Parker Hendriks, up) – 1st; Junonia races. He started with MRQ Racing’s Argentic (Parker Hen(Bryan Cullinane, up) – 2nd; Sandy Lane Kitten driks) in the first division of the novice rider race. Argentic and (Courtney Dankanich, up) – 4th; Family Tree (Zoe Valvo, up) – 5th. Douglas Lees photo Kinross Farm’s Junonia (Bryan Cullinane), also trained by Morris, rallied from off the pace as a team and arrived at the finish line together with Argentic best by ½ length. In the second division, Bryce Lingo & Leslie Kopp’s Ritzy A. P. rallied from off the pace to win going away by 3½ lengths over Noble Stables’ On a Rock (Zoe Valvo), also trained by Morris.

Flying Elvis Stable’s Vincent Van Gogo had won three Virginia-bred races in his career. At Old Dominion he went to the front immediately and led the rest of the way winning by 5 lengths over Sara Collette’s Eryx (Forest Stone). Eryx had rallied belatedly.

In the sidesaddle race, owner/trainer/rider Julie Nafe’s Blue Ridge Hunt Point-to-Point, Maiden Hurdle. Team Tim (Eddie Keating, up) – 1st.

Sky Babe and Cherry Blossom Farm LLC’s Soul Approval Liz Callar photo (Devon Zebrovious) vied for the lead much of the race, but Blue Ridge Hunt Point-to-Point, Open Timber st Sky Babe prevailed by a neck.

Tomgarrow (Gerard Galligan, up) – 1 . Liz Callar photo Blue Ridge Hunt Point-to-Point 4/11/21 Trainer Neil Morris held a hot hand at the Blue Ridge Hunt Point-to-Point. He brought eleven horses and left with five winners, four second place runners, and two third places.

In the first race, The Filbert Family’s Team Tim (Eddie Keating) made the running with Fearnaught Farm LLC’s Koko Star (Sophie Henelius) until the final hurdle where Koko Star lost his rider. That left Team Tim all alone, and he coasted home by 8 lengths before Cross Racing Stable LLC’s Oceanographer (Bryan Cullinane).

In the amateur/novice rider hurdle race, Kinross Farm’s Junonia (Bryan Cullinane) was never far back and jumped the last fence with MRQ Racing’s Argentic (Parker Hendriks) close behind. Argentic could not match strides with Junonia and lost by 5 lengths. Morris trained both horses.

The open hurdle race followed and another Neil Morris trainee won. Irvin S. Naylor’s Family Tree (Graham Watters) was rated off the pace set by Flora Hannum’s Paddy’s Crown (Chloe Hannum), who slipped and lost his rider on the last turn. Family Tree led to the finish and held off Edward Mulligan’s Bullet Star (Gerard Galligan), who made a late bid and lost by 1 length.

Irvin S. Naylor’s Choo Choo (Bryan Cullinane) gave Morris another win when he won the first division of the novice rider flat race. Choo Choo came from slightly off the pace and won going away by 1¼ lengths. Irvin L. Crawford II’s To Be Or Not to Be (Teddy Davies) closed well but was second best.

Morris made it back-to-back wins when William Russell’s Animal Kingston (Bryan Cullinane) romped home alone by 6 lengths in the other division of the novice rider flat race. Another Morris trainee, Kinross Farm’s Big Bend (Parker Hendriks), ran well but was second best.

When Morgan’s Ford Farm’s River Deep (Gerard Galligan) won the Virginia-bred flat race, the crowd went wild. It’s always exciting when a local horse wins, and River Deep is just that. River Deep stalked PathFinder Racing’s Gas Money, who led the field to the head of the stretch. At this stage these two hooked up and battled to the finish with River Deep the winner by a neck. D. M. Smithwick, Jr. trained the winner The maiden flat race was won by PathFinder Racing’s Milton Road (Gerard Galligan), who won on the front end by 2½ lengths. Daniel T. Doane’s Theda’s Boy (Brett Owings) made a late bid but could not get to the winner.

