VOLUME XXVI / NUMBER 5 • THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE VIRGINIA STEEPLECHASE ASSOCIATION • FALL 2014

IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY, 60 ALEXANDRIA PIKE, WARRENTON, VA 20186

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Regular subscription 5 issues $25.00, U.S.A. First Class subscription $35.00, Europe, Canada, etc. $45.00

COVER PHOTOGRAPHER:Janet Hitchen

PHOTOGRAPHERS:Liz Callar www.lizcallar.comRichard Clay www.richardclayphotography.comCoady PhotographyAdam CoglianeseLauren R. GianniniJanet Hitchen 540-837-9846 www.janethitchenphotography.comLimelight PhotographyDebra MalinicsMiddleburg Photo www.middleburgphoto.comBetsy Burke ParkerTU ImagesVTA

is published 5 times a year.Editorial and Advertising Address: 60 Alexandria Pike, Warrenton, VA 20186For information and advertising rates, please call (540) 347-3141, fax (540) 347-7141Space Deadline for the Holiday issue is Oct. 15. Payment in full due with copy.Publisher: Marion Maggiolo Managing Editor: J. Harris AndersonAdvertising: Mary Cox (540) 636-7688 Email: hcmaryads@embarqmail.comContributors: Aga, J. Harris Anderson, Lauren R. Giannini, Elizabeth Manierre,Virginia Thoroughbred Association, Karin Winegar, Jenny YoungLAYOUT & DESIGN: Kate HouchinCopyright 2014 In &Around Horse Country®. All Rights Reserved. Volume XXVI, No.5POSTMASTER: CHANGE SERVICE REQUESTED

ON THE COVER: Just prior to thestart of the 2014 cub hunting season,Hugh Robards, Huntsman forVirginia's Middleburg Hunt, walksout hounds in dapper English style.His trusty terrier helps keep the packin good order.

IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • FALL 20142

SPORTING LIFE HIGHLIGHTSAuthor Talk/Book Signing Events at Horse Country SaddleryThinking ahead for a very special Christmas gift? Or a nice addi-tion to your own library? Three notable authors will be stoppingby Horse Country Saddlery inWarrenton to discuss their work andsign copies of their latest books.• October 14, 6:00 p.m.: Felix Francis—Dick Francis’s Damage.• October 28, 7:00 p.m.: Barclay Rives—William Cabell Rives:

A Country to Serve and See You At Second Horses.• November 11, 7:00 p.m.: Rita Mae Brown’s latest Sister Janemystery—Let Sleeping Dogs Lie.

Refreshments will be served, RSVPs are appreciated, 540-347-3141 or e-mail huntbooks@aol.com. 60 Alexandria Pike, Warren-ton, VA 20186.

• • • •Orange County Hounds Host Annual Team Chase Event

On Sunday, October 26, the Orange County Hounds will host itsannual Cross-Country Team Event at Old Whitewood Farm nearThe Plains, VA. Modeled after the tradition of the English Team Chase, OrangeCounty Hounds has hosted the event since 1987. Foxhunters of all ages and lev-els will travel across the state to compete over a cross-country course set in theheart of Virginia’s hunt country.

Teams of riders compete over a course one might encounter during a day offoxhunting. There are two divisions; Hilltopper Pairs ride over a course of 12jumps designed for ponies or less experienced horses and riders. The First FlightDivision with teams of three to four horses or ponies features a longer course offences designed for foxhunters who regularly hunt first flight.

Hilltopper Pairs compete for Best Turned Out and Best Pair over fences.First Flight Teams awards include Best Turned Out, Best Team over fences andClosest to Ideal Time (a fair hunting pace). The final events of the day are the Jun-ior and Adult Championship rounds. Judges choose the top horses and riders toride a test over a shortened course designed by the judges. The winning junior willreceive the coveted George L. Ohrstrom Junior Championship and Trophy. TheFirst Flight Adult Champion will be presented with the Alfred Hunt Trophy.

The event begins at 9am. Spectators are welcome. Food concessions avail-able. General donation to Orange County Hounds kindly requested. ReservedParking $100. Prize Lists available at local tack shops and businesses. For moreinformation please contact: Pippy McCormick: doverhse@earthlink.net, 540-454-2854 or Jane Bishop: jcb.waverly@mac.com, 540-729-7083.

• • • •USET Foundation Honors Karen Stives

By Lauren R GianniniThe United States Equestrian Team Foundation hosted a special reception on July25 to honor Karen Stives and Gold Medal Club members celebrating anniver-saries. About 150 people, including owners, riders, trainers, parents, locals in-volved in equestrian sports, and Gold Medal supporters of the USET Foundationattended the reception, which took place at Salamander Resort in Middleburg,

Stives became the first woman to earn an individual silver Olympic medalin eventing in 1984 at LosAngeles where, riding her mother’s horse, the difficultbut talented Ben Arthur, she anchored the US to win team gold. Following 20years of active competition, Stives stayed involved and wore many hats as a se-lector, judge, donor and volunteer. Her passion for horses and for eventing led herto donate one million dollars to establish the Karen E. Stives Endowment Fundfor High Performance Eventing, which will make possible annual grants for an

Eventing High Performance activity, thereby strengthening the US’s ability towin medals.

This year, the USET Foundation’s support of the United States EquestrianFederation’s High Performance Program totals $3.2 million. The Gold MedalClub members donate annually a minimum of $1,000 and their generosity addsup significantly, helping to fund teams for international competitions throughoutthe year and sending our horses and riders to such international championshipsas the World Equestrian Games, Olympics, and Pan American Games.

• • • •2014 - Great Year For This Young US Polo Association Player

Wyatt Harlow (Warrenton, VA) turned 19 on August 19, but he’s well known inpolo circles. He started riding very young and at 10 developed an immediate pas-sion for polo, thanks to the tutelage and encouragement of his polo-playing grand-father, Travis Worsham, and grandmother Suzi Worsham, who keep theirgrandchildren’s horses and ponies at their Riverside Farm (Leesburg, VA).

Harlow’s 2014 accolades include being named Interscholastic Male Playerof the Year by the Polo Training Foundation. He played for Natania (Warrenton,VA), and the team earned the USPANational Interscholastic Polo Championshipin 2013 and 2014; both years Harlow was #1 pick for the All-Star team. Afterqualifying at VIPolo (Upperville, VA), Harlow made the finals of the NationalYouth Tournament, played on grass at San Diego Polo Club (CA), over LaborDay Weekend. He plays at GreatMeadow Polo (The Plains, VA),where he was coached by JohnGobin, and at Banbury Cross Polo(Middleburg, VA). The youngest ofthe 12 players named in 2014to Team USPA (a unique programfor talented young players), Harlowwas chosen to travel to Manipour,India, November 19-30 to play forTeam USPA vs India. He will takecourses at a local community col-lege until second semester when hewill attend the University of Miamiand continue playing polo.

Bonnie Jenkins (executive director USET Foundation) with attending Gold Medal Club Anniver-sary Award Recipients: Carolyn & Paul Rizza, Jacqueline B. Mars, Gregory Gingery, Karen Stives,Cheryl & Stagg Newman, Chrystine & George Tauber, and the reception’s emcee Philip Richter

(USET Foundation treasurer). Lauren Giannini photo

Wyatt Harlow has worked hard and will playinternational polo in India this November. Shownhere, playing for Riverside at Great Meadow’sTwilight Polo, Aug. 16, his family and friends,shouting “Go, Wyatt!” Lauren R Giannini photo

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2013 JNAFHC First Flight, 13 and Over Champion Hayley Davis and Arts N Crafts, Old Domin-ion Hunt (VA). Richard Clay photo

Junior North American Field HunterChampionship Gears Up for 2014

This fall will mark the 12th year for the Junior North American Field HunterChampionship. The event is designed for junior riders, 18 and under, on fox-hunting ponies or appropriate hunting horses. The goal is to stress the connec-tion between the junior rider and the pony or horse. The foxhunting mount andits proper turnout are important, but suitability for the young rider is foremost.

The major aim of the JNAFHC is to make the children aware of how im-portant it is to preserve our countryside. In addition, the event provides an op-portunity for them to meet new friends who also enjoy foxhunting while offeringa bit of competition.

There is a Northern Region and a Southern Region with five hunts in eachregion beginning in late September and running through October, where the jun-iors can qualify for the championship. Judges are present at each of these meetsand those children qualifying will be invited to the finals on Sunday, November9, at Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds in Pennsylvania.

To further its goal of preserving countryside for future generations to enjoy,the JNAFHC has contributed over $35,000 to various conservation groups in-cluding the Piedmont Environmental Council in Virginia and similar groups inMaryland and Pennsylvania. Host hunts for the finals have received between$1,000 and $1,500 for their conservation group of choice.

For entry forms, releases, schedule, and to read how much fun the juniorsare having, visit the Facebook page “Junior NorthAmerican Field Hunter Cham-pionship” or call Marion Chungo at 540-220-7292.

JUNIORS

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“Museums have to take tradition into the modern world,” states Nancy Bedford,president of the board of the Museum of Hounds & Hunting NorthAmerica, Inc.,recalling when the Museum was founded in 1985 as a non-profit by the West-moreland Davis Foundation and how it has been continuously installed in themansion at Morven Park, Leesburg, VA. “In 2013, MHHNA, Inc. re-incorpo-rated as an independent 501(c)(3). As this Museum is one of a kind in NorthAmerica, it is imperative that the art and artifacts representing foxhunting con-tinue to be presented and preserved—for today and for the future.” As the Mu-seum's mission statement says, the purpose is to acquire important artifacts beforethey are lost; provide a repository for precious objects; and, by developing edu-cational exhibits through research projects, promote understanding of huntingwith hounds through the sport’s historical, sociological, and cultural heritage.

Museum Pop-Ups, News, and Events“We are very excited that the Museum of Hounds & Hunting North Amer-

ica, Inc. has been invited to attend a conference at the Musée de la Chasse inParis in March of 2015,” said Bedford. “There are two such museums in Franceand I believe museums from other countries are also invited to discuss the futureof hunting and sporting museums. The details are pending, and we hope thatsome members of the Museum in North America will participate.”

The “on dit” is that you might want to polish up your Parlez-vous francais?in the event that MHHNA, Inc. offers a special trip to its members to visit theMusée de la Chasse. It would be a great opportunity to visit Paris and gallivantaround the French countryside, visiting stud farms and vineyards, and to checkout their sporting heritage. Taïaut! Tally Ho!

TheMHHNA, Inc. also plans to hold more “pop-up” events: short-term, spe-cialized displays arranged at off-site locations. “We’re especially excited aboutour next event,” Bedford said. “Salamander Resort has arranged for the Museumto be part of the second annual Middleburg Film Festival. From October 29ththrough November 5th we’ll be presenting works by selected sporting artists andsculptors in the Resort’s Equine Center, which is a work of art in it’s own right.What a win-win this will be! It’s a chance to provide exposure to some wonder-ful contemporary artists and an excellent way for the Museum’s message to reacha wider audience.As popular as last year’s Film Festival proved to be, this prom-ises to be quite a busy week. The town will be filled with visiting film buffs andthe autumn weather will be at its loveliest. We’re just thrilled that the Museumwill be a part of it all!”

Heads Up, Junior Handlers: next year at the Virginia Hound Show, any jun-ior who competes in either age category will be eligible to help the Museum asJunior Vendors (JVs) on Sunday afternoon. Last May, did anyone notice youngentry in white kennel coats, wearing red aprons and caps, selling greeting cardsringside? The kids did a super job and were invited to come back and do it againnext year. The incentive, besides helping the Mu-seum of Hounds & Hunting North America, Inc:keep reading…

Junior Vendors will become a regular featureto help Bedford and her member volunteers con-tinue the quest to promote the Museum by sellingcards, squishy huggable stuffed animals—the bigfox is on many an adult’s wish-list, let alone thekids’—and to encourage hound show enthusiaststo join the Museum.

“I started this two years ago from my littleMHHNA booth at the hound show—after the lit-tle kids showed their hounds, they didn’t haveanything to do and they were bored all afternoon,”said Bedford. “Some of them got rides in the golfcart to cool off and thought that was the ‘funnest’thing to do. When they came back, I put visors onthem and labels I had made for MHHNAand gavethem things to sell to people in the crowds aroundthe rings.”

Bedford gave each youngster two boxes of cards at a time, so they had tokeep coming back to the booth. “They sold about $1,000 worth of cards,” re-called Bedford. “For every box they sold, I gave them $1, and at the end of theday they spent their money on a fuzzy animal. It’s a win-win.”

MHHNA, Inc. plans to host Junior Days at Morven Park. “We’re going toinvite hunts to bring their juniors and their books to exchange with anotherhorsey/hunting kid,” said Bedford. “We will arrange to have someone likeTommy Lee Jones, huntsman for Casanova, relate an exciting hunt day and in-vite some of the kids to talk about their favorite day foxhunting. A reception andmuseum tour will follow for the juniors and their parents.”

Encouraging New MembersJust as the future of hunting depends on getting kids interested in hounds, the

future of the Museum needs enthusiasts of all ages to become members.MHHNA, Inc. offers a variety of ways to join and reasonable annual dues foreveryone from individuals to families to hunts, and with the 501(c)(3) status, do-nations and membership fees are now fully deductible from taxable income,which is a very nice incentive.

“We need to involve more younger people, 30 to 40, and we need more jun-ior members,” said Bedford. “I started a program two years ago where we gavefree one-year junior memberships to the junior champions at all of the foxhunterchampionships. They get a certificate in an envelope when they receive their tro-phy.”

