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Written by Norman Fine

Category: Hounds

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Potomac Jefferson 2005, the toast of North American Foxhounds, winning the Grand Championship at the 2007 Bryn Mawr Hound Show one week after capturing the same honor at Virginia. (L-R): George Hundt; Vicki Crawford, MFH; Larry Pitts, huntsman; Lance Taylor; Jake Carle, judge. /  Karen Kandra Wenzel photo

The fabled American foxhound who, along with his get, cornered the silver market in North America has passed on. Potomac Jefferson 2005 was the MFHA Centennial Grand Champion Foxhound at both the 2007 Virginia Foxhound Show and the Bryn Mawr Hound Show one week later.

That year, 2007, marked the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Masters of Foxhounds Association. The entire year was filled with special exhibits, competitions, and events all across the country, attracting large and enthusiastic crowds of foxhunters, horses, and hounds. The classes of all the hound shows were swelled with the best examples of foxhounds that could be mustered, along with their supporters. The year 2007 was a big deal.

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Written by Norman Fine

Category: Hounds

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Grand Champion Kid Rock 2012 was shown by North Hills huntsman Tyce Mothershead with the help of wife and whipper-in Hillary and daughter Finley. / Glen Carter photo

North Hills Kid Rock 2012 was judged Grand Champion of the Central States Hound Show in Stilwell, Kansas on Saturday, May 3, 2014. The handsome white Crossbred dog hound (North Hills Ira 2011 ex Their Passion 2012) is the product of outstanding bloodlines from Fox River Valley (IL), Iroquois (KY), and Midland (GA).

Brazos Valley Mystic 2010—multi-time Grand Champion foxhound in past years—was Reserve Champion for the second time this year.

Huntsman David Raley from the Moore County Hounds judged entries from the Brazos Valley Hunt (TX), Bridlespur Hunt (MO), Fort Leavenworth Hunt (KS), Mission Valley Hunt (KS), and North Hills Hunt (NE). Foxhounds were judged in two divisions: American and English/Crossbred.

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Written by Norman Fine

Category: Hounds

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Fox River Valley Convoy, unentered Crossbred dog hound shown by Tony Leahy, MFH, is Grand Champion of Show at the Southwest Hound Show. / Sammy Buczkowski photo

Fox River Valley Convoy, an unentered Crossbred dog hound, was judged Grand Champion of Show at the Southwest Hound Show. Brazos Valley Mystic 2010—Grand Champion of Show for the last three years running—made a hard run at an unprecedented fourth consecutive title, but finished as Reserve Champion to Convoy.

The Southwest Hound Show was held on April 19, 2014 at Greenwood Farm in Weatherford, Texas. All hounds are shown in the same ring, and were judged this year by Tony Gammell, professional huntsman for the Keswick Hunt (VA).

“It’s a lovely, small show; you can walk around and see everyone, said Tony Leahy, Master and huntsman of the Fox River Valley Hunt (IL), who looks forward to entering Grand Champion Convoy in the fall. “It was my first visit to Texas, and the people couldn’t have been nicer, more accommodating, or more welcoming.”

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Written by Norman Fine

Category: Hounds

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Brazos Valley Mystic 2010 / Liz Callar photoBrazos Valley Mystic 2010 was judged Grand Champion of the Southwest Hound Show for the third consecutive year, matching his sire’s outstanding performance there. The show was held on April 20, 2013 at Greenwood Farms in Weatherford, Texas.

Mystic’s success is no stroke of luck; he’s the product of a royal breeding engineered by Brazos Valley MFH Sandy Dixon. She put her own sire—Brazos Valley Catfish 2006—to a Potomac-bred bitch that she entered in 2006—Brazos Valley Meadow.

Catfish won three consecutive Grand Championships at the Southwest Hound Show in 2007, 2008, and 2009, and Meadow brought her own credentials from Maryland. She was bred by Potomac huntsman Larry Pitts and is by Potomac Jefferson, Grand Champion of both the Virginia Foxhound Show and the Bryn Mawr Hound Show in 2007. Jefferson was knockout handsome.

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Written by Sandy Dixon

Category: Hounds

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The adventures of Sandy Dixon and Mystic, shown here at the Virginia Foxhound Show, were just beginning. / Lix Callar photoThe Brazos Valley Hunt is back home in Texas now, having returned from this year’s Virginia Foxhound Show. That may not sound like a great achievement, but traveling to hound shows has been one adventure after another over the years.

Returning from the Central States Hound Show in 1995, we drove into a tornado. The hound trailer was flipped over on Interstate 35 in Ardmore, Oklahoma, spilling sixteen hounds onto the highway. We had two kennels strapped down in the bed of the pickup, both of which were sucked out. I actually saw Melody, a pregnant bitch I had just picked up from Tommy Jackson, fall out of the sky and hit the ground running south down the median.

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