Foxhunting Life with Horse and Hound

Unentered Aiken Trailer was Grand Champion of the Carolinas Hound Show to the delight of (l-r) huntsman Katheriine Gunter and Linda McLean, MFH.  /  Louisa Davidson photoWith stunning examples of the modern English foxhound setting the beauty standard of our time, the Penn-Marydels have long been considered the ugly ducklings of the show ring. So hopelessly outclassed were they that when shown in the same ring with the modern English or well-bred Crossbred, they never even earned a second glance from the judges.

That view is changing, and we are seeing some spectacular examples of foxhound conformation in the Penn-Marydel ring. So good in fact, that in two cases at least the Penn-Marydel entry has eclipsed all others.

Larry Byers and Joey Peace are new Joint-Masters at Aiken.  /  Randy Wolcott photoThe venerable Aiken Hounds (SC)—a pack steeped in the history of North American sport—has appointed Larry Byers and Joann “Joey” Peace as Joint-Masters. Established in 1914, the Aiken Hounds hunt the drag through the Hitchcock Woods.

On the Road: A Huntsman’s Perspective

Visitors from the Rappahannock Hunt at Memorial Gate in the Hitchcock Woods for a meet with the Aiken Hounds / Karen Raiford photo

This article—about foxhunters on the road and the joys of visiting—is being published in four installments: 1. A Huntsman’s Perspective, 2. One Master’s Perspective, 3. Another Master’s Perspective, and 4. A Member’s Perspective. Here is the first installment.

On January 20, 2012, members of the Rappahannock Hunt left the familiar hills and mountains of Virginia for the mostly flat, somewhat sandy hunting territory along the border between South Carolina and Georgia. Some of us have been making this pilgrimage for more than fifteen years now.

The Tallyho Cup (foxhunters and polo mallets) and Polo Saturday (polo players and hounds) debuted in Aiken, South Carolina this season, reaffirming the traditional Aiken bond between foxhunting and polo. The two sports have been entwined in Aiken since the early 1900s, when all the great polo names of the day—Hitchcock, Knox, Bostwick, Corey, and others—played polo in Aiken and rode to hounds as well.

Polo Saturday

In keeping with this historic tradition, Linda Knox McLean, MFH sent out an open invitation to all of Aiken’s polo players to cap with the Aiken Hounds on their polo ponies while wearing their polo gear. Dubbed Polo Saturday, the day was the brainchild of Theresa King, who hunts with the Aiken Hounds and plays polo on her foxhunter.

Installment Five 

Whiskey Road MFH David Smith (left) greets Toronto and North York MFH Wolf von Teichman.Betsy and friends escape frozen Virginia for a week of hunting in warmer climes. We bring you Installment Five of her daily blog, exclusive to Foxhunting Life.

Monday was an open day. Gene and Barbara Hough joined me, Tom, Jackie, and Don for a hack in the Hitchcock Woods. We grabbed lunch at Rio Pablo, an excellent Cuban place downtown. There was a benefit for the Hitchcock Woods Foundation that night at the Wilcox Hotel, one of the town's oldest and most grand buildings.

Tuesday dawned cold and frosty but with that promise of spring in the air. There was a pretty good breeze, though, and I was uncertain of scenting conditions as we headed east towards Bill Scott's Fairview fixture near Lexington.

The Scotts own thousands of acres of managed timberland—pine forests cut for pulpwood and lumber—providing excellent habitat for game of all sizes. Gene Hough told me about hunting at Fairview a few years ago when the hounds held a four hundred-pound boar at bay until the huntsman dispatched it (then famously burned it at a pig roast later!).