When MHHNA reincorporated as an independent non-profit in December2013, the advisory committee of the Museum became the board and a new advi-sory committee was formed with interested members. Bedford also started asmall committee to help with events and receptions, essentially to create apipeline of experienced, museum-knowledgeable members, who would be readyto fill vacancies on the advisory committee when those members step up to theboard. This is yet another incentive for people with a love for museums, art, lit-erature, and preserving the past to become MHHNA, Inc. members.

Last year, MHHNA, Inc. opened a satellite gallery from October 25 to De-cember 15 in an empty storefront on the main street in Middleburg, VA.A longerversion of a pop-up event, the gallery showcased contemporary sporting artists,such asAnita Baarns, Cynthia Benitz, Jean Clagett, Mary Cornish, Teresa Duke,Sandra Forbush, Gail Guirreri-Maslyk, Julie Kirk, Nancy Kleck, Mary PhillipsCoker, Alice Porter, Dana Lee Thompson, and Belinda Sillars. The exhibit alsoserved as a fund-raising sale of their works of art, as well as gift items, includ-ing greeting cards, plush animals (those big squishy huggable foxes), videos andchildren’s books. There were also three receptions for MHHNA, Inc. membersand their guests

FOXHUNTING

AMuseum Founder, Sherman P. Haight, ex-MFH; and Nancy G. Bedford, President, MHHNA.

Museum of Hounds & Hunting North America, Inc.®From The Past To The Future

By Lauren R Giannini

Jockey ChairThe Museum of Hounds & Hunt-ing North America’s mahoganycurvilinear chair features a leathercovered “springy” seat for postingexercise, to maintain muscles, on

inclement days.

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“The Museum’s satellite gallery was very successful and the Middleburg lo-cation encouraged local people and visitors to drop in, which gave us the oppor-tunity to talk about the Museum, show off our pre-holiday art and gift sale, andencourage new members,” said Bedford. “We are very committed to increasingmembership.We especially want to encourage more Masters to join and promotethe Museum to their subscribers. The more members we have, the more outreachwe can do. I’m hoping to find a location to rent again this winter in Middleburgso we can have another holiday gallery.”

MHHNA, Inc.’s HistoryIn the early 1980s Sherman P. Haight, ex-MFH, first broached the idea of

a museum dedicated to maintaining North America’s heritage of hunting withhounds. Several avid foxhunters agreed with him that a place was needed to pre-serve and exhibit the art, artifacts, and memorabilia of our sporting tradition. In1985 this effort came to fruition with the creation of the Museum of Hounds &Hunting. At the time, Erskine L. Bedford and Dr. Joseph M. Rogers (now bothdeceased) were in the hunting prime of their lives and Masters of Foxhounds;they were also trustees of Morven Park. They suggested that the new museumtake up residence in the mansion (circa 1781), which serves as the jewel-like cen-terpiece of the 1000-acre estate on the edge of Leesburg.

With the blessing of theWestmoreland Davis Memorial Foundation, the Mu-seum of Hounds and Hunting NorthAmerica opened in the mansion and soon oc-cupied most of the north wing. Its collection of art, artifacts, and memorabilia hasgrown by leaps and bounds over the years, thanks to the generosity of enthusi-asts throughout the USAand Canada, who pretty much emptied their closets andattics to outfit the Museum. Hunting attire, books, art, sculpture, diaries, tack,furniture, every possible accessory relevant to a sporting hound- and horse-cen-tric lifestyle from Colonial days to now are among the many treasures that com-prise MHHNA’s trove. Two multi-media exhibits, donated by JWK Propertieson behalf of Mr. and Mrs. John W. Kluge, of a life-sized harness maker and far-rier’s shops were ensconced in the carriage house.

The Morven Park mansion underwent a complete renovation to repair ex-tensive water damage to the foundations, and the Museum’s collection lived instorage and on-line as a virtual museum. When Will O’Keefe retired in January2010 after 17 years as the executive director at Morven Park, the mansion hadbeen restored from the ground up and was ready to stand forever. O’Keefe initi-ated the installation of a state-of-the-art fire suppression system that uses a highmist-fog to suffocate flames without great amounts of water that would destroy

precious artifacts. The mansion also went green with the geothermal HVAC sys-tem.

The new administration, led by executive director Frank D. Milligan, broughtin new ideas and different talents. The entire mansion at Morven Park evolvedinto a living museum in its own right. The changes, which benefited MorvenPark and the Westmoreland Davis Memorial Foundation, ended up reducing thearea occupied by the Museum of Hounds & Hunting.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes“We are looking to possibly move the Museum from Morven Park,” said

Bedford. “Our contract at Morven Park expires at the end of 2016 and while theyare happy for us to stay there and we are happy to be there, the stairs are a prob-lem for many of our members and visitors.Also, we went from six rooms to threerooms and small storage rooms when they put in the new downstairs restroomsand visitors center in what, for many years, had been our space. We must thinkabout the future of the Museum of Hounds & Hunting. We need more room andwe need a location that offers easy access for wheelchairs and anyone who can’tclimb stairs.”

The new home for the Museum will offer more exhibit rooms, adequate stor-age on the premises, and disabled access. “We decided that Middleburg is theheart of the hunt country and where we want to have the Museum. It’s the ideallocation—in the heart of horse country, and it attracts many day visitors,” saidBedford. “Everyone is so busy, we have to make it easy for them to stop in. Iwould like to have a teahouse involved, so that people would come by in the day-time, watch a video, chit-chat with somebody, look at some books, have a cup oftea…We tell our members that we are looking in Middleburg and we are hopingthat some fairy godfather or godmother can provide a building that we can usefor the Museum of Hounds & Hunting North America, Inc.”

The FutureTheMuseum of Hounds & Hunting NorthAmerica, Inc. was founded to pre-

serve the rich heritage of hunting with hounds on this continent and to act as therepository for precious artifacts and memorabilia before they are lost—or thrownout (don’t scoff, it happens!). This unique museum needs the support of every en-thusiast, no matter where you live or whether you hunt regularly or simply enjoysporting art and literature or attend point-to-points to watch Thoroughbreds rac-ing over fences. It’s all part and parcel of the Museum of Hounds & HuntingNorth America, Inc.

“We are the only sporting museum for mounted foxhunting in North Amer-ica—we accept artifacts, books, and clothing, whatever you have to do withhounds, horses, and hunting, MHHNA, Inc. is the repository for it,” Bedford said.“People talk about what to do with their sporting art, some of them say, ‘My chil-dren don’t want it, what do I do with it?’ This is a prime time to reach people intheir 70s and 80s and give them the idea of donating to the Museum of Hounds& Hunting. We need more space for the Museum, we need better access, morestorage, more members. We want the Museum to have a more active presence inthe hunting world.”

Please visit www.mhhna.org for information about joining, for special events(look for the news tab), and to support the educational and cultural purpose of theMuseum of Hounds & Hunting NA, Inc.: to be the welcoming place where en-thusiasts of all ages can enjoy artistic works, artifacts, music, poetry, books, andvideos about vast tracts of open country, rolling terrain, hills, mountains, trees,rivers and creeks, valleys, deserts, and mesas—people galloping on horses andponies, hounds in full cry, filling the air with their thrilling symphony.

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FOXHUNTING

Riding with theNorthland Hunt,New Zealand

By Karin Winegar

The hounds sing briefly twice in the dawn, five or six times in pure eagerness if it’s a hunt-ing day, their voices twining sweetly with the calls of mynahs and bellbirds in the macro-carpus windbreaks, the rush of the tidal Wairoa River along her banks and the snorts ofhorses pondering breakfast.

New Zealand’s two islands boast a healthy ratio of more than 30 million sheep, 4.4million humans, and 28 hunts ranging from Birchfield and Eastern Southland at the bot-tom of the South Island to Northland at the top of the North Island. Two are drag hunts:Otago andWaitemata. All are harrier hound packs in a tradition that started with importedrabbits and beagles of The Pakuranga in Auckland in 1872.

The narrowing tip of North Island is a dazzling mix of Switzerland and Polynesia,brooding volcanic South Seas peaks, corridors of tree ferns and walls of pines, the air fromthe forest primeval roiling with sea winds.

Huntsman Stephen Lynch and his wife Kim Rhind run the Northland Hunt kennelsat Tangiteroria, 17 acres set on a hill among sentinel-straight Norfolk pines, rolling dairyfarms, orchards of persimmons, palms, tamarillos, lemons, and feijoa hedges.

Northland meets are held late March to late July, the subequatorial autumn.I arrived in May, the result of a digital introduction: I had complimented Kim’s po-

sition over a wire fence in a photo posted on Facebook: “George Morris could not findfault with this form!” I wrote. This provoked a conversation, an invitation, a warning fromme—“I take invitations seriously!”—and the purchase of a round trip ticket from Min-nesota to Auckland by way of Los Angeles.

When I drove up the hill to the kennels, the breeze carried whiffs of wood smoke,pine, and Kim’s freshly baked soda bread. This mingled with a touch of lanolin from myboots, which had seen service for a week of hunting on the much more sheep-y South Is-land.

The couple met in Australia, where Kim worked as a postal delivery officer andStephen was huntsman to the Brook Hunt Club. Kim was raised in Rotorua, North Island,and always knew she’d come home, so when his Australian visa expired, Stephen becameNorthland huntsman in 2006.

Kim and Stephen’s ranch-style home is sunny, airy, and horsey from the breechesdrying before the woodstove to the dining room chairs forged with shoes from a favoritemare to theAppaloosa hide adorning a wall, and the whinny ring tone on Kim’s cell phone.

Just downslope from the house is a slaughter shed with a spotless concrete floor,where a rolling ceiling conveyor transports haunches of beef and horse into two walk-incoolers. The hounds feed here, working over the meat in tight, head-down spirals thatsilently skitter across the floor like a rugby scrum until nothing but a hoof and a bone ortwo remain.

Adjoining runs hold 18 and a half couples of harrier hounds, 3 and a half couple ofpups, and not a trace of the usual tang of hound dung.

“It’s the deep grass, they clean themselves; there is no dung pickup and no reek. I onlyfeed fresh meat, and they won’t touch it unless it’s been live.”

Stephen allows them to choose their own paddocks and pals daily—mixing keepsthem from settling into sub-packs, and he can trust his compact and cheerful hounds towork tightly together at an early age. For three generations, he has bred his own hounds,keeping the pups at home.

“Fashion in hounds is just rubbish!” he said. “The Duke of Beaufort is breeding thesebig camels-like. Big hounds can be stronger, but when they hit the electric fences theycan’t figure out how to get under. When ours hit it, they come back more argy-like.”

“When Stephen first came to this hunt, it was ‘why is he getting off his horse?’ Buthe needed to give every assistance possible at first,” Kim explained. “Now he’s educatedthe pack—they caught 83 hares last season—and he hardly needs to get off.”

“These hounds are so easy,” Stephen said. “The secret is pre-season, just me and 17or 18 couple.”

“He’s a pure hounds man—to him horses are a vehicle,” Kim said.That can occasionally have a price.

Huntsman Stephen Lynch, Northland Hunt, Tangiteroria, New Zealand provides sportacross the dramatic Kiwi landscape. Limelight Photography photos

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“On Saturday, we had a one hour and 20 minute run on one hare at Kai Iwi Lakes (WaikareFarm). Hounds went down on the beach, and Steve got really knackered in his coat, boots, and theheat, and ended up in hospital for dehydration.”

Northland, the second largest New Zealand hunt in terms of square miles of country, is the onlyNew Zealand hunt with fixtures on two coasts. Many landowners hunt, so it also enjoys the bene-fit of large tracts of farm land: Omamari Landcorp is some 6,000 to 7,000 acres, and Rangiputa—the northernmost fixture—around 5,000 acres.

North and South Island both boast great numbers of enthusiastic riders, Taupo Hunt Week hadto cut off entrants at 300, the Dannevirke saw 300 at its Jubilee in 2011, and at the 25th jubilee cel-ebration of the Central Otago Hunt in South Island, fields of 75, then 130, then 175 had turned outfor pursuits over a landscape of vast valleys framed by snow-dusted mountains.A good 150 or moreregularly turn up for the Queen’s birthday hunt with Northland each June.

Kim is up early each morning—“going for a shuffle”—running barefoot into the adjoining3,500 acre forest with her Dalmatian, Chili. Still barefoot, she tends to Gwyn, a fine-boned blackThoroughbred mare; Kassie, a small sturdy buckskin mare; and Heidi, a dark bay crossbred. Theyare between 15 and 15.3 hands, trim and handy movers.

“Big heavy horses wouldn’t do in some of this country,” explained Stephen. “They’d blowtheir guts out, but the little black mare [Gwyn, my mount for the hunt] can get up steep hills and jumpat the top. I know she can get over it.”

Stephen, one of nine sons and three daughters of Sean Lynch and Nellie O’Leary in Blarney,County Cork, Ireland, grew up angling, hurling, and hunting. He began with the Blarney Hunt Clubfootpack at age 6 with his brothers, cousins, and father, then with the Woodrock Beagles, whichlater merged with the Blackwater Valley pack.

“In Ireland, in those days, there were no computers, just hunting,” he explained. “Everyonekeeps a couple of the hounds.And there are more packs in County Cork than anywhere in the world.”