In the open timber race, all three starters were preparing for upcoming sanctioned races. Leipers Fork Steeplechasers LLC’s Tomgarrow (Gerad Galligan) made the running with John Greene & Patrick Worrall’s Mr. Haire (Eve Ledyard) staying within striking distance until tiring in the late stages and losing by 35 lengths. Leslie Young saddled the two that finished. S. Rebecca Shepherd’s Curve Of Stones (Graham Watters) pulled up.

In the novice timber race, Lisa Nelm’s Arkadag (Gerard Galligan) was reserved off the pace, made his move on the final turn and won easily by 1¾ lengths over South Branch Farm’s Master Seville (Brett Owings). David Bourke trained the winner.

EHB Racing’s Huyana won the amateur/novice rider timber race with leading rider Eddie Keating up for trainer Casey Pinkard Savin. He led for most of the race, repulsed a bid from ANR Partners’ Alert N Ready (McLane Hendriks) and won easily by 8 lengths.

The sidesaddle race continued the rivalry between Sky Babe (Julie Nafe) and Soul Approval (Devon Zebrovious). Sky Babe proved best by 1¼ lengths.

Blue Ridge Hunt Point-to-Point, Novice Timber Arkadag (Gerard Galligan, up) – 1st.

Liz Callar photo

Blue Ridge Hunt Point-to-Point, Open Hurdle Family Tree (Graham Watters, up) – 1st.

Liz Callar photo

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IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • SPRING 2021

Loudoun Hunt Point-to-Point 4/18/21 The last time there were steeplechase races at Morven Park was in 2012 when the Fairfax Hunt Pointto-Point was held there. Morven Park always attracted good entries but it was a huge surprise when entries were taken for the Loudoun Hunt Point-to-Point. There were so many horses that three races had to be split and one of these was split three ways. One of the attractions was the new EasyFix Fences that would replace the National Fences, and this would be their American debut in actual races.

The maiden hurdle race had to be split three ways. In the first division, Mrs. S. K. Johnston, Jr.’s Lost Story (Eddie Keating) led until turning for home. At that stage Happenstance & Achsah O’Donovan’s Hero’s Return (Eric Poretz) entered the picture, caught Lost Story, and pulled away to finish first. Almost immediately the Stewards called for an inquiry. Hero’s Return was taken down for going off course. That moved Lost Story up to first place. Todd Wyatt was the winning trainer.

In the second division E Squared Stables LLC’s Mr. Singh gave leading rider Eddie Keating another win. Mr. Singh was rated off the pace, started to pick up horses on the turn, and won going away.

Todd Wyatt picked up his second win in the third division with Charles C. Fenwick, Jr.’s Withoutdestination (Graham Watters). The winner came from off the pace to share the lead at the last fence with Bon Nouvel Chasers LLC’s Thormond Park (Ross Geraghty). These two arrived at the finish close to a dead heat, but the placing judges placed Withoutdestination first by a nose.

The open hurdle race was also run in two divisions with some of the sport’s best horses present for a good school over the new fences. In the first division William Russell’s Animal Kingston gave rider Graham Watters back-to-back winners. After racing the first time around with Mrs. S. K. Johnston, Jr.’s Cite (Aaron Davis), Animal Kingston took sole possession of the lead with a half mile to run and won handily by 8 lengths. Cite held on for second but was no match for the winner.

The starters in the second division included last season’s novice hurdle champion, Bruton Street- Loudoun Hunt Point-to-Point, TriSept Challenge Maiden Hurdle, First Division US’s Snap Decision (Graham Watters). Bon Nouvel Chaser’s Repeat Repeat (Ross Geraghty) set the Lost Story (Eddie Keating, up) – 1st. Liz Callar photo pace opening a clear lead. Keystone Thoroughbreds Noah and the Ark (Gerard Galligan) rallied in the final three furlongs to engage Repeat Repeat and beat him handily by 8 lengths. Todd McKenna was the winning trainer. It was obvious that Snap Decision was out for a school leading up to the Middleburg Spring Races in the Temple Gwathmey (which he won by 9 lengths).

