Rockbridge Hunt News -- December, 1999

Glenmore Hunt News

Glenmore Hunt's newsletter reports that they had excellent weather and over 160 riders turn out at their Fall Hunter Pace which was the same day as our Landowners Luncheon. They also report that members have been hard at work cleaning up the property recently purchased for use as their new kennels and an apartment for their houndsperson. Which brings up . . .

Volunteer needed (or a committee of volunteers)

The Executive Committee of RH would be thrilled if a member were to take on the task of organizing a hunter pace (or hunter trials?) on our home turf, at West Airsley, or the Horse Center. We have not done one of these for too many years now, although we have in the past. If you are interested contact an Executive Committee member or MFH David Bolen. Picking a good date may be the hardest thing in order not to conflict with any other hunter paces at the minimum. It would probably be impossible to find a date that does not conflict with some local show. Sept-Nov seems to be the fall season, and then there is a smaller flurry in the spring (usually April) right at the end of hunting season. Coordinating with Glenmore Hunt as a minimum would be highly encouraged.

Open Membership meeting!

There will be an open membership meeting to vote on the proposed bylaw change printed below on January 29th, 2000. Members are welcome to bring up any other topics of concern at the meeting. The meeting will start promptly after the potluck (7pm). Members may return the proxy to Erica Jones if they will not be able to attend.

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Proxy from _____________________________________

I wish to assign my vote to _________________________________________ at the general membership meeting on January 29th, 2000.

Date______________________________

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Mail to: Erica Jones
Rt. 1 Box 272
Newport VA 24128.
e-mail: emjones@vt.edu
If you e-mail me, be sure to note who will be voting for you.

Rockbridge Hunt, Incorporated by-laws (Amended 1994)
Article IV Section 9. Social Members
Social members shall be invited to all non-hunting functions of the Hunt and shall have all the social privileges that the hunting members have. Their membership shall not include riding privileges or voting privileges. The number of social members shall not exceed twenty percent of the number of the hunting memberships.

Proposed Amendment to Article IV Section 9.
Preamble:
Whereas Rockbridge Hunt sponsors horse shows, trail rides and competitive rides open to non-member participation, and, whereas Rockbridge Hunt members may enjoy recreational opportunities including horseback riding on Rockbridge Hunt property and Hunt, Inc. properties held in common, and, whereas Rockbridge Hunt hunting members may pay a capping fee and invite non-members to participate in organized fox hunting, and whereas Rockbridge Hunt traditionally allows non-members to receive an invitation to participate in organized fox hunting from the secretary upon paying a capping fee, and whereas the by-laws of Rockbridge Hunt deny these privileges to members in the social membership category, it is proposed that the by-laws Article IV Section 9 be amended and revised to:

Social members shall be invited to all non-hunting functions of the Hunt and shall have all the social privileges and riding privileges except hunting that the hunting members have. Their membership shall not include voting privileges. Social members may pay a capping fee determined by the Executive Committee and may hunt for a number of times as determined by the Executive Committee. The number of social members shall not exceed twenty percent of the number of the hunting memberships.

Other News

Landowners Luncheon
Approximately 35 attended the fall Landowners Luncheon hosted by the Executive Committee. All enjoyed an excellent meal and stayed afterwards to catch up on the latest news. The Executive Committee was delighted to be able to do something for our landowners in return for their generosity.

New member!Please add her to your membership list:
Mrs. Anne Croll
642 Padgetts Hill Road
Natural Bridge, VA 24578
Anne rides at our neighbor Fancy Hill farm and is joining as a social member.

Answers to the Quiz
Susan Streaker kindly forked over the answers to last month's quiz with only a small amount of begging. The winner was a tie between Erica Jones and Kathleen Nowacki-Correia. I'd sure like to see more participation on the next quiz. The prize for the first quiz was a certain amount of distilled grain products (and was declared to be excellent).

1. The most important gait in a hunter is the ________.

Answer: Halt

2. The most important quality in a hunting horse is _________.

Answer: Control

Which of the following is considered optional (in the U.S.)?
a) boots
b) spurs
c) gloves
d) hunting whip

Answer: c)gloves and b)spurs

What is a "thruster?"

Answer: A person who rides over top of other people

The most important person of the hunting day is ______________.

Answer: Huntsman

What does "hold hard" mean?

Answer: STOP!

What does "hark" mean?

Answer: Listen!

All horses may kick--even the ones without red ribbons. How can you judge if you are a sufficient distance from the horse in front?

Answer: See his heels between your horse's ears

"Coffee-housing" is:
a) Idle chatter at the covert-side.
b) A tailgate picnic following a foxhunt.
c) A meeting of the Hunt Committee.
d) A fall into mud or dirty water.

Answer: a) Idle chatter at the covert

10. What additional piece of saddlery should a novice rider use when jumping? What piece of standard hunting tack can serve this purpose?

Answer: Hunting breastplate (or grabstrap made from a stirrup leather)

Label redemption program
RH is going to resurrect the Southern States label program. A number of years ago, former member Lin Schug (now deceased) and Katharine Conner (then Sanford) did this for a while and had some of the jumps in the ring built with the funds.