“While most huntsmen come into the job because they are horse people, he came purely be-cause of hounds,” said Kim. “Where his father hunted hounds on foot, you don’t have horses wait-ing to get home. So you go to a pub after the hunt and have a few pints dissecting the day’s hunting.It is a communal sounding board. Here a good day is where you jumped and ran. Without a horse,it narrows the options for discussion, you share a lot, get more information. Their knowledge isgenerations old, they get information through their family and because of foot packs, Stephen canread a quarry.”

He attended school through age 14, and then went to work for the county so he could takehunting days off midweek. An amateur huntsman for 18 years, he became professional at 36.

“Captain Ronnie Wallace’s right hand man Charles Parker came in the seventies and showedus how to do it,” said Stephen. “I learned a lot off him.”

(So did his brother Pat, who is huntsman for the Ormond in County Clare.)Throughout New Zealand, the footing is great, the cap fees modest ($10 weekdays and $30

weekends for Northland), the horses fit, and the people welcoming. Hirelings are non-existent, how-ever, so I was fortunate to be invited.

And, most distinctively, horses jump wire, because that’s what contains the sheep, the cattle,and not a few alpacas.

“We have sparred 99 percent of it because it’s safer,” said Stephen, “and we have people whojust walk, too.”

Spars are detachable wood or plastic rails hung on wire sections between posts. Depending onwhere hounds run, however, the shortest way forward may not be convenient to a sparred fence ora gate. Through hours of telling myself everyone else could do it, so could I, I had become accus-tomed to jumping five or six strand smooth and barbed wire in South Island and never had a trip orfall.

Kim has saddled and loaded our mounts (“I won’t let him tack up, because nobody does it tomy standard,” she explained), and 16 couple of hounds race happily up the ramp and settle com-panionably into the truck.

As he drives to the meet, Steve points to a sheer hill, sloping pastureland topped with zigzagsof pines.

“That hill is so steep the hares can cut right across it, but we couldn’t hunt up there. So we wentback down, and it was possible to sit and watch hounds all in view, quite spectacular.”

Up and down the North Island monumental kauri trees tower, their scaly pale gray bark shoul-dering whole villages of bromeliads. Kauris are so ancient that some have names: the day before thehunt, I had visited Tane Mahuta, Lord of the Forest, which is 2,500 years old.

We pass tiny farm towns and bungalows tucked behind dry stack rock walls, the legacy ofDalmatian immigrants who came for the lumber industry when kauri was in demand for ships andfurniture. New Zealand is still largely a farming, hunting, and fishing culture—deer, trout, and wildboar. “Hunting Aotearoa,” a Maori TV channel, covers it nonstop.

“Sometimes there are too many hares out here. How many did you and Nigel shoot on thatproperty last week?” Kim asked.

“Tuesday 33, the other day 14,” Stephen answered. “Three days later we had brilliant huntingoff it. Hares don’t make holes, but they annihilate the young pines, they eat the tops off. Whenthere are too many hares there’s no sport. There are a lot more hares in the dairy farms, because theylike short grass and clover. Too many hares popping up can be distracting; hounds chop, and chargeaway on a fresh one.” Continued

Kim Rhind, whipper-in and wife of huntsman Stephen Lynch, shows howit’s done in New Zealand. TU Images photo

Andrew Duff, MFH, Northland Hunt. TU Images photo

New Zealand Hounds“In New Zealand there is a wide variety of country; someis flat with big paddocks where the hares tend to runstraighter, and here the Master endeavours, perhaps withan infusion of foxhound blood, to produce hounds that arebig—say 21 to 24 inches—to force through gorse hedges,to leap cyclone netting and to drive on regardless. In otherparts, particularly North Island , much of the country is en-closed in many-stranded, tight, high wire fences, or else isvery steep; for both these conditions the purebred harrier(which is today about 19 inches) has been found most suit-able and packs hereabouts are reducing in height.”

Kicking On, Through the History of Hunting In NewZealand” by Susan Berry

Fall 2014 In & Around Horse Country 24 pages: 8/27/14 10:49 AM Page 9

IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • FALL 20148

If hares, hogs, and rabbits are a plague, so is the invasive Australian pos-sum—known to strip forests. Stephen baits tree trunks with sugar and traps them,packing feed sacks with their light fur so prized for possum-merino sweaters,socks, gloves, and scarves, and selling it to a visiting dealer.

He also works as a relief milker for 450 cows on a nearby dairy farm, and inracing season, he runs the “swab block”—the drug test kit at Roakaka and Dar-gaville tracks on the coast.

The meet has 48 riders this midweek morning. Of the 80 or so members,about 20 are property owners—many of them farming families—who ride. Theyoungest riding member of the Northland is 6 years old, and the oldest is patronLou Thompson, who at 92, goes out with his wife, Wylma, 76, and still jumpsfences on his Clydesdale cross mare, Rossa, age 16.

“Lou jumped a fence last week that the young fellas wouldn’t jump,” saidStephen.” He puts a lot of people to shame.”

We set off through the pasture in a chill wind and spitting rain that quicklyclears, then it’s uphill, downhill, around the thickets and copses, through gates,over sparred and unsparred wire alike. Hounds work through the yellow gorse andtea tree choked gullies, back up the slopes of the pastures, on hare after hare.

Gwyn never puts a foot wrong, pacing herself perfectly to fences without astutterstep or single touch, never distracted by the occasional herd of cows.

They are a taut and efficient team. Kim and other whips barely need to striveto keep the pack together, as after each cast it works tirelessly on its own withsome light guidance from Stephen. She positions Heidi on hills and uses the radioto point out hares to Steven, saving her mount for him to ride a few hours into thehunt.

The views stretch on for miles, and field alternately gallops or watches andresorts to its flasks. I sample Lou Thompson’s Canterbury Cream liqueur, some-one else’s damson plum gin, and something delicious with Cointreau.

After a three hour hunt, and hares beyond number, the field gathers againand with a few last bounds over wire, walks back to the “floats” (trailers and vans).Horses are untacked, watered, blanketed, and given hay nets.

In a woolshed, over a table thick with sweets, cheese, smoked marlin, andsponge cake, Northland Master Andrew Duff sums up the day. Hounds Marshalland Merchant and a pup named Eager get the high points to three cheers and ap-plause. Someone with a GPS says we covered 26.5 kilometers with “lots of jump-ing.”

Andrew, who runs a dairy farm with his wife Susan, says I must try one oftheir coastal fixtures next time. I need no persuasion.

“The country we have runs from Kerikeri on the Purerua Peninsula on theeast coast. We have lots, so it’s hard to pick. I’m not even a sea person, and it’s allquite magnificent.” (The Purerua Peninsula country is also Stephen’s favoritecoastal property, where a two day hunt is held annually.)

Carolyn Franklin, joint deputy master, offers reinforcement for the taste forwire: “I prefer wire to spars. Horses are more careful if they are high enough.”

“The people are real nice, down to earth and not pretentious,” added LizWelch, a former Californian who gave up sailing around the world to settle in theNorth Island with horses, dogs, and cats. “New Zealand is one of the few placesyou can hunt on a shoestring and most make their own horses. And North Islandclimate is perfection.”

Rainbows arc up over the hillsides as we drive back to the kennels, alongroads flanked with swaying 10 foot tall ivory grasses called “toi toi,” dark pine-cloaked ridges, peaks where shreds of cloud filter the light down onto forest floorswith dew-hung spider webs and glossy red mushrooms, and fantails flitting amongenormous flax plants.

The hounds are happy, the horses are tranquil, and we are in that state of joy-ful exhaustion that comes after a perfect ride.

“There’s not a single day I don’t marvel at this place,” Kim said. “It seemsto touch the soul.”

Those Wire Fences

If you are fortunate enough to ride with a hunt in New Zealand, consider thefollowing from Glynne Smith, Master and founder of the Central Otago Hunt.

“It’s amazing how a horse will pick up jumping wire very quickly. Thething is you can see what you’re landing on; it’s not like jumping a hedge andfinding the farmer has left a set of harrows or something on the other side. It’sjust a case of getting into the horse’s mind: we put them inside wire fences, it’sjust a matter of persuading them it’s okay to jump them.And if I can see it fourstrides out, so can the horse, although it’s a good thing not to try to jump a wirefence into the setting sun or a green paddock.

“On the North Island there are many more wooden droppers than thereare in South Island, where we use steel wire and steel posts and it’s 8 to 10paces to another vertical.

“I am past the days of going at the jumps with my ears pinned back hope-fully. I am inclined to school the horses. The more time you spend schoolinga horse in an arena and setting up problems such as a wire fence with a solidfence behind it, the better hunting you’re going to have, and the more per-ceptive hunter you will have. I school them on the longeing line. My horseslearn to jump the wire fences before I ever put a foot over them. They learntheir athletic ability without the problem of a rider flopping about, getting leftbehind or pulling them in the mouth at the wrong time. Even the most per-ceptive rider can get caught out riding a young green horse to a wire fence.

“Barbed wire, if you hit it really hard, will break. High tensile doesn’tbreak but will stretch ad infinitum and does more damage to a hide than barbedwire. Never be too proud to use a gate; we don’t jump gates here.

“If you are a NorthAmerican and come to hunt here and they tell you wehave a suitable horse here for you, I would put your faith in the horse. Just sitstill and very tight and balance and leave it to the horse to work out. He willlook after you.”

Fall 2014 In & Around Horse Country 24 pages: 8/27/14 10:49 AM Page 10

IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • FALL 2014 9

William Cabell Rives: A Country to ServeBy Barclay Rives

Reviewed by J. Harris Anderson

Readers of In & Around Horse Country have enjoyed contributions from BarclayRives since the paper first began publication over 20 years ago. His broad knowl-edge of foxhunting—both its current practice and time-honored history—com-bined with wit and erudition, have enabled him to craft a multitude ofinformative, entertaining pieces for these pages.

Barclay’s fans have no doubt noted that his articles have been absent forthe past several issues. Happily, though, his time was put to good use, the fruitsof which are now available for us all to enjoy. In A Country to Serve, he recountsthe life of his great-great-great-grandfather, William Cabell Rives (1793-1868).Barclay himself sums up the significance of his ancestor’s life and public serv-ice quite well: “An examination of Rives’ life affords the view of a witness andparticipant in nearly 75 years of major events in the nation’s history.”

Mentored by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, Rives strove through-out his life to uphold their principles of constitutional democracy. Over a careerthat spanned presidential administrations from James Monroe to Andrew John-son, his many contributions included service in the US Senate, as Minister toFrance, and as Madison’s biographer. Among his contemporaries and intimateswere such luminaries as Jackson, Clay, Calhoun, Webster, and many more. Histime in France, where he witnessed the French Revolution of 1830, brought himinto close friendship with Lafayette.

Aside from his political and diplomatic achievements, Rives was also re-sponsible for introducing another member of “royalty” to American shores. Fol-lowing a three-year tour of stables and stud farms in France and England, hepurchased a Cleveland Bay stallion and had the horse shipped to his home, Cas-tle Hill, in Albemarle County. His mission was to breed a horse that would be“best adapted to the whole range of our wants in Virginia.” He sought a confor-mation that would serve for both harness work, for which Thoroughbreds lackedthe bone and substance, but would not be as slow and coarse as heavy draft typeswere for road carriages. The stallion, which he named “Emperor,” quickly beganto win first prize at shows and exhibitions.

Inspired by Rives’ stud, several other Virginians began to import ClevelandBays, among them Col. R.H. Dulany, founder of Piedmont Fox Hounds and theUpperville Colt and Horse Show.

Despite his successes at home and abroad, Rives’ greatest struggle, ulti-mately unsuccessful, involved his efforts to preserve the Union as the fires ofSouthern secession began to spread. As a participant in the Peace Conference of1861, he met with Abraham Lincoln in February of that year in hopes of avoid-ing armed conflict between the states. When those efforts failed, Rives faced thesame difficult choice as many other Virginians: “oppose their country or opposetheir home state and neighbors.”

Barclay paints an honest, balanced portrait of his ancestor. Rives was un-questionably a man of honor and intellect, a loving husband and father, and astatesman who placed the good of the nation above his own party loyalty and po-

litical advantage. But, asBarclay points out, it wasRives’ self-sacrificingstatesmanship that, morethan any factor, accountedfor his absence from thepages of most historicalworks. “Vehement leadersof opposing factions tend tobe more memorable thanmoderates,” Barclay ex-plains.

In addition to an ap-preciation of the individualsubject of this book, thereader will also be struckby the parallels between thepolitical wrangling ofRives’ time and similarrhetoric heard today. Forexample, a Senate resolu-tion of 1834 stated thatPresident Andrew Jacksonhad “assumed upon himselfauthority and power notconferred by the Constitu-tion and laws.” Another citation tells of an Executive Order issued during a con-gressional recess.

Moreover, reflections on the political climate of Rives’ day may provide amore temperate view of current partisan wrangling. One incident in the book tellsof a scuffle between Rives and a fellow legislator that involved nose-tweaking,collar-grabbing, finger-biting, face-punching, and the use of a horsewhip.At leasttoday’s fights between political factions are limited to the written or spoken word.

Perhaps only The Education of Henry Adams rivals A Country to Serve inthe breadth of its scope over so many significant occurrences in US history.Meticulously researched and brilliantly written, Barclay Rives has crafted an in-sightful, at times moving, and always honest portrayal of a man who livedthrough days both glorious and disastrous. The reader will come away with abetter understanding of how the United States navigated its way through turbu-lent waters and, thanks to the selfless efforts of men like William Cabell Rives,helped it survive and, ultimately, thrive. [And with this task now complete, welook forward to Barclay’s return to our pages where he can share his voluminousknowledge of horses, hunting, and history.]

