Tradition and Technology Meet In Field

Tradition and Technology Meet In Field

By Leslie VanSant

The ways our lives have been forever changed and mostly improved by data and technology are simply too numerous to count. From autocorrect (cursed as it is), to smart thermostats, nest cams, Fitbits and all things Apple, Google and Microsoft related, technology touches most everything.

Even the most tradition-bound organizations are finding ways to integrate and use data and technology to their advantage. Consider how many churches initiated “zoom” services during the pandemic that have decided to keep the practice going?

But foxchasing?

Hounds and their high-tech tracking collars out in the field.

Photo by Helen Houghton

The sport tied to the land, tradition, hounds, and horses.

Yes, foxchasing and its enthusiasts are also making great use of technology.

Billie Jo Pearl, director of operations, and Andrew Barclay, director of hunting, recently explained how the Middleburg-based Masters of Foxhounds Association (MFHA), the governing body of organized mounted hunting with hounds and founded in 1907, is using data and technology.

“The welfare of the animals, that the hounds are well cared for is at the center mission,” said Barclay, huntsman at the Green Spring Valley Hunt in Maryland before taking his current role.

“When I started hunting, no one carried a radio,” Barclay added. Today, radios are used by mounted staff and road whips to share hound location to avert dangers like roads or railways with regularity.

“Now, most hunts use GPS collars, and the road whips can monitor on an iPad and act even quicker to keep hounds off roads. This has dramatically improved the safety of hounds and humans.” he said.

Since the earliest days of hunting with hounds, masters and hunting staff alike have been tracking breeding to develop a pack with the best abilities for a given territory and quarry.

The MFHA is the keeper of the “Foxhound Stud Book” where matings and bloodlines of eligible foxhounds are recorded. Billie Jo Pearl has completed the painstaking, six-year-long process of migrating this massive collection of hard paper data to an interactive online database. With about 1,000 hounds registered each year, moving the process to a digital platform increased efficiency for the MFHA staff while also providing benefit to members.

“In addition to registering hounds, now our members can look up a pedigree online or see the possible results of a trial breeding,” said Pearl. Fear not, however, the registry is still printed each year and distributed.

Pearl agreed that GPS collars are the most significant change to hunting and hound safety. She noted that in addition to tracking hounds, the collars could provide additional data to help maintain hound nutrition and health (sort of like a Fitbit for hounds).

As long as people have been following hounds on horseback, they have been keeping track of their days in hunting diaries. The MFHA (and the National Sporting Library and Museum in Middleburg) have many hunting diaries in their collections. The entries marked the weather, the friendships, the rivalries, and the country covered on a given day.

Now, members can add a digital footprint to their memories. Apps for phones including Equilab or Map My Run mark the country covered, steps, speed and gait.

Apple Watch and Fitbits provide insights on the rider’s heart rate and respiration. And then, there’s social media. The photos of friends and good times out riding on Facebook and Instagram are posted almost every day.