The final five races were on the flat, and the first was the Virginia-bred race. Flying Elvis Stable’s Vincent Van Gogo continued his dominance in this series. The winner took the lead at the start, responded positively when Morgan’s Ford Farm’s River Deep made a bid and won by 4 lengths. This was Graham Watters’ third win and trainer Neil Morris’ second.

The maiden flat race was also run in two divisions with Hudson River Farm’s Galway Kid (Ross Loudoun Hunt Point-to-Point, Land Trust of Virginia Open Hurdle, Second Division Geraghty) winning his division on the front end and Noah and the Ark (Gerard Galligan, up) – 1st.

Magalen O. Bryant’s Sea Mast (Brady Betlamini) Liz Callar photo rallying from well off the pace. The margin of victory was 3 lengths in both races and the winning trainers were Keri Brion and Richard Valentine.

Loudoun Hunt Point-to-Point, TriSept Challenge Maiden Hurdle, After an unsuccessful try over timber at the Warrenton Hunt Point-to-Point, Carrington Holdings Second Division Mr. Singh (Eddie Keating, up) – 1st. Liz Callar photo LLC’s Boss Man welcomed familiar footing in the open flat race. Boss Man (Eddie Keating) led all the way and held off Sherry L. Fenwick’s Anticipating, who came flying but lost by ¾ length. This put the win count for Eddie Keating and Todd Wyatt at three apiece.

Add one more win for Todd Wyatt in the restricted young adult race. Mrs. S. K. Johnston, Jr.’s Be Counted (Colin Smith) came flying from off the pace to win by a neck over Wendy W. Hendriks’ Voting Control (Skylar McKenna).

Middleburg Spring Races 5/1/21 The Middleburg Spring Races started the sanctioned races in Virginia and the race card included three very popular races: the Temple Gwathmey Hurdle Handicap, the Middleburg Hunt Cup, and the Alfred M. Hunt Steeplethon. Each of these races attracted strong fields, but in each case there was a clear favorite, and they all ran to form and didn’t disappoint.

Last year Bruton Street-US won the Temple Gwathmey with Moscato, and this win launched him on a path that led to an Eclipse Award. This year Bruton Street-US’ Snap Decision (Graham Watters) came into the race having won eight straight races and earned the NSA novice timber championship. In the race, Snap Decision laid off the early pace. In the last half mile, he found a gear that the others didn’t have and coasted home 9 lengths ahead of Razoul (Bernie Dalton), who was making his American debut under rules. Snap Decision made it look very easy.

Middleburg Spring Races, Temple Gwathmey Sport of Kings Hurdle Stakes Snap Decision (Graham Watters, up) – 1st.

Middleburg Spring Races, Maiden Hurdle Withoutdestination (Graham Watters, up) – 1st.

Douglas Lees photo

Liz Callar photo

IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • SPRING 2021

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Middleburg Spring Races, Middleburg Hunt Cup (l-r) Road to Oz (Graham Watters, up) – 3rd; Mystic Strike (Thomas Garner, up) – 1st ; Super Saturday (Skylar McKenna, up) – 4th. Douglas Lees photo

Having won the Pennsylvania Hunt Cup at the end of the last season, Upland Partners’ Mystic Strike (Thomas Garner) was favored in the Middleburg Hunt Cup. He was never worse than second in the race, shadowing Irvin S. Naylor’s Super Saturday (Skylar McKenna) most of the way. With a quarter mile to run, Super Saturday tired from his efforts, and Mystic Strike ran on to victory by 4½ lengths over Meadow Run Farm’s timber novice, Zanjabeel (Eddie Keating).

Straylight Racing LLC’s Invocation was the king of the horses running in the steeplethons last year. He won over the Alfred Hunt Steeplethon Course at Glenwood Park twice and also won the steeplethon at the International Gold Cup Races. In this year’s race, Invocation (Sean McDermott) was reserved off the pace, responded when asked, and romped over Riverdee Stable’s Gibralfaro (Hadden Frost) by 8¾ lengths. Trainer Mark Beecher has Invocation on the top of his game.