Barclay Rives will be discussing his work and signing copies of both thisbook and his latest, See You at Second Horses, at Horse Country Saddlery, War-renton, VA, Tuesday evening, October 28, 7:00. Refreshments will be served,RSVPs appreciated, 540-347-3141 or huntbooks@aol.com.

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Fall 2014 In & Around Horse Country 24 pages: 8/27/14 10:49 AM Page 11

IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • FALL 201410

If James Cameron ever plans to shoot Titanic, The Sequel,Bunsen and I could be cast as extras.

Just like the ill-fated liner, everything was cruising alongnicely… at first. It was a good day at work, although un-packing the cartons filled with Horse Country goods from ourtent display at the Hound Show had to be done quickly. For-tuitously, as it turned out, first thing in the morning Marion in-structed us to take all the boxes and tubs being offloaded tothe back of the store so that the entrance was its usual invit-ing self. I tell you it was exhausting! Bunsen and I helpedwhere we could, and got in the way whenever we couldn’t.

At the end of the day, with the stock only partially un-packed but residing in the back of the store, Marion began herevening ritual. When she goes out to dinner right from work,she “locks” us in the kitchen. “There,” she says, “now youwon’t get into trouble.” Although we know how to open thedoors, she tells us to stay, and we say, “Sure,” and we all con-tinue the farce that we’re confined. She closes the door andgoes away for an hour or two martinis.And, when she leaves us, I can close m’eyes and a get a verradeep sleep. ’Tis that wonderful time o’day when no telephonerings and I am not on call as the official greeter at the front zebra-striped chair.Yes, Bunsen, assuming you actually wake up from your daytime naps whensomeone enters the store. Anyway, it was dark in the store with the lights turnedoff, and the weather started to change. Feeling the approaching storm, Bunsenwas hiding under Marion’s desk, howling and scared of the thunder.I was na scared. M’father taught me to go under a desk when the boom o’ thun-der menaces… just in case. Nae was I shaking lassie, nae howling! ’Twas a rous-ing Scottish jig I was singing, and jigging to the tune in true Gaelic fashion.That is an insult to every Scottish singer ever! Was that caterwauling supposedto be singing? You were shaking in your boots and called out for Marion, but Idon’t blame you, really, considering what happened next.

We could hear the wind come up, then the rain came, and then the rain gotmuch harder, pounding the roof of the store. We heard the wind howl, deep andwhiney, then quiet, then loud and whiney and then… it was awful! I thought thesky was falling on us.Aye, awful it was. The building shook. The sound was devastating… like the cryof a thousand Highland warriors rushing to battle. And then… water! Watereverywhere. In the office where we sleep, the kitchen where we sleep, and thehall where we sleep. Water falling from the heavens everywhere!As Bunsen so artfully describes, the water started to rise. Within minutes, ourpaws were covered with water.Darkness was upon the face of the deep.Why, Bunsen, that’s downright Biblical. And, yes, for a moment I think I knewhow Noah must have felt. But thank goodness, I knew the secret way out. Ijumped up and threw myself against the security gate. Hah! See, we can get outof here like before. Once the gate creaked open, I made a mad dash. The wholesky was coming through the roof. Water was coming down like Niagara Falls. Itwas so loud and so dark, I didn’t know if Bunsen had followed. “Follow me!” Ikept shouting. “This way, this way!”Faith and bejabbers, I thought I was a goner! But I heard your wee voice andwaded toward it.Well, I seized the moment and formed a plan to save the store. “Quick Bunsen!Call 911!”“Are ye daft as well as damp? I canna reach the phone and who would under-stand me anyway?”“Well then, grab a bucket! It’s up to us to save the store!”

We ran to get muck buckets, but the only ones we could get to were… yes,at the back of the store, full of heavy merchandise that went to the Hound Show,so we couldn’t move them.All the other buckets were downstairs behind the firedoor so we couldn’t get them either. What to do? The water was pouring in.’Twas then I had m’brilliant idea. When I was under the desk, the wee lass hadsaid I was shakin’ in m’boots. Boots! Of course!So Bunsen ran to the back of the store, grabbed a Wellie boot, raced to the front,and put it under a leak.

“Seriously, Bunsen,” I said, just a bit skeptical. “AWellieboot?”“Well, lassie, I’ve read the advertisements,” he exclaimed

as he scampered by me to fetch another. “If they’re water-proof on the outside, they must be waterproof on the inside!”“Good point!”So I raced after him and together we put every Wellie we

could find under the leaks. But it wasn’t enough. I tried open-ing a box of Tingley boot rubbers but it was beyond me. Aclanking from the kitchen proved to be Bunsen pushing hisdinner bowl under another leak. I grabbed mine and did thesame. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Bunsen grab anotherbowl and start to tip it over.“Bunsen stop! That’s our water bowl! If you dump it,

you’re just adding water to the mess!”“What else can we do, lassie? We’re out of boots and

bowls!”Fortunately, at that moment the doors flew open and Mar-

ion, her brother Mark, and nieceAiliena came rushing in, fol-lowed by Gwen and Mike. Alerted by a Good Samaritanpassing by who saw the tree fall on the roof, Gwen had ral-

lied the troops. Once inside the store everyone stopped in their tracks and staredin disbelief at all the Wellie boots scattered about. Then they all jumped into ac-tion, grabbed muck tubs, buckets, anything that could hold water. For five hoursthey fought the waterfalls and pools of water as small rivers snaked across thefloor of the store.

Finally, the rain stopped and the cataracts became minor annoying drips.Marion sat down for the first time at 1:30 am and gathered us up.

“What clever dogs you are! When I got the call that a tree had fallen on thebuilding, I was so worried about you.All I could think was that you were trappedin the kitchen about to drown, when you smart dogs actually saved the store!Thanks to you both, the only merchandise we lost were a few show jackets. Theinventory was saved.”

“We’re sorry Marion. We did our best, but we ran out of boots and bowls,”Bunsen told her pressing his head on her knee.

“Don’t worry, darlings. It was a small price to pay. You both did brilliantly!You’re Superdogs! I am so proud of youuu.” She ended with a huge yawn. Weknew the feeling and we were amply rewarded with juicy bones really late thatnight.

By 9:00 the next morning the contractor was on the property removing ex-terior debris, and by noon the tree was history.We have a much better view of ournext-door neighbor, the county library, from the parking lot now. By 3:00 pm theemergency crew had stabilized the roof, taken out wet sheetrock inside, startedheaters drying out the space, and life was back to what will pass for normal forthe next few months. So when you visit, we’ll show you the holes where thelimbs pierced the membrane. Very exciting.

The inventory was saved, yes, and as if we didn’t have enough inventory, afew days later, Horse Country’s fall and winter goods started to arrive. New Bar-bours, tweed jackets from England, riding boots from Italy, new riding shirts,gifts, the antiques Marion bought in England… so much stuff. With the store tornup, all the shipments were taken to storage. So here we are in August, openingcartons with the girls working doubly hard and playing catch-up. But wait untilyou see what’s new!

As this column closes and we go to press, we have great news. Horse Coun-try will host Felix Francis, (yes, Dick Francis’ son), for an hour talk and booksigning of his latest mystery bookDamage, Tuesday, October 14, 6:00 p.m. at thestore. Then, Barclay Rives will talk and sign his two new books William CabellRives: A Country to Serve and See you at Second Horses on October 28, 7:00p.m., and, at last, Rita Mae Brown will once again grace Horse Country with herlatest highly anticipated Sister Jane book Let Sleeping Dogs Lie on November 11,also at 7:00 p.m.

Well, Marion’s just called us. Apparently we’ve somewhere special to go.How exciting! Could it be a party? You know we love parties! We’ll get allbrushed and have our nicest collars put on and… Hey! Wait a doggone minute!Is this just another excuse for a bath? Haven’t Bunsen and I had enough water en-counters already? Don’t we get a little consideration for saving the store? Ah,well, one day you’re the hero, the next day you’re just a house pet. Such is thedog’s life. On the whole, though, this dog’s life is pretty sweet. Soggy at times,but always sweet.Yours (still drying out),Superdog Aga

AGA’S SAGAS Boots and Bowls

Aga and Bunsen save the store with buckets, adog bowl and even a Paul Brown ice bucket.

Fall 2014 In & Around Horse Country 24 pages: 8/27/14 10:49 AM Page 12

FORMAL HUNTING ATTIREMen's and ladies' coats and jackets in several weights. Made in England.

Men's available in sizes 38-52, regular and long; 38-44 short may be available.Ladies' available in sizes 32-44, regular and long. Other sizes may be available by special order.

PRIDE: IT SHOWS IN EVERYTHING WE DO.

We’re proud of our reputation as the premier lifestyle resource for hunt attire, tack, and appointments. Our mission can be summed up in four words: best quality, wide selection. It shows in the expert tailoring of our tweed jackets and hunting coats, the handcrafted excellence of our bridles, the extensive array of stock ties, the elegance and fit of our French calfskin riding boots, the traditionally sharp look of canary and Tattersal vests. You’ll see it in our Country Clothing and home décor selections. And now you can find everything you need online as well as in our store. Since 1970, knowledgeable hunters have relied on Horse Country Saddlery, where we take pride in what we do, so you can take pride in how you look.

Horse Country® All prices subject to change without notice. All items subject to availability. IAHC 09-2014

(540) 347-3141 • 800-882-HUNT (4868) 60 Alexandria Pike, Warrenton, Virginia 20186

Store Hours: Monday–Friday 9 AM - 6 PM, Saturday 9 AM - 5 PM (ET)

Visit us online! www.HorseCountryLife.comwww.Facebook.com/HorseCountryLifewww.HorseCountryCarrot.com

SCARLET COATSAlbemarle: Heavyweight with Tattersall liningBerkshire: Mid weight with Tattersall liningGrafton: Mid weight with satin liningHarkaway: Lightweight with satin liningAlso available in Navy and Green by special order. Some sizes in stock. (HC1A)For Men: click hereFor Ladies: click here

HUNTING JACKETSMidlothian: Heavy weight with satin liningOx Ridge: Mid weight with satin liningWatchung: Mid weight with satin liningCulpeper: Lightweight with satin liningAlso available in Navy and Green by special order. Some sizes in stock. (HC1B)For Men: click hereFor Ladies: click here

WAISTED FROCK COATSMeander: Heavy weight with Tattersall liningWoodbine: Mid weight with satin liningAlso available in Navy and Green by special order. Some sizes in stock. (HC1C)For Men: click hereFor Ladies: click here

ROMFORDWashable Hunt Jacket.Highly technical fabric, lightweight and washable. Made in our traditional hunt jacket style. Limited sizing. Black. (HC1D)Men's sizes 40-48 regular: click hereLadies' sizes 32-40 regular: click here

Stephen ("Reg") Spreadborough, Huntsman, Orange County Hounds

Photograph by Janet Hitchen www.JanetHitchenPhotography.com

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Please visit www.HorseCountryCarrot.com to view our fabric choices.Ask us to choose a stock tie to go with our range of jackets.

LOOK YOUR BEST... FROM CUBBING DAWN... TO CLOSING MEET.

CHATHAMAvailable in new fabrics and interesting details.A traditional cut with softer lapel and easy fitting over the hip. Price guide: $595-$850. (HC2A)

LADIES' TWEED CUB HUNTING ATTIRELadies' hacking and cubbing jackets in several cuts and weights.

Ladies' available in sizes 32-44, regular and long. Other sizes may be available by special order.

VICMEADTraditional details in a more fitted, shorter jacket. Price guide: $595-$695. (HC2B)

SOUTHDOWNHigher lapels with a more fitted waist, finished with a bit longer length and custom details.Price guide: $595-$795. (HC2C)

Visit us online! www.horsecountrylife.comAll prices subject to change without notice. All items subject to availability. IAHC 06-2014

Horse Country® 800 882 HuntHC2

Shop online! www.HorseCountryCarrot.com Shop online! www.HorseCountryCarrot.com

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LOOK YOUR BEST... FROM CUBBING DAWN... TO CLOSING MEET.

CHATHAMAvailable in new fabrics and interesting detailsA traditional cut with softer lapel and easy fitting over the hip. Price guide: $695-$870. (HC3A)

VICMEADTraditional details in a more fitted, shorter length jacket. Price guide: $595-$695. (HC3B)

SOUTHDOWNHigher lapels with a more fitted waist, finished with a bit longer length and custom details.Price guide: $595-$750. (HC3C)

Other jackets available at $385. (not shown)

MEN'S TWEED CUB HUNTING ATTIREMen's hacking and cubbing jackets in several cuts and weights.

Men's available in sizes 38-52, regular and long; 38-44 short may be available.

Please visit www.HorseCountryCarrot.com to view our fabric choices.Ask us to choose a stock tie to go with our range of jackets.

Shop online! www.horsecountrycarrot.comAll prices subject to change without notice. All items subject to availability. IAHC 06-2014

Horse Country® 800 882 Hunt HC3

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Horse Country®

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IF IT’S FROM HORSE COUNTRY,

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17

29

211

To WASHINGTONvia I-66

ToCULPEPER &CHARLOTTESVILLE

To WINCHESTER,I-66 & I-81

To SPERRYVILLE& I-81

WATERLOO St.

WINCHESTER St.

BROADVIEW Ave.

