Rockbridge Hunt News -- December, 2000

Please note that your late fall- 2001 (new) fixture card is included in this newsletter. Please call Carol Atwood with your reservations. You may reserve for the year if you like. Carol reports that folks have not been calling to reserve - please remember to do so. Cooking for some unknown quantity is no fun!!

The first Virginia Hunt Week is over. It was unforgettable and great fun. Rockbridge Hunt members were a substantial presence throughout the week. At every single meet I saw Rockbridge members handling gates and helping out in various ways. They rode well and were turned out well and knew what was happening. We can all be proud of the way Rockbridge was represented throughout the week.

The people who attended Virginia Hunt Week were knowledgeable foxhunters and they noticed these points (most of the visitors from outside the area are on the staff at their home hunt). I received several comments from out-of-state visitors about Rockbridge being the friendliest group of the week. That was helped along by the fact that ours was the first meet and we wore nametags at the breakfast. Every day after that visitors could look around and see someone they'd already met who they knew would get along in the hunt field. That's got to be a reassuring feeling when you've traveled all the way from Oklahoma or Illinois or New York.

Frankly, the weather was lousy for hunting although a fox was viewed at Farmington. It was warm and dry and clear with a full moon. On the other hand, the fall foliage was beautiful and the weather was perfect for standing around both before and after the meets, eating and drinking and talking, activities dear to the hearts of foxhunters. All the breakfasts were fabulous and most days featured a stirrup cup, too.

The hunting was a blast and riding over different territory was definitely a treat but the highlight of the week was meeting all the people. It really was a lot of fun. There will be meetings and discussions and changes but the future of Virginia Hunt Week seems secure.

As an added bonus, Rockbridge Hunt Pony Club sold close to five hundred dollars worth of merchandise! And I'd like to thank everyone who helped out that day and with preparations: Carol Atwood, Susan Bailey, David Bolen, Alice Buchanan, Fred Burks, Katharine Conner, Carter Drake, Lois Farmer, Laura Jarvis, Lauren Keating, Ann Layman, Joyce Layman, Judy and Popeye Mundy, and Janet Wynot. Diane Long and Jeanne Jeffer very kindly lent horses to visitors from Great Britain. Judy Mundy helped transport one of the horses. And Diane contributed a horse for one of the visitors several times during the week. That was most generous and we all thank you.

• Trail: David Bolen (head), Lauren Keating, Lu Dooley, Frank Farmer, Lisa Kern, Sandra Worthy, Kevin and Brenda Baird.
  
• Gates: Nancy and Holton Conner, Blair Jones. [Also Katharine Conner, Lauren Keating, and Cindy Morton.]
  
• Food: Blair and Erica Jones (Blair turned out 80 pounds of barbecued chicken off the Rockbridge Hunt grill in a record 4 hours), Cindy and Kay Morton (carrot peelers extraorinaire), Judy Mundy (spaghetti), Diane Long (mondo salad), Lois Farmer (lunches), Viola Wise (cookies), Ann Layman (more salad!), Lu Dooley (brownies), Jan Keener (more cookies!) (Jan's not even a member!), Karen Zollman and Nancy Conner. Karen got up at the crack of doom Sunday morning (4 am?) and made hard boiled eggs and coffee for the riders. There is still a small "Coleman" cooler in the hunt lodge (white body, red mane) which I think came from someone bringing food??
  
• Facilities: Thanks to the Zollmans' for use of their tractor for fetching rigs off the grounds.
• Awards: We give out plaques to the winners and a horse sheet for the winner of the best conditioned award with ROCKBRIDGE HUNT 50 BEST CONDITION printed on it. Also 'turtle' award and high vet score plaque.
• Weather: It was perhaps a shade better with some light rain this year; at least it did not pour continuously or bake evenly.

• We had five ride and tie teams this year (doing 25 miles); the most ever ride and tie teams, but no results were available.
• The winner of the 25 was Michelle Stanton from Honey Brook PA with a time of 3:31 riding an Arab owned by Steve & Betty Baker. In second place was Candace Fitzgerald of Lexington with a time of 3:40. Twenty eight horses started with two being disqualified for 'overtime' and two retiring.
• The winner of the 50 was Samatha Sandler from Gaithersburg MD with a time of 7:57 on her 6 year old Arab gelding. In second place was Dana Reeder of Ranson WV with a time of 8:10. Thirty horses started with 11 finishing.

The hunt ball will be the same place as last year (Evans Dining Hall at Washington and Lee University) and same band (Merle Ayers).

Nancy Conner will again be securing donations for the Silent Auction. Your donations can be dropped off anytime now. Let her know if you have something to bring so she can make appropriate arrangements. After Christmas Nancy and her helpers will start making phone calls to solicit donations. While you're doing your Christmas shopping keep your eyes open for bargains that are irresistible to foxhunters! Please, it would be extremely helpful if all donations were received by Saturday, February 17th (a week before the ball). At least let Nancy know what you are bringing. Thank you.

Please try to greet these folks when you see them in the hunt field. Remember - new members usually don't just happen by magic but need to be cultivated and educated. All of us were new members at one point!

I (Cindy Morton) made an error in presenting the ribbons involving the juniors. The correct results are presented here. My abject apologies! Next time I'll get someone else to score and present ribbons.

All of the food was donated which definitely contributes to the bottom line. And all of the volunteers did a wonderful job. We couldn't put on these functions without volunteers, and the participants are pretty important, too! Whether you rode or helped out or both, THANK YOU; it all adds up to money for the club.

Kay Morton, Erica Jones, Laura Jarvis, Lu Dooley, Diane Long, and Cindy Jones all donated food. Lu also watched a gate and helped with trail cleanup. Laura also helped out in the kitchen and with trail cleanup. Katharine Conner marked and "unmarked" most of the trail and was invaluable as our starting-line timer. Erin Dickinson did a first rate job as finish-line timer. Alice and Bill Buchanan (Jessica's parents) worked at a gate and parking. David Bolen and Lauren Keating ran the checkpoint. Nancy Conner did a variety of things: gate watching and secretary and kitchen crew. Joe Conner helped with cleanup. David and Susan Conner pitched in with some driving help. Paula Ursoy did a fabulous job as secretary for the busiest part of the day.

THANK YOU. It's no exaggeration to say we couldn't have done it without you. Everyone enjoys this event so much that it would almost be worth doing if we only covered expenses. To make a nice amount of money with a fairly short day of work (9:30 AM to 3:00 PM for most volunteers) makes all the work worthwhile. Income from entry fees and meal purchases totaled $1160. The (approximate) expenses were $10 for surveyors tape (we used a lot of leftovers from the Endurance Ride) and $45 for printing and postage (flyers and entry forms). Most of the soft drinks were leftover from the Endurance Rides. Profit for the day was around $1100.

The MFHA, through Covertside, has reported that over 7,000 hounds have been tested and 97.67% have completely negative results or titers less than or equal to 1:32. It's important to realize that this disease is very rare in the United States, that research has not been extensive, and that all of this testing has taken place since April. The MFHA has done an outstanding job of identifying and dealing with a potentially serious problem. Given the progress so far, the MFHA hopes to eradicate this disease in American foxhound packs within two years, and experts from the Centers for Disease Control agree with that assessment.