The Foxhound: A Pearl of Considerable Price

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Norm Fine's Blog

By Norman Fine

Karen L. Myers photoThe State of Kentucky values the foxhound exceedingly. Indeed, this high regard was emphatically established in 1948 case law by the old Kentucky Court of Appeals which, at the time, was the highest court in the state.

Foxhounds were hunting across Tennessee Valley Authority property one day in 1946 when, during a chase, one hound fell into an open well and drowned. An individual named Stratton, presumably the owner of the hound, sued the TVA for damages (Tennessee Valley Authority v. Stratton, 306 Ky. 753, 209 S.W.2d 318 (1948)).

Fifth Annual Sporting Art Auction at Keeneland

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Art

By Norman Fine

Heading Home, oil on canvas, Andre.Pater

The upcoming Sporting Art Auction on Monday, November 20, 2017, at the Keeneland Sales Pavilion promises to be another outstanding sale for sporting art lovers. Several lots by contemporary American and European artists such as Michael Lyne, Andre Pater, and Juli Kirk feature both British and North American foxhunting. Estimated prices for the various foxhunting works range from $3,000 to $150,000. Click to view the catalog.

The hammer will fall on paintings by renowned artists such as John Frederick Herring, Jr., Henry Stull, Harry Hall, Henry Alken, Sr., John Emms, Gustav Muss-Arnolt, Franklin Voss, Lionel Edwards, Richard Stone Reeves, and Alfred Munnings. In the category of sculpture, works by Pierre Jules Mene, Alexa King, Marilyn Newmark, LeRoy Nieman, and others will be auctioned.

Whipping-In Is a Rush

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Hunt Reports

By Denya Leake

Whipping-in on Fearnought, the author's favorite.Cold and wet from rain on my thirty-six-inch pony Toy Mouse, with my fearless two-legged leader...mom Caroline...at the other end of the lead-line: that’s how I became addicted to a sport known as foxhunting. When we got in from hunting, my wool hunt coat weighed more than I did.

Since then, every autumn, from age four until now (not going to disclose that, but I’ve finished college!), there is a sense of anticipation and adrenaline that rushes through my veins. Foxhunters know how the goose bumps rise on your skin the moment those hunting hounds open up on a fresh scent of a fox or coyote, and away they go! This adrenaline rush only multiples, if you can believe it, when a person is allowed to have the honor of being a whipper-in.

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Rescue on Cat Luggs

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People

By Ron Black

What is dog to man? What is the worth of one terrier to a band of stoical countrymen who live in a harsh place in a depressed time? How hard and how long will such men strive to save a dog from perishing, out of pure respect? Our recently departed Cumbrian friend Ron Black gave us a story to remember.

The rescue, 1934

It’s a long pull from the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel to the site of the borran. You first climb up Stickle Ghyll following the track as it ascends, beside the beck, at first gently, but just before Tarn Crag there is a steeper section. At Tarn Crag the track swings right-handed, and you can cross the beck and follow it up to the tarn on the left bank picking your way through the rocks.

Artwork of Lisa Curry Mair: Unroll It, Hang It, or Lay It

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Art

By Norman Fine

Original painted canvas wall hanging by Lisa Curry Mair (3 feet x 6 feet)

Artist Lisa Curry Mair works in a unique genre from her studio in an eighteenth-century farm at the base of Mount Ascutney in Perkinsville, Vermont. She creates paintings, custom murals, and floorcloths on canvas in a folk-art style. Much of her work includes foxhunting scenes.

Mair’s commissions have come from Boston’s Museum of Fine Arts, several National Historic Sites, and hundreds of homeowners with specific ideas of what they wanted painted for their homes. Over the last twenty-five years of research, study, and “lots of mistakes,” she has developed the tools and knowhow to bring the client’s vision to light. Mair has attended classes and workshops since minoring in Art at Acadia University in Nova Scotia (while majoring in Mathematics and focusing on a career in riding).

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