MAIN St.

ALEX

AN

DR

IA P

k.

RT. 29/17 B

ypass

HORSECOUNTRY®

Rt. 17 Bypass(540) 347-3141 • 800-882-HUNT (4868)

CUSTOMER SERVICE AND INQUIRIES: (540) 347-314124 Hour Fax: (540) 347-7141

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IAHC 09-2014

IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • FALL 2014 11

JENNY’S PICKSTime for more of our favorite mysterywriter’s books! Rita Mae Brown has a newMrs. Murphy book out—and sign up nowfor the next in the Sister Jane series, LetSleeping Dogs Lie, due out November 4!Rita Mae will be signing copies at HorseCountry the evening of November 11! Wealso have several new authors to offer, withhorse-related novels.Brown, Rita Mae. Nine Lives to Die. It’s winterin Crozet; Harry and Fair Haristeen are involvedin holiday events, including charity work. How-ever, as we all know by now, tiny Crozet has awealth of murders for Harry and her feline andcanine sidekicks to solve, including several re-cent ones and an ancient “cold case.” Read allabout it in the latest Mrs. Murphy mystery!Hardback, 272pp. $26.00Brown, Rita Mae. Let Sleeping Dogs Lie. Thenext in the beloved Sister Jane series finds Sis-ter and her boyfriend Gray Lorillard heading forKentucky to ride with the Woodford Hounds.While they are attending a post-hunt party at ahistoric mansion, a body is found in the equinecemetery—and it isn’t that of a horse! Worse,murder follows Sister back to Virginia and hitsclose to home. Coming out in November—ordernow! Come to our booksigning here in the storeNovember 11. Hardcover, 304pp. $26.00Leland, Toni. Deadly Heritage.Who is injuringQuarter Horse breeder Kellie Sutton’s horses,and why? Could it have been a disgruntled firedemployee? Her ex-husband? Her brothers whoare trying to persuade her to sell their jointly-owned family heritage ranch to developers?Sheriff Ed Campbell wants to find out asstrongly as Kellie, and his motives are all thestronger because – before her marriage – theywere sweethearts. Softcover, 277pp. $14.95Leland, Toni. Gambling with the Enemy. Twofriends run a riding stable, but they are desper-ately short of cash. To try to make the rent pay-ment, Jessica “borrows” down payment moneyfrom the sale of an expensive horse and goes toa gambling casino. Her partner is horrified whenshe finds out; but there’s an even worse problemwhen FBI agents show up at their stable. Greatsuspense story! Softcover, 262pp. $13.95Leland, Toni.Winning Ways. Liz Barnett, a vet-erinarian who also breeds Arabians, has movedfrom Kentucky to California, where she is notquite trusted by the locals. At a show, she meetsKurt, a trainer from anotherArabian barn, whoseowner Eve is a win-driven woman whose onlyinterest in her horses seems to be how their per-formance will increase her status and the horses’saleability.As the budding romance between Lizand Kurt goes up and down each time they meet,Eve does everything she can to ensure Liz’sAra-bians do not place above hers in the show ring.When Liz’s yearling colt is found to have drugsin his system, he loses his chance for a champi-onship. Would Kurt have done that for Eve?Softcover, 259pp. $13.95Leland, Toni. Rescue Me. It’s an all-too-common situation: a woman marries a man andfinds out he is jealous, domineering, and can bebrutal, inflicting mental or physical pain on hiswoman. In this case, Julia Dorsey breeds andshows Morgan horses. It nearly breaks her heartto leave them behind, but she decides she has toget out of this prison of a life, so while she is ata Morgan show and her husband has to leaveovernight on business, she bolts for freedom.Eventually she hooks up with a former SecretService agent, finds a job, and begins helping ata horse rescue farm. But the threat of her hus-band finding her hangs heavy over her head.Softcover, 282pp. $15.95Leland, Toni.Double Exposure. This introducesKim Kovak, equine photographer and formermounted police officer, who inadvertently be-comes entangled in a client’s predicament whileon a photo shoot at the stable. Teri Fortune,owner of the stable, is accused of swapping avaluable horse belonging to a client. The insur-ance company calls in an investigator, GarrettQuaid, and soon Kim and Garrett are getting ineach other’s way as they both try to figure out

what is happening, and more horses are stolen.Softcover, $16.95

Leland, Toni. Balancing Act. Kim Kovak findsherself involved in trying to find out the personresponsible for a strangles epidemic that hasstruck a barn belonging to the Dream Horse Bal-let. Could it have been a competing company,the Knight’s Horse Theater? Or was there someother villain at work? The owner of the HorseBallet seems reluctant to answer Kim’s ques-tions fully. Soon enough Kim calls insurancefraud investigator Garrett Quaid for help in thissecond Kovak and Quaid mystery. Softcover,298pp. $15.95Leland, Toni.Unfinished Business. In this thirdKovak & Quaid mystery, Kim and Garrett in-vestigate mysterious deaths of foals at an Ara-bian breeder’s farm, and their personalrelationship continues to grow. Characters fromthe first novel continue to reappear here, givingrise to the title of “Unfinished Business.” Soft-cover, 297pp. $15.95Rogers, Ellen. Deadly Trust. Eventing is thebackground for this murder mystery set inSouthern Pines, North Carolina. Lanie Mont-gomery, the protagonist, runs a feed and tackshop. The brutal murder of a wealthy, influentialwoman in the area is only the first to entangleLanie, when a young rider friend of hers is ac-cused of the murder following a violent argu-ment with the woman, her employer. The deeperinto the mystery Lanie gets, despite a warningfrom the detective covering the case not to getinvolved, the more danger she faces as the killerbecomes aware of her interest. And of coursethere are personal relationships that weavethroughout the story, further complicating mat-ters. Softcover, 238pp. $15.95We have more new riding and training books tooffer. These two deal with behavior problems.Payne, Doug. The Riding Horse Repair Man-ual. There will never be a perfect, absolutelyfool-proof horse, but most horses can be im-proved by careful training. Here the author dealswith common problems you may encounter in ahorse: the usual bucking, rearing, shying, bolt-ing, and such misbehaviors, as well as somejumping problems. If you feel competent enougha rider to cope with the problem and work it out,here are some good suggestions. Where misbe-havior may be the result of several differentcauses, each type is discussed with its solutions.Payne, a USEF Judge and Technical Delegatewith strong experience in eventing, does not hes-itate to suggest that some behaviors might bebetter handled by a professional and that somehorses are too incorrigible to be worth trying tofix at the cost of bodily damage to the rider. Andof course, some bad behavior may be caused bypain, so a veterinarian may need to be called into eliminate that as a cause. Illustrated with colorphotos, many showing the sequences of a mis-behavior. Softcover, 216pp. $29.95Thomas, Heather Smith. Good Horse, BadHabits. In addition to offering solutions for rid-ing problems, Thomas’s book broadens its focusto include bad habits in the stable, on the ground(“in hand”), and trailering as well as under sad-dle. First she defines the problem, then offerssuggestions for changing the habit. Often there isa third segment: what if nothing works? Thereare no illustrations in this book, but the advice issound and the page layout makes it easy to read.Softcover, 308pp. $24.95

2015 Calendars are in! Get yours whilethey last! With the exception of the Foxeswall calendar, we have ordered only a fewof each one. All calendars – wall, box, orengagement – are $14.99. Check out our

full selection at www.horsecountrycar-rot.com or see them in person in the store.

We have quite a plethora of newly acquiredused books to offer, lots of foxhuntingbooks that you may or may not be familiarwith. Check these out!Caveat Emptor (Pseudonym of Sir GeorgeStephen). Adventures of a Gentleman in Searchof a Horse. Saunders, Otley, & Co., London,1861. Fair to good cond., no dj, green clothcover has a few blemishes, corners bumped. In-scriptions inside front cover. Inside clean. Notfiction—is a treatise on how to prevent beingsold a bad horse, either from health, conforma-tion, poor training or disposition. Covers tricksand scams played upon the unsuspecting pur-chaser and legal cases involving horse purchasein the 1800s. Hardcover, 216pp. (6332) $95.00Clayton, Michael. The Hunting Year. Hamlyn,London, 1994. Photography by Trevor Meeks.AHorse and Hound publication in fine cond., djfine. Brown cloth cover, dj price-clipped.With alittle text by Michael Clayton, the majority ofthis lovely book consists of color photographsof the hunting year, predominantly the huntingseason. (6312) $50.00De Trafford, Sir Humphrey F. The Horses of theBritish Empire in 2 volumes,Walter Southwood& Co., London, 1907 (?). First edition. Blue pat-terned cloth cover with gold lettering is in verygood cond., no dj, spines sun-faded, cornersbumped, top edge gilt, marbled endpapers. In-cludes many pedigree charts of different breeds.This is a great compilation of breeding informa-tion about various British horse & pony breedsand types, including Arabian & other Easternbreeds, TB, Cleveland and Yorkshire Coachhorses, steeplechasers, hunters, and trotters,Hackneys and other harness horses, polo ponies,Welsh, Shetland, Exmoor, “mountain & moor-land” ponies, Clydesdale, Shire and Suffolkdrafts, and Australian and “colonial” breeds.Hardcover; Vol. 1 - 286pp, Vol. 2 - 245pp. of textplus numerous photos of breeders, etc. at theback. (6314) $395.00 for the set.Grand, Gordon. The Millbeck Hounds. CharlesScribner’s Sons, New York & London, 1947.Good cond., no dj, dents in bottom of cover.Endpapers discolored, small bookseller’s labelinside front cover. The author’s foxhunting sto-ries about the venerable Col. Weatherford arestill enjoyed today by readers. Hardcover,368pp. (6316) $45.00Higginson, A. Henry. The Hunts of the UnitedStates and Canada. Frank L. Wiles, Boston,1908. Limited to 500 copies. Red cloth cover,gilt border & fox on front cover, t.e.g, no dj. Verygood cond., spine faded and worn top & bottomand corners bumped; cover lightly soiled. Pencildescription of book, presumably by a bookseller,on an inside flyleaf. Bookplate inside frontcover. Gilt illus. of fox on cover. Noted fox-hunting historian Higginson decided to compileas complete a list as possible for N. Americanfoxhunting clubs with information about theirhistory, officials, country, colors, and more. Pho-tos of the staff and hounds offer insight into thestate of the art in the beginning of the 20th cen-tury. Hardcover, 197pp. (6318) $125.00Macdonald, David. Running with the Fox.Unwin Hyman, London, 1989. Paperback, finecond. Britain’s leading expert on the red fox dis-cusses their behavior that he studied for 15years. Softcover, 224pp. (6321) $59.00Mackay-Smith, Alexander. Foxhunting inNorth America. Self-published, Millwood, Vir-ginia, 1988.Autographed. Unnumbered author’sedition of 1500. Fine cond., but lacks dj. Clean

and sound. Next to Wadsworth’s booklet, andwith much greater detail, this has long been thebook to provide all the information you mightneed to get started in foxhunting in NorthAmer-ica. Hardcover, 262pp. (6322) $50.00 (NB – alsoavailable new @$45.00 but not autographed!)

Masefield, John. Reynard the Fox, or the GhostHeath Run. Macmillan, New York, 1920. Newillus. ed. w/illus. by Carton Moorepark, incl. 8color plates. Green cloth cover, red title & bor-der on front. Good condition, but obvious wearto cover and some loosening of pages. Pub-lisher’s stamp inside front flyleaf; small book-seller’s label inside front cover. Gift inscription2nd flyleaf. Masefield was an enthusiastic horse-man; this extended poem tells the tale of a fox-hunt, Part 1 about the field, Part 2 from the fox’sviewpoint as he is hunted near to death. Hard-cover, 339pp. (6320) $39.00“Nimrod.” Remarks on the Condition ofHunters.M.A. Pittman, London, 1831. Reprintfrom original; leatherbound, very good soundcond., gilt decorations on spine and borders ofcover. Corners bumped. Decorative endpaperswith bookplate inside front cover. Inscription in-side flyleaf: “Geo. Symone, Captain 25th Regi-ment” in ink. Some foxing; book sound. Severalblank pages at end of book contain handwrittenmemoranda. A complete instruction manual forthe care of horses, specifically hunters. Hard-cover, 503pp. (6324) $150.00Radcliffe, F. P. Delme. The Noble Science.RudolphAckerman, London, 1839. First edition.Green leather w/gilt title, border; decoratedspine. Good cond., corners bumped and coverdiscolored. Much of gilt decoration has rubbedoff the spine except for the title area. Marbledendpapers. Gift inscription inside in ink:“George Robert Abinton from his sincere friendEdward John Bunny on his leaving Eton Elec-tion 1845.” Interior sound and clean, with onlymild foxing evident. Absolutely a must for theserious collector of hunting books and those insearch of ancient advice about hounds and hunt-ing. Hardcover, 327+pp. (6326) $325.00Richardson, Charles. The Complete Foxhunter.Methuen, London, 1908. First ed., green clothcover w/gilt lettering with pasted-in insert cov-ering Methuen: “American Agent Frank L.Wiles 8 Pemberton Square, Boston, Mass.”Good cond., no dj, cover worn, corners bumped,first few pages loosening. B&w photos and 4color reproductions of hunting scenes. Hard-cover, 299pp. plus catalog of publisher’s booksat the end. (6327) $95.00Sassoon, Siegfried.Memoirs of a Fox-HuntingMan. Sun Dial Press, Garden City, 1931. Firstprinting. Red cloth cover, good cond., no dj,cover has a few soil-marks with a little wear onedges. Interior clean and sound. Fictionalizedversion of Sassoon’s life before WWI, endingwith him in the trenches during the war. Hard-cover, 376pp. (6330) $25.00Watson, Alfred E. T. Sketches in the HuntingField. Chapman & Hall, Ltd., London, 1880. 2nded. Illus. by John Sturgess. Good cond. w/crackin spine hinge, cover edges rubbed and bumped.Marbled cover, endpapers, and page edges; giltspine decorations. Bookplate inside front cover.A series of writings based on the author’s expe-riences in the hunt field; many of the namesgiven his characters are fictitious out of deco-rum—not all the riders are what we would hopefor in the hunt field! Hardcover, 256pp. (6345)$75.00Watson, Frederick. Hunting Pie. H. F. & G.Witherby, London, 1931. Illus. by Paul Brown.First printing. Black board cover w/gold letter-ing, very good cond., dj good in plastic wrap butslightly torn & soiled. Inside front free endpaperappears to have been torn out, presumed blank.All illustrations intact. Book clean inside. Hard-cover, 96pp. (6346) $140.00Watson, J.N.P. The Book of Foxhunting. Arco,New York, 1978. Green cloth cover in near finecond., top of dj a little worn, book sound &clean. Illus. with b&w photos. Foxhunting inEngland, America, Ireland, and Australia is ex-amined by a former Country Life correspondent.Hardcover, 240pp. (6347) $60.00