Virginia was well represented by three winners on the day. The first race, a filly and mare maiden

Middleburg Spring Races, Steeplethon Invocation (Sean McDermott, up) – 1st.

Douglas Lees photo

race, was won by Beverly R. Steinman’s Speed Alert (Richard Boucher). Middleburg trainer Doug Fout saw Speed Alert reserved off the pace but rally to duel Virginia B. Lazenby’s Tap Dance Star (Bernie Dalton) in the stretch and win by ¾ of a length.

Horses with Virginia connections finished first and second in a thrilling allowance hurdle race. Bon Nouvel Chasers LLC’s Repeat Repeat (Ross Geraghty) and William Russell’s Animal Kingston (Thomas Garner) battled down the stretch with Repeat Repeat proving best by ¾ of a length.

Sara Collette’s Virginia-bred Eryx (Dylan McDonagh) was prominent from the start of the maiden hurdle race along with Mrs. S. K. Johnston, Jr.’s Bickley (Thomas Garner). These two had been close to each other in the race, but Eryx drew away in the final furlong to win by 6¼ lengths.

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Middleburg Spring Races, Virginia Equine Alliance Maiden Hurdle Eryx (Dylan McDonagh, up – 1st. Liz Callar photo

Todd Wyatt saddled Charles C. Fenwick, Jr.’s Withoutdestination (Graham Watters) to win the other maiden hurdle race. The winner stayed off the pace, rallied in the last three furlongs and won going away by 2 lengths.

Middleburg Spring Races, Allowance Hurdle (l-r) Animal Kingston (Thomas Garner, up) – 2nd; Repeat Repeat (Ross Geraghty, up) – 1st. Douglas Lees photo

IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • SPRING 2021

RACING

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Horses and People to Watch Virginia Equine Alliance

Virginia’s Horse Breeding and Racing Industry Produces Over $542 Million Economic Impact “And they’re off…” When it comes to the horse racing industry in Virginia and the economic impact it is generating, that’s an appropriate metaphor. According to a newly released study, the industry generated an estimated economic impact of $542.1 million in the Commonwealth in 2019.

“What we’re finding is that jobs are coming back, horse racing related expenditures are up, and tax revenue to the state is increasing,” said John Hannum, Executive Director of the Virginia Equine Alliance. “These are all very positive signs that the racing industry is moving in the right direction and benefiting the Commonwealth’s agribusiness and related businesses. Racing was at a low point in 2014 after the closure of Colonial Downs’ racetrack. The General Assembly took a number of steps, most notably the passage of Historical Horse Racing machines in 2018 that provided the revenue to re-open the track and fund the revitalization of the industry. The study points to the enormous strides the industry has made since 2014.”

Highlights of the new study include: Overall economic impact for 2019 of $542.1 million.

Annual horse-related expenditures by Virginia horsemen estimated at $239.44 million in 2019.

Overall total in state tax revenue for 2019 estimated at $26.5 million.

Estimated total economic impact of horse racing events and visitor spending in Virginia was $68.7 million in 2019.

Jobs supported in 2019 by the horse racing and breeding industry estimated at more than 5,000.

The average amount spent by horsemen in Virginia to care for, train, and board a race horse is estimated at $14,663.

Horseshoe Hill Farm in Ashland is one of many farms and training centers that have benefited from the robust Virginia-Certified Residency Program. VEA photo

“The Commonwealth has a rich history of breeding and racing Thoroughbreds, from even before the days of Triple Crown-winning Secretariat from Caroline County and continuing to today,” said Bettina Ring, Virginia Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry. “The industry is an important part of our agriculture economy, especially in rural parts of Virginia. A successful horse industry means that more farms remain economically viable, which in turn makes it easier to maintain and conserve productive farmland throughout the Commonwealth. I am pleased that the results of this study support that Virginia continues to be a place where the horse industry can thrive.”

A copy of the complete report can be found at virginiahorseracing.com.

Colonial Downs Summer Thoroughbred Racing Season to Kick Off July 19 Live racing returns to Colonial Downs Racetrack in New Kent County from July 19 – September 1 and reserved seats—both indoors and outdoors—are now on sale.

