Why The Eastern Coyote Merits Separate Species Staus

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Quarry

By Norman Fine

The eastern Coyote or coywolf is larger and has a thicker body, shorter muzzle, and shorter ears than the western coyote.

Jonathan Way, a research scientist at Clark University in Massachusetts, makes a case for renaming the eastern coyote that populates the northeastern U.S. He sees it as a separate species of canid.

Way argues that the so-called eastern coyote looks unlike the western variety, exhibiting characteristics of coyotes, wolves, and dogs. There is a current debate among scientists as to what to call this creature.

Six Centuries of Foxhunting: An Annotated Bibliography

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Literature

Book Review by Norman Fine

Six Centuries of Foxhunting: An Annotated Bibliography by M.L. Biscotti, Foreword by Norman Fine, Rowman & Littlefield, 2017, 499 pages, illustrated, $85.00 hardbound, $80.00 eBookWithin Six Centuries of Foxhunting, Matthew “Duke” Biscotti has collected the essential facts of every bit of literature on the subject of foxhunting that was published prior to the year 2000. A lot of years, a lot of sport, a lot of huntsmen, horses, hounds, and foxes for many lifetimes.

Biscotti’s volume is destined to be a bible for antiquarian booksellers, scholars, collectors, and writers of sporting literature. But the book’s appeal will be a great deal broader. Biscotti gives us so much related and fascinating information about the listed author, the subject, and the times that the volume invites browsing, as does a good encyclopedia.

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General

Scouring the World’s Most Prominent Work of Equine Art

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Art

By Norman Fine

It takes a village to maintain the White Horse of Uffington

Not all art restoration is done with mild cleaners and painstaking brushwork every hundred years or so. In Oxfordshire, England, it takes a village equipped with hammers, buckets of chalk, and kneepads every few years.

Carved into the chalky grasslands of the Berkshire Downs three thousand years ago by an ancient people, the White Horse of Uffington covers the size of a football field and is visible from twenty miles away. And were it not for the people who originally created it, and all the tribes people and villagers who have resided in the vicinity ever since and maintained it, this amazing artistic accomplishment would have completely disappeared thousands of years ago.

Hark Forward! An Exciting Season Is Ahead

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Norm Fine's Blog

By Norman Fine

MFHA President Tony Leahy, MFHIt was ten years ago, but MFHA President Tony Leahy yearns to recapture the fun and enthusiasm of the 2007 MFHA Centennial Season. We had Regional Joint Meets, Foxhound Performance Trials, and Field Hunter Trials all across North America, and Tony wants to do it again! Accordingly, the upcoming 2017/2018 season has been designated a season to Hark Forward!

All events are accompanied by dinners, parties, and the company of sporting cousins from all across the country. No one goes home hungry or thirsty! The MFHA is maintaining an up-to-date schedule of events on their website. Click for planning your own participation. Take note of the dates and geography. If you join the caravans for all or part of any of the event tours, you’ll find hunt clubs along the route that have scheduled Friendship Meets and more hospitality to break up your long drives.

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General

Horse Trailer Expert Shares Best Kept Secrets

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Travel

Before the new hunting season begins, and especially for you who plan to put on serious mileage traveling to any of the exciting Hark Forward! events scheduled for the coming season, now is the time to take stock of your horse trailer and have it inspected by an expert. We asked an experienced dealer about safety considerations when transporting horses by trailer.

River Valley aluminum side and rear loading tag-along

"One of the first issues to address with trailer owners and buyers is horse safety and comfort," says trailer dealer Donna Martin, co-owner of the Ruckersville, Virginia based Blue Ridge Trailers. She said most people who have started to research their options know they should compare trailer sizes and floor plans to the size of their horses. However, she noted that there are several other angles to consider, too.

“While you certainly want to have enough space for your horse to feel comfortable, you should also prioritize light and ventilation, as well as how the horses will stand and balance themselves,” she advised. “How you intend to work out of the trailer also is an important consideration.”