HORSE COUNTRYBOOKSELLERS

Specialists in New, Old & Rare Books on Horses, Foxhunting,Eventing, Polo, Racing, Steeplechasing & Sporting Art

60 Alexandria Pike, Warrenton, VA 20186 • 800-882-HUNT • 540-347-3141

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IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • FALL 201412

Three More Hunts Jointhe Centenary Club

By J. Harris Anderson

In the February/March 2013 issue of In & Around Horse Country, we coveredhunt clubs celebrating their 100th and 125th anniversaries. This got us thinkingabout why some clubs survive over the long haul while others fade away. To getan idea of what factors contribute to hunt club longevity, we polled a selectionof masters and members from clubs that have been in existence for at least a hun-dred years, and in some cases much longer. The responses, which we recountedin that issue, revealed a number of common threads. If there were a “LongevityFormula,” it would include the following ingredients:

• Landowner Relations• Land Preservation• Community Involvement• Willingness to Embrace Change• Succession Planning• Member Loyalty• Good Sport

Three more hunts, each established in 1914, observe their entry into theCentenary Club this year, thus lending further credence to the merits of these es-sential elements.

Moore County Hounds

Two initial factors spurred the inception of mounted sport in the Sandhillsarea of North Carolina’s Moore County: railroad lines and climate. During theearly to mid 1800s North Carolina was derisively referred to as the “Rip VanWinkle” state because its development tended to lag about 20 years behind neigh-boring states. This changed toward the end of the 19th century as railroad sys-tems improved transportation to the area. Aided by the easier access, the townsof Southern Pines and Pinehurst were founded in 1895.

The sandy soil offered limited agricultural potential. On the upside, the landwas cheap and the mild climate, plus the mineral springs, appealed to those seek-ing relief from the harsher winters up north.

One such Northerner was James Boyd, a steel and railroad magnate fromPennsylvania. He arrived around the turn of the 20th Century, purchased twelvehundred acres, and built “Weymouth.” His estate featured stables, tennis courts,gardens, and a golf course.

Boyd’s grandsons James and Jackson were frequent visitors to Weymouth.James (the grandson) was introduced to foxhunting while a student in England.

He continued to ride to hounds in NewYork’s Millbrook Country with OakleighThorne’s Harriers and Middlesex Foxhounds. With Thorne’s help, he formed theMoore County Hounds in 1912. Two years later the pack was registered with theMasters of FoxhoundsAssociation. (The MFHAHunt Roster cites 1914 as the es-tablishment year; recognition was granted in 1920.)

Younger brother Jackson (Jack) served as the huntsman, was made a jointmaster in 1923, and in 1924 Harry Nott was hired away from Millbrook to sharethe huntsman duties with Jack. (Nott likely served as kennel huntsman and whip.)

As the popularity of the area grew, and as Moore County Hounds’ reputa-tion for good sport in a pleasant climate spread, the flames of “development”began to ignite. But while today we mostly associate the “D-word” with the an-tithesis of mounted hunting—a cancer that kills the countryside—in MooreCounty, North Carolina, “development” was the elixir that assured the sportwould survive to its centenary and beyond.

The Boyds began the process by purchasing neighboring acreage fromwhich they sold lots to friends and like-minded hunting enthusiasts. Thus beganthe creation of a community for foxhunters, with particular appeal as a winterhaven, bookended by the fall and early spring seasons up north.

The Museum of Hounds and Hunting NorthAmerica arranged an exhibitionthis spring commemorating Moore County Hound’s Centennial. As part of thatobservance the Museum commissioned an accompanying pamphlet, “They Fol-lowed the Tracks” (excerpted from the nomination for theWalthour-Moss Foun-dation to the National Register of Historic Places, written by Davyd Foard Hood,edited by Claudia Coleman, and on which we drew for much of the historical de-tails presented here.)A citation from February 15, 1929 in The Pilot, a local news-paper, provides insight into how this trend of development was viewed:

“There is seldom a day when the horse lover cannot comfortably take hishorse out, and rarely a scheduled hunt day when hounds cannot safely follow thedrag or pursue the fox.

“This is meaning much to Southern Pines and the whole section. Each yearsees some horseman or horsewoman deciding on this vicinity as a place to es-tablish a winter or all year round home.”

Farther on, reference is made to a 140 acre tract purchased by a trio fromNew York that “was the direct result of the hunting colony and the riding here-abouts.”

As the article then explains, “This land has now been developed and is beingfurther developed as a center for the visiting horse people, a place where theymay school their horses over a variety of fences and over big, open fields.”

“There are more horses today in Southern Pines than there have ever beensince the development of riding here started.”

Much of the hunt’s territory consists of acreage acquired by The MooreCounty Company, placed in use in the 1929-1930 hunting season and still in usefor equestrian sports today.

FOXHUNTING

Virginia “Ginnie” Walthour Moss and William O. “Pappy” Moss.Photo courtesy Moore County Historical Association

(l-r) Jack Boyd, James Boyd (Moore County Hounds founder), Harry Nott.Photo courtesy Friends of Weymouth

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IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • FALL 2014 13

As the hunting days of the Boyds began to draw to a close (James died in1944 and Jack left Southern Pines in 1946), the Mosses entered the scene to takeup the mantle. In 1937 William Ozelle “Pappy” Moss and his wife VirginiaWalthour Moss settled in Southern Pines and purchasedMile-Away Farms, whichbecame the home of the Moore County Hounds and their kennels in 1942.“Pappy” Moss became a master that same year and served in that role, later as-sisted by his wife and others, until his death in 1976. Virginia “Ginnie” Mosscontinued to set the example for good sport and land conservation until her deathin 2006 at the age of 96. Thanks to their bequests and gifts, the Walthour-MossFoundation continues as the owner and protector of the hunt lands.

The Moore County Hounds are still owned by heirs of the Mosses and theirperpetuation continues under the stewardship of Ginnie Moss’s great-niecesCameron Sadler MFH and Ginny Thomasson, hunt secretary. The current jointmasters are Richard D.Webb (the oldest actively hunting MFH inAmerica, hav-ing been named master in 1961), Michael Russell, Effie Ellis, and David Carter.David Raley serves as professional huntsman.

Aiken Hounds

The inception of South Carolina’s Aiken Hounds shares some parallels with theMoore Country Hounds of North Carolina. Also established in 1914, the Aikenpack was created by Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Hitchcock of Long Island who, likemany other prominent sporting enthusiasts from the northern climes, came toAiken in the early 1900s to escape the long New York winters. They broughttheir hunters, racehorses, steeplechasers, and polo ponies with them toAiken bytrain. The Hitchcocks purchased the land known today as the Hitchcock Woodsfrom local farmers and used it as an exercise ground for their steeplechasers dur-ing the winter months. The Woods at that time were more than twice the sizethey are today, encompassing more than 5,000 acres of sandy land interspersedwith towering long leaf pines.

Mrs. Hitchcock first began hunting a beagle pack in the Woods. She im-ported rabbits from theMid-West and releasedthem in the Woods to bepursued by her beagles onfoot. The green livery—the traditional color for abeagle pack—worn by theAiken Hounds Mastersand staff today harkensback to those times.At some point the Hitch-cocks conceived the ideaof forming a drag pack.They had already builtseveral miles of “drag”lines of fences for theirsteeplechasers—many of

the fences were over 5’ inheight—to be jumped atspeed in either directionthroughout the Woods. In-troducing hounds into themix only added to the fun.The tradition continues

today. The fences and theWoods are both smaller thanthey were in the Hitchcocks’day. But enthusiasm for thechase has not diminished.The current joint masters

are Linda Knox McLean,Larry Byers, and Joann Peace. Katherine Gunter serves as professional hunts-man.

Huntingdon Valley HuntThe Huntingdon Valley Hunt is located in the rolling farm country of BucksCounty, Pennsylvania, north of Philadelphia along the Delaware River. It is oneof the oldest hunt clubs in Pennsylvania, having been formed in 1914 in the Hunt-ingdon Valley section of what was then the rural suburbs of Philadelphia.

The hounds of the Huntingdon Valley Hunt represent a unique position inthe annals of Pennsylvania foxhunting. Since its inception, it has always been aPenn-Marydel pack and continues to be so today.Although started as a drag pack,in 1918 Huntingdon Valley quickly converted to hunting fox and has hunted foxexclusively ever since.

Because of the encroachment of the suburbs of Philadelphia, the Hunt hasbeen forced by necessity to expand its territory and to push farther and fartherfrom built-up centers in order to find more favorable hunting conditions. Thekennels, which are now located atFox Heath, the home of Hunting-don Valley’s Master, Richard B.Harris, MFH, in Furlong, BucksCounty, Pennsylvania, have beenmoved four times since their estab-lishment. Mr. Harris has served asMaster and Huntsman since 1972and continues to hunt the hounds.

Huntingdon Valley has an en-thusiastic membership that thor-oughly enjoys and supports thehunt and its activities.

Referring back to the bulletsin the Longevity Formula, theseclubs have, over the past 100 years,collectively nailed all seven ofthem. And, given the example ofthose with the foresight to establisha “hunting colony,” we might allnow look at the word “develop-ment” in a more positive light.

Richard B. Harris, Master and Huntsman since 1972,presided with horn in hand over a summer GardenParty commemorating the 100th anniversary of Penn-

sylvania's Huntingdon Valley Hunt.Debra Malinics photo

Katherine Gunter (l) hunts the hounds along sandy trails amid the long leaf pines in Aiken, SouthCarolina. Betsy Burke Parker photo

The jumps in Hitchcock Woods served for both training stee-plechase horses and for sport on hunting days with Aiken

Hounds. Photo, circa 1930s, courtesy of Aiken Hounds

Mrs. and Mr. Thomas Hitchcock, Founders and Masters of theAiken Hounds. Photo, circa 1930s, courtesy of Aiken Hounds

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Fall 2014 In & Around Horse Country 24 pages: 8/27/14 10:49 AM Page 15

IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • FALL 201414

Eventing returned officially to Great Meadow, home of the Virginia and Inter-national Gold Cup Steeplechase races, and plans are underway for Great Meadowto host a CIC*** (Concours Internationale Combiné 3-star, its highest level) in2015. “David O’Connor, US Eventing Chef d’Equipe, is seriously consideringGreat Meadow as the site for all future prep trials, including the 2015 PanAmer-ican Games and the 2016 Olympics,” confirmed Robert L. Banner, president ofthe Great Meadow Foundation.

The “trial run” took place when Great Meadow hosted the final outing for theUS Land Rover eventing team, July 26-27, to prepare for the 2014 FEI AlltechWorld Equestrian Games in Normandy, France (Aug. 22- Sept. 7). It was a dif-ferent kind of event with only 14 horses and riders who had excelled in variousWEG selection trials to make the USWEG team or be named to the list of alter-nates, as well as two riders and three horses from Canada’sWEG team. The pointof the Great Meadow WEG Prep Trial—not a competition, per se—was to pro-vide the Americans with a solid three-phase test, along with all of the accompa-nying pressures. Attendance was fantastic and really added to the electricatmosphere: 1,000 for dressage on Saturday morning, 5,000 for show jumpingthat evening, and 2,500 to 3,000 for Sunday morning’s cross-country.

“Based on the excitement caused by the Preparatory Trials, there is now noquestion that our plans will be very popular,” Banner said. “Great Meadow of-fers many advantages to horsemen and spectators alike that will seed this success.That is why O’Connor, the US Chef d’Equipe, is so supportive of Great Meadowto fill this role. We don’t intend on letting him, the horsemen, or the spectatorsdown and look forward to providing the USET a training and competitive facil-ity to develop winning teams for perpetuity.”

For 11 years, Commonwealth Dressage and Combined TrainingAssociationheld their popular horse trials at Great Meadow, but several hundred horses tendto beat up the turf, especially during a wet spell. In consideration of the spring andfall Gold Cup races, Great Meadow decided that it was best for CDCTA to finda new venue. Footing, which has always been a priority at Great Meadow for thetwo annual steeplechasing meets, proved to be a decisive factor in finding theright venue for the US eventing team.