Top Thoroughbred horses, jockeys, and trainers from around the country will compete over Colonial’s renowned Secretariat Turf Course and its 1¼ miles dirt track every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at 1:45 PM. Horsemen will race for a daily average of $500,000 in purse monies over the seven-week, 21day meet. A total of 25 stakes races are on tap, including a robust Virginia-bred and Virginia-certified schedule, worth a combined $2.7 million.

Virginia Derby Day is scheduled for Tuesday, August 31, and in addition to the 18th annual renewal that features some of the country’s top 3-year-old turf horses, four other grass stakes will be on the card: The $150,000 Virginia Oaks,

The 2021 Thoroughbred race season at Colonial Downs will begin July 19. VEA photo

$150,000 Old Nelson, $100,000 Rosie’s Stakes, and $100,000 Kitten’s Joy. Five $100,000 blacktype stakes for Virginiabred or Virginia-sired horses will take place on closing day’s card. The Jamestown, Camptown, Brookmeade, Edward P. Colonial Downs held its annual controlled burn of the Evans, and Punch Line Secretariat Turf Course in April. The grass will grow will highlight the Septem- back green and lush, and provide a safe racing surface in time for the summer race season. VEA photo ber 1 finale.

Virginia Racing Makes Big Splash At Dubai World Cup Program Virginia HBPA President David Ross’s Extravagant Kid, who reached million dollar earning status in February, captured the Grade 1 Al Quoz Sprint Stakes March 27 at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai. The $1 million stakes was part of a stellar under card for the $12 million Dubai World Cup, which was won by Mystic Guide, conditioned by Colonial Downs’ leading trainer Michael Stidham.

Extravagant Kid, who was making his 50th career start, earned his 15th career win and pushed his bankroll over $1.5 million. It marked the first time a U.S. horse won the Al Quoz, which is a straight race at six turf furlongs.

“It was something else, I’ll tell you that,” said Ross of the experience of attending and winning the Al Quoz. “It was a 13-hour flight and the trip of a lifetime. It was a spectacle. It was a world class event and a world class operation put on by the Dubai Racing Club.”

Ross claimed the 8-year-old Kiss The Kid gelding three years ago for $75,000. “He was an expensive purchase but he had been running on dirt and showed good class on turf. I loved his back form. He can do a bunch of things.

He loves to sprint.”

After finishing a solid fourth in the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, Extravagant Kid had a trio of runner-up finishes in the Janus, Sunshine Sprint, and Colonel Power stakes to kick off 2021.

The first was on turf and the latter two were on dirt.

“He’s great over both surfaces,” noted Ross, who credits trainer Brendan Walsh Al Quoz stakes winner Extravagant Kid captured the Da Hoss Stakes at Colonial Downs in 2019. for figuring the horse out and Coady Photography photo keeping him challenged. “We sent him to compete at Fair Grounds in New Orleans from his base at Gulfstream six weeks before Dubai, just to mix things up a bit and to challenge him.”

Ross, who is Colonial’s all-time leading owner, employs both Walsh and Stidham as his two main trainers. Stidham has been the leading trainer at Colonial Downs the last two years and will have a string in New Kent again this summer.

“To see Michael win the Dubai World Cup just enhanced the whole experience,” said Ross. “I couldn’t have written a better story. It doesn’t get better than that.”

16

IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • SPRING 2021

FOXHUNTING

Hunting in the Snowbelt

By John J. Carle II, ex-MFH Editor’s Note: This article was submitted by Jake Carle shortly before he passed away on February 28, 2021. We present it here in tribute to Jake’s long association with this publication and in appreciation for the way he brought his entertaining and informative insights to our readers. He will be missed. (See Barclay Rives’ remembrance of Jake on the facing page.)

Scanning the latest issue of In and Around Horse Country, my wife Pat came upon a delightful picture of the Limestone Creek Hunt’s Joint Masters, Barbara and John Anderson, celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary in the hunting field. For Pat, it brought back memories of a summer spent in Skaneateles, New York, working for the late Bobby Rawlings, who ran the polo operations for LCH Joint Master Dave Chase.

