Rockbridge Hunt News -- November, 1999

The weather forecast had been for rain but rain was about the only thing we did not see. Brisk winds, hail, snow pellets and bright sun all made their appearances that day. According to field master (and honorary MFH) Graham Pitsenberger we accounted for two foxes that day; our own whipper-in Nancy Conner spotting one of these. The field got several excellent chances to view Glenmore's hounds at work when we were not huddled out of the wind. This was definitely a day for wool for the human types.

This particular fixture is always a real treat for us woodsy types from RH as it consists of rolling agricultural fields, dairy and cattle farms, with some coverts of older woods, scattered around.

Glenmore is also well known (at least in the Jones' household) for their prompt, excellent breakfasts. We appreciate their warm hospitality.

Friday saw a bit more action than Saturday, which was officially declared to be a blank day. Peter Winants ably led the field both days while Melvin Poe enthusiastically worked his 'red ring necked' hounds of Orange Count hunt origins. Although these American foxhounds are called red, they look almost orange to us not well versed in hound terms. He has an amazingly uniformly matched pack of hounds although there was one black and white one mixed in.

The territory at Bath is a mix of rolling pastures and hay fields, river bottoms, and gorges and older woods. Down in one of those gorges we got to ride by what appeared to be a private trout 'pond' formed by a dam in the river. Swimming along with the regular brown colored trout were some golden trout. Several members of the field were almost drooling. It was lucky there was not any fishing gear in evidence (although the owner thoughtfully provided two chairs).

A good-sized contingent joined us on Saturday from Glenmore and they also did the breakfast that day. Friday breakfast was supplied by Nancy Conner, Viola Wise, Joe Allen and Katharine Conner, Cindy Morton, David Bolen, and Erica Jones.

For some early season tailgates the kitchen committee would like to thank Kay and Cindy Morton, Carol Atwood, Rebecca Tilson, Lois Farmer, and Mary Lynn Camper.

For the October 16th breakfast the cooks were Jeanne Jeffer, Judy Mundy, Diane Long and Lu Dooley.

After the New Years hunt the breakfast format will go back to potluck like we did last year. This was popular with folks that managed to come out hunting during the depths of winters. The hunt will continue to supply drinks and paper items. Just bring yourself and your dish and three dollars (to cover cost of paper goods, drinks, etc.).

The kitchen committee has expanded its membership a shade to try to spread the work around a bit thinner. The current members are: Carol Atwood, Mary Lynn Camper, Mary Clapsaddle, Pam Moskal, Betty Baird, Judy Mundy, Jeanne Jeffer, Viola Wise, and Nancy Conner. You might notice that a lot of these names repeat several times. If you have any inspiration to do some cooking or even decorating, give one of the members a call.

Glenmore hunt has a very nice web site (http://personal.cfw.com/~glenmor) up and going. Congratulations to them.

This year I've been trying screw in studs on the back shoes of my horse while Blair's mare, Delphi, is sticking to regular globs of borium. Borium works quite well on pavement and rocky going, and even seems to improve traction in mud although it is not really designed for mud unless it is installed in lumps. Borium also can be put on nail heads if you want traction without the lumps.

The advantage to studs is that you can vary the amount of traction you have for any particular day. Studs come in styles deigned for roads, grass and mud although truthfully I can't tell any difference between the smallest 'grass' and 'road'. Some of the mud studs get really large although I'm not sure even those would help much on the Fat Lady's trail in any weather. Not only is the traction helpful on pavement, but they are nice in front of muddy coops and useful for stopping in a hurry, as the back feet don't slip out so much on takeoff and. When you take the studs out you really need to replace them with blanks (installed with either an Allen wrench or screwdriver) in order to keep the threads on the holes on shoe in good order.

One disadvantage to studs is that they can come out if your threads get tired and/or if you don't tighten them well. The other disadvantage is that they take time to put in and take out. This process goes much better if your horse stands like rock while you mess with his/her feet. The price we paid for shoes with holes drilled & threaded was the same as for borium so there is not any real price difference other than buying studs and blanks. These shoes re-set and re-heat just fine.

An alternative we used for several years, when the farrier we used to have refused to use borium, were small drive-in studs. These are much smaller than the screw in types and are shaped like small cones and are permanently pounded into the heels of the shoes. These worked quite well for us, but if your horse is not carefully shod the back hoof walls can end up with vertical gouges. Leaving the studs off the front feet might fix this problem, as did finding a new farrier! These studs will wear out eventually.

I've also hunted in a fullered (creased according to one manufacturers web site) shoe called "Eventer" by my farrier. These are a boatload better than those smooth egg bars mentioned above. Anything that adds relief to the surface will help with traction. There are two other 'built in' options - shoes with heels, and shoes with toe bars; and probably other devices I don't know about.
Erica Jones

Crosby "Bruce Davidson" "Event" saddle for sale. 19" (?). Excellent condition; approximately two years old. Make offer. Blair Jones.

All answers are taken from the following four books:
"Riding To Hounds In America" by William P. Wadsworth
"Foxhunting In North America" by Alexander Mackay-Smith
"Foxhunting" by The Duke Of Beaufort
"The Pony Club Quiz Book No. 1" A Pony Club Publication

While the answers may not be the way things are done in all hunts (or even in our hunting field) it isn't bad to know what the generally accepted practices are in case one goes out visiting! Good luck.

1. 1. The most important gait in a hunter is the ________.
2. 2. The most important quality in a hunting horse is _________.
3. Which of the following is considered optional (in the U.S.)?
   a) boots
   b) spurs
   c) gloves
   d) hunting whip
4. What is a "thruster"?
5. The most important person of the hunting day is ______________.
6. What does "hold hard" mean?
7. What does "hark" mean?
8. 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?
9. "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.
10. 10. What additional piece of saddlery should a novice rider use when jumping? What piece of standard hunting tack can serve this purpose?