“The plan all along has been to bring eventing back to Great Meadow in aspecial way—world-class competition with the best horses and riders,” said Ban-ner. “We had been talking about world-class eventing at Great Meadow for awhile, but we didn’t have enough land to do it without using the Gold Cup course.Now, with the acquisition of Fleming Farm, we can go ahead and build this event-ing and equestrian sports facility with spectators in mind, as well as the horsesand riders, and use it only a couple times a year, just like our Gold Cup course.”

Fleming Farm, which added 174 adjacent acres to the nearly 200 that com-prise Great Meadow, had belonged to the founder of Great Meadow, Arthur W.(Nick)Arundel, who passed away in 2011. His heirs’ decision to sell the propertyraised some alarms in the Summerhouse offices at Great Meadow. After all, themission of the Great Meadow Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, is to “preserveopen space in service to the community.” Arundel, a sporting enthusiast wholoved to foxhunt and race his horses on the flat and over jumps, imprinted GreatMeadow with his passion and vision to perpetuate and promote rural activities,especially equestrian sports.

The main water element on the Great Meadow Gold Cup Course was modified to serve as part of the WEG prep cross-country country. Lauren R. Giannini photo

EVENTING

Great Meadow Foundation’s Future:World-Class Eventing In The Plains, Virginia

By Lauren R Giannini

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IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • FALL 2014 15

“It was scary to think that the farm could be sold and houses would getbuilt—if we let that happen, we wouldn’t be doing our job,” Banner said. “Bybuying Fleming Farm we could preserve more open space, but at the time GreatMeadow didn’t have the money for the purchase. We realized that, if we had theland to build a cross-country eventing course, we could host international levelcompetitions.”

The generosity of supporters of the Great Meadow Foundation enabled thepurchase of Fleming Farm. Banner contacted O’Connor, who had been search-ing within the USA for a first-class facility for the US eventing team that offeredall the amenities on-site and within an easy drive. Great Meadow fulfilled everycriteria: Washington DC less than an hour away, 30 minutes to Dulles Interna-tional Airport, two equine veterinary hospitals, plenty of lodging from Warren-ton to Middleburg.

The picturesque venue already boasted an impressive spectator-base, thanksto the record crowds drawn by the Virginia and International Gold Cup races. Inaddition, a loyal following of visitors attend Twilight Polo and Twilight Jumpers,as well as very popular, non-equestrian events, including the huge Family 4th ofJuly celebration, Scottish Games, wine festivals, etc. Great Meadow welcomesmore than 200,000 spectators annually to more than 40 events.

“Over the years NickArundel talked to me often about bringing eventing toGreat Meadow,” said O’Connor, who lives halfway between The Plains and Mid-dleburg when he isn’t in Ocala for the winter eventing season or traveling to var-ious team trainings in his role as Chef d’Equipe. “We’re all excited about it andI think it will be a big boon to the sport, because Middleburg and this whole areaof Northern Virginia needed a true destination event and I think that GreatMeadow is the place to have it. Hosting top-level international competitions herewill benefit Great Meadow Foundation as a whole and our sport. It’s going to bereally good.”

O’Connor, who is only the secondAmerican to earn the individual Olympicgold medal in eventing (Athens 2008), knows very well that the sport needs spec-tators. He also knows that the athletes, both horses and humans, want consistentfooting, which is a basic requirement in terms of safety on any cross-countrytrack where half a ton of equine athlete will gallop and jump a challenging course.The footing of the Gold Cup course is fantastic. Bobby Hilton has spent 30 yearsas the grounds keeper at Great Meadow and will play a vital role in maintainingthe footing on Fleming Farm’s cross-country course.

Another contributing factor and key to success of the world-class eventingvenue is the cross-country course designer: O’Connor contacted longtime friendand colleague Michael Etherington-Smith, chief executive at British Eventingsince 2008 and well-known in eventing circles for his cross-country course de-signs, including Rolex Kentucky CCI**** (18 years), the 2010 Alltech WorldEquestrian Games at Kentucky Horse Park, and the 2000 Sydney and 2008 Bei-jing Olympics.

In March Etherington-Smith flew in from the UK to attend the planningmeeting held by Banner and O’Connor and to meet the people involved, includ-ing Major General (ret) Henry “Buzz” Kievanaar, Chairman of the Board ofTrustees for the Great Meadow Foundation.

“Great Meadow is the most fantastic venue—this is the first time I’ve beenhere and there’s a real feeling of quality,” said Etherington-Smith. “All of it hasbeen done really well and to high standard. We spent a lot of time discussing thecross-country and what the main arena could look like and its versatility for var-ious shows.”

Most of Etherington-Smith’s design work takes place on paper, but cross-country builder Aaron Rust (Lexington, KY) has already gotten a jump-start bybuilding various cross-country obstacles for the WEG Prep Trial, which will bestored until the grounds next door at Fleming Farm are ready for the actual in-stallation of the new cross-country. There’s still a lot of work to do, but hopes runhigh that the world-class course and arena, both designed to be spectator-friendly,will be ready for action by spring or summer 2015.

There’s no doubt that the Great Meadow Foundation has a lot to offer—bydesign. An interesting back-story involves the late founder: in 1982 Arundelbought a 500-acre failed dairy farm, saving it from being subdivided. His visionincluded major improvements to the drainage of the “great meadow” that workedwonders for the footing and facilitated the creation of the topnotch steeplechasecourse in the natural bowl of land that became the permanent home for the Vir-ginia Gold Cup races.

At that time, northern Virginia was experiencing record development, and theBroadview Course, located in nearbyWarrenton, where the Gold Cup Races hadrun since 1930, was on the market. Destined to be a housing development, Broad-view ran its last races in 1984. On May 4, 1985, Great Meadow hosted its first

Virginia Gold Cup: on that day, John R. Neal’s Prince Saran won his second GoldCup and, at Churchill Downs, Spend ABuck won the Kentucky Derby. The fol-lowing May, Arundel fulfilled yet another dream: his Sugar Bee won the 62ndrunning of the Virginia Gold Cup, literally, on home turf.

Arundel’s vision combined horse sports, the conservation of open land, andmarketing the Gold Cup races at Great Meadow to businesses and corporationsas well as to local communities in the heart of horse country. Aware that accesswas vital for handling large crowds of spectators and that Route 66 was being ex-tended from Gainesville toWinchester, he managed to get an interchange for ThePlains added to the plans. The races have grown and grown, and the GreatMeadow Foundation, backed by loyal and generous supporters, has evolved intoa model of land conservation and preservation, ensuring the future of rural pas-times and equestrian sports.

“The future of Great Meadow has always been bright, but our latest initia-tive will take us to the stars,” Banner said. “This will put world-class equestri-anism in our front yard for the first time and forever! I am thrilled that DavidO’Connor sees Great Meadow in his plans to create better teams. Great Meadowis so ideally suited for him, the USET, and all friends and supporters of high per-formance horse sport. We look forward to bringing the first true internationalcompetition to the Piedmont Valley. This is where we need to go and we’re wellon the way.”

David O’Connor, US Eventing Chef d’Equipe, checks the footing at a waterjump before the cross-country phase. Lauren R. Giannini photo

Setting up the course for the WEG prep at Great Meadow was itself a team ef-fort. Lauren R. Giannini photo

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IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • FALL 201416

It’s the center of the rural universe.For the past 56 years, Great

Britain’s Country Land and BusinessAssociation (formerly the CountryLandowners’ Association) has hostedthe world’s largest get-together devotedto shooting, fishing, foxhunting, fal-conry, and other country pursuits.Horses and hounds, Labradors andlurchers, archers and falconers, thatch-ers and hedge-layers, ferrets and terri-ers, artists, scientists andlobbyists—they’re all at the CLAGameFair for three days of debate, demon-stration, competition, and celebration ofrural culture and sport. And did I men-tion the shopping?

Life in the country can be isolating,so in 1958 Nigel Gray and CharlesColes had an idea for a new kind of so-cial event. At the first Game Fair, 8500people showed up at Stetchworth, nearNewmarket, to socialize and exchangeopinions, knowledge, and skills. Theevent focused on shooting andlandowner interests and cost about £800pounds to pull off. It was a success, andfrom there it grew.

This year, from Friday, 18 Julythrough Sunday, the 20th, almost150,000 people, including me, attendeda very different affair indeed. We wan-dered among one thousand vendors andexhibitors on the 11,500-acre groundsof Blenheim Palace. We listened tosometimes-heated debates on the im-pact of field sports on rural economiesand wildlife populations, and the bene-fits and costs they impose on them; weate artisan-produced comestibles at theTotally Food Show—sausages, hardcider and ale, seafood and game, icecream and much, much (maybe toomuch!) more. People enjoyed fly-fish-ing talks and casting lessons in the Fish-ing Village; they saw working dogscompete; they shot, watched cooking

demonstrations, show-jumping classes,and a trained vulture find its dinner.

And they shopped—I did mentionthe shopping, didn’t I? We pulled outour wallets at art galleries, tack shops,Gunmakers’ Row, and countless crafts-men’s booths and clothing stores.Wellies of many colors, mini skirts oftweed, luscious woolens and Barbourrain gear of every description filledthousands of shopping bags. Game Fairorganizers thoughtfully provided aShop-and-Drop station for acquired loot(so people could deposit their pur-chases, then go buy more). There wassecure gun storage, a baby-sitting serv-ice, and (trust the canine-loving Englishto think of this) a Dog Crèche, wherepets could chill for up to four hours in“a quiet, shady place, with experiencedstaff looking after the dogs in a safekennel area…the perfect solution forbored dogs who might find the eventnoisy and overpowering…”

Noisy and overpowering? Yathink?

But it was fun, and it was deeplyedifying. I learned from exhibitorsabout their animals, from spaniels toowls; I spoke to traditional craftsmenabout their livelihoods; and talked withbiologists and other scientists abouttheir efforts to monitor and manageBritain’s ecosystems. I listened to pan-els of experts examining the aims oflarge shooting estates and of conserva-tionists who don’t universally sharethose aims. I discussed with OwenWilliams, a renowned wildlife painter,his efforts to assist in ornithological re-search, as he used his profits from hisfirst bronze and his new book to fundwoodcock banding and migration stud-ies. He bands birds himself and usesstate-of-the-art satellite technology tocollect location data on individualwoodcocks over thousands of miles.

COUNTRY SPORTS

CLAGame FairSomething for Everyone

in the CountryBy Elizabeth Manierre

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IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • FALL 2014 17

Animals are vital to the countryside, but so are people. Over thecourse of the fair, academics and lobbyists explained the impor-tance of rural-based businesses to the nation’s economy; they dis-cussed issues like affordable housing in the countryside, renewableresources, and fair rewards to farmers for their production. The CLAis a serious organization whose members own and manage abouthalf the land in England and Wales, as well as thousands of busi-nesses, and while it’s not aligned with any particular political party,it works very hard on behalf of its members to educate candidatesand governments about rural issues. It insists that the countrysidemust not “be disadvantaged by predominantly urban-focused leg-islation” (a danger in a democracy, where majority rules), and main-tains that the government must increase its efforts to protect thenation’s historic and environmental heritage while it overhauls zon-ing and town-planning policies. It is urging policy-makers to de-velop a national biodiversity offsetting system, and to recognize theimportance of measuring and sustaining the natural environmentfor the wider benefit of society. The CLA offers specific recom-mendations about energy, tourism, water issues and flood control,the role of new technology and manufacturing in the countryside,forestry, pesticides—all complex issues that affect rural areas. TheGame Fair is an important opportunity for examining ideas, to learnfrom people who deeply love the countryside, to try a new sport, orto just “chew the fat.” Everyone should try to attend at least once—you’ll never forget it.

Harewood House in Leeds, Yorkshire, will hold the next CLAGame Fair from the 31st of July through 2 August 2015.

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IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • FALL 201418

Middleburg Hunt Trail Ride,Springglade, August 9, 2014General Crosby Saint.

Dr. Tania Woerner shows how it's done over a tricky ditch during a jumping clinic.

Piedmont Fox Hounds cooled off in Beaver Dam Pond after a pre-season walk-out.

Piedmont Fox Hounds trail ride, July 26, 2014Emma Walsh.

Horses, hounds, and hunters enjoyed some late summer fun andprepped for the coming season. Middleburg Photo captured the action.

FOXHUNTING

The Masters of Belle Meade Hunt are excited to announceour Third Annual Hunt Week, January 18-24. Hunt Weekkicks off a month of hunting and social events concludingwith ourAnnual PerformanceTrials, February 26-27.

• Enjoy 35,000 acres of Hunt Country – one of thelargest hunt countries east of the Mississippi

• Acclaimed Hounds• Family Friendly Environment - ChildrenWelcome• Four Flights for Foxhunters of all levels• Hunt Breakfasts and Stirrup Cups• Tally HoWagons for Non-Riders• Hunt Ball with SilentAuction

For pricing and more information, visit our website:www.bellemeadehounds.com Call 706-833-3104

Email: Honorary Secretary Angela Smithke4nnr@classicsouth.net

Hunt Week2015

January 18 - 24

Thomson, Georgia

Gone Away with theWind

Teddy Zimmerman, center, led the Piedmont Fox Hounds Trail ride at Dencrest, August 9, 2014.