A glance at the MFHA’s Annual Hunt Roster revealed a hunt with a solid, established mastership and emphasis upon improved hunting. North Carolinian Doug Russell has been brought aboard as Huntsman, bringing with him his own pack of crossbred Joint-Masters John and Barbara Anderson of Limestone Creek Hunt (NY) celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on hounds. Doug brings October 25, 2020. In recognition of that, Matt to the helm the tradiSpitzmueller’s photo appeared in our Holiday 2020 issue and tional Southern served as the inspiration for Jake to compose this recollection.

Huntsman’s understanding, enthusiasm and common sense, and the result has been an immediate improvement in the sport shown.

What I couldn’t understand was only 24 days’ hunting in a season. But a call to Genesee Valley’s Marion Thorne served up an educational eye-opener on “snowbelts”—a meteorological death knell to hunting every year by mid-November. Genesee Valley to the west and Millbrook to the east are spared the plague, but not Limestone Creek. Coupled with the snow, the late deer season (when hunting with hounds must cease) is another low blow. Marion assured me that Doug has his hounds afield at every possible opportunity, and that sport and enthusiasm are on an upsurge. Limestone Creek appears to be a real gem of a hunt, where future shines with new promise.

A call to senior Master John Anderson brought a warm and enthusiastic reception; and immediately, LCH President Jenny Coughlin sent along a packet containing the 75th Anniversary (2014) booklet and a separate concise history of the hunt.

Limestone Creek had its genesis in 1938, and a year later became organized under the mastership of Mr. Edward A. Hunt. Mr. Hunt secured a draft of English hounds from Ohio’s Rocky Fort Hunt, to form the nucleus of their fledgling pack.

A picture in the anniversary booklet shows the typical “Peterborough Bull” type of English hounds still prevalent in those days, a vastly different animal from the light, sleek running machines pictured in Doug Russell’s pack. Enviably, LCH has always had a broad base of community support that has kept the hunt viable through any number of changes and disruptions, beginning with the interruption of WWII. Following the war, the hunt was reorganized and applied for registration with the MFHA in 1949. They were accorded recognition in 1954. Nothing was mentioned about the makeup of the pack from the fifties through the late sixties and several changes of mastership, but presumably Mr. Hunt’s bloodlines had gone by the wayside.

In 1974 David O. Chase was elected Master and took over the breeding program. A hound man at heart, Mr. Chase recognized the suitability of the American hound for this country, and set about breeding a pack using drafts from Potomac and Orange County. Mr. Chase’s efforts had brilliantly favorable results, and a three-day-a-week schedule flourished. Mr. Chase is quoted as saying, “We breed our hounds with nose and conformation as basic considerations, but I admit my

principal concern was to develop a happy and enthusiastic pack, and I think we achieved that end.”

Dr. William Stack succeeded Doug Chase in the ’90s and, under his mastership, Ann Adams carried the horn with distinction and popularity. A painting reproduced in the booklet shows Ann accompanied by light, racy, American-type hounds. Lori Gronau took up the horn following Ann Adams’ untimely death.

With the present mastership of John and Barbara Anderson, Nelson and Renee Eddy, and Barbara Lindberg, the stability has been established that is the foundation of every successful hunt. Longevity in leadership and in the maintenance of the John J. (Jake) Carle II. breeding program is essential, and is now Doug Lees photo flourishing in Erieville, New York. The addition of Doug Russell and his pack is a real coup—in more ways than one. Not only has sport improved, the possibility of new vistas is very real. Doug takes his pack back to North Carolina when snow flies, and the possibility of a new southerly location in the winter months would seem feasible. So many northern packs now hunt the Carolinas and Georgia in the winter, and the lure of LCH to follow is tempting. With the hunt’s pioneer types taking the lead, who knows what adventures lie ahead. The Andersons have a home in Wellington, Florida, so a sortie to sunny Palm Beach could happen. After all, Palm Beach Master Reve Walsh is a longtime LCH member…

Whatever transpires, here is a hunt going places. They’ve survived with aplomb all the upheavals that pressure so many hunts, and just keep improving.