Here is how it works: Labels from SS or Triple Crown feed bags (horse feed only; they don't take chicken chow!) need to be neatly detached from the bags, as the labels themselves get mailed to SS headquarters in Richmond. They also accept the receipts from bulk purchases. Labels for "Reliance" are worth $0.15 per; all the others are worth $0.25 per. This may not sound like a lot but it can add up fast. The 'label' in question is the proof of purchase part. I've discovered that some commercial boarding barns are sometimes willing to give you their duplicate copy of the feed delivery ticket if they do not already participate in someone's label program and/or are perfectly happy to have you come cut labels. Moneys can be cashed in any time, but must be cashed in by the end of the "label-year" which is usually June. In exchange for the check, SS is given a copy of our membership list and the newsletter is supposed to make mention of how the label $$ are put to use.

You can leave labels or feed tickets in the Lodge (there's an envelope on the bulletin board) or mail them to:
Cindy Morton
516 South Main St.
Lexington, VA 24450

Bits and Pieces

Carol Atwood is holding an unmounted Pony Club training clinic at the Tex Tilson Lodge on January 16, 2000 from 2PM - 4PM. The clinic is to teach the members about the hounds: their lines of breeding and why we prefer this type of hound, other lines of foxhound and what is special about them, how a foxhound hunts and other related topics. Included will be a guided tour of the kennels led by the Huntsman, David Conner, and a chance to see how the hounds are fed. All hunt members are welcome to attend.

The first pot luck of 2000 will also be a general membership meeting. Fred Burks has agreed to supply the meat for the meal so please bring only salads, veggies, breads, deserts and/or other accompaniments.

You should be sending any addresses of folks who might like a hunt ball invitation to Pam Moskal as soon as possible. She has been busy working on updating the hunt ball mailing list. Pam's address is: 4940 Fawn Dell Road, Roanoke VA 24066.

Stan (Eichelberger) has a pair of Marlboro boots he'd like to sell, since they don't fit any longer. They're size 9 [+ or -], and in good condition. Asking $100, but it's negotiable. I can bring them to a meet, if anyone wants to see them. Kathy Eichelberger

Hound Report

Thistle has a pile of new puppies, by Curtis (rumor has it's eight, but they must be hard to count). Unfortunately (for identification purposes in the hunt field), most of the puppies are shades of white in spite of generous coloration on the parents.

Waffle's puppies are thriving and have started going on walks. Waffle is happy to be back to her main job: hunting! Cindy Morton

Notice:
We hear rumors of folks still using the old Hunt Line. We also hear rumors of certain members showing up at the wrong place and time after NOT calling. David Bolen is no longer maintaining the old line so the only place you will get up to date news is the current number. Winter hunts are always dicey to schedule with footing and weather concerns. Also, some trapping has been happening at Swinks; if and when this ceases we will be able to hunt out of there again so there may be some fixture changes that are NOT related to weather.

Dates of Interest
Sat, Feb 19, 2000	Rockbridge Hunt Ball
Sat, March 4, 2000	Glenmore Hunt Ball
May 5, 2000	Derby Day Hound Show (at Glenmore Hunt)
June 10, 2000	RH Horse Show - Joan Alberti
September 2-3, 2000	Labor Day Endurance Ride - Brenda Baird

Minutes from Executive Committee Meeting
November 21, 1999

Members present: Kathy Eichelberger, Cindy Morton, David Bolen, Carol Atwood, Lauren Keating, and Erica Jones. Members absent: Pete Whitlock. Advisory committee members absent: Viola Wise and Gene Clapsaddle.

Noted: the prior verbal vote for four new members so it could go in the minutes. Cindy said that she has heard back from 3 of the 4 nominees. Mrs. Eve Wallace, Mrs. Anne Croll, Mrs. Paula Ursoy, and Mrs. Dorothy Web are the nominees.

Decided on date for special meeting of membership to vote on change on social members to be the first 'breakfast' hunt after the first of the year (2000).

Clarified for Erica Jones that the idea of an Agricultural District has been tabled.

The barn committee has not met, yet. David promised to hound them.

Kathy Eichelberger suggested establishing a plaque honoring our equine partners in mud, dust and rain. She is to form a committee to suggest a pricing scheme and establish guidelines for accepting applications.

Cindy asked if RH could sign up on the Southern States label program. RH agrees to supply SS with their mailing list, and mention SS in our newsletter. The restrictions for using funds are pretty broad and simply say that the moneys are to "better the horse community".

Carol Atwood is going to send out open invitations to hunt to the juniors (PC members and 4-H members) she has been working with. The December 22nd hunt will also be a "junior" hunt as she hopes to have another set of juniors ready to roll by then and they will be out of school. The invitation will also state something to the effect of "do the best you can for attire". Carol noted that the juniors did quite well at the October hunt for attire, but that was not a formal attire day.
Erica Jones

Rockbridge Hunt
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