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Sarah Martin Photo
Sarah Martin, MFH and Huntsman for Ozark Highland Hounds in southern Missouri, got inventive when she decided to have custom leatherwork made to solve her appointments issue.
Big Sky Hounds Montana Hunt Country, Photo by Gretchen Pelham
There are many commonly used phrases to warn fellow foxhunters of perils when riding outside of the arena. Such as “Ware wire!” and “Ware hole!”. Out West, there has been a worrisome increase in rattlesnake numbers during this Autumn Hunting season. The Big Sky Hounds just announced they must cancel their next hunt and will move some of their future fixtures due to increased rattlesnake activity. They had a horse and hound get bitten just this weekend. Also, a Big Sky Hounds member was recently bitten by the most venomous rattlesnake in the world, with a one-in-a-million adverse reaction.
Some research on bites from rattlesnakes with the Center for Disease Control found estimates that between 7,000-8,000 people are bitten by venomous snakes in the United States each year, with about five or 0.07% of those people dying. Horse mortality rates from snake bites are approximately 9%, mainly with small foals or unhealthy, elderly horses. Most horses get bitten on the nose due to their curiosity. This presents the complication of nasal passage swelling to a point that prevents breathing. The mortality rate for canines bitten by snakes is about 5%. There is a preventive vaccine and an anti-venom for canines. However, both options are so expensive that they are not practical for a whole kennel of hounds.
Fair Warning – the two stories below will have two photos of rattlesnakes.
Photo By Gretchen Pelham
Anyone who follows foxhunting in England knows that the sport has been under assault for decades. Illegal for 17 years, its successor, trail hunting, took a big blow last year following the hacking of an online meeting of the MFHA.
by Keith Simpson Photography
The New Forest Hounds in England has converted its foxhound pack to bloodhounds for the 2022-2023 season. The hunt club uses the historic New Forest, a national park consisting of over 71,000 acres in southern England.
TRYON, NC (June 20, 2022)— The Tryon Hounds is proud to present the Trip Hoffman Memorial Riding Scholarship for fox hunting enthusiasts in Polk, Henderson, Rutherford, Spartanburg, and Greenville counties for the 2022-2023 hunt season. Fox hunting has been a part of the areas culture for nearly one-hundred years and enjoyed by equestrian enthusiasts who appreciate the sport and tradition. This scholarship helps ensure the sports place within the community for future generations by assisting with membership dues.
I have respected Norman Fine for so many years, and when he offered me Foxhunting Life, I jumped at the chance. I started my foxhunting career late in life, about 20 years ago. I discovered that I loved the thrill of the chase, the challenge of the ride, the history of the sport, and the communion with the outdoors. Most especially, I love to travel to other hunts. And I love to write and photograph those trips. I’ve been taking at least one cross country trip a year to foxhunt.
Last year, a senior UK foxhunter and board member of the British MFHA, Mark Hankinson, was found guilty in Westminster Magistrates' Court of contravening the despised Hunting Act of 2004. He was also ordered to pay the court £3,500 in fine and fee. The deputy chief Magistrate concluded that he was "clearly encouraging the mirage of trail laying to act as cover for old-fashioned illegal hunting."
The case involved the question of whether or not Hankinson, in a webinar seen by about one hundred hunt leaders, promoted ways for hunts to covertly hunt illegally by making it appear they were trail hunting.
This year, a court heard his appeal and considered whether Hankinson's words were intentionally encouraging an offense. The court decided to the contrary, reversed the original verdict, and Hankinson was adjudged not guilty.
Hankinson explained he was referring to the practice of laying dummy trails to fool saboteurs.
It was the first hunt of the 2016 – 2017 season for the Tennessee Valley Hunt in East Tennessee. I never saw this coyote come out of the corn. I had been listening to the hounds just ROAR around in that corn for an hour, when I saw this beautiful tweed coat against that landscape. I wanted to get photos of the coat with the Cumberland Mountains behind it, so I took a burst of about 5 photos. I never saw the coyote through the lens as I took the photographs of the coat. Unbeknownst to me, the coyote had photo bombed the shot.
The author in informal cubhunting attire / Nancy Kleck photoTraditional foxhunting attire is important to me, but I’m not a fanatic.
Why is it important? Respect...for three hundred years of sport, art, literature, and the men and women who had the passion, energy, and intellect to formulate and leave us one of the most exhilarating activities known to man. For these reasons it pains me to see the concepts of appropriate attire ignored in many hunting fields today.
There is good reason to dress modestly and uniformly. Foxhunting is about the hounds and the quarry; it’s not a stage for man or horse. Its dress code can be described as stratified uniformity—stratified between staff, Master, and field so we can quickly identify who’s who in the heat of battle, and uniformity so that we all maintain our modest place in the overall scheme of the sport.
Why, on the other hand, am I not fanatical about correct hunting attire? Because there is no single truth.
Dr. Melvyn Lawrence Haas (1940--2022) Dr. Melvyn Haas, ex-MFH, died August 27, 2022 in Aiken, South Carolina. He was eighty-two. Dr. Haas was a founding Master of Foxhounds with Whiskey Road Fox Hounds.
Dr. Haas was born March 16, 1940, in New York, New York to the late Adolph and Manya Haas. He received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University and M.D. from the NYU Grossman School of Medicine in 1965. He moved to Aiken, South Carolina in 1972 and practiced Neurology for over fifty years. He was a faculty member at Augusta University and was affiliated with Aiken Regional Medical Center. He was dedicated to his many patients. He was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and brother.
The publication of Foxhunting Life’s e-magazine FHL WEEK―both electronic and PDF versions―will be paused for this month of August while operations are transferred from Publishe/Editor Norm Fine to Gretchen Pelham, who will take over and carry on!
Douglas Lees photo
Gretchen is a foxhunter, former MFH, columnist, and photographer already known to many of you around the country. Norm reached retirement age decades ago with nary a murmur from him in recognotion of that obvious fact. The time has come to pass the baton.
During this August changeover period, our website will remain open. All content will still be available to subscribers, including all previously-published articles (well over 1,000). These are found, as always, on the Home Page, listed by category, and accessed via the drop-down menu running across the Home Page under the slide show banner. Log in and point your cursor to the “Horse and Hound” menu tab. Click Full Article List or browse by category! There is also a search function that may be useful for you!
Other subscriber benefits are available via the drop-down menus as well.
“Thanks for riding along with me all these years. And I might even have something left to say to you every so often, if Gretchen will let me.”
From Gretchen:
“I am honored to continue the Foxhunting Life magazine that Norman Fine created. I will do my best to continue the high standard of excellence that Norm has set. I'm excited to get started!”
During the weeks that the purpled mulberries fall, we see from one to three foxes―dog fox, vixen, and cub―together every evening, sharing summer’s bounty. Occasionally, a deer arrives, and they all share in harmony. The iPhone image was shot through a double-pane, vacuum-sealed picture window from about 50 yards. / Norm Fine photo
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