Maybe next November, Doug and his pack will make a swing through Virginia on their way south. They’d certainly be welcome.

REMEMBRANCE A Sporting Life

By Barclay Rives Editor’s Note: John J. (Jake) Carle II, born April 23, 1938, passed away at home on February 28, 2021. A longtime and popular contributor to In & Around Horse Country, founding board member of the Museum of Hounds & Hunting, long serving master and huntsman of the Keswick Hunt, breeder of fox hounds and noted judge, Jake is remembered here by his good friend and fellow chronicler of foxhunting and country life, Barclay Rives.

The Keswick pack was screaming after a gray fox.

KHC MFH and Huntsman Jake Carle galloped close behind. As he shot through a hedgerow gap, a tree branch gashed his cheek and knocked off his iconic metal-framed spectacles. “Hold hard!” he shouted to those following. “Don’t step on my glasses.” Jake’s vision was poor without those glasses. Hounds’ cry compelled him to leave them on the ground and gallop on. Staying with the pack was more precious than sight. He was going top speed on an ex-steeplechaser, blood trickling down his cheek, cheering his roaring pack. None have loved the sport more passionately.

Hounds marked that fox to ground with great commotion. Jake’s glasses survived un-trampled.

The wild excitement lingered.

John J. (Jake) Carle II was born on Long Island, where his father Edward Hicks (Ned) Carle had been MFH and Huntsman of the Smithtown Hunt. Ned Carle schooled his son in the art of venery from birth.

In the mid-1940s, the Carle family moved to Raynham Hall in Keswick. Ned Carle had hunted with Keswick, sometimes carrying the horn, in the early 1900s as a University of Virginia student. He employed the pseudonym George Savage in the hunting field to conceal his hunting from his parents.

Ned Carle favored English hounds, and befriended like-minded huntsman and author A. H. Higginson. At the end of his An Old Sportsman’s Memories 1876-1951, Higginson describes a visit to Raynham Hall, and praises the Carle family beagle pack, 12-year-old Jake serving as whipper-in.

Having hunted with Keswick since childhood, Jake served as MFH 1964-2000 and Huntsman 19732000. He drastically changed Keswick hunting by pack-breaking the KHC hounds, who had previously hit the ground running when the tailgate dropped.

That hunting had been lively, though not always neatly organized. Some questioned, and others opposed the transformation. Jake explained the advantages in a club newsletter. He wrote that training hounds to heed their huntsman as a pack would enable them to be carried forward to the line of a viewed fox, to be more easily dissuaded from running deer or livestock, and to be safely kept off highways or closed land. Nowadays, as development shrinks the country and highway traffic increases, hunting without this training and control would be impossible. In the 1970s, a senior lifelong member

remarked about the hunting that it was “wonderful how Jake has given more form to it.”

Jake designed and helped finance new masonry kennels to replace a dilapidated wooden structure. He paid the salary of a top-notch professional whipperin, for whom he supplied horses. He donated a tractor to the club for trail clearing. He built panels, cleared trails, and helped render donated livestock into hound feed. Unsurprisingly, dues have risen since Jake’s day.

Fortunately, Keswick continues to benefit from the hound-breeding program Jake established. He favored the American Bywaters strain, bred for Virginia terrain and conditions. Breeders he admired and consulted include Piedmont and Middleburg Huntsman Albert Poe, Essex Huntsman Buster Chadwell, and Bull Run MFH Warren Harrover. Consequently Keswick hound pedigrees include influential sires Piedmont Render ’68, Essex Gaylord ’69, and Bull Run Dawson ’81. Hounds and horses often take on attributes of their masters. Powerfully built Warren Harrover bred hounds with plenty of bone and substance. Jake bred packs whose ecstatic musical cry could make a person forget his glasses.

He was never a “showman” huntsman. Jake preferred to focus the field’s attention on hounds, not on himself. He kept hounds on the line of a hunted fox, even if the pace slowed. At one joint meet with combined packs, the visiting Keswick hounds kept their heads down and persevered when heads of the host pack went up in expectation of being taken to a fresh fox.

One of Jake’s best, Posy ’74, did not possess an illustrious Masters of Foxhounds Association pedigree. Her mother Peanut ’69 came from a private pack, reputedly of Goodman Hound stock. Her father Keswick ’65 was a small black and tan hound with exquisite fox finding sense, which Posy inherited.

She had a sweet disposition, a ringing mezzo-soprano voice, superior nose and drive.

When he was Warrenton Huntsman, Jim Atkins followed Jake’s advice to use his stallion hound Keswick Predator ’94, a beautiful moving, graceful athlete. I recall Predator effortlessly springing over a wire fence from a standstill.

After decades of hunting with Jake, I retained a few of his precepts, including correct use of the terms draw and cast. A huntsman draws a covert with his pack. If they find and run, then miss their fox, they will cast themselves, or the huntsman may cast them in a likely direction. At the meet, Jake hated hearing predictions about good scenting or guarantees of a good hunt. The hunting gods punish hubris. One of Jake’s fundamental rules is simple: button your coat.

A rider with an unbuttoned coat looks vagrant. His dear English friend Michael Skinner, a Savile Row tailor, ensured Jake was always elegantly and correctly attired.

At the invitation of former Rapidan MFH Langborne Williams, Jake led Keswick’s territorial expansion into areas north of the town of Orange previously hunted by the Rapidan Hunt. The first Keswick meet in Rapidan country was in November 1980. Jake also initiated Keswick hunting in the Somerset area of Orange and Madison Counties and revived hunting in the Green Springs area of Louisa County.

Jake loaned me a few classics from his extensive library, and gave me a copy of Mason Houghland’s Gone Away, a tremendous source of wisdom, including its Foreword. One of his favorite works of fiction was the Gordon Grand story “Trying,” about a hunts-

Blessing of the Hounds at Grace Church, Thanksgiving, 1995, with the Reverend Julie Norton.

Lynn Brubaker photo

man speaking to his best old hound after a day’s good run in spite of drought, a field of thrusters, and a brash whipper-in wanting the horn. The story has had many real life counterparts.

Names Jake bestowed on hunting landmarks have adhered, including Wombat’s Hollow in the Rapidan Country, in honor of a little red bitch who often found foxes there. Jake and I shared a catalogue of unforgettable hunting moments, indexed by phrases like “Raquel under the fence,” which Jake mentioned the last time we spoke. Raquel was a red bitch given to Jake by his friend Gilmore R. Flautt, ex-MFH, who was Newmarket MFH in the 1970s.

When hounds checked one morning in a gravel road, Raquel, with a seeming grin, squeezed under a tight wire fence and spoke immediately and unselfishly in the next field. All rushed to join her.

When Jake turned the mastership over to Hugh Motley in 2000, he received a silver horn from grateful Keswick officers and members. He blew a poignant “Going Home.” Jake was an ambassador of sport, hound and field trial judge, and writer familiar to readers of this publication. He offered valuable advice and support to Professional Huntsman Tony Gammell, who hunted the Keswick pack 2000-2017.

When Tony described how hounds failed to run a certain fox during his first year, Jake asked, “What were you doing?” Tony then realized hounds did not settle because he had gotten their heads up with too much cheering and horn blowing. Sometimes bad scent is blamed for problems caused by human error.

A 1981 issue of Albemarle Magazine contained photos and brief quotes from 20 notable local figures, including Jake Carle. He quoted GJ WhyteMelville’s line from the poem “The Good Grey Mare”: “I freely admit that the best of my fun I owe it to horse and hound.” Jake also said he could identify with the RS Surtees bumptious fictional character Mr. Jorrocks who declared, “All time is lost wot is not spent in ’unting.”

The family has asked, in lieu of flowers, contributions in Jake’s memory be sent to the Museum of Hounds & Hunting NA, 2598 Five Points Road, Marshall, Virginia 20115, and Hunt Staff Benefit Foundation, P.O. Box 207, Middleburg, VA 20118.