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IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • FALL 2014 19

Upcoming Events In &AroundHorse Country

It’s a busy time in Horse Country. Here’s a list of some upcoming events.Sept. 14 Benefit Polo Match & Luncheon for National Sporting Library, Middleburg,VA. Information: amckay@nsl.orgSept. 20 Blue Ridge Fall Races,Woodley Farm, Berryville, VA 1:00 p.m.Information: 540-539-1577 or 540-722-6403, www.blueridgefallraces.comSept. 21 Susan G. Komen Ride for the Cure, Great Meadow, The Plains, VA.Information: www.komencentralva.orgSept. 21 Deep Run Hunt Fall Fun Hunter Pace, Sunnyside Farm, 9:00 a.m. Informa-tion: Lynn Richie 804-986-2944, tallyholpr@gmail.com, www.deeprunhuntclub.comSept. 28 Piedmont Hunter Trials, Salem Farm Showground, Upperville, VA 8:00a.m. Contact Barbara Riggs, briggs@huntoverfarm.comSept. 28 Foxfield Fall Race Meet, Foxfield Race Course, Charlottesville, VA 1:30p.m. Information: 434-293-9501, www.foxfieldraces.comSept. 28 Bull Run Hunt Fall Fun Hunter Pace, Summerduck Wood, Rapidan, VA9:00 a.m. Information: Rosie Campbell, MFH 540-672-5128, rosie268@aol.com,www.bullrunhunt.comSept. 27-Nov. 9 Junior North American Field Hunter Championship.Qualifying Hunts Sept. 27 – Oct. 18, Finals Nov. 9Contact Marion Chungo: mchungo@aol.com, 540-220-7292Sept. 29-Oct. 4 North American Field Hunter Championship.Qualifying Hunts Sept. 29 – Oct. 2, Finals Oct. 4Information: 540-687-5552, www.vafallraces.comOct. 4-5 Virginia Fall Race Meet, Glenwood Park, Middleburg, VA 2:00 p.m.Information: 540-687-5662, www.vafallraces.comOct. 5 Keswick Hunt Fall Fun Hunter Pace, Bridlespur Farm, 9:00 a.m.Information: Erica Simel Stevens, 561-601-9531, bridlespurfarm@gmail.com,www.keswickhuntclub.comOct. 9-18 Pennsylvania National Horse Show. www.panational.orgOct. 12 Casanova Hunt Fall Fun Hunter Pace,Winfall, Catlett, VA 9:00 a.m. Infor-mation: Kathleen O’Keefe, 540-439-3848, kdo@vabb.com, www.casanovahunt.comOct. 14 Author Talk & Book Signing: Felix Francis - Dick Francis’s Damage. 6:00p.m. Horse Country, Warrenton, VA. 540-347-3141, huntbooks@aol.comOct. 19 Virginia Field Hunter Championship, hosted by Middleburg Hunt, WindField Farms, Middleburg, VA. Information: www.middleburghunt.comOct. 19 Warrenton Hunt Fall Fun Hunter Pace, The Oaks Hayfield, 11:00 a.m.Info: Clydetta P. Talbot 540-219-6562, clydetta@aol.com, www.warrentonhunt.com

Oct. 21-26 Washington International Horse Show. www.wihs.orgOct. 25 International Gold Cup, Great Meadow Course, The Plains, VA 1:30 p.m.Information: 540-347-2612, www.vagoldcup.comOct. 26 Orange County Hounds Team Chase Event, Old Whitewood Farm,The Plains, VA, 9:00 a.m., contact Pippy McCormick, doverhse@earthlink.net,540-454-2854 or Jane Bishop, jeb.waverly@mac.com, 540-729-7083Oct. 28 Author Talk & Book Signing: Barclay Rives, William Cabell Rives: ACountry to Serve and See You At Second Horses. 7:00 p.m. Horse Country, Warrenton,VA 540-347-3141, huntbooks@aol.comOct. 29-Nov. 5 MHHNAArt Show at Salamander Resort, Middleburg, VA.Information: www.MHHNA.orgNov. 1 Montpelier Race Meet,Montpelier Station, VA 12:30 p.m.Information: 540-672-0027, www.montpelierraces.comNov. 1 Cavaliers, Courage & Coffee – the Haunted Turnpike, Aldie Mill, Aldie,VA. Sponsored by the Mosby Heritage Area Association.Information: 540-687-6681, info@mosbyheritagearea.orgNov. 2 Farmington Hunt Fall Fun Hunter Pace, TBD, 10:00 a.m.Information: Liz King 434-953-9822, lizb01@aol.com, www.farmingtonhunt.orgNov. 11 Author Talk & Book Signing: Rita Mae Brown’s latest Sister Jane mystery: Let Sleeping Dogs Lie. 6:30 p.m. Horse Country, Warrenton, VA. 540-347-3141, huntbooks@aol.com.Dec. 7 Juan Tomás Hounds (NM) Guest Day. www.juantomashounds.com Note: There is no Virginia Hunt Week this year; it is a biannual event.Jan. 15-18 Low Country Hunt (SC) Weekend.Information: 843-571-1934, melinda@shambleyequine.comJan. 23-25 & Feb.13-16 Casa Ladron (NM) Ski/Hunt. Information: Richard Patton, 505-466-4200, rspatton@aol.comJan. 18-24 Belle Meade (GA) Hunt Week. www.bellemeadehounds.comJan. 18-Feb. 28 Belle Meade (GA) Hunt Month. www.bellemeadehounds.com Feb. 4-12 Whiskey Road Foxhounds (SC) Hunt Week.www.whiskeyroadfoxhounds.comFeb. 20-22 Juan Tomás Hounds (NM) Hunt Ball and Sunday Hunt.Information: Jackie Cronenberg at cronenberg88@q.comFeb. 26-27 Belle Meade (GA) Performance Trials.Information: www.bellemeadehounds.comMarch 13-15 Juan Tomás Hounds (NM) Closing Hunt Weekend: Hunting, shooting, poker, and polo. Information: www.juantomashounds.com

CALENDAR

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IN & AROUND HORSE COUNTRY • FALL 201420

HORSE RACING

Horses and People to WatchVirginia Thoroughbred Association

Still No Thoroughbred Racing atColonial Downs As Legal Battle

ContinuesThose waiting for a resolution to the dispute overracing days at Colonial Downs are unlikely to see aresolution until much later this year. The VirginiaHorsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association(VHBPA) and racetrack management were unableto come to an agreement regarding a contract andthere will be no live Thoroughbred racing at Colo-nial Downs in 2014. Instead, the battle between theVHBPA and Colonial Downs is likely to go to thecourts rather than be resolved through direct negoti-ation.

The fall harness meet will proceed as usual, run-ning September 17 through October 26.

On June 23, the Virginia Racing Commissionconditioned rescinding a December 2013 order thatdirected Colonial Downs to run a 2014 race meet of5 weeks/25 days, if Colonial Downs executed a con-tract with the VHBPA providing for an 8 week/24day-race meet in 2015. VHBPA executive directorFrank Petramalo sent Colonial Downs a draft con-tract for 8 weeks/24 days in 2015, as directed by theCommission. In response, Colonial Downs sent aletter to the VHBPA from president Ian Stewart re-jecting that contract and appealed the VRC’s order tothe Circuit Court in Richmond.

According to Stewart’s letter, a contract accept-able to Colonial Downs must include reimbursementof costs “in excess of five weeks of live racing,” amulti-year structure (2015-2017), permanent assur-ance that the Thoroughbred signal “will not be in-terfered with in either the SWFs or on EZHorseplay,” and a 50/50 split of purse funds from allsources (account wagering, SFWs, live racing, ex-port simulcasting, and Breeders’ Fund) between“high-end and every day racing.”

Petramalo told the VTA that Colonial will arguein court that the VRC does not have the authority toissue an order “dictating the terms of a contract forracing in 2015.”

The VRC has until September 26 to file re-sponding papers, at which point the court will hearthe case, likely later in the fall.

“I do not think Colonial Downs is correct as amatter of law,” Petramalo said in an email to theVTA. “In any event, it will probably be the end ofthe year before the court hears the case and rendersa decision.”

In the meantime, Petramalo believes that theVRC’s mandate that Colonial run a 5 week/25 day-race meet in 2014 still stands. Petramalo believesthat Colonial’s court appeal and rejection of the 20158 week/24 days contract indicates that the track hasturned down the compromise offered by the VRCand should therefore be subject to immediate legalproceedings by that organization to enforce its orderfor racing in 2014.

Although racing in Virginia is in a holding pat-tern, the VHBPAand the Virginia ThoroughbredAs-sociation will sponsor five Virginia-bred/Virginia-sired stakes races at Laurel Park on Satur-

day, September 13. These five stakes will be thesame stakes typically run at Colonial Downs duringthe regular summer meet and will each carry a purseof $60,000 guaranteed.

The decision to run these five Virginia-bredstakes in 2014 despite the continued closure of Colo-nial Downs represents the ongoing commitment ofthe VTA and the VHBPA to Virginia horsemen andhorses. Virginia continues to be a hub of qualitybreeders, trainers, owners, and other horsemen, asevidenced by the growing number of graded stakesperformers that originated in the Commonwealth.This year alone, horses broken, bred, or raised inVirginia have won the Grade I Belmont, the Grade IWood, the Grade II Monmouth Cup Stakes, theGrade II Jim Dandy, the Grade II Jerome, the GradeII San Pasqual, the Grade III Red Bank, and more.

The VTAand the VHBPAare committed to sup-porting the horsemen responsible for these tremen-dous performers and growing the VirginiaThoroughbred industry by providing opportunitiesfor Virginia-bred and Virginia-sired horses to earngenerous state-bred purses and shine on a nationalstage.

The stakes are as follows:The Oakley Stake, for Virginia-bred and Virginia-sired fillies and mares 3 years old and upward, willbe run over 5½ furlongs on the turf.The Jamestown Stake, for Virginia-bred and Vir-ginia-sired 2-year-olds, will be run over 5½ furlongson the turf.The Punch Line Stake, for Virginia-bred and Vir-ginia-sired 3-year-olds and upward, will be run over5½ furlongs on the turf.The BertAllen Stake, for Virginia-bred and Virginia-sired for 3-year-olds and upward, will be run over 11/16 miles on the turf.The Brookmeade Stake, for Virginia-bred and Vir-ginia-sired fillies and mares 3 years old and upward,will be run over 1 1/16 miles on the turf.

VHBPA& VTA Support theInternational Gold Cup

The VHBPAwill sponsor the $50,000 Zeke Fer-guson Hurdle at the International Gold Cup Racesand three flat races, one Virginia-bred restricted andtwo Virginia-bred preferred, with the goal of pro-viding more opportunities for Virginia horses to racein the absence of live racing at Colonial Downs.These races will be on Saturday, October 25, at theGreat Meadow course in The Plains, Virginia.

In addition to Virginia-bred races, the Gold Cupwill continue to offer pari-mutuel wagering, includ-ing an on-site wireless mobile wagering platformthat will allow guests to place bets directly fromtheir phones and tablets. Last spring, handle reacheda healthy $130,000, up 68 percent from the springbefore.

The VTAwill host a Turf Club event at the GoldCup. Tickets are $80 per person and include a Mem-bers Hill badge, exclusive access to the catered TurfClub tent, VIP parking, wine and beer, and wageringmachines located in the tent. More information isavailable at www.vabred.org.

Riverdee Stables’Virginia-bred Hear the Word annexing the OldDominion Turf Championship at 2013’s International Gold Cup

Races. Liz Callar photo

The grand entrance to the VTA-hosted Turf Club at the VirginiaGold Cup Spring Races, 2014. VTA photo

Virginia-bred Valid winning the Grade II Monmouth Cup.Coady Photography photo

Virginia-broken Wicked Strong and Virginia-raised Tonalist dukingit out in the stretch of the Grade II Jim Dandy at Saratoga.

Adam Coglianese photo

Fall 2014 In & Around Horse Country 24 pages: 8/27/14 10:49 AM Page 22

REALESTATE

HORSEFARMSANDCOUNTRYHOMES.COMCindy Polk, 703.966.9480, David O’FlahertyRealtor specializing in country properties fromcottages, land and hobby farms to fine estates andprofessional equestrian facilities. WashingtonFine Properties. 204 E. Washington St., Middle-burg, VA.

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GONEAWAYBilly (B.C.) Douglas

With the passing of Billy (B.C.) Douglas on July 28, 2014. South Creek Fox-hounds of Tampa, Florida, lost its original Professional Huntsman. In 1965,Mr. Robert Thomas started Two Rivers Hunt, Florida’s longest running fox-hunt with the purchase of several tough, experienced horses from Ben Hard-away of Columbus, Georgia (including a sturdy, part draft horse, Garth, thatB.C. rode). Mr Thomas secured several hounds from the Deep Run Hunt inVirginia and, in an inspired move, purchased a couple of Irish foxhounds andhad them shipped air freight to Zephyrhills for their new lives in SouthernFlorida. Foxhunting then began at the Thomas’s beautiful Two Rivers Ranchunder the watchful eye of B.C. Douglas.

He was well known as a top night hunter and field trial judge through-out the states of Florida and Georgia. B.C. was not only a good Huntsman, butwas also a successful breeder of foxhounds and enjoyed every aspect of theoutdoors. In 1989, B.C. handed the hunting horn to his son, Robert Douglas,who continues as the Professional Huntsman today. In 1995, the name of theclub was changed to South Creek Foxhounds. B.C. was 83 at the time of hisdeath. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Peggy, and his sons Robert andRandy, as well as two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. Photo courtesy of South Creek Foxhounds.

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