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Meath Foxhounds huntsman John Henry and whipper-in Barry Finnegan with the hosts of the meet, Charlie Noell owner of Ardbraccan, and Serina Williams Ellis at Ardbraccan House . Photo by Noel Mullins.
Noel Mullins gives a hunt report from last November about a meet of the Meath Foxhounds at Ardbraccan House in County Meath, Ireland.
Gavin Shorten, huntsman on the Tipperary Foxhounds, and James ODonnell meet at the Rock of Cashel. Photo Catherine Power.
Here is a wonderful hunt report of the Tipp’s this past February.
There are many special days on the sporting calendar, but this meet of the Tipp’s at the foot of the Rock of Cashel promised to be all of the above and more besides. In addition, it was going to be their hunt ball night, the first ever to be held in the newly refurbished 5-star Cashel Palace. The ball was a sell-out with all 220 tickets sold and several on the reserves hoping they might get balloted in before they went to post.
According to local legends, the Rock of Cashel originated from the Devil's Bit, when St. Patrick banished Satan from a cave, resulting in the Rock's landing in Cashel. Not since 1647 during the confederate wars when the rock was besieged by troops under Murrough O'Brien, 1st Earl of Inchiquin, was there so much mounted activity on this day at the foot of the famed Rock of Cashel.
Dude and Bre Kruger hacking the hounds back to the meet. Photo by Traci Duckworth.
A great huntsman impacts not only their hunt but members of other hunts. Sometimes this is through breeding their hounds, inviting guests to hunt, or attending hound shows and performance trials. In the case of Dave “Dude” Kruger, it was the Burwell.
North Hills Hunt has hosted an invitational hunt in Burwell, Nebraska, for something like 50 years. Little more than a slightly larger dot on a map, Burwell is known for three things: Nebraska’s Big Rodeo, the Calamus Reservoir, and foxhunting. It’s centrally located and easy to get to (if you don’t mind section roads through farmland), so the invitational weekends attract members from many hunts across the West. The country is only hunted 3-4 weekends a year so the coyotes are fresh and it’s always a good time. It is breathtakingly beautiful, and the weather is guaranteed to be interesting no matter the time of year.
The Vixen Meet Fields. Photo by John Wilkoski.
I jumped at the chance when I was asked to join the committee to plan and execute the third annual Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Vixen Meet in Pennsylvania. I was thrilled to be on a hunt committee for the first time and had some big ideas brewing almost immediately. Luckily, my fellow committee members had the same big ideas to make this Vixen Meet bigger and better than ever before. The goal to make our Vixen Meet a destination, rather than just a one-day event, drove us to think big and think fabulous. We rallied the troops from our hunt community to pull off such a big endeavor.
Norman Fine and myself at the Virgina Hound Show. Photo by Allison Howell.
It’s a question that most of us in the hunt field have to face – Are my riding days over? This is a question that has been forefront of my mind for the past three years. As I have gotten closer to another surgery to add yet another set of metal bars under my skin, I have been trying to come to grips with the idea of never riding again. And that conclusion has felt like an amputation.
The Mugshot of the Vegas Poultry Hitman, Grace. Photo by Renee Daniels.
Last March, five of us left Reno, Nevada with several horses and hounds from five different western hunts to drive four days to reach North Carolina to compete in the Performance Hound Trials Championships. The first night we stopped in Las Vegas, as Vegas is actually an 8-hour drive from Reno. We had booked a horse hotel for all the horses, and the hounds would stay in the trailer on the property. The horse hotel was less than a mile from the strip, which was a bit surreal to think about.
The Fields of the Junior North American Field Hunter Championships ride by with the venue in the background. Photo by Dominique Morrison.
Four Juniors from Fort Leavenworth Hunt in Kansas had a dream of competing on the national level at this year’s Junior North American Field Hunter Championship in Tennessee. The Championship included a mock hunt on the first day with an individual round on the second day for the top riders. Also included were opportunities to compete in hound judging, horn blowing, and whip cracking. The Kansas Juniors’ preparations took the kids and their parents on an adventure that showered them all with not only knowledge but also increased respect for the sport of Riding to Hounds.
De La Brooke Foxhounds Dude at Maryland Performance Trial held in March 2023. Photo by Andrew Muro.
Such a lovely example of a Penn-Marydel in De La Brooke Foxhounds' Dude. Not only is he a handsome fellow, but he would make a very nice show jumper with those tight knees!
Originally published on April 3, 2023
Rainbow over the Beer Can Fixture of Grand Canyon Hounds on the morning of their last hunt. Photo by Mary Williams.
The Grand Canyon Hounds of Flagstaff, Arizona had their last Closing Meet this March. Paul Delaney has been the Master of this hunt since its beginning in the early 2000s. It has been one of the few "Western Hunts" and was the only recognized hunt in Arizona. Peter Wilson was the Professional Huntsman. Mary Williams, the Honorary Secretary, took this poignant photo of a rainbow seemingly ending at the water tower affectionately nicknamed "Beer Can".
The combined pack. Photo by Tisa Della Volpe Photography.
On March 4 & 5th 2023, Wicomico Hunt Club hosted the first ever All Maryland Masters of the Foxhounds Association (“MFHA”) Performance Trials on Wye Island. This performance trial brought together not just Penn-Marydel hounds (as in prior years), but the full chorus/compliment of diversity found in Free State packs: crossbred and American hounds.
Fun Fact: the first foxhounds in the Americas were brought to the colony of Maryland by Robert Brooke in the mid-1600s, making Maryland the cradle of foxhunting in America.
The 2023 Junior North American Field Hunter Championship. Photo by Dominique Morrison.
“The future of our sport and land”
The Junior North American Field Hunter Championship, or JNAFHC, founders Douglas Wise-Stuart, MFH of Old Dominion Hounds, and Iona Pillion from the Blue Ridge Hunt had a dream, “Bring children to new hunting countries and open their eyes to the fact that these playgrounds don’t just happen to be there for them by chance but have been nurtured and conserved for the perpetuation of wildlife, open space, and for those who treasure the natural world.”
Mia Valdez is a 15-year-old Junior Member of the Keswick Hunt Club and member of the Mountain Skyline Pony Club. She has an impressive resume of lobbying her state government not once, but twice. Below is her account of the day.
Virginia Hunts Juniors met with First Lady Suzanne Youngkin and Representative Buddy Fowler. Photo by Joseph Svetina.
Photo: Virginia Hunts Juniors met with First Lady Suzanne Youngkin and Representative Buddy Fowler. Photo by Joseph Svetina.
The topic of this year’s Junior Foxhunting Day was land conservation and how the Virginia Department of Wildlife and Resources supports the efforts of many hunt clubs within the state. The importance of maintaining open spaces, the involvement of Juniors, and educating the general public about foxhunting were all discussed.
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