Penn-Marydels Are Getting Respect

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Hounds

By Norman Fine

Unentered Aiken Trailer was Grand Champion of the Carolinas Hound Show to the delight of (l-r) huntsman Katherine Gunter and Linda McLean, MFH.  /  Louisa Davidson photoWith stunning examples of the modern English foxhound setting the beauty standard of our time, the Penn-Marydels have long been considered the ugly ducklings of the show ring. So outclassed were they that when shown in the same ring with the modern English or well-bred Crossbred, they never even earned a second glance from the judges.

That view is changing, and we are seeing some spectacular examples of foxhound conformation in the Penn-Marydel ring. So good in fact, that in two cases at least the Penn-Marydel entry has eclipsed all others.

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Third Grand Championship in a Row for Live Oak at Virginia

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Hounds

By Norman Fine

Grand Champion Live Oak Farrier 2010 chases a biscuit from kennel huntsman Richard Daley. / Lauren Giannini photo

For the third straight year a Live Oak English hound was judged Grand Champion at the Virginia Foxhound Show. This year it was Live Oak Farrier 2010; last year it was his littermate, Fable; and the year before that it was Live Oak Maximus 2009. This feat of breeding begs a question. Has any one hunt ever won the Grand Championship at Virginia for three straight years? I’d lay money on a new record here.

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Potomac Templeton Is Grand Champion at Bryn Mawr

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Hounds

By Norman Fine

Karen L. Meyers photoUnentered Potomac Templeton was judged Grand Champion Foxhound at the Bryn Mawr Hound Show, a testament to the breeding acumen of huntsman Larry Pitts. He has a hound to appeal to every judge. If you don’t like ‘em too big, here’s a smaller one! If you don’t like ‘em too robust, here’s a finer one!

Ignored in Virginia and over-shadowed by his littermate, Teapot—judged best Unentered Hound at Virginia—Templeton went to Bryn Mawr determined to redeem himself.

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Adventures on the Road with Brazos Valley

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Hounds

By Sandy